hi all
i'm newly diagnosed with asthma but have been living with it for a long time.
i've had over 5 weeks of illness now. it started with 10 days of cold/sore throat before i deteriorated a great deal. to cut a long story short, i eventually was diagnosed as having whooping cough with pneumonia as a complication. i've been on 40 mg of prednosolone for 3 weeks which i am reducing by 5mg every 3 days since this sunday. i am still on antibiotics and seretide x2 puffs twice a day.
the thing is i am still wheezing. i should be at rhe convalescent stage of the whooping cough but i contracted a cold last friday and have so much mucus. it was less yesterday but is back with a vengance today and i cannot rest. i am exhausted, lucky to get 4 hours sleep in a night, sonetimes it is as bad as 2 hours. today i have tried to rest but each time i end up wheezing and coughing so much i cannot.
i have seen the dr many times. he says the pneuonia has cleared and the wheezing/rattling is the mucus in my upper airways from the whooping cough. the inhaler sabutamol doesn't seem to do much to relieve it.but i'm using it in desperation. i wonder if i am not taking it enough or taking it too much. at the start of this i was advised 10 puffs in the spacer. of only that stopped the wheezing.
i cannot stress how much the exhaustion is taking it's toll. on a day when i only wheeze for half the day and half the night, i can cope . but it's now 4.40 pm and i haven't slept since 2 am.
i'm not sure if this is in the right place so will post in the medical bit too. please delete if it is wrong.
sarah