After obeying the GP who told me the cough was pharygeal and to take a cough suppressant and reduce the QVar (brown) inhaler, and that I did not have asthma, unsurprisingly things became worse.
I then developed an ear infection but no surgery appointments available so saw out of hours GP - who told me that I should increase the QVar and take the salbutamol more often at the moment while the cough was so bad (she also diagnosed the ear infection and prescribed drops for that).
Rang the Asthma UK asthma nurse on Monday as I woke up in a right state: she helped me take my blue inhaler until my breathing was back under control and suggested that the 5 day courses of steroids I had been given were not long enough to reduce the inflammation completely.
Today I had another GP appointment - with the same GP who saw me before and told me I was hyperventilating and 'did I think there might be something a little bit stressy going on here?' LOL The only stress here is the fact that I cannot breathe properly and can't stop coughing and nobody seems to want to take it seriously!
Anyway, he went on to prescribe me a ten day course of steroids and to agree to my request to be referred to the respiratory clinic - but also said there was 'no objective evidence that this was asthma as my chest x-ray was clear, blood tests all fine, and no wheeze'. He emphasised the lack of wheeze three times in his dictated letter to the clinic!
I am still utterly exhausted but feel that I may be able to get some answers from the clinic. Here's hoping!
