Am I asthmatic all of a sudden??

[OlderNotWiser]

I have had a chesty cold/cough thing for 3 weeks, with tight chest and breathlessness. Its not very nice, but doctor said its probably a viral thing so have to wait it out. A friend of mine is a long term asthmatic and let me use her peak flow reader thing this morning because I was puffing a bit when we were chatting, and it read 280. I know for a fact my reading was 550 back in the summer when I had a go on one on a health/science day at the local museum. Does that mean Im asthmatic? My friend said she thinks I should go back to the doc. Feel worse because Im breathless and worried too now!! (Moral of the tale - dont play with other peoples medical stuff! )

You should pop and see your GP. It's likely to be a viral wheeze (let the GP diagnose this though) and will resolve eventually. You'd benefit from an inhaler in the mean time though. It doesn't mean that you're asthmatic.

Ok thanks ladysybil. How long is eventually? Im into running but cant face it at the mo and Im starting to climb the walls. (off to google viral wheeze...)

Mine took a good few weeks. Pop and see your GP though, he's better qualified then I am.