Surely this can’t just be asthma?

[Letsmoveondude]

Apologies, I know this isn’t really the place but I am posting here for traffic as I’m really starting to worry.

I’ve been unwell since about halfway through October, so we’re coming up to 2 months now.

To start with DD was suffering with a viral infection whilst we were away, she had the tell tale runny nose and tiredness and sore throat, I was very careful to try and not catch it as my immune system is pretty rubbish and it’s fairly normal for DD to get ill with something and I get whatever it is but worse- for example last December DD was unwell, it turned out she had the flu, which was passed to me, and as it passed I ended up with a chest infection requiring a chest x Ray- I always get to the point where I’m coughing up blood and that seems the trigger point for the drs to send me for an x Ray.

So I started to also feel ill whilst in Florida, I put it down to possibly being asthma related, but knew when we got back and there was someone smoking around me that I had a chest infection. I literally didn’t get out of bed for a week, then went to the drs, because at that point I was coughing up blood, but felt like I’d had the flu, headachey, soreness everywhere, sleeping a lot and chest tightness, wheezing, and green phlegm. I had antibiotics, and discussed using asthma pumps because I only take them if I have a chest infection or similar sort of illness because that’s the only time I have any sort of asthma symptom. My asthma has been much better as an adult because I no longer live with multiple smokers.

Antibiotics finished and I wasn’t 100% but felt like maybe my asthma was still bad because the rubbish on my chest. So I gave it some time, went back to the drs a few weeks later, and they said I should up my usage of the brown inhaler, but 4 days later I thought I had an asthma attack, as I couldn’t stop the coughing, infact I coughed and coughed until I’d been sick and been off food for a few days. I was given some steroids. The dr noted that my heart rate was quite fast as I’d obviously taken my reliever a lot. I was just trying to catch my breath.

After steroids have finished I’m again starting to get worse, so we went back in, I’ve now had to start on the fostair inhaler, but I’m realising every single morning I have a lot of green phlegm in my upper chest and it comes up quite easily and is always about 50% blood which is fairly bright. My throat isn’t sore so I can’t imagine that my throats bleeding.

I’m absolutely knackered, I’ve got a headache and I have backache in the lung area.

Im really starting to worry this is more than asthma. I’ve gone from not having to use pumps at all, to then having two, that haven’t worked, to now using this new pump that I’ve never even seen anyone else use. It’s quite concerning that I’m now coughing up bloody phlegm- I do it during the day too, but not as routinely as it is every morning If that makes sense.

It’s just concerning I’ve been quite unwell for so long. If I go out the cold sets me off coughing. But I can’t speep without the bedroom window open, because that makes me cough more.
I’ve not been able to go to the gym at all in two months, I haven’t been able to be anywhere near any cleaning fluids- and I love them and air fresheners for months now. Anything with any sort of smell sets me off in a coughing fit. My husband can’t even spray deodorant around me at the moment.

The surgery are being great, they’re doing all they can, but I’m concerned that I am maybe not telling them information that would be really useful to them and somewhere we’re missing a big part of the puzzle.

I was told the other day it’s definitely not a bacterial infection because of it were, I’d have become very ill on the steroids instead of better.

Just thinking with the wealth of mumsnet someone may be able to tell me if this is even just the way asthma can be sometimes. I’ve never suffered with it like this.

I also have OCD and GAD so I do have a habit of worrying about things, I’m trying to stay quite calm about this, but two months on I’m feeling quite helpless.

I feel for you. I suffer from anxiety, especially health related, so I can understand how you feel. I don’t have any medical knowledge or experience in this to pass on, but wanted to “bump” your post for you.

No. I’ve been asthmatic all my life and what you describe is more than asthma. Surely there’s a bacterial infection, no matter what they say. Have you seen a specialist?

Doctors have become over-zealous in avoiding prescribing antibiotics imho, and it’s very hard on those who have poor immune systems.

Are you using regular preventative steroid inhaler even when well?
Have you had spirometry test or pulmonary function tests?
It could be asthma that is poorly managed but it’s impossible to tell from the intranet. It could also be other conditions. Maybe ask for a referral to a respiratory specialist, if GP can’t get it under control.

You need to see a consultant & have lung function testing. What you've described is not normal asthma, the stuff you're bringing up sounds more like an infection. Asthma wouldn't cause that, it'd be worse but not cause if that makes sense. Get back to your gp or call 111 for advice. Have you at least had an X-ray? Have you been monitoring your peak flow?

What pumps are you on? I'm on symbicort, it's a preventative & long acting reliever, really good drug for getting asthma under control. Really feel for you as it's terrifying when you can't control your breathing, very hard to explain others that fear. Go back & push for more tests and if you're bringing up lots of blood or your breathing gets worse call 999 or get to a&e.

I had an attack & got told off as I should have called an ambulance but took a taxi, I didn't want to be a bother & didn't realise how serious it was till they took me straight through & got me on oxygen. Always better to be checked out when it comes to asthma especially this time of year.

It does sound like an infection or possibly an allergy. You need to have further tests. Asthma alone would not produce as much mucus as that. Any coughing is usually worse at night and lying all night will mean any phlegm etc produced will need to be cleared out in the morning but blood means damage and that needs time to recover.

You really do need to look at keeping up prevention treatments rather than trying to relieve your already weakened system, it sounds like your heart is already struggling too.

I almost lost my son to something similar. Asthma presented as persistent cough, docs convinced it was an infection, his airways blocked and his breathing stopped and heart almost stopped. He was successfully resuscitated only because he was in hospital when it happened, I could not have secured his airway myself.

We later found out that it was not an infection (a million cultures confirmed) it was an allergy to dust which got into his lungs and triggered his asthma attack.

My mum caught an infection last winter. She has COPD. It took her literally all winter to recover from it. I think if you already have a problem in that area it may take longer?

Fostair is the same type of inhaler as sumbicort or seretide, or even flutiform.
They are alll inhaled corticosteroids in combinations with long acting beta antagonists. So preventers and relievers comibined.

As for having never seen anyone take it, please don’t worry about that. Seretide and symbicort were for many years in the top 5 of all prescribed drugs in the UK, fostair contains the same steroid as many old school brown inhalers and the same reliever (LABA) as symbicort or flutiform.

Thank you everyone. I felt like I was probably making a big deal out of nothing when I posted, but Its been helpful to see that actually there are other avenues to be able to pester the Drs to try!

And even stuff I should try to sort myself, I do need to address my rubbish immune system, which did actually get better for a year or two but this year I’ve managed to pick up everything going.

My drs have always been quite happy that o didn’t take my pumps until I’ll, because my asthma has always been fine, it’s more of an issue if it becomes triggered, by allergies or illness, which has made it quite concerning that all my Drs have been absolutely fine that I’ve taken no inhalers and now nothing’s working.

I haven’t had any sorts of tests or specialist mentioned yet, and I had an x Ray when I was first unwell, my x Ray was in October, though I’d be more interested in what it would show now, after this having carried on for almost two months!

I will have to ask about symbicort, I have had a quick google, and it seems similar to fostair in that they are both also used to treat COPD. Fostair is a pink inhaler,

It does seem very infection like, so I’m also glad someone has said that.

Thank you all. I really thought I was just being a bit overzealous with the worry, but you’ve helped me to kind of figure out some next moves to try and push for, or go and get privately if i dont start to feel better soon.

My father in law once had a nasty cold over Christmas and he was still coughing really badly in February/March. He just had a prolonged chest infection but it went away eventually. I'm not sure if they tried antibiotics. Maybe you have a particularly nasty bug too, which combined with asthma is making you so ill? I'm asthmatic myself and whilst my asthma is well under control, I still get really ill with respiratory stuff every now and again, and as a kid I was often in hospital with random bouts of pneumonia (luckily not had it since I was little!).

On a different note, could it be possible that you have mould in the house? That tends to aggravate if not cause respiratory issues.

Hope you feel better soon. Do go back if you're still suffering as I'm sure they can trial inhalers, steroids or antibiotics.

I would just like to let you know that this myth that people outgrow their asmtha is totally wrong. My sister had many year's of bot needing to take any preventative treatment. But then like you hit a rough patch triggered by a bad viral infection intialy and is back to taking a preventative. Asthma seems to run in cycles and I do wonder if you should ever stop the preventative as it then seems really hard to get it back under control.

My son also takes Seretide, it the only thing that worked to get his asthma under control. He's only 8 has been taking it since he was 5, I know some one else who takes it to.

Have you started taking aspirin or anti-inflammatories? They can both provoke an asthma attack and are often not an automatic suspect.

nope, no mould in the house, it’s a new build too, so the chances of there being anything hidden is quite unlikely too.

I’ve even bought a new mattress this past week incase it was dust from the mattress that wasn’t coming out during a good go over with the shark. I’ve even started to hoover the house with a dust mask on. It’s really pathetic but I don’t want to take the risk of it making me unwell.

In all fairness to myself, I didn’t say that I had outgrown it, because that doesn’t seem possible, but my asthma has been better in adulthood because I left home and I now no longer live with multiple smokers who smoke around me, and the smoking inside van happened in the same year, so I very rarely spend time in confined spaces with smokers, which has made me for the most part symptom free, which I’ve quite enjoyed.

No new medications, I avoid ibuprofen whenever I have chesty sort of symptoms.

Thanks all, my husband has said that he wants me to go back to the Drs tomorrow,

If you are still coughing up green phlegm and blood I’d say you still have an infection/pneumonia
Def sounds more than exacerbation of asthma.

I’d second going back to the GP

Sounds like the Drs need to take a sputum sample to test for infection

I have cough variant asthma and some of what you describe is familiar. The winter is an utter misery for me, to the point that emigration is on the cards.

The bloody phlegm is something else though. That needs to be investigated.

Hi. Go back to the GP ask him to send off some of the phlegm you are coughing up off to microbiology for testing to see if it's still infected and that you've had the right treatment for it. Continue with your fostair. If your still coughing up red new blood ask for a referral.to a respiratory physician . Try not to panic coughing up blood is quite common with infection and uncontrolled asthma can lead to infection that can't clear. Insist on an urgent appt when you ring your GP. Yes I an a HCP in respiratory

"just asthma".

You do realise asthma is a potential killer?

Asthma alone is enough to do damage.

I had pneumonia for months until I had to be hospitalised.

Some types of pneumonia need an Xray, they can't always be heard.

It does sound like the infection hadn’t completely cleared up.

Has it got better or worse on the Fostair? I can’t use it because it sets off my asthma and I know I’m not the only patient at my surgery that has an issue with it. Might be something else to think about.

I'm on Fostair night and morning. I have the cough type of asthma and have chesty colds most of the winter.

The green phlegm sounds like an infection and the blood is concerning, even though you may have broken capillaries from coughing.

Do you have an annual asthma check? It can change depending on what is going on elsewhere in your life or body so you need to keep on top of the changes, leading to new medication or schedules. This really does need to be checked out.

And asthma is never "just asthma". I worked with someone who didn't need daily inhalers until she suddenly ended up in hospital on oxygen - from one extreme to the other instantly.

I was on seretide for years they switched me to Fostair. Well I had all sorts of problems leading to xrays, lung function tests etc. It was only when I said months later could it be that you changed me to Fostair that the nurse looked and said, yes it could well be. I suspect it is cheaper. They put me straight back on the seretide and all was well.

I have just had a respiratory infection caught from a four year old, soldiered on for 9 days but finally went to Doc. who told me off for not coming sooner. I had a week of amoxycillin 400mgs three times a day which shifted the infection.

Just because you are asthmatic does not mean that everything is asthma related. So please go back to gp.

ps. the children all needed antibiotics too.

It is cheaper and the computer system at my GP surgery is quite forceful at recommending it as an alternative to Seretide IIRC. I’m sure plenty of people get on fine with it, but it is a known problem and worth considering.

Thank you everyone for the advice, I think I will try and collect some phlegm in the morning to take in. I've already started to keep tissues to show that there is blood coming up. I know it sounds mad, but I always try to do all I can to give medical professionals all the information they need.

I'm afraid to say I've not even been picked up on my Drs system as needing an asthma check which I was told I should have been having each year. It's a little confusing, but I have one booked in for January, so hopefully that will help get things settled.

I've wondered if it could be pneumonia. I've been really unwell, and I can't shake any of it.

I do understand that asthma can kill, but I also don't understand Asthma to cause green bloody phlegm, or the tiredness that I can't shake, that's been here for just shy of two months... I can understand some of the symptoms I have are asthma, but I have been wondering if there is something else.

I will also need to keep an eye out for symptoms of the fostair, I'm new on it, my only realisation is the bloody phlegm has got worse since.... I also read that fungal infections in the mouth are a sideaffecg of it. What joy!- I hope I manage not to get that. Doesn't sound much fun!