Hey hello, looking for advice

Hi everyone. Sorry to stumble into your forum, I hope you're all nice!

I will firstly say that I'm lucky in the sense that through adulthood my asthma has become very dormant, I understand your suffering, the day in day out struggle fortunately those severe days seem to be behind me (fingers crossed forever)

I wanted to ask you opinions on something that happened to me recently. I try to keep my dealings with nhs to a minimum. It's just, the Dr I saw had me questioning things I thought I knew about my condition.

So. I rarely use inhalers now, and for my own stupid reasons even if I feel I need one I try to steady my breathing in other ways. I recently stayed with my boyfriend and either my dist allergy or the cold triggered my asthma. With no inhaler and 300 miles from home I trudged into boots and asked if they could do anything for me. They recommended I go to a big asda, but in the centre of Manchester I had no hope and no transport out to any retail parks so, I settled for the second option of going to the walk in centre.

I had my surgery fax over my medical history which showed multiple meds for asthma, hospital stays for attacks, nebulisers, steroids for bad bouts. Alas though no treatment for the last 5 years.

I waited 2 hours to see someone and I won't be personal but, I got the impression she disliked me from the off. I explained that the cold air or maybe dust allergy had set me off wheezing at night and that cold air has always been a trigger for me. She said 'asthma isn't brought on by the cold air' I said 'I can only tell you what has happened to me' anyway she listened to my chest and there was no wheezing, I told her that having been sat for 2 hours in a warm waiting room stopped my wheezing, she said 'wheezes don't just go away'

I just wanted to check those two points. Does anyone roses asthma get especially bad in the cold? Does anyone else manage to stop a wheeze through deep breathing and warm?

Basically to sum it up. She refused me an inhaler and said I'd have to see someone else. After waiting a further 30 minutes I left with nothing. I felt like I was some sort of junkie begging for a fix. I want to make a complaint but, I don't know if I have valid reasons. I felt failed by the nhs, or does anyone think she was right?

Sorry to go on and if you have read all then thank you :)

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Hi and welcome to the forum,

Cold air is one of my biggest triggers and this time of year is a nightmare with the freezing cold mornings which often make me bad before I get to work (mornings are the worst time of the day for me too). This has always been recognised as a trigger by my asthma team and I think it is under triggers on this site.

The wheezing thing is something I struggle with especially in walk in centres. I don't wheeze often even when I am symptomatic (not everyone with asthma wheezes and there are lots of discussions on here about that). I also find that when I am sitting waiting at OOH or even my own GP then my symptoms do get better and I end up feeling like I have wasted everyone's time. This has improved as I have got better at explaining it by ""it is not taking much to set off my asthma and although I feel ok now, going outside or running down the corridor will."" I have had a time when I did say to a dr that I would run down the corridor to show them and another time when I stepped outside in the cold air after being told I was fine and then ended up in a&e!

Sorry I can't be much help but I hope you feel better knowing it is not just you. I would suggest asking for an inhaler to keep in your bag if it happens again - my sister probably only uses hers a few times each year and it always expires but she has one just in case.

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Hi Jaffa,

So sorry you met with that kind of treatment, and ignorance. I used to be like Kayla's sister, just cold and pets only occasionally triggering me badly enough to use my inhaler and my inhaler expiring without use, otherwise I'd have a cup of coffee or something to calm it down. Cold air is such a classic trigger I am very surprised at the medic's lack of knowledge. Certainly I have been advised by nurses and the like to wear a scarf over my mouth, and nose, if needed when out in the cold and I always do, it really helps. I did get better at remembering to carry my inhaler and really recommend you do. Maybe she was having a bad day - I hope you don't get put off seeking help in the future.