When were you first diagnosed with asthma? - Living with Asthma

Living with Asthma

3,667 members749 posts

When were you first diagnosed with asthma?

CalvinHU profile image
22 Replies

What triggered the diagnosis/doctor's visit?

Comment and interact below :)

Written by
CalvinHU profile image
CalvinHU
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
22 Replies
Beasley63 profile image
Beasley63

I was diagnosed March 2018. I kept being sick a lot and have bronchitis and coughing a lot. Every time I would come in contact with something scented it would get major worse.

FearNot profile image
FearNot in reply toBeasley63

Fumes trigger my asthma also. I have a hard time with perfumes. Forget walking past the laundry soap aisle in the store. Your diagnosis was fairly recent. How are you adjusting?

EmmaF91 profile image
EmmaF91

I was 13 and a gymnast. I gradually became unable to complete routines due to SoB. Had a constant phelm-y cough too 😅.

FearNot profile image
FearNot

We were on the way home from church one glorious day. Trouble breathing and being hooked to oxygen were the last things on my mind. That all changed when my husband drove the car through a field yellow with Scotch Broom blossoms. I wasn't wheezing by the time I saw the ER doctor. He diagnosed me with mild asthma and told me to see my regular doctor if it happened again.

Carakraft profile image
Carakraft

I have had asthma since I was a small child...I remember going to my family doctor for shots that would help my cough 😊

Bobcat_44 profile image
Bobcat_44

I was diagnosed in 2014 after a bout with pneumonia. Right after the pneumonia I started to cough every morning to the point of vomiting, couldn't exercise or even run short distances because of this cough. Shortly after this the dyspnea came...

birdlover18 profile image
birdlover18

I was diagnosed when I was maybe 10 or 11 (I’m 23 now) at that point my asthma was only bothered by laughing/crying and allergens such as cats/dogs and dust. As I got older my asthma progressed and now I have exercised induced asthma and my allergy induced asthma is much worse. My mom was the one who had me visit an allergist when I was a kid because of the wheezing.

FearNot profile image
FearNot in reply tobirdlover18

Sorry to hear your asthma has worsened. Here's hoping it improves.

lee99 profile image
lee99

I was first diagnosed about 25 years ago as a small child, I was coughing and wheezing a lot, especially after running around. After dad gave up smoking (shortly after my diagnosis) my asthma almost vanished, until about 3 years ago. One of the main triggers was major building work on our house, which released a lot of dust, but i now seem to be much more prone to allergies :(

FearNot profile image
FearNot in reply tolee99

I too, spent many years symptom free, only to see my asthma worsen due to wildfire smoke. It sounds like environmental factors are the culprit with you also.

Kitten-kat23 profile image
Kitten-kat23

I was 11/12. I had just won a badminton match. Doctors diagnosed nervous asthma at the time.

pmh18623 profile image
pmh18623

I was diagnosed in 1997 at 43. My primary care physician believed it was a combination of the damp, old musty buiding I worked in and the increase in grass pollen that summer due to heavier than normal rainfall.

Breathing became very difficult. As I had never had asthma before, it was frightening to suddenly have severe asthma.

FearNot profile image
FearNot in reply topmh18623

I can well imagine. I had a similar exacerbation. I hope you're doing better!

pmh18623 profile image
pmh18623 in reply toFearNot

Much better compared to then, except for this summer.

Carakraft profile image
Carakraft in reply topmh18623

I know it was so frightening! How are you doing now?

pmh18623 profile image
pmh18623 in reply toCarakraft

It has been very sporatic with occasional moderate to severe flares until a moderate exacerbation in mid May. I have had SOB ever since.

The wild fire smoke this summer made every day activities an endurance contest. I am glad that is past, but now being referred to second cardiologist for my SOB and transient low oxygen since the PFT only showed mild small airway obstruction.

I no longer get frightened, just frustrated.

Minushabens profile image
MinushabensAsthma Captain

I was diagnosed around age 3 (probably around 1967). My dad was a very severe asthmatic so the GP at the time was probably expecting it. However, he was of the view that I'd grow out of it, & that giving children inhalers (they were, not that I ever feel overly inclined to defend him, relatively new inventions at the time) would get them addicted & stop them fighting it off.

I remember having an awful episode around 1970ish, after being in a neighbour's house with cats. My mum thought I was crying & playing up; luckily the neighbour was a nurse & recognised it as an allergy, & cats have remained right at the top of my trigger list ever since, including responsibility for my worst near-death experience with asthma as an adult.

Although my dad persuaded the GP to give me an inhaler eventually, I didn't get any sort of proper treatment until my mid-20s (after the cat episode in fact), by which time I think a lot of damage had been done to my lungs which hit me hard when I reached my 50s, & is still now a big problem for me.

But, although it's been a curse on my life, I am a profound believer that asthma teaches you to be a fighter & a survivor, and it won't get the better of me yet :)

Carakraft profile image
Carakraft in reply toMinushabens

It definitely has made me stronger and stand a little taller😊

IChoose profile image
IChoose

At four years old I woke up clutching my throat and could not breathe. That began what was then called croup which lasted to age 9. One hospitalization with "infectious croup." It is 50 years and I still have PTSD from it. In midlife my asthma returned and has been dangerous at times and hard to control.

campisa profile image
campisaAsthma Captain

I was diagnosed with asthma just this year around Valentine's day to be exact. So, it is a day, I will never forget. I went to my pulmonologist and she gave me the allergy test. I came out allergic to every tree and plant, mold and all animals. I was flabbergasted to say the least because I am over 50. In any case, upon taking the medications, I fell like my old self again, and for that, I was glad to know what my truly ailments were.

VinswaynW profile image
VinswaynW

Coughing & wheezing at the age of 5 years old. The latter years of my saw saw an increase in specialized medications that really helped me breathe better. Does anyone here remember taking Tedral tablets & Primeatine mist? from age 5 to 20 years old I was on these over the counter medications. Then the meth scourge took over and they quit selling it over the counter back in the mid to late eighties. Sad.

HikesWithDogs profile image
HikesWithDogs

I was diagnosed at age 9 about year after my family moved from Virginia to Arizona. That was 45 years ago. Asthma treatments back then weren’t the best. The medication I started with was Marax and it has been taken off the market. It was definitely an upper. I could do math problems really quickly when I was on it. The first inhaler I had used a capsule with powder in it that was crushed an inhaled. There were many nights of sitting in the bathroom filled with steam trying to breath better and trips to the ER. Things are much better now.

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

When were you first diagnosed with Asthma?

What triggered the diagnosis? Respond and reply to others in the comments below! :)
CalvinHU profile image

When was your child first diagnosed with asthma?

What triggered the diagnosis? Respond below and reply to others in the comments! :)
CalvinHU profile image

Has anyone been diagnosed with e-asthma?

My asthma has gotten worse in my 50s but I have two known triggers: cats and nuts. Cats have always...

Adult Asthma diagnosed at 42

Hello.  I am new here and wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with adult onset asthma...
KKSSP profile image

Do you ever feel that there is a stigma associated with asthma?

Share your responses and interact in the comments! :)
CalvinHU profile image

Moderation team

See all
PaulTury profile image
PaulTuryPartner
DeDeAAN profile image
DeDeAANPartner

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.