What does an asthma attack feel like? Do you have symptoms besides major attacks?
How was it diagnosed?
I’m looking for some input because I have some sort of undiagnosed lung problems. I have been to several doctors and have been tested for asthma, but I didn’t have it at that time. I have, however, exhibited some symptoms of it on occasion, so I just wanted some stories from you guys to see if it might correlate. Note that this isn’t a medical advice thread–I’m smart enough to go to the doctor when I can’t breathe.
I have mild asthma. I only have an attack once or twice a year. It’s usually brought on because I inhale some fumes.
The first time I had it, I thought I had bronchitis, except not exactly. I had this persistent tickly need to cough, but I didn’t feel sick. When I would laugh really hard, I’d end up doubled over in a horrible coughing fit. Went to the doctor thinking I needed some antibiotics, and found out I had asthma. A few puffs on an inhaler solved the problem. After a few months, I didn’t need the inhaler at all.
About a year later, I was refinishing a table when suddenly the fumes started to get to me. My lungs felt weird and achy. Fresh air didn’t help. Over the next couple of days, it became progressively harder to breathe. My lungs felt clogged up. I couldn’t walk 50 feet from my door to my car without coughing like a maniac. I had to make an effort to breathe at times. I knew I was having an asthma attack, but I’d lost my inhaler.
Finally, it got to the point that I couldn’t sleep lying down because I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The tickle in my throat and the need to cough were constant.
I went to the doctor the next day, and after a couple of days of puffing on an inhaler, I was better. I still have attacks sometimes, if a farmer is spraying fertilizer on a field nearby, or if I get to laughing really hard. It feels exactly like the horrible coughing I had when I had bronchitis.
Asthma sites have a lot of good information on them. Definatly give them a look.
Someone that has it needs to watch other symtoms. You may feel tired, and that can be a sign to use your lung capacity meter. You may be beathing very shallow. Once again check your capacity. Note when your symptoms get worse and avoid those irratants. Once again read up on the information on asthma sites.
My asthma was getting worse over the years until I was on almost double the normal amount of a lot of medicines. I’ve some sort of adverse immune system reaction going on and the asthema was one of the earlier signs of my body attacking it’s self. Asthma like many medical conditions is often caused by something else for which it is a symptom. A number of cases don’t have a diagnosed reason, and you need to use what ever medicines work as new symptoms occur. A regular doctor will not treat you if it gets to be a big problem. You need to see a lung doctor to pursue agressive treatment of asthma.
I have, but I’d rather read accounts in a place where I can ask questions if I need clarification. As soon as I get to a place with a decent medical system, I will be seeing a specialist. I’m mostly just curious about how people get diagnosed in the first place.
I got diagnosed when my parents demolished a wall when I was 2 and the dust sent me into an attack that got me sent to the hospital. So that’s not much help on the how did I get a diagnosis front. But as an adult with extremely mild case of asthma now I can only compare the symptoms for me to feeling like someone’s tightening a steel band around my chest so my lungs couldn’t expand no matter how hard I try to breathe. There’s a wheeze that goes with it that’s different from other shortness of breath for me. Almost a whistling sound on intake of breath. Plus if it goes on for a bit I get kind of shaky. I don’t really get a cough though most of the time. The last serious attack I had was triggered by sub-freezing air. I wasn’t acclimatized and it really did feel like I just couldn’t get air into my chest at all even after I was back in warm air inside.
Childhood asthma sufferer checking in. I had pretty bad asthma.
I’d get out of breath first, then I wouldn’t be able to suck in as much air as I should have been. Pretty much gasping like a landed fish. Then my parents would listen to me and find that whistling sound that **Idlewild ** mentions. Then, if it went on long enough, my hands would go cold and tingly.
My family and I usually had to haul this ginormous pulmonizer (nebulizer?) contraption on trips and whatnot. And I think my parents kept a baby monitor in my room because sometimes I’d sorta-wake up and my dad would be holding the mask over my face in my sleep. And yes, major attacks. It was bad enough that, as a Very Small Child, if I was trying to chase my siblings around the living room, one lap of the room would be bad enough to cause an attack. And I was already on medicine for the asthma at the time…! I’m devoutly grateful that I grew out of that stuff.
I’m not sure how I was diagnosed, though – one of my earliest memories is my dad pulling open the medicine capsule to sprinkle the contents on a spoonful of ice cream and me making horrid faces as I swallowed it.
I have mild asthma, for me it’s triggered by one of:
Cold air
Exercise
Fumes
The key factors in my diagnosis were:
Every winter, all winter, I get a dry barking cough
Tightness of breath in the 3 scenarios above
I also have eczema
As a result of that I was sent off for various lung function tests to confirm the diagnosis.
What’s it like? Well, you’ll note I said tightness of breath, not shortness. It’s like that - you breath in, until you can’t suck in any more air, but it’s still not enough air. There’s a big band around your chest resisting your efforts to breathe. Oh, and the barking cough.
I’m fortunate in that I haven’t had any major attacks in a long time. That said, I’m careful to maintain that situation - I use my inhaler before I encounter any of my major triggers (if I know about it in advance), and I keep my inhaler on me at all times (actually, I have about 6 inhalers - one by my bed, one in the kitchen, my car, at work, and in my handbag and sports bag). Plus, as I mentioned, I have pretty mild asthma, so that helps.
I have also been working on my general health and fitness and recently lost quite a bit of weight and started exercising. It has helped matters significantly - although I do still get wheezy from time to time.
I’ve had asthma for as long as I can remember. It only bother’s me once or twice a year, but as a child, it was nearly daily. It feels like a constricted chest. When you breath, you tend to lift your shoulders up to make more room for air. Mild attacks just make me short of breath with tightness in my chest. Warm tea can help - it has a natural asthma blocker in it, but by all means keep going to doctors until it’s diagnosed one way or another. I keep a med-inhaler nearby all the time. Haven’t used it in years, but I never know when it will be necessary. On a camping trip miles from a pharmacy is not the place to have an attack.
I have mild asthma. I don’t have attacks, I just get a bit wheezy at night, kind of like a smoker’s cough. I take a puff of Flovent twice a day, and Albuterol occasionally. I only had attack-like symptoms once, right before I got diagnosed, after cleaning out a moldy basement.
Amen. Especially if it’s a combination of the two.
I was diagnosed in 4th grade, 15 years ago. I’m not sure what prompted it, might have just been at a regular checkup. Now that I think about it, I think I had just gone through a bout of pneumonia, so perhaps that triggered the diagnosis? I was given an Albuterol inhaler to carry with me all the time. Up through college I just needed it once in a while, especially when walking across campus in winter. After college when I moved back home, my allergies to my pets (which hadn’t bothered me while growing up in the house) kicked in and I was using up my inhalers on a monthly basis, whereas previously they might last me a year. My doctor put me on Advair to use twice a day, and it has been absolutely amazing since then. No wheezing, no attacks. Only time I need the albuterol now is if I get bronchitis or the like, but even then the Advair usually does enough.
Has anyone else seen the commercial that’s an image of a man’s chest breathing and the sound of him wheezing? I can’t stand it! I have to hit mute or change the channel when that comes on.
It’s a scary feeling. Like there’s a barrier in your throat and nose. You can feel the air go in your nose and mouth then just STOP. Then you get panicky which makes it worse. It’s very draining. Even if it doesn’t last long.
About the only time I have a major attack, is when I have chest congestion from the flu. I’ve only had 2 big ones that weren’t flu related. Both were caused by anxiety from my son getting hurt.
I have frequent mild ones. Usually after working out. It feels like a pressure on my chest, and I won’t be taking complete breaths. My husband makes fun of me because I can get a mild one from watching a suspensful movie.
Except for the Happy, See, He’s Camping type comercials, I won’t watch them. I change the channel or turn the tv off. I wonder if the advertisers know that their target audience won’t stick around for the product name.
My son had it pretty bad when he was little. Lots of pneumonia went with it. He was hospitalized fairly often. He still has the occasional run-in with it, but he’s not nearly as sickly as he once was.
My SIL, on the other hand, is nearly crippled by it. Can any of you asthmatics tell me if you’ve been on steroid treatment ALL THE TIME for 10 years? I thought this was a temporary treatment for flare-ups, but her doctor has her on it all the time. She weighs upwards of 300 lbs, much of which I think can be attributed to the steroids. This just seems excessive to me. Anyone hear of this type of treatment? I’d particularly like to hear from the doctors in the house.
