How long do the effects of an asthma attack last?

[olivia1599]

Hi everyone,

I’ve had mild asthma my whole life (I’m 21) and on Tuesday I had my first ever attack, it was really severe and I ended up in hospital and have been told to keep taking my blue inhaler and have also been given a few days of prednisolone. I’m feeling a lot better but I’m still pretty much bed bound and my breathing itself is still hard, I’m having to use my reliever pretty often.

I Know it’s different for everyone but I’m just wondering how long these effects will last? I’m a keen runner and am normally really fit, so not being able to move is really frustrating. Have people found that they feel relatively normal again in a week or so?

Many thanks x

[mrsm49]

Afraid i don't know. I've only had a couple of attacks which were very scary but i was able to get them under control and avoided hospital.

Were you tested for covid?

After 2nd attack I was put on Fostair (pink inhaler) on which I've been ok on ever since with only occasional use of blue if i get stressed lol

Maybe the stress of what's happened is still affecting you if that's one of yr triggers.

Hope you feel better soon x

[Clairebear35]

Hi

My latest attack that saw me rushed to hospital has took me nearly 6 weeks to fully recover yet other times it’s taken me a good week or so to get back to normal. Don’t rush it as from experience you’ll end up feeling bad again just listen to your body.

[Poobah]

Your fitness will help you to a great extent but the way doctors treat your asthma will dictate how well you recover. You don't mention any other meds other than the reliever and a short course of oral steroids. You should have a follow up appointment to check your progress and to ensure that you have recovered and to consider other treatments.

My attacks stopped once I changed from wet inhalers (many years ago). I always required steroids for two to three weeks and was always told not to exercise as that was an exacerbation for me.

But that was me and we are all different as we all have different triggers and things to avoid to help our recovery. The fact that you are still unable to do much suggests you need to talk to your doctor about further treatment to ensure a full recovery. You then need to consider further consultation to discuss how you can control your asthma in future in order to avoid future attacks. The goal of the patient/doctor relationship is to control the asthma so you can lead a normal life.

All the best.

[ChrissieMons]

I'n afraid you just have to learn patience. give in to being ill, and do things which take your mind off it - reading, listening to music, and quiet crafts you can do, - even colouring in is supposed to be good! You have been very ill so your body needs time to recover. Rushing it is a bad idea. If you relax, you might find you need your blue inhaler less often.

[Spence167]

The thing with asthma is that it levels up and down. In other words, it can be no trouble for weeks, months and even years and then it can cause you problems for a few weeks or months often with no rhyme or reason. I have had asthma for around forty years. For the last two years it has been very well controlled and I very rarely had to use Salbutamol (blue inhaler). For the last five weeks or so I have had a tight chest and have had to use the Salbutamol 4 or 5 times a day. Sometimes it will be OK for a few hours, other times it will only work for an hour or so.

The doctor put me on Prednisolone which I had severe side effects from (panic attacks, suicidal thoughts) and came off it immediately. The doctor did consider giving me Dexymethasone which appears to be used a lot in cancer recovery! The side effects from that looked similar to the Pred so I told him I would rather not have it.

At the minute I can bear the slight tightness in my chest. I drink a lot of herbal teas and find Teapigs Peppermint tea helps a lot. Plus it is caffeine free so you can perhaps have one just before bed to help ease your breathing at night (my asthma is fine at night weirdly!) I also suck Halls Soothers which are menthol and have a liquid inside to ease my throat. If you can, gargle with warm salty water after having your inhalers as you may get oral thrush if you don’t. Hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon.

[Taima in reply to Spence167]

I’ve just been forced to have my hours slashed at work leaving me with barely a tenner after rent and bills, food etc because I had to go on my second course of Pred in 3 months. I have a history of depression and anxiety and ended up having massive panic attacks and breakdowns at work which was not safe as I handle horses. I already had suicidal thoughts to begin with but the Pred kicked everything into overdrive. It’s been a few days since I stopped taking it and I’m already having evening asthma attacks again. Acid reflux is playing up too. I’m sorry to hear you had those thoughts too. GP has not followed up since prescribing even though I was clearly already very depressed and anxious before taking them.

[Gilly100 in reply to Taima]

Sending you my best wishes, Taima. Hope things get sorted and you feel better soon.