Nitride oxide test

[juliesharp]

Have any other asthmatics had this test? At my last consultant appointment I did the test and scored 11. This show hardly any inflammation. I got told next time your asthma flares up do not follow your asthma plan but ring the respiratory nurses instead.

So today I rang respiratory nurses and I was told do not follow your asthma plan do not increase anything but come to clinic on Tuesday instead and do another nitride oxide test. The consultant wants to see what I score when my breathing is unhappy. It will be interesting to see.

It just feels so weird to not increase anything or to follow my asthma plan. It feels so wrong! I am so used to reaching for my asthma plan when my asthma wobbles. I am worried about lasting til Tuesday but I guess you have to trust your medical team. It gonna be a long weekend me feels. What if nitride oxide test has not changed? Then what? So many thoughts....

[Minushabens]

I think I've had it at the consultant one time...is it sort of like a breathalyser type thing where you have to keep a little ball between two lines?

[juliesharp in reply to Minushabens]

Ey that is the test. It seems to be a test for how much inflammation you have or do not have in some cases.

[Minushabens in reply to juliesharp]

I'd not seen it before but the consultant seemed to see it as evidence that my asthma was an issue in & amongst everything else I have going on.

[justTUX]

I do exhaled nitric oxide (FeNo) every two weeks just now to try and taper my prednisilone. It measures the inflammation in your airways. It's the new gold standard test in asthma testing and clinics are being encouraged to get a FeNo machine.

Your result being 11 shows there is very little inflammation in your airways which is probably why they have said not to follow your plan just now. It is really useful for consultants to see how the level increases when your asthma is not great. My consultant has done the same and I was going to kill her because I felt awful and just wanted to increase everything to get relief!

11 is a really good score so stay with it and keep going as you are as your treatment and control must be very good to have that result. Next time your asthma flares up your consultant or nurses will probably say to go with your plan but it is good for them to get a level when bad to see how much the inflammation increases by.

Let us know what your next reading is will be interesting to see. Hope you do ok till clinic.

JustTux

[juliesharp]

I will certainly let you know my next reading. I hope I will not be going every fortnight. Thank you for sharing your experience I do not feel so alone any more. I guess it is the wonders of modern technology. New ways to diagnose and monitor lung inflammation.

[justTUX in reply to juliesharp]

It's a much nicer lung function test than doing FEV 1. For me now my con doesn't bother with it because my result is rubbish so she just gets me doing FeNo!

[servewithmintsauce]

Keep us in the loop about your result!

[juliesharp]

What is a Fev1? Is it spirometer?

I like feno because I can do it. I cannot do peak flow meter I blow it with wrong muscles but that is due to hypotonia (weak muscles) so my peak flow readings are not reliable nor are the spirometer readings it is possible to blow with stomach instead of lungs/diaphragm.

[juliesharp]

My score has gone down to only 7. I have even less inflammation in my lungs.

Yes I am poorly but it not caused by asthma. Something else is making me more short of breath in the autumn. Sigh!

[salamander24]

There's a new consultant at my hospital who has just instigated this idea - I'm really happy with it as it means I don't have to up my prednisolone unnecessarily and can try to avoid being on quite so many steroids, as the side effects are nasty...11 is awesome!

[juliesharp in reply to salamander24]

My score has dropped to 7 however to have a score that low is not actually awesome. It shows a congenital disease. Your FeNo show not drop lower than 25.

I am awaiting more tests but it suspected it is my genetic condition that I was born with. I may not actually be asthmatic but that could take some untangling before gp or consultant can say for sure. It could be an esophagus problem although I am definitely allergic to lots so it could just be allergic reactions. Only time and research will tell. Next to see an endocrinologist to help me completely come off prednisone. Slow process

[salamander24]

Oh no! I hope they discover the cause of all of this soon.

If it's any help, my cons said that he does have one asthmatic patient with really low FeNO but that's because they have to be on 40mg of pred all the time for a different illness. So maybe it will come up a bit once you're off the pred...

Hope the trip to the endocrinologist goes well.