I don’t have it, and I don’t know anyone with it that I’m really close enough to to be asking this question. I’ve only read about it in books, and have seen fictional attacks on tv or in movies. What physically happens when someone has an asthma attack?
Some of the things I’ve read seem to imply that the severity of an attack can be somewhat controlled by staying calm and relaxed. Is that really true? Is it that trying to keep your muscles relaxed, instead of tensed up, can help alleviate the - what, swelling, congestion, pressure? I would think it would be hard, if not impossible, to stay calm when you can’t breathe!
Having athsma for some people such as myself is simply a way of life. As long as you have your inhaler handy things tend to be ok. Basically, when you are having an attack, your bronchi constrict and do not allow as much air to your lungs as normal. A puff of your inhaler and you are fine…Most times that is sufficient to thwart a full blown attack. Sometimes however, a nebulizer treatment is needed to give you a higher dose of (proventil, albuterol etc…etc…) to keep your bronchi open.
I have asthma. Mine is usually triggered by cold air, and is worst when I’m active in the cold (e.g. shovelling the driveway). If I take a hit off my inhaler before I go outside it tends to prevent an attack. I rarely need to use the inhaler in the spring or summer though. All in all, mine is a pretty mild case.
How an asthma attack feels (for me): It starts with an itchy throat, inside and out. Next is the wheezing/popping sounds when I exhale. That starts before I feel the pressure in my lungs. Half a minute or so after the noises start is when I can feel it in my chest. When I inhale it feels like someone’s pushing on either side of my sternum. Almost like I’ve been bruised. When I exhale it’s as if the air is being let out through a balloon with a pinched end. It starts off strong, but by the time I’m at the end of the breath there’s hardly any air coming out. It’s easy to hyperventilate during an attack because the air goes in pretty easily, but expelling it entirely is pretty much impossible.
My asthma attacks usuall started with a slight burning in my chest, a tight feeling and coughing. I can’t breathe deeply and attempt to do so will be met with more coughing and wheezing. It feels like I am trying to breathe through a water soaked sponge filled straw. The attacks for me were triggered by irritants or allergens. Cold air, exercise, and cats or mold were the common triggers. Drinking cold water, showering to remove allergens, and resting most of the time help. If the attack is severe enough, only drugs will help, no matter how calm you stay.
Three things are happening. The tissues in the tubes in your lungs thicken, there are other tissues which clamp down on the tubes, and the tubes fill with thick mucus. These syptoms can combine to constrict air flow enough to kill. It is very difficult to stay calm when it feels like you can’t breathe. Breathing faster does aggravate the situation.
I just had my first asthma attack last week. Not fun. It was very cold, I was shoveling heavy snow, and I’m 5 months pregnant and overweight. On top of that, my cat allergies have been worse than normal lately (due, my midwife says, to the pregnancy.) My mother and my father have had asthma for years, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it may develop in me sooner or later.
Anyhow, I was ok while shoveling, but then I got into the nice warm car and started driving. And suddenly I couldn’t catch my breath. It was like someone had a couple of fists rammed into my breastbone, preventing my lungs from filling with air. Except that I sould see my diaphragm moving, see that some air was indeed getting in, it just didn’t feel like it. It felt as if I was sucking through a tiny, tiny straw and couldn’t fill my lungs completely. Breathing out was easy. Then I listened to my breathing and heard the wheezy, popping, crackly sound I recognize in Mom.
All in all, I was lucky. It was pretty mild. I had some ice cold water in the car that helped. I did some yoga breathing exercises and put myself in a light trance (pulled the car over first) and was able to relax the airway without medication. Nothing else has happened since.
I don’t know if Western Medicine makes this distinction or not, but Traditional Chinese Medicine differentiates between asthma where it’s harder to breathe in and asthma where it’s harder to breathe out. The two are treated quite differently. (And, interestingly enough, the hard-to-breathe-in kind is quite common to have during pregnancy.)
The respiratory therapist who taught me how to live with my asthma told me that uncontrollable coughing is the most common symptom of asthma. Asthma has two parts, inflammation and spasm. The “rescue” drugs, such as the albuterol inhaler, work on the spasm part, and they work fast. There is no quick fix for the inflammation part. Those drugs work more slowly, and that’s why they are often prescribed on an everyday basis. Sort of “Take this so you won’t have an attack,” not “Take this when you have an attack.”
Maisy, the “emotions as a trigger” problem varies from one victim to another. Every asthma case has its triggers, and emotions are not a big trigger for all of us. The more a victim knows about how asthma works, the less likely he is to panic when an attack hits.
My family doc says if you have to use your albuterol on more than four occasions a month, you need more anti-inflammatories.
I have (apparently) adult-onset asthma. I first noticed it a few years ago when there was one fall when I just couldn’t stop coughing. Exercise, especially dancing then going out into the cold air, seemed to make things worse. Walking after a heavy meal would also induce a coughing fit. I have not noticed any emotional correlation. It’s hard to breathe, and it feels like there is small, sharp-clawed animal in my chest trying to get out. I finally went to the doctor and got an inhaler, and it seems to help.
Are you old enough to remember those American Lung Association commercials with the tag line “When you can’t breathe nothing else matters”? It’s like that.
I’ve had asthma for a few years now, though I was reluctant to admit it to myself, and never did anything about it. Mine is induced mainly by allergens, exercise, and cold air. It feels the way most described above. A tightness in my chest, then an urge to cough when I try to breathe deep. In the past couple of years I’ve been becoming more and more physically active. For awhile, I was having a really, really hard time keeping up with my husband. I was constantly having trouble breathing. I don’t know why, but I ignored it and kept thinking it was because I was out of shape. I kept thinking I could ‘get over some hump’ and get over my shortness of breath. After doing intense cardio 4 days a week for a year or so, and still losing my breath, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and see my doctor. Since I’ve had my inhaler, I’m now pretty much able to keep up with my very active husband. It’s a whole new world.
I grew up watching my uncle suffer severe asthma attacks. One finally claimed his life 11 years ago. He was in his early 50’s. Last year I rode in one of the American Lung Associations Bike For Breath Rides, and I dedicated my ride to him, something I plan on doing every year.
Wow. Even just trying to imagine what you guys have to deal with in an attack makes me panicky. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences. Several years ago I had to help a child in a pool who was having an asthma attack, and I felt so bad for him. It turned out okay - all I did was pull him out onto the side and give him his inhaler, and he sat with me and rested for awhile. But I imagine it must be a daily fear that you just have to learn to live with.
For me, constant coughing is the worst part. I wheeze and my breathing gets faster but the cough is maddening and much much worse at nite and the only thing that quiets it is hycodan syrup
I monitor my peak flow daily. I keep a flowmeter near where I brush my teeth and check it first thing in the morning. I use an Advair inhaler daily. If my peak flow drops to a certain point I add nebulizer treatments. If I have a couple of consequitive days of dropping peak flows I make a doctor’s appointment.
Anyway, back to the OP. Pursed lip breathing techniques can help you stay in control and keep you from panicking but are not enough to prevent impending respiratory failure. If the lungs are so tight, steroids both inhaled and either IV or oral will be needed. By the same token, I don’t think you can make yourself have an asthma attack merely from becoming upset either.
A huge part of contolling the disease is recognizing your personal “triggars” and avoiding them. Preventative, steroid and rescue inhalers combined with proper education and constant monitoring will go a long way towards preventing a full blown spasms.
If you want to see what it is like for yourself… try placing a wet washcloth over your nose and mouth. For bonus points… then try doing something strenuous like carrying a box of records up a long flight of stairs.
Fortunately I got over my asthma when I was 25. My asthma was brought on by irritants, colds, strenuous activity, or cold air.
The asthma attacks resulting from irritants and colds tended to feel like a severe congestion. I could feel and hear the wheezing as a drew air in and out of my lungs. No amount of coughing could relieve the congestion, and persitent coughing was often followed by a tightness of the chest.
Strenous activity and cold air tended to lead more to an inflamation than a congestion. This is more frustrating I think. Imagine inhaling half as much air in a breath as you normally do and then imagine that it’s all you can inhale. This is when I would take constant, deep breaths to get as much air as I could.
I could usually control my ashtma by using an inhaler. In severe cases, I’d end up in the emergency room getting shots and using the machine inhaler there. My trips to the hospital were usually preceded by one or two nights where I slept sitting up to keep as much pressure off my chest as I could.
I had very mild asthma as a kid; occasional wheezing was the extent of it.
Then I was a regular smoker for 17 years with no incidents whatsoever.
I quit smoking, and BAM, two weeks later I’m in the ER, unable to breathe. It was exactly like having iron bands around my chest preventing me from expanding my lungs completely. I’m mildly claustrophobic, and the experience of being unable to breathe was extremely similar to my trapped-in-an-underground-cave nightmares. Freaking awful.
For me, if feels like there’s a road block at the top of my throat, and NO air is getting down there - for me, smoke is a really bad trigger, as is altitude. I can run in town for just about ever, however, send me on a hike in the mountains and I need my inhailer or else it’s not happening.
Add in tight, crushing pain at the top of the lungs, and you’ve just about got it.
You’re right. I forgot how my nose seemed completely superfluous. All the breathing effort was done through my mouth. I didn’t even try to breathe through my nose.
As others have described, breathing becomes realy hard work - no matter what you do, you just can’t catch your breath. It’s almost as if the air becomes syrup, and you’re trying to breathe it.
All winter, every winter, I get a cough - it sounds like a barking seal. Often my lungs are filled with crap, and so every morning in the shower (the warm steamy air is easier to breathe), I force myself to cough as much of it out as I can. I keep an inhaler everywhere, one by my bed, one in the car, one in the kitchen, one at work, one in my handbag etc.
Doing activities (over time) that increase your lung capacity have also helped me - I play the clarinet, and I used to do a lot of sport. Now that I don’t do either of things nearly so much, my asthma is worse (or I feel it more or something).
I used to be a lot more scared of it than I am now - now it’s just a fact of life that is completely manageable. I can tell when an attack is coming on and nip it in the bud. But it’s not something to laugh off either. My little brother’s best friend’s mum died of an asthma attack when they were in grade 1… She had previously only had very mild asthma…
I’ve had asthma pretty much since I was born, so it’s pretty much a way of life for me. What’s asthma like? At times, terrifying. It mostly just really sucks.
Running will bring on an asthma attack quicker than anything else, so I always have my rescue inhalor with me during gym, just in case.
My asthma attacks first start out with me coughing up mucus and other bad tasting junk from my lungs. Then I start wheezing madly, with every breath letting out a high pitched whistle. Once it progresses, it feels like as I take a deep breath, air just isn’t going into my lungs. It’s like I’m wearing a corset or something. I simply can’t take a deep breath or get air into my lungs. It feels like there is this huge blockage in my throat that is only letting in a little bit of air. Normaly my side will start hurting so badly that it’ll make me bend over. I’ll try taking deep breathes with my chest sticking out, just trying to get more air. As other posters said, it’s like sucking through a straw with your nose plugged. Nothing gets in. Normaly if I use my rescue inhalor and sit down once I start wheezing, I’ll start feeling better. If it doesn’t help, I need to use my nebulizer treatments. If that doesn’t help, it’s off to the ER for me. I haven’t been to the ER for an attack in maybe 4 years though. Normaly after an attack I’ll be on prednisone for a few days, because I’ll be coughing and wheezing for a while after. Man, asthma sucks. Normaly though it’s pretty controlled.
This describe my asthma exactly. When I exercise too hard, or get a cold that settles in my chest, I will want to start coughing and can’t stop with every breath. I owuld have to concentrate and tell myself that I was not going to cough with every breath. God help me if I had to take a deep breath. That would cause me to start coughing for 5 minutes or more. Deep hacking coughs that felt like I was going to hack a lung out my mouth. :eek:
Albuterol is a wonder drug. I can breathe again.