Is this an asthma attack

[legalseagull]

New to having asthma. Started last year after pneumonia followed a few months later by covid. I have a brown preventer inhaler and a blue reliever. Symptoms usually manifest as an overall breathlessness

Tv and films would have you believ an asthma attack is a sudden and instant inability to breathe.

Last week I had a cold and hayfever has also been awful. I've been coughing like mad (covid test negative.)

Tonight I've had a wave of coughing fits, making me feel lightheaded and blacking out a bit. Can't get enough air in. Quick shallow breathes like I've done excercise. Is that what you would consider an 'attack'? 6 bursts of blue inhaler has calmed my chest but I feel so shaky (Adrenalin I guess)

What is an attack for you?

Coughing is a key symptom in my asthma @legalseagull

If you are coughing a lot then your asthma is likely uncontrolled. What dose are you on of the brown inhaler? I am on a stronger one as it never controlled kine, but dd gas 2 puffs twice a day but can increase it to 4 puffs twice a day if its bad.

If you have already increased increased it might mean you need a course of oral steroids (predisilone is the most common). See your gp. Asthma can and does kill.

A relentless cough can very much be an asthma attack, my children both had cough variant asthma and had attacks just like you describe.

Yes that is an asthma attack. Mind yourself. Often getting in to your GP within a few days for a check up isn’t a bad idea? See what triggered it also?

Feeling shaky is a known side effect of salbutamol so common when you've had more than a couple of puffs, so that combined with the worry/adrenaline will make you feel shaky, should wear off though. I've never had a sudden attack, my build up over time usually due to having a cold or something irritating my chest, but I do wheeze a lot. My daughter on the other hand is severely asthmatic and very very rarely has an audible wheeze, more often she coughs and if you didn't know she had asthma you'd think she was choking as she coughs so much she just can't catch a breath.

Thank you everyone. It's my own fault really. It's been so much better recently that I stopped taking the brown inhaler (2 puffs morning and night). I think it's triggered by having a cold last week and hayfever. I stupidly thought I didn't need the brown one because I seemed normal again. The shakes have worn off now thankfully. It was very scary. I felt like I was going to faint with the coughing. Back on the brown inhaler tonight!

@Terminallysleepdeprived

Coughing is a key symptom in my asthma *@legalseagull*

If you are coughing a lot then your asthma is likely uncontrolled. What dose are you on of the brown inhaler? I am on a stronger one as it never controlled kine, but dd gas 2 puffs twice a day but can increase it to 4 puffs twice a day if its bad.

If you have already increased increased it might mean you need a course of oral steroids (predisilone is the most common). See your gp. Asthma can and does kill.

I had those steroids twice last year and they were an absolute god send. I was coughing for three months after covid - day 3 of the tablets and I was good as new!

Have a look at asthma uk. Great place for practical advice and tips. Their forum is very welcoming and lots and advice regarding everything and emu thing to do with asthma.
Their asthma nurses are brilliant. No question to silly or small.
Hope you feel a lot better and find your management plan soon.

Be careful. Have you got what they call an Asthma Management Plan (or similar)? Go and remind yourself and family what to do in the event of an attack and when to call for help. Asthma does kill - having a plan makes that risk less. A good practice nurse will take you through making a plan if you don't yet have this. Mine is pinned to the kitchen notice board!

If you have hay fever - are you taking a regular antihistamine? My asthma is generally improved when I stick to doing that.

For me, other signs that I'm going a bit downhill is night waking with coughing / wheezing - that can be a red flag to watch out for.

Another way to know is to be aware of what your normal peak flow is, and see how close/far from that you are.

But if in doubt - take your blue inhaler. It's easier to control an attack if you catch it early, and I don't think there's any danger in taking the salbutamol, other than maybe a bit of shakiness and a slight 'hyped up' feeling.

Please ask for a peak flow meter if you don’t have one already. This is really helpful in monitoring your lung capacity - get to know what “normal” is for you. Also please carry on with your brown one particularly with the pollen as bad as it is this year! You sound fairly newly diagnosed and I would suggest waiting until your asthma review before stopping it completely (sorry if that comes across as condescending, genuinely trying to be helpful :))

Yes, the way tv and film presents asthma is really irresponsible and sensationalist — it often looks more like anaphylaxis! In reality it’s usually far more insidious. For me, when it’s bad, my breathing just becomes progressively more laboured and shallow and the blue inhaler helps less and less.
So, as PP have said, what you describe definitely sounds like asthma. You’ve had some really good advice already, so I won’t add much. One thing to consider with inhaled steroids is that if you’re not experiencing any symptoms it’s usually fine — a good idea, I‘ve been told — to cut your dose (so maybe once a day instead of twice) but don’t stop it altogether. Once you know what your triggers are (hay fever, colds) you can up your dose again when you see them coming. Talking to asthma nurses is a really great thing to do while you’re figuring it all out too. And if at any point the brown inhaler seems to be losing its efficacy don’t hesitate to ask to be moved to a different steroid. I spent years chugging it down in growing amounts (as my GP kept saying I should) whilst getting sicker and sicker until a newly qualified medic friend finally advised me to push for something new. So glad I did. My quality of life changed dramatically in the space of a week.

@Caneparrot

Please ask for a peak flow meter if you don’t have one already. This is really helpful in monitoring your lung capacity - get to know what “normal” is for you. Also please carry on with your brown one particularly with the pollen as bad as it is this year! You sound fairly newly diagnosed and I would suggest waiting until your asthma review before stopping it completely (sorry if that comes across as condescending, genuinely trying to be helpful :))

Not condescending at all. I'm grateful. I will call the GP tomorrow and ask for a review. It was only in the winter that I got diagnosed

I had a very similar episode this morning (my nurse calls them asthma episodes).

I'm my case, I always get a flare up of asthma symptoms this time of year. I think something must come into flower, although it's a couple of weeks later than usual, probably caused by the weather.

According to my GP, the hay-fever causes a nasal drip, which drips onto my voice box and upper chest, and that then irritates my asthma.

This morning I need 6 puffs to get it under control, and that gave me the shakes afterwards. It's very scary at the time.

Main thing is never ever stop the brown inhaler, even if you feel well. It is controlling your asthma which then makes you feel well.

@RoseAndGeranium

Yes, the way tv and film presents asthma is really irresponsible and sensationalist — it often looks more like anaphylaxis! In reality it’s usually far more insidious. For me, when it’s bad, my breathing just becomes progressively more laboured and shallow and the blue inhaler helps less and less. So, as PP have said, what you describe definitely sounds like asthma. You’ve had some really good advice already, so I won’t add much. One thing to consider with inhaled steroids is that if you’re not experiencing any symptoms it’s usually fine — a good idea, I‘ve been told — to cut your dose (so maybe once a day instead of twice) but don’t stop it altogether. Once you know what your triggers are (hay fever, colds) you can up your dose again when you see them coming. Talking to asthma nurses is a really great thing to do while you’re figuring it all out too. And if at any point the brown inhaler seems to be losing its efficacy don’t hesitate to ask to be moved to a different steroid. I spent years chugging it down in growing amounts (as my GP kept saying I should) whilst getting sicker and sicker until a newly qualified medic friend finally advised me to push for something new. So glad I did. My quality of life changed dramatically in the space of a week.

Wow it's amazing what difference a change of meds can make. I genuinely thought "this is how I am now" before I got the oral steroids. It was life changing.

I’ve been asthmatic since I was a kid. My previously very well controlled asthma of 30 years went mad last year (after ???covid/ virus of some other kind). I had to change meds to get it under control. Took me years to realise my “breathless episodes” were in fact asthma attacks. My pre-cursors are usually: getting a sore throat first, tickly cough, which becomes persistent. I will wheeze before/between coughs sometimes. However my asthma attacks are purely severe breathlessness. Hyperventilating, no wheeze. If that happens I do up to 10 rescue puffs with my blue inhaler. Only once in recent years (touch wood) has this not helped, then it’s 999 time.

Never stop your preventer inhaler. Your symptoms going away are a sign it’s working! Also try to get in the habit of request the repeat regularly. What are you on? Does it have a counter?

Also do you have a spacer for your inhalers? I thought I was pretty good with my technique but a spacer has proven more effective and reduces the likelihood of the inhalers making your teeth yellow!

You should always contact your GP after an asthma attack, even if you manage it yourself. Also do you have an asthma plan? They should print you one off and go through it with you, get them to prescribe a peak flow meter and explain the technique and what you should be aiming for.

You shouldn’t stop taking your brown inhaler unless you are told to by your GP/Practice Nurse.

Don't ever stop taking your brown inhaler. If you feel like you don't need it then it is doing its job. By stopping it you have allowed the level of steroids in your system to drop and your asthma to flare up. You will likely find it takes a week to 10 days to settle once you start the inhaler again.

Please see your asthma nurse and draw up a management plan as above. You can download them from the asthma UK site. I was diagnosed at 16 (now 41) and have been hospitalised and all sorts with it over the years., but the asthma UK site was a great source of info when dd was diagnosed at 2.

We both suffer coughing as an attack. But as she has got older she also suffers the same silent attacks as me, these are far more frightening than a standard attack. Most people know what a "proper" attack looks like, wheezing, struggling to breathe and noise attempts to do so. For me especially, I can cough and rake a deep breath and then it is like my lungs have been paralysed, I make no noise, no coughing, nothing. I literally cannot exhale. I have had to write a comprehensive plan for school and all her activities as she does the same if hers is really bad. it is reviewd annually and resubmitted and risk assessments updated.

Please never stop taking meds unless instructed to by a medical professional

@ThePontiacBandit

I’ve been asthmatic since I was a kid. My previously very well controlled asthma of 30 years went mad last year (after ???covid/ virus of some other kind). I had to change meds to get it under control. Took me years to realise my “breathless episodes” were in fact asthma attacks. My pre-cursors are usually: getting a sore throat first, tickly cough, which becomes persistent. I will wheeze before/between coughs sometimes. However my asthma attacks are purely severe breathlessness. Hyperventilating, no wheeze. If that happens I do up to 10 rescue puffs with my blue inhaler. Only once in recent years (touch wood) has this not helped, then it’s 999 time.

Never stop your preventer inhaler. Your symptoms going away are a sign it’s working! Also try to get in the habit of request the repeat regularly. What are you on? Does it have a counter?

Also do you have a spacer for your inhalers? I thought I was pretty good with my technique but a spacer has proven more effective and reduces the likelihood of the inhalers making your teeth yellow!

You should always contact your GP after an asthma attack, even if you manage it yourself. Also do you have an asthma plan? They should print you one off and go through it with you, get them to prescribe a peak flow meter and explain the technique and what you should be aiming for.

The first one had a counter. The second one I got didn't. It was the same medication but came in a yellow tube rather than brown. Shame as I like the counter

A spacer is really important, even for adults. Most of us have a much poorer inhaler technique than we would like to think and a spacer really helps to get the medication to the lungs and not the mouth.

Yes I use the spacer and find it infinity helpful. If I don't use it I'm sure I'm just spraying the back of my throat.

I’ve been switched to one with a counter. It does help. However my asthma nurse said they really expect you to order a new preventer inhaler once a month (though I guess it depends how many puffs your inhaler holds. My old one was 200 puffs so it would last me 50 days. Current one is only 120 so it doesn’t last a month!) so you know you’re not running out. I had a bad period with my asthma a few years ago. I was coughing a lot, short of breath, struggling to breathe…then I realised I couldn’t remember when I’d last had a new preventer. They will keep squirting even when they’re empty! So I now have a reminder in my phone.

6 bursts of blue inhaler has calmed my chest but I feel so shaky (Adrenalin I guess)
It's the salbutamol (the drug in the blue inhaler) that's causing the shaking. It works by mimicking the effects of adrenaline on particular receptors, including the ones on muscle cells that make you tremble when you're excited/frightened.

As others have said, you must take your preventer inhaler regularly. The point of it is to keep the inflammation in your airways that causes your asthma under control and avoid this very situation. You should also be having regular reviews with the asthma nurse. These might have slipped during the pandemic. I have a hypertension review next month that is nearly a year overdue.