Eosinophilic asthma

[ARC727]

I was diagnosed in April this year with Eosinophilic asthma. My dr has said its mild asthma and one puff of fostair (100/6 I think) in the morning seems to control it. However, when I read about eosinophilic asthma it really terrifies me and does not sound ‘mild’ or easy to control - is it possible to have mild asthma with this type? It developed after the birth of my daughter and has been a major adjustment going from being completely healthy to having a chronic illness. If there is anyone out there who has eosinophilic asthma, but feels its well managed and they can still live a fairly normal life it would really help give me hope right now! Also, has anyone been pregnant with this and did it make your asthma worse? My husband and I would like to try for another baby, but Im worried

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

The word eosinophilic just describes what drives your asthma. For you your eosins are high and ‘attack’ your lungs causing inflammation aka asthma. For allergic asthmatics it’s driven by IgE usually. For non-eosins they’re still trying to work it out. The fact you’ve been given the label eosinophilic really doesn’t mean much other than to describe the physiology of your asthma, that it should respond well to steroids and the fact it’s not allergic. Eosinophilic in itself is not worse than any other (in fact personally (allergic/atopic and eosinophilic) I put it better than non-eosinophilic cause at the severe end there are more drugs available which are proven to work). I know of people in the eosinophilic group who are mild and easily controlled. The issue is it’s unusual for people to be told their ‘driver’ until they’re in the severe bracket, so most of the stuff out there make people believe e-asthma is very severe and ‘the worst type’

The level given (mild moderate severe) describes the level of medication you need to get control. So basically mild says you’re controlled with a single preventative drug, whereas severe needs A LOT more. Asthma IS a sliding scale, so you can get worse and move up the line, but you can also improve and get better.

For some people pregnancy worsens their asthma, for others it can ‘cure me it. If you’re concerned talk to your AN or GP or give the AUK a call.

Hope that helps explain things a bit

[ARC727 in reply to EmmaF91]

This is extremely helpful - thank you so much for taking the time to explain. Ive been reading up on it on google and it left me feeling really confused and worried so this helps a lot

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to ARC727]

Dr Google is not a good doctor... he likes to worry is patients with the extreme, worse case scenario, using scary language 😉😅. As I said all eosinophilic asthma means is that you produce too many eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) and its ‘attacking’ your lungs and causing your asthma.

If you’re asymptomatic in the drugs you’re on then you don’t have to worry about anything, anymore than you would if you were allergic/atopic or non-e asthma or even if you do not know your driver (like most mild/moderates don’t).

Glad it helped calm some of the fears

[Sunnydays1982]

Hey there! I apologise if your getting this reply twice....not sure what’s happened to my first typed message! 🙈🙄 But I feel like I could have wrote your list myself.

I was diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma in May 2019 and after a couple of courses of prednisone and being on montelukast, fostair 200, omeprezole and dymista nasal spray & antihistamines I am well under control! 🙏🏼

I also google and what I find petrifies me too, it’s all very doom & gloom! I feel good at the moment and am very healthy and exercise daily. I am worried what the winter is going to bring but I m on all of my meds so hoping that helps!

What symptoms do you get?

[ARC727 in reply to Sunnydays1982]

Before I got diagnosed I had colds constantly and often felt really tired, however I had just had my daughter so I just thought it was normal. I can get breathless at times and I've definitely tied breathing issues to certain things I eat (dairy makes it a lot worse for example.) I really struggle with colds, but during the summer I actually felt fine and pretty much symptom free. I'm a bit confused how they diagnose eosinophilic asthma to be honest. I had a raised eosinophil count when I was in hospital (and first diagnosed) in April, but I've had several blood tests since then which have all come back normal. From what I've read, even hayfever (which I've always had) can cause raised eosinophils - so how do dr's know it's this type of asthma over other forms? At the moment I'm just trying to learn more about how to manage it and I'm hoping one day I can come off the fostair

[Sunnydays1982 in reply to ARC727]

My consultant gave me a sputum test which measures the eosinophils from your chest, that’s a very accurate way of diagnosing this. A bit gross but hey!

Did you have an asthma test too?

I had a persistent cough for 6 months and produced a lot of mucus, plus being very fatigued. I feel good now though! Just hope it stays that way! 😬🙌🏻

[ARC727 in reply to Sunnydays1982]

That's great you feel it's well controlled now, and very reassuring! I didn't have a sputum test (wish I had as it sounds more accurate), but I had a lung function test, spirometry, blood tests and ige test

[Sunnydays1982 in reply to ARC727]

Yes I had all of those too and failed miserably!! I honestly had never felt so ill!!

I do feel good but i have read too many horror stories I find it difficult to believe I do! I do have the worry that things might change at some point but I know it’s silly to worry about the unknown (just can’t help it!🙈🙄)

So are you just on fostair? And did you ever have steroid tablets? Also... Montelukast has been brilliant for me too...it completely blocks any irritants!! 😊🙌🏻

[Superzob]

You can get mild or severe forms of anything, and every level in between. From my limited knowledge, eosinophilic asthma is diagnosed when there is a particular level of eosinophils in the blood. In fact, eosinophils increase in ALL allergic responses, like hayfever; it's the body's natural reaction to an allergen. But how you FEEL as a result of the increased eosinophilic activity is purely a personal issue, and will vary between individuals.