Weird, Persistent Symptoms!

My husband was diagnosed with asthma about 3 years ago. It's been a bit of a battle to get things under control, but on the whole, he's not too bad these days. However, it's the hayfever season, and being an allergy sufferer, he's been having a few problems recently.

For about the past month, he's been complaining about a ""knot"" in the middle of his chest. It comes and goes, but never entirely goes away. He takes omeprazole for reflux and has been wondering if it's being caused by a reflux flare-up. However, he hasn't been feeling particularly acidic and the sensation is present even when his asthma symptoms settle down.

Does anyone else experience this knotty sensation in the chest? It seems to respond to Ventolin, but keeps returning. He is reluctant to ask for steroid tablets, as he dislikes the side effects and the last time he thought he needed them, the doctor said he could control the flare-up with regular Ventolin shots!

Any advise would be most welcome

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Hi eggznbakey,

I have had asthma for some years but only recently have I experienced more severe symptoms, including a knot-like tightness in the middle of my chest. I am also an allergy sufferer and the last three weeks have been particularly bad. I partially account this to the time of year and the associated pollen level.

I have just come back from the GP, who thinks I am making it up and must be having panic attacks. I don't wheeze, my peak flow is ok but every few hours or days the tightness in my chest is so bad that I can't breathe and begin to feel dizzy. My reliever inhaler does not help anymore.

After an asthma attack two weeks ago I was prescribed a 5-day course of steroid tablets (Prednisolone). They improved the situation slightly and the knot-like tightness seemed to ease off while I was taking them but still had to use the reliever occasionally. Now I am back to where I was before.

Some people have experienced positive outcomes with Prednisolone and I had hoped that a short course should have helped me.

I am now waiting for a referral to an asthma consultant on which I insisted upon at the GP surgery today.

I hope your husband will find a satisfactory way to control his condition.

Thank you for sharing.