if not asthma, what could it be?

[flaubertsparrot]

Was diagnosed as an adult a few years ago on the basis of probability. I don't get a saw-tooth pattern with peak flows, and peak flow doesn't really correspond to how my breathing feels (it can be bad when I feel ok and good when I feel I'm struggling). With Ventolin I need to take really quite a lot to make a difference to peak flow readings, so don't fall into the category of 20% improvement with two puffs. Reliever inhaler even when taken in large doses (5 puffs twice a day) doesn't make any noticeable difference to symptoms.
I also get a lot of low grade tonsillitis which I have given up going to the GP about as they are not very interested - tends just to be a sore throat with tonsil inflammation and a few white flecks which disappears and reappears on and off throughout the year. Have quite a lot of post-nasal gunk too, but not really any blocked nose or sinus pain ever, sometimes a bit of earache. Tend to get some kind of chest infection or bronchitis at least once a year, and can get very wheezy and breathless, including at night, with that.
Am allergic to a few random things - hayfever symptoms to some grasses and rapeseed; penicillin; intravenous morphine (not much call for that fortunately!). Get a bit of eczema from time to time.
GP gets annoyed with me for questioning whether it's really asthma and for not taking preventer regularly. But is it really asthma and if so, why doesn't preventer really work for me, or relievers or work at lower doses?

Hidden food allergies? Maybe see a dietist?

Have you had an X-ray or anything in that time? It could potentially be a trapped peanut or something...

When do you actually get breathless? Is there a pattern to that?

Have you had your heart checked recently?
Could just be tonsils?! Do antibiotics help your breathing?

And your blood pressure?

I'd check out dairy.

Possibly silent reflux. It can cause all symptoms you are describing

Have you had bloods done for autoimmune disorders such as thyroid and Addison’s etc? If your immune system is struggling I would be querying something like that.

Thank you for all these replies, lots of possibilities to follow up. Though I don't think it could be an injalef8 peanut, I really don't like nuts so never eat them.
Just realised that I wrote that the reliever doesn't make any difference, I meant preventer; reliever does make a difference after say 4 or 5 puffs, just not 2.
Breathlessness is really random; some days I'm out of breath after a couple of flights of stairs, or just randomly in the middle of doing nothing (usually first thing in the morning for that). Other days I can give my teenagers a sprint race and just be a bit wheezy at the end if it.
Could the tonsilitis cause this mind of thing? I am so very tired sometimes too, but getting towards the menopause so had put it down to that mainly.

Blood pressure was 122 over 88 last time I was in the Drs with a chest infection and temperature. A bit on the high side I guess but I've not been able to take the regular exercise that I would want to due to this problem of breathlessness.

To be fair, it sounds a lot like my asthma.

I've never wheezed, peak flows don't go up and down, don't get a change with reliever.

However I do cough for ages after every cold especially at night, get very short of breath around fragrance, got what I thought was a cold every spring which turned out to be an allergy to spring flowers and when I'm really really short of breath I still don't wheeze I just stop moving.

I'm on level 3 treatment for asthma and seen as high risk for an attack.

'A bit wheezy' does sound very very much like asthma. The allergies to grass seed and ezcema, cough at night also point in the direction of asthma.

If your breathlessness hasn't got better yet then either you aren't compliant with treatment like loads of us or you need to step up a level of treatment as your current treatment isn't right.

Well personally I would want my heart checked out

Bp isn’t too bad - slightly high? There’s two types of bp and you wouldn’t be able to measure your pulmonary bp so there’s a poss that’s high too

You should probably be alert for other symptoms such as bloating and feeling full etc

I’m not a dr but I would expect an reliever to make more difference than that

Basically if you think the drs are wrong keep going back and pushing the issue - maybe see a different gp?