6 Weeks After Treatment - Is This Asthma?

[TD888]

Hello everyone, when I first came here it was because they'd mentioned to me I may have asthma.

6 Weeks ago I was having nearly daily symptoms that lasted for hours. Tight chest, short of breath, easily exerted.

I was placed on Salbutamol and Clenil 100 (2 puffs at the start and end of the day)

What I have noticed now is this...

1.) My peak flow hasn't risen, but it's stabilised. I used to be all over the shop (420-600) and since starting treatment I haven't dipped below 550. I don't view this as especially important as my peak flow wasn't showing traditional signs of asthma.

2.) I keep a diary of my symptoms, graded from 1 (Nothing) to 10 (Severe) and over the course of the last 6 weeks I have noticed the numbers decreasing to nearly all 1's and 2's.

3.) I've noticed that while I do still get symptoms, they are neither as severe nor as frequent as before.

4.) 8-9 times out of 10 the blue inhaler sorts me right out within 10-20 minutes. The 1-2 other times I suspect the chest tightness is coming from GERD or indigestion or something stomach related.

I have the review with the asthma nurse on Thursday morning and I intend to tell her all of this. However, I am a little concerned that because I don't have a peak flow diary with an upwards trend, that she wont want to continue the treatment, which I feel has been successful. (The first thing since October 2017 to give me any kind of relief!)

So my question is - Does this sound like asthma to you?

Thanks for all the help and support on this forum, it really is a miracle.

[Wheezycat]

Yes. Your peakflow has stabilised innthe higher range of your readings. You clearly feel better. I am no diagnostician, but it all sounds spot on!

[Triggerina]

Sounds like the chenille is doing the trick as a preventer. Good news I would say.....

[Triggerina]

Sorry Clenil ........!!

[Superzob]

Interesting approach! I'm guessing they didn't want to send you to a specialist for reversibility tests because there's a long wait, so decided to see if standard asthma treatment worked - seems it did! It would be unwise to simply stop the medication because you can get rebound effects with Clenil (you get worse symptoms than you did in the first place, albeit temporary). If you are asked to withdraw the medication, suggest that, because it's working, you could try reducing the dose (eg, one puff twice a day); that shouldn't cause rebound and, if it starts to get worse, you could increase the dose back to the original. That way, you can prove you need it to be continually prescribed from now on.

[hypercat54]

Hi you have had the treatments for asthma and you feel a lot better. Yes I would say this is definitely asthma. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is a duck. x

[Chip_y2kuk]

Hi, it certainly sounds like the asthma treatment regime is working for you so I would suspect it's asthma