Please help me! asthma!

[inhalerunsure]

Was only diagnosed with asthma in adulthood and just realised I don’t actually know they much about it.

I was recently asked by my dentist if my asthma is mild, moderate or severe and I just realised I don’t actually know the difference. my doctor said that based on my attacks and symptoms and breathing etc I should be on a Fostair inhaler. Does anyone know- is this usually given for mild, moderate or severe asthma? I tried to google it but found mixed results.

also, I sometimes have random attacks (much better controlled since starting the Fostair thankfully) but the attacks could occur randomly or be triggered by the usual things (dust, cold weather etc) but weirdly I’ve found something else triggers it- the shower. I’ve tried different types or showers in the house (bigger more open styles, closed styles etc) and whilst some are worse than others, all seem to make me really wheezy and loud. Is that a normal trigger for asthma? Weirdly I had a few attacks whilst walking by the sea on the beach whereas I assumed the wet salt air would be good for breathing vs cold dry air

Thanks in advance!

Ive had asthma since I was 4 (spend a whole year in and out of hospital). Now 54. I don’t know if mine is mild or moderate as it wasn’t a thing years ago. I just know how to deal with it.

Try asthma.org.uk for help

Thanks, had a look on the website but couldn’t find anything, thought I’d try here in case anyone knew x

I developed asthma as an adult (after three bouts of severe bronchitis). I've never been asked if it's mild, moderate or severe - it's controlled, mostly controlled or uncontrolled. Mine is controlled by a brown inhaler used twice a day - my blue reliever inhaler has occasionally gone out of date before I've used it. However, going from warm to cold air will always trigger a reaction but not always requiring the reliever.

The shower could be you inhaling water triggering an attack. At the seaside it could have been the air temperature not the sea which set you off.

Im not certain but I think if you are having that many bouts then whether it’s mild moderate or severe, it’s not well managed. Could you request a review of your dose?

Respiratory nurse here. We don't categorise asthma in that way. If you are having full blown asthma attacks despite treatment then you need a referral despite the therapy you are on. Please go to asthma +Lung UK for further info

Fostair is a preventative, the blue one is the "rescue" one. I have found different triggers at different times: sometimes spicy foods, dust, polen, animal hair, in the last few years also aerosols, for example if someone puts a lot of spray deodorant in the same room than me, or certain perfumes..also I got a neon diffuser for essential oils, and had to sell it because it triggered my asthma terribly :(

https://www.asthmacontroltest.com/en-gb/welcome/

It’s how well controlled your asthma is that is important. If it’s not controlled - and yours doesn’t sound well controlled, then it’s back to gp / practice nurse for review.

Our asthma nurse explained that many fresh triggers (like sprays etc) can trigger new symptoms, but the better the asthma is managed with the preventer inhaler, the less likely and less serious these will be.
For this reason she was cautious of recommending that we tried quitting the preventer even though the daily dose is low and blue inhaler probably used twice a year (or very stable and well managed)