Asthma attack? Any paramedics/nurses/DRs etc?

[Flowersinthewind4]

Hi

i have asthma and recently had a bad attack. I took my salbutamol (8 puffs) which helped. I also took around 4 puffs of my combination as it can be used for relief during an attack which helped too. Thankfully it worked and I started to feel better quickly. I won’t go into too many details because I’ll try and keep it anonymous but I ended up getting help and my breathing was checked around 10-15 minutes after the attack finished and they said it was fine and there was no wheezing at all. I just wondered, does that mean it wasn’t an asthma attack? Or is it normal that after an attack is over there won’t be any wheezing anymore? Just wondered if the wheezing can resolve that quickly after an attack or if there would still be some residual wheezing left in which case did I even have an asthma attack then?

TIA 🙂

It means you are back to normal. It certainly sounds like you had an asthma attack to me.

I’m not medical, just asthmatic.

Are you doing a peak flow chart atm?

The point of your medication is to stop the wheezing.

Paramedic here, its certainly possible that was an asthma attack. Using your inhaler like that could certainly fully resolve your symptoms in 15minutes. If you experience frequent exacerbations would definitely advise seeing asthma nurse/gp. Any persisting/unusual symptoms gp worth a thought also if not sure it's your asthma.

I think I was just confused because I read online that apparently you’re wheezy for days after an attack whereas my chest was clear 15 minutes later and I just wasn’t sure if that was possible or meant it wasn’t an attack or not!

I do think that sometimes the word "attack" can be unhelpful. Asthma is a chronic condition that can peak and cause problems, those peaks can be very different for different people. You certainly had a flare up of your asthma which you controlled well with good use of medication

Fellow asthmatic here, and it sounds like you had an asthma attack alright, and the reason you had stopped wheezing was that the medication did what it was supposed to do.
I am guessing you were told to make n appointment with your asthma nurse though.

Wheezing is irrelevant. I have asthma and no one has once heard me wheeze. Doesn't mean my peak flow hasn't dropped.

Thankfully it is less common now to hear 'you aren't wheezing so it's fine' so word must be getting out.

Plus it is likely you felt better after your 8 puffs of reliever so any wheeze that was there had gone.

I'd book yourself in with your asthma nurse for a review and go over what happened.

I have chronic asthma. Need the nebuliser almost daily. It always passes afterwards - doesn't last for days.

My peak flow is low - but no wheeze. I'm under the asthma dept in the hospital who are keeping an eye.

I'd get a nebuliser for the house - salbutamol goes straight into the lunch and you get more in.

Don't get a nebuliser at home unless you are medically advised to do so!

Having nebulisers at home has caused deaths of people with asthma who stay at home thinking 'they'll only give me nebuliser in hospital'

Home nebulisers are only suitable for a very small number of asthmatics.

Good point about use of the word attack, flare definitely sounds more accurate and a better way to describe it 👍🏻

Great, feel better about it all thanks. Was just worried I had somehow been a timewaster because I didn’t have a wheeze by the time I got help!

@AnnaMagnani I'm curious to know more about not having a nebuliser at home.

I kept a nebuliser because I am far from hospital and in the case of a severe attack I'd be a bit stuffed without it. During previous hospitalisations, the treatment after admission was nebuliser every 4 hours. So having one at home seemed like the most sensible thing to do.

I don't wheeze, just cough continuously and not catch my breath.

@AmandaHoldensLips it sounds like you have serious asthma, a lot of admissions and a clear plan of when and how to use your nebuliser - plus when to get yourself admitted.

It was drilled into us when I was a junior doctor that people like the idea of home nebs but with asthma at the point you need a neb, you need hospital monitoring as people had died basically staying at home having back to back nebs when they needed to be in an intensive care unit.

At home you don't have:
high flow oxygen
oxygen driven nebulisers
intravenous magnesium
intravenous aminophylline
access to frequent blood gas monitoring if needed
and if really needed an intensive care unit

The first thing on the Asthma UK web page on nebulisers is:

You should only use a nebuliser at home if your healthcare professional has prescribed it for you

https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/symptoms-tests-treatments/treatments/nebulisers

Thank you @AnnaMagnani - that's very interesting and informative.