Do I have asthma?

About 2 month ago a couch started then wheezing and shortness of breath, recent I visited my doctor he prescribed me with a reliever inhaler and it's been working does that mean I have asthma?

[awilso]

Hi Ellie, sometimes a virus can make you asthmatic. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are asthmatic, although there are those who would say if you have asthma once you are. Asthma is just an inflammatory response of the airwaves and can be caused by a number of things - pollen, dust, viruses etc. Some people have underlying inflammatory conditions that make asthma chronic.

I would say that the doctor gave you an inhaler to help you through your cough and that this doesn’t necessarily translate into a diagnosis of asthma.

When you are better, you need to go back and have a peak flow test and see if there is an underlying condition. Don’t worry I spent the first 45 years of my life having asthma for a month a year during grass pollen season.

[Hidden]

hi Hidden

Asthma can be hard to diagnose. It sounds like your GP has probably prescribed a 'trial of treatment'.

This is when you're given one or more asthma medicines to see if they help your symptoms. A trial of treatment usually lasts six to eight weeks depending on what medicines you're given. If you’re given an inhaler to use, you should be shown how to use it correctly. Even if you don’t have asthma, the benefits of taking the medicines to see whether or not you have asthma outweigh any potential side effects.

If you haven’t been given a follow-up appointment so your GP can see how you get on with the treatment.

If you respond well to the trial of treatment (if your symptoms start to get better), it's an indication you could have asthma. Your treatment may be continued and you'll be monitored to make sure you’re being prescribed the lowest dose possible to manage your symptoms effectively.

There's some more information here from the Asthma UK website: bit.ly/2qfBfGf

Hope that helps,

Dita

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

What if the inhalers doesn't help? What else could it be?