Had asthma and allergies as a kid een. Pretty much outgrew it. As an adult, and after quitting smoking (yeah, THAT was stupid) I am symptom free.
As a kid, I had occasional moderate attacks for reasons that were never clear. As a teenager, sport was a big trigger. The prescribed preventer inhaler (Intal) was useless, as was the prescribed reliever (Ventolin). Essentially every bit of exercise triggered a bout of asthma, which was unpleasant rather than dangerous.
In a passing conversation, a GP wondered if I’d tried any other reliever if Ventolin wasn’t working. Tried terbutaline. Amazing, no more exercise induced asthma, instant total relief. I now take it before exercise and never experience any symptoms. My preventer is Serotide, which is good, but doesn’t prevent the exercise induced asthma. It does however allow me to sleep through the night, which is rather lovely.
Mold and dust mites have always been an issue for me. I had a nutritionist put me on a diet that excluded common allergens, including all mold/fungus/yeast. That meant no wine, mushrooms, bread or cheese. At the end of four months, I was allowed to eat a bit of fresh chevre but no other cheese or bread just as I went off on my first trip to - yep, France, the land of wine, bread, and aged cheeses. The first day in town, we headed to Carrefour (the original hypermarket chain) to stock up. The moment I walked in the door, I was able to pinpoint where the cheese counter was because my nose had finally become clear enough to smell mold at 100 meters away.
Naturally though, aged cheeses, etc. have crept back into my diet and all the usual sinus problems have returned. It’s not helping the asthma situation.
Can’t cycle (the arthritis) but Cambridge is our favourite place to relocate to. For various reasons it’s just not that easy for us to move.
I’m not getting rid of the cat. He sheds unusually little anyway and my asthma started getting worse before I got him.
I am looking into air purifiers though. 
Peak flow this morning was 170, up to 240 this evening. Oxygen percentage was surprisingly high at 96%. So I’m not doing too badly in some ways, just taking a lot of medication to stay that way.
Serevent is salmeterol, and is NOT a rescue inhaler - it’s one of the longer-acting bronchodilators, unless the brand name Serevent refers to albuterol / salbutamol in the OK which would surprise me. Albuterol (salbutamol in the UK) is a rescue inhaler. Seretide is fluticasone (a steroid inhaler) + salmeterol (same as Advair in the US).
Interesting on the oxygen meter. That’s not been a standard recommendation for asthma management in the home, that I’ve heard of. What guidelines do you have for how to use it and how to respond to dropping saturation levels?
Re the cat, and allergies: Has your doctor ever suggested you be tested for allergies? In the US, there’s a strong feeling that allergies are a component in asthma for many (though certainly not all) patients, and they recommend reducing exposure to allergens. You should discuss the possibility of starting on treatment for the allergies - if nothing else, the mention of hives means you’re allergic to them;, whether they’re doing much to aggravate the asthma itself, anything to reduce the assault on your immune system can help.
I’m with you on the pleasure that a cat can bring, I fought rehoming my cats for quite a while (among other things, because one of them had feline leukemia and rehoming would have been nearly impossible). He died before we moved to another city, and we were able to rehome the other one. 26 years later and I still miss being a cat-servant.
GrumpyBunny: had to laugh on the nebulizer and wanting a smaller one. That was exactly MY thinking; one asthma flare, I was feeling “better” but needed the nebulizer - a huge thing the size of a shoe box, and noisy as hell - so I had to stay home an extra day or so. Next time I saw the doctor I got a prescription for a portable nebulizer. Mine isn’t the tiniest one, but it is much more portable and makes travel (and occasionally use at work) much easier. Definitely ask about one; your insurance should cover most of the cost.
I was allergy tested a while back due to the chronic hives, which were eventually diagnosed as Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria. I was told it might go away on it’s own after menopause because there could be a hormonal component. I have not had break-through hives for a very long time (I used to get them even on two antihistamines) but I am not willing to risk the other allergies to experiment by going off the antihistamines. I have reduced the amount and type I take though and no hives. Sometimes I do still get the dermographia if I skip a day of the Zyrtec but not as much as I used to.
I was found to only be severely allergic to dust mites. Dust has always been a problem for me and I pretty much already know that. I was only mildly sensitive to sesame and chocolate. Not giving up chocolate for a mild sensitivity. I will scrape sesame seeds off my food if they are excessive but I don’t avoid them. I assumed I would be allergic to melaleuca trees (we call them punk trees) because they set me off every time they are in bloom. But my allergy doctor just said that I am sensitive to these things but not actually allergic and they sometimes act as an asthma trigger, too. The punk trees would have me wheezing in no time but I have found the daily Zyrtec helps with this.
I work with animals and have lots of pets so I was glad when I did not test as allergic to any animals so I could say “PFFFFTTTT!” to all those people who liked to blame them for my allergies. That said, every once on a while an animal will come in that gets my eyes itching and I’ll start sneezing but I think it’s more likely they have something on them that’s irritating to me.
I am allergic to my cats. They are not allowed in the bedroom and I vacuum, damp mop, dust, change air filters frequently, etc. I do very well with it except for on a cuddly day. When cats is cuddly, I must shower before I go to bed for sure.
One thing that helps - I go to the fabric store and by scraps and end pieces of fleece fabrics. The fleece catchs a lot of cat hair. When the hair starts getting thick on the fleece, I throw the fleece out, and grab a fresh one to use. I tried washing the fleeces, but no go. It puts cat hair on everything else that goes through the laundry.
Sorry - I got the US/UK names wrong. I know which of my inhalers is the rescue inhaler and which the preventer.
Like I said above, I am allergic to cats. I’m allergic to nearly everything except nuts. But this particular cat gives me and my daughter a hell of a lot of pleasure, and he really doesn’t shed. I mean, yesterday he sat on the ironing board and there wasn’t a trace of hair there. If I got rid of him my daughter would be utterly distraught; she’s autistic, and he helps in ways that are difficult to quantify but are real. I only get hives from this cat if I allow him to brush against my face. Other cats are another matter - you know how you can kind of adapt to a specific pet?
Also, my problems got worse before I got the cat.
The oxygen meter is just something I picked up for fun, really, while shopping for a peak flow. It’s not prescribed by my doctor so there are no guidelines.
In the area where I grew up, valley of the Ebro river, there is a lot of retama, lilies… even when I’m not specially clogged, my baseline is clogged.
In the area at the foot of the Pyrenees where I have my house (and where a lot of my ancestors were from) retama is something you see when you go south, lilies you buy from the florist… the baseline is that I can breathe just fine.
Barcelona is in between. Urban pollution notwithstanding, I have more good days than bad ones.
Since different people have different triggers, the same zone could be great for someone and hellish for someone else.
I am never posting again that something hasn’t happened for a long time because ever since I posted this I have started having the dermagraphia again, which usually precedes the hives. I think this thread is a jinx to me. First an asthma attack and now this! :eek: I will never post to this thread again … well, except for this.
Just in case …
I haven’t won millions of dollars in the lottery in a long time. 
My Dad had asthma, and he didn’t help matters by his smoking.
I may have been susceptible to it myself. One night I was breathing really ragged, and my parents had me sleep in the front room while they set fire to some Asthmador, a brown powder, in the middle of the floor. I started to breath the fumes and right away the breathing eased up and became quiet. 
I’ve heard in more recent years that Asthmador has been taken off the market due to abuse. 