asthma cough or cold cough

[Dilbertian]

How can you tell the difference between a cough caused by asthma or one caused by a virus?

DS coughs if he exerts himself or if there's a change in temperature, particularly if he's been out in the cold. If he's coughing a lot a reliever inhaler stops it. So it's an asthma cough. If the cough is constant with breathlessness then it's possibly an asthma cough. Otherwise it's probably a coldy cough, especially if the person is snotty.

What if you've got a cold? Colds trigger my asthma. How do I know whether the inhaler is effective if I'm coughing from a cold?

I'm not sure whether I actually do have a cold, as I'm not particularly snotty, though this all started with that tickle in the throat that you get when starting a cold.

Have you got a peak flow meter and/or a pulse oximeter?

PF has plummeted. Oxymeter shows 99%.

I'm awaithing call back fro m asthma nurse.

Excuse typos. Cat likes warm laptop.

How are you doing now @Dilbertian ?

Prednisolone and increased inhalers.

Feeling better, thanks. Cough usually responds to the inhaler, but now my nose has started running so I definitely have been brewing a cold. And I still can't tell the difference