Asthma as an adult and what to expect/experiences

[asthma1230]

Hi all,

I had asthma as a child but now as an adult it has resurfaced after not needing inhalers for a long while. I'm 31 now.

Currently on Fostair and then obviously the blue inhaler. I have had 2 courses of steroids in the past year. I finished the last course about 2 weeks ago and yet, I was in hospital last night needing a nebulizer. The hospital weren't that great, they treated me and said my sats were normal now and that they needed the space, which is fine, but I wasn't given any directions on what next - they did tell me to go back if it happens again though.

So since last night I've been wondering what do I do now? Because surely after steroids etc I should be feeling better - not then needing to go to hospital? (happy to be told I am wrong here!) Also, I am wondering how likely is it that my asthma will just go back to not needing inhalers again.

I rang my GP this morning and they told me the asthma nurse doesn't work on a Friday so to call in the week, which is OK as I don't feel too bad now.

I suppose this all feels very new to navigate and to be honest last night scared me.
Does anyone have any experiences or words of wisdom?

But with the Fostair, I take it everywhere!

I have inhalers and spacers all over the place.

I have adult onset asthma after being fine as a kid. Mine was rough to get under control at first. I was originally on the brown inhaler and moved to purple (Fostair). It got better, but once I started taking montelukast each evening I stopped having problems.

Very rarely have asthma attacks now and they are always triggered by one of my allergies rather than "just happening". No side effects from forgetting a dose of inhaler either though I try not to make a habit of that.

Steroids are only for when I get colds/chest infections now.

Make an appointment with your asthma nurse asap and see if they recommend montelukast for you.

@AnnaMagnani ah I see so not much different to me then! I have the inhalers littered around the house too!

I must have used hundreds if not thousands of inhalers since I had my asthma diagnosis.

Thank you all for the replies, suggestions and advice.

I will definitely chase up the asthma nurse on Monday and see if I can get an appointment.

pulse-oximetry is a useful tool, but needs interpreting with real caution as sats don't always drop with asthma. You could be having a serious acute exacerbation and need hospital treatment but have 'normal' sats - that's why symptoms and peak flow are often more useful. Have lost count of the number of posts I've seen on MN where people have posted something like 'if the sats are over 94% it's fine' for all sorts of contexts...and it's really worrying because it's not always true. I don't think sats monitoring features in most 'home management' plans for asthma and that probably reflects the potential for ignoring the other signs of a worrying exacerbation because the shiny, clever bit of tech says it's ok. Once in hospital it does help with some decision making but even then it's still not the most important decider for some of the big decisions (like whether to admit to ICU etc). If someone at home feels rough and it's not getting better quickly they shouldn't delay getting medical help if the sats are normal. HTH.

If my sats were 94% for asthma I'd be feeling unbelievably unwell and sat in A+E.

As an adult I've found that I can really tell if my peak flow drops by just 10. I dread to think how a really bad exacerbation would feel.

I don't think home sats monitoring has any place for the average asthma patient. By the time you have stopped compensating by breathing faster and faster and your sats drop, you are going to be close to needing intensive care.

Lifelong asthma here, and DS also has asthma. To be honest (apart from DS) it doesn’t impact on my life much at all most of the time. I take my preventer daily (Flixotide - orange one) and rarely use the reliever. I’m a bit lax to be honest with the orange inhaler and it doesn’t make that much difference to me. I take antihistamines daily (fexofenadine) in the spring/summer.

However I do definitely have triggers. For me cold virus etc seem to be the worst. We’ve all had awful back to back colds recently and I’m definitely struggling. Horrible chesty cough and I’ve doubled the Flixotide and am taking the blue inhaler several times a day. Debating going to GP if it’s not better in next week as it’s been a few weeks now.

I think this is probably going to be your reality OP. It will never fully go away. But hopefully 90% of the time you barely notice it and you just keep on top of it. Then be aware for that 10% of time to take action.

also yes to having blue inhalers stashed everywhere!

Another 40 something asthmatic here!

I do as PPs have mentioned - I use my Fostair instead of my ventolin now.

I also take Montelukast, which has been a real game changer for me, especially at nighttime when it was so much worse. I rarely have any wheezing now I’ve got my regime sorted

I have adult onset asthma which started age 34. I was on Fostair but it's been changed to something else recently. I was prescribed Montelukast about 2 years ago and it's helped massively.

I have had asthma since I was 4 with multiple hospital admissions as a child and then again in my late 20s. After the last admission one in 2009 I was switched to Seretide from Becotide and it was honestly life-changing. I've had no flare-ups at all since then, no steroids, nothing. I haven't even wheezed and I now just have a single spray of fluticasone once a day. I appreciate that I've been extremely lucky and that most people won't get such a good result, but just wanted to show that you can get big improvements even as an adult if you find the right treatment for you.

You sound like me OP - I have brittle/severe asthma and have asthma attacks a few times a year. I'm on Forstair, Spiriva Respimat and Montelukast along with my reliever.

Get yourself sorted as soon as possible

Sorry I should say I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 14 and I am 43 now