my pf graph is confusing me- shouldn't there be some sort of pattern after a month?!

[Janna123]

Hi

I was only diagnosed a month ago. When I saw the asthma nurse, I was given a preventor with a aerochamber and a pf meter. I've been doing the pf every morning and night and not much seems to be happening. I google imaged how they should look and mine looks nothing like that! I started off at 350 in the nurses office and then for the next day it gradually rose and peaked at 410 before dropping back to 350. There was no increase in pf for about 2 weeks and then it gradually began to flatten out and fluctuate between 370 and 410 ( minus two random peaks back down to 350). I thought it was improving since it flattened out and then a few days ago I got a value of 440 but then dropped below 400 on the next attempt.

I'm not.seeing the nurse again until the 31st but she said the pf should improve and stay improved. I still do get symptoms most days. The day when I reached 440 I had not moved much or been outside. Could hayfever be causing this? Or stress since I'm doing a levels atm? Sorry if this is a silly question, but is the graph supposed to look like this? I'm using my reliever about twice a week which is an improvement from nearly every day, though I probably don't use it as often as I should.

Thanks for any help it would be easier if I could work out how to post pictures!

[Annista]

Hi Rachel

You've only been doing this for a few weeks you haven't had time to establish a real pattern yet. I've been keeping a record of my PF for well over a year now and at first glance it's all over the place, but if I look over the longer term I see the pattern. For example, I had a really nice few weeks when the graph ran between 460 and 430 then over 2 days it dropped and then ran between 380 and 420 for a couple of weeks and is now almost back where it was, with a highest ever of 470, for no reason that I can see.

Don't worry, it'll start to make sense before too long, and it's still causing confusion next time you see the asthma nurse you can take it with you and see what she thinks.

Good luck with it.