Ideas please

[apparentlymad86]

Hi,

Apologies if this is a long ramble.

My asthma has always been steady. I was on fostair 1 puff a day and never used my blue inhaler ever..... Till November when I was coughing and short of breath for weeks. After 2 lots of antibiotics and a course of steroids it finally settled. Fast forward till march same again except I needs 2 x anti biotics and steroids and had montelukulast added to my prescription. April another infection and then got changed to sirdupla. This caused major side effects so after 2 months and more steroids I am back on fostair, montelukulast. I am constantly exhausted from coughing all night but the Gp says my chest is clear. Every day I run a temperature up to 38/39 degrees.

Please I need suggestions. I am seeing a practice nurse for my 6 mth asthma check next week and I could cry as I don't feel in control of my breathing at all

Apologies for the moan

[ChrissieMons]

You are not alone and there is no need to apologise for telling us what a miserable time you are having. There are a lot of posts here which are similar to yours and reports of coughing and very hard to shift infections which go on for months. However, eventually, they do go, even if it feels like a lifetime of misery while it lasts. Sitting up on lots of pillows rather than sleeping flat helps, doing all the 'right' things about eating and drinking should help in theory, and breathing exercises are useful. You might see if you can get things to relax you - natural or a mild sedative - so you sleep a bit longer before the coughing starts.

I know this (having had a long bout myself) is frustrating and stressful, but stress makes asthma worse, so somehow you have to have patience and faith that it will go at some point, though this is much easier said than done!.

[risabel59]

Hi there,

Poor you! If you are running a temperature you almost certainly have some sort of infection going on. You may need a different antibiotic or longer course to kill it. However it could be long lasting flu. I had flu once, and was continually unwell, cough temperature etc for about 8 weeks. My doctor at one moment thought it was legionnaires disease! However it was influenza.

If you are feeling this bad you need to go back to the doctor. I suspect you need blood tests which can tell if you have an infection and also sputum tests. Or if necessary go and see another doctor! Not all doctors are equal with a stethoscope!

Good luck.

Hope you feel better soon

R

[Matman]

Standard Sputum Tests only detect bacteria infections. Most chest infections are viruses. Consdet presssing your doctor for more comprehensive Sputum and Blood tests that might help detect a virus. Also consider requesting a High Resolution CT Scan which, among other things, can detect bronchiectatis.