Asthma lived experiences please!

[Jjjjjj1981]

Diagnosed with asthma about month ago after Covid last March, I’ve had a ventolin and daily fostair (100/6) inhaler for about a month.
Breathlessness has definitely improved since having the inhalers but I’m still having really bad days where I can barely function. It’s about one day a week now compared to 3 or 4. Something seems to trigger me and it’ll be like falling into a hole, I just can’t get myself fully out however many times I use my inhaler. Only a full nights sleep seems to help (although with wakings due to breathlessness).
I’ll be ringing my asthma nurse tomorrow but just interested if anyone can share their experiences of living with asthma and how often it affects their everyday functioning and how effective their inhalers are? Is what I’m experiencing normal or is my asthma not under good control?
Thanks very much.

Are you using a spacer with your inhaler?

Yes I am @bloodywhitecat

Your asthma does not sound well controlled. If it was well controlled then you should feel 'normal' most of the time and certainly not be having sleep issues due to breathlessness.

I know it is early days, but do you have any idea what your triggers are? Mine are things like damp/mouldy environments, certain perfumes/disinfectants and spray cleaning products. Too much exposure to these and I am breathless no matter what medication I take. My asthma is adult-onset, and started after a bout of pneumonia. To be honest, I have good and bad spells and seem to be worse at work, unfortunately.

What I find helpful is to try and take some 'fresh air' every day - a 20 minute walk is about right. Also avoiding or reducing triggers. In the long run, improving fitness would help (think this is my issue at the moment!) but appreciate that is difficult to do if you are breathless.

I would report back to your nurse and maybe check your inhaler technique - think it is quite common to get it wrong.

Definitely not well managed OP. Speak to your asthma nurse. I had quite bad asthma until I got pregnant bizarrely, now it's much more managable. I only use Qvar (brown) inhaler, but since before Christmas it's not quite being keeping it under control so will be speaking to nurse soon re going onto fostair possibly.

There is more that can be done for asthma these days, have a look at asthma uk website, they are pretty good.

I was diagnosed with Asthma October 2020 , after bouts of breathlessness . Asthma I feel was brought on by moving house different environment .
I spoke with Asthma uk which have a wealth of information, do you have a peak flow , I always find this helpful to monitor how I am feeling .
I use to blow 250-300 now o blow 350-400, none asthmatics range between 400-450 so I can gage how my inhalers are helping .

Like other MN's have said it doesn't sound you are on the right preventer.
You should only use blue inhaler 1-2 a week at the most .

Asthma UK are fab this is where I got my information from . Asthma a nurse at GP I find like a sergeant major

Hope this helps . I am sure with right medication you should start to feel better .

Preventer I am on is Clenil and Ventolin .

Talk to your asthma nurse. DH had similar issues and was given montelukast along with fostair. That brought everything under control. Also if you regularly suffer from reflux discuss that as well as it can trigger or make asthma worse.

Thanks so much for all your input, I feel more confident talking to the asthma nurse now.

Like pp have said, your asthma is not controlled at the moment. With it as bad as it sounds I'm surprised they've not give you a steroid prescription in addition to the inhalers?

I'd get an urgent apt with your gp for a full review. Meanwhile, take it easy - don't put your lungs under unnecessary strain and if you know your triggers, avoid them!