In being surprised adult can get asthma?

[shesalady]

Just been told I have adult onset asthma after X-rays and blood work.

Everyone I've mentioned it to said it's not possible to just suddenly develop it as an adult and it's something you have from a child.

I've been referred to an asthma centre next week to test for allergies and discuss treatment. Treatment?! I'm a little in shock and don't really know a thing about asthma. Googling it briefly scared the living piss out of me!

I've got a horrible suspicion after having cats all of my life I've just become allergic to them.

Anyone else have adult onset asthma? Or suddenly develop an allergy to their beloved pet?

Dh is being really 'oh well it's not anything serious at least' which is pissing me off a little as I feel it might be and I'm going taking steroids for a few months in the best scenario.

I'd listen to doctors over friends and acquaintances, after all they went to medical school so they're pretty smart.

Not being able to breathe normally is actually quite serious but deaths caused by it are less common in developed countries.

I'm 29 and have just been diagnosed with asthma, it surprised me too.

I have had it all my life pretty much but thankfully mild and I know how to manage it. Some animal hairs give me a reaction but not most. I work with two people who have adult onset asthma as does my sil and a friend so it's not uncommon! Getting a treatment plan in place isn't as bad or scary as it sounds. I had one when I was younger in that I had to take a preventative inhaler and then had ventolin as well. I needed a nebuliser a few times until it was under control and never looked back and that's 35 years +

It is possible. Were you healthy as a kid? My dad was diagnosed as an adult, but he was a "sickly child" which we now know was likely asthma.

I've been asthmatic most of my life, and once I found an inhaler that worked for me it's become very manageable, not a big deal. Try not to freak out - you should be vigilant especially at first, but odds are things will settle down for you.

How can you be surprised, every gold medallist in the last 15 years for Britain developed asthma as an adult and bang on about it!

I developed asthma at aged 20. The doctors reckoned it started after a bad chest infection. At the time I remember going on holiday to Barmouth in a caravan with my boyfriend and sucking Fisherman's Friends in the hope that it would help me breathe. I didn't have a clue what was going on.

I'm 49 now and it's pretty well controlled now and has been for many years. But I'm always aware that I have it and make sure I have an inhaler with me.

My son whose just turned 18 has also been diagnosed with it recently too.

Adult asthma is actually quite common, msny people have it fairly mildly though. I am quite severe, as was my DM & GM. My DM had to carry an inhsler the size of a gas mask, & my ZGM struggled.

I'm waiting for a hospital referral as mine is poorly controlled despite shedloads of meds.

I developed it as an adult, although I had hay fever very very badly as a child and still have it now to a lesser degree. I’ve had various types of inhaler that alleviate the symptoms and go for an annual review with the asthma nurse.

I have a nebuliser and albuterol inhaler already and am on prednisone for a week.

Is it possible to be allergic to one cat and not another or is that just mental?

I was a sickly kid. I constantly had bronchial, ear and sinus infections. I've been healthy as a bloody horse for the last ten years though. (Until ds started pre school aka the Germ Zone.)

Apologies typos. Gin.

Please take it seriously and use the preventer medication prescribed.

My aunt was diagnosed with asthma when she was 40. She never took it seriously and died from a massive asthma attack at 47

Asthma is manageable and treated properly shouldn’t impact on your life. Ignored or not treated correctly can be another story.

I've had it since I was in my late teens. It's no big deal. I use steroid inhaler twice a day and blue inhaler as I need it. Winter time I'm susceptible to chest infections but I know how to stay as well as possible. It doesn't stop me doing anything, I run, work, go on holidays. The one thing I can't do is blow up a balloon!!

I was diagnosed at 26yrs. Had cats, dogs and other animals and now I'm allergic to them and the lick from a cat will trigger an attack.

Please listen to your docs. Take the inhalers properly. I was hospitalised in Resus last year so you can't take it for granted.

All the best

It's absolutely possible to have adult onset asthma and it's increasingly common.

Another one here diagnosed as an adult. It has got much better since my cat died. Truthfully though I think I've always had it but just not diagnosed as a child.

TBH, my biggest fear for myself, in the event of war with Russia, is that I will die of an athsma attack. I suffer severe chronic hemiplegic migraines & without meds I'm frequently paralysed on one dide. I might suffer a stroke like my DF. But my asthma could easily kill me. I'm already stocking up on antihistamines.

I was diagnosed in mid forties as was my dbro several years previously. Can be triggered by allergy or viral infection.

DH was diagnosed in his 20s. Eventually it transpired it was part of a wider condition called Samter’s Triad: asthma, allergies and nasal polyps.

I started to notice one of the made my eyes itch and mouth feel hairy. And feel my breath catching. Then ds got this monster cough and gave it to me and it all went downhill from there.

I also just started getting hay fever for the first time in the last two years.

I'm bloody 40!

I had asthma as a child until I was about 8 and then I had nothing at all asthma wise (didn’t need inhalers or anything) until last year at the age of 37

I actually thought I was having a heart attack as I was having chest pains and couldn’t breathe so went to a and e and that’s where they diagnosed me and i came out with steroids and inhalers and saw the asthma nurse the following day. I’ve been on Seretide inhaler ever since and use the blue one as needed and it’s pretty much under control. The one thing I struggle with is that I don’t wheeze, I just get chest pains! But apparently that’s quite common with adult asthma. Drives me crazy anxiety wise!

Once you get the right inhaler it’s usually quite manageable.

I've gone through SO many packets of fisherman's friends the last few weeks! It's the only thing that's stopped me coughing to death when I'm on a hour long coughing jag.

Oh, and it's made my bladder prolapse MUCH worse. It's actually hanging out now (sorry probably tmi) and I'm wearing pee pads.

A spacer is a great tool, as I've learned from DD having asthma.

Watching the difference between my DM's asthma management and my DD's, I can say that there are two lessons...

1. Don't underestimate it. Use the drugs.

2. My DM was taught to use the drugs sparingly and to stop being physically active. DD has been taught to use her inhalers to enable her to be far more active and increase her lung capacity. I feel sad for my DM's limited life.

I was diagnosed with asthma at 16. It's not affected my life in any huge way, aside from one or two serious attacks that have required hospit treatment. Work with the team to get the right inhalers and dosage and take them properly. Keep ventolin in your handbag and be sensible. With proper treatment it shouldn't be much of an imposition on your life. Get your flu jab too.

Late onset asthma is quite common. Both my sister and I have it. Started in our late 40s and 50s

@Jozxyqk