my breathings struggles

[ash160808]

so i have decided to put everything on here in the hope of looking for help and advice. So ten years ago i had a mental break down and bad anxiety developed and around the same time i was told i had asthma and i didnt really focus on that at the start but around 7 years ago i started to really focus and be aware of my breathing, and i have been on pretty much every asthma inhaler there is i think. I know i worry and focus on my breathing and i am back in therapy for my anxiety now and im currently on symbicourt, ventolin and montelukast tablets. My peak flow is always around 600, at the moment i have a lot of mucus stuck and you can hear it when i cough. Does mucus sit in the airways though? Thats something i dont know. I started smoking a month ago for the first time in 8 years due to a bad moment in my life but i am reducing them now and have a stop smoke thing at the doctors next week along with a spirometery test if thats how you spell it, to see whats going on with my lungs and if my anxiety is making more of this than it should. I have also started to get back in to the gym and yesterday i did a light weight session and then 5 miles on the exercise bike and i didnt need my rescue inhaler.

Thanks if anyone took the time to read this and any advice/opinions on what i have wrote is very welcome.

[Gilly100]

Hi Ash Keep on going to the gym; you are doing really well there and make sure you pack in the cigs as, as you know, things will get worse if you don't, I know its hard. My husband had many attempts to stop smoking by himself after smoking from the age of 14, many, many years ago and he managed finally to do it with the smoking cessation clinic at his GP's surgery so you are in the right hands there. Anxiety does make things worse, as I know. You are on the right road with the spirometry test; there are other drugs and avenues that you can take and you may be referred to a consultant like a lot of people on here which is good as obviously they are specialists in their field. Good luck, you are not alone.

[RD23]

It sounds like you’re taking some really good steps in the right direction.

Us asthmatics produce more mucus which can be hard to shift, try breathing over a bowl of steam if you can as that can help shift the mucus, also odourless garlic can help. I’m on mucodyne tablets and they’re great, they thin the mucus so it’s easier to get rid of. I’ve also noticed that my nasal drip isn’t as bad now I’m on them.

Talk to your specialist about breathing techniques and see if you can get to see a respiratory physiotherapist. There’s an exercise where you breathe normally and then do a short, sharp breath as if you’re cleaning your glasses. Breathe normally and repeat but make the short, sharp breath longer the second time. If you keep trying this it gradually shifts all the rubbish that’s on your chest so you can clear it.

I’d also check that the mucus isn’t down to a chest infection, what you’re coughing up should be clear, if not, get yourself down to your GP and get checked out for a chest infection.

Hope this helps and keep doing what you’re doing.

[su-mo in reply to RD23]

see my reply to RD23