New asthmatic needs help!

[MomOftwoGirls]

I was newly diagnosed with asthma after a pregnancy. Before the diagnosis I had a battery of tests done. PFT showed significant obstructive airway disease. Stress test showed a normal heart. Holter monitor showed some tachycardia.

The pulmonologist has me on Flovent and I generally don’t need my rescue inhaler more than once or twice a week.

My question: I have chest pain very frequently. Dr said this could be from asthma. Is it? Also, I very very often feel tightness in my chest, almost constantly. Is this normal? Please advise. I’m trying to figure out if I need to get a second opinion.

Thanks in advance!

[starveycat]

Yes I sometimes get the symptoms you describe

[Beasley63]

I have tightness in my chest and I have chest pain at times. I too was recently diagnosed with Asthma. I am on Symbicort and I use ProAir rescue inhaler. best of luck to you!

[d2read]

First, can you describe the chest pain? Be as specific as possible, and tell us what you are doing, where you are when it happens. Have you recently eaten or drunk anything? Been cleaning the house and using cleaning sprays of some sort?

All those things can trigger "pain" for asthmatics.

Do you have allergies? Has your doctor identified your asthma triggers? How well are you doing at controlling them?

Asthma -- any disease that affects our ability to breathe -- is scary, and sometimes downright terrifying. The key is to learn everything you can about your personal triggers and then to control them. That is not easy -- especially if you've gone through your life with a dear cat or two, but turn out to be seriously allergic to them. Allergy shots take years to alleviate allergic responses, for example. But if you have a new baby, being well and able to properly care for your child has to take precedence over absolutely everything else.

Your rescue inhaler can also trigger your tachycardia, and that can cause chest pain -- when it gets high enough, it can feel as if it's going to come out of your chest. You might check with your physician about alternative rescue inhalers to try -- ask for samples of different ones to try for a month and see if one is less aggravating than another.

Overall, I think I'm most concerned by the fact that you didn't mention anything about what your triggers are. Just diagnosing asthma on the basis of PFT isn't enough -- if you didn't get a referral to an allergist for an allergy workup, and/or an assessment of common triggers with instructions on how to eliminate them (other than allergic triggers, many triggers are identified through trial and error).

For example, almost every asthmatic (and everyone I've ever encountered) is allergic to dust mites -- that means getting rid of carpeting (if that's not possible, get it carefully and professionally cleaned by a company that offers Asthma & Allergy-certified service). It also means washing bed linens at least weekly in hot water and thoroughly drying in a dryer, same with pillows -- and replacing annually. Put the mattress and box springs in dust-mite-proof covers. Don't rely on what is put on packaging; check out companies that have gotten their products certified as being Asthma & Allergy-friendly ("hypoallergenic" for example has no legal meaning in the US).

Oh, and buy good quality HEPA room filtration devices and filters for your a/c and heater. Have someone else do all the cleaning initially and you and the baby spend at least the night away somewhere.

Write back if there's something we can do -- questions we can answer. Good luck!

Debbie

[MomOftwoGirls in reply to d2read]

Thank you!! This is so helpful. I feel like the chest pain could definitely be related to acid reflux. I’m going to make an appointment at an allergy/asthma center first thing tomorrow. I have only seen a pulmonologist and he certainly didn’t give me any of this info. I really appreciate you reaching out!!

[d2read in reply to MomOftwoGirls]

Reflux can be a trigger, but a lot of other things can be, too. Think of it as a detective case.

I've dealt with this all my life, and have a rare set of complications now -- so I've had to become a lot better about being assertive. Remember to write down specifics about what's happening and when, and any questions you have, and if he doesn't answer them, then you need to ask for a referral to someone who will, or find yourself a new doctor. You have a baby to care for -- and asthma can be fatal. Don't let yourself be lulled into thinking it's not serious. It's only "not serious" if it's not you.

Please let me know how it goes.

[MomOftwoGirls in reply to d2read]

Thank you! I will let you know.

[krylan]

It could be the Flovent that's causing your chest pains. I was on Qvar and after about a week and a half on it I started getting chest pains! Scared me and then I researched Qvar and found that after two weeks on it people (especially women) got chest pains! I stopped taking it by weaning myself off of it. I believe that by changing my diet and taking different supplements I can get away with just a whiff of my neb with albuterol (never a full treatment) and I'm good to go! I'm good throughout the day but at night It comes a knocking. So I take some homopathy pills for asthma and they keep asthma attacks under control and I don't eat 4 hours before bed and take DGL or a natural acid reducer before bed, as well as magnisium before bed as it relaxes your bronchioles. You have to find what works for you but don't give in to prescription meds all the time.