Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

can someone explain what asthma actually feels like

42 replies

alypaly · 03/04/2010 00:42

have had a non productive intermittent really tickly cough since november. My chest feels as if im breathing through cotton wool or dust. Once i start coughing i dont seem to be able to stop. I feel as if im trying to stifle the next cough so it doesnt trigger off another coughing fit.it is worse when i lie down. Am i describing asthma?

Anyone have similar.......as i am really panicky tonight and i know that will make it worse.

OP posts:
PixieOnaLeaf · 03/04/2010 14:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Goingspare · 03/04/2010 14:49

Aren't bank holiday weekends a bugger? I agree you should try and see someone today - they might give you an inhaler or other medication to help you now, even if a full investigation has to wait.

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 09:05

hi pixie........it doesnt feel like a rubber band....my heart area/sort of central chest just feels as if i have been kicked around. Are you in medicine as i notice that you are on alot of the medical threads?

Going spare...my gp put me on 2 inhalers on tuesday......a ventolin and a beclomethasone but they are not making any difference yet

OP posts:
chimchar · 04/04/2010 09:10

aly...sounds nasty.

my asthma used to give me an itchy back..right inbetween my shoulder blades.(weird, i know!)

it used to flare up going from a big change in temperature..ie from a cold outside to a warm inside and the other way round too.

it feels like you can't get a decent lungful of air. you can actually hear it wheeze sometimes...

an attack is awful...really leaves you struggling for breath....which makes you panicy and struggle even more...

i seem to have (very luckily) grown out of my asthma.

i hope you're on the up soon.

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 09:41

thanks chimchar.........its weird ,i went skiing 2 weeks ago and i thought the cold air would have made it worse. But it actually got worse when i came back to a warm room. Thats why i am wondering if its not asthma. I am getting a bit scared that its my ticker
The other thing that has got me thinking was the doc said it was unusual for asthma to start at my age (quietly adds that i am 54).
Thats why i am panicking a bit. You hear these stories of things getting missed by doctors and so far nothing is working. I ahve got another appt on tuesday so i think i will voice my concerns. I work in pahrmacy and i aev tried everything so far.

OP posts:
Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 09:43

when i lie down in bed ad cough,it sounds like i have a crackly plastic bag being scrunched up just after i cough.

OP posts:
OrmRenewed · 04/04/2010 09:47

No. Not athsma I would say. Athsma feels as if you simply can't get another breath - as if someone is sitting on your chest and getting heavier with each breath. And it doesn't get worse when you lie down.

But go and see a GP - sounds like a chest infection maybe.

Oh if it was athsma the blue inhaler would have a pretty instant effect unless it was so bad you should be on a nebuliser.

herbietea · 04/04/2010 09:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 09:51

orm.....are you ormicronpers.......gp has listened to my chest and said she as ruled out an infection. Not had a temperature at all since november.

OP posts:
Mistymoo · 04/04/2010 09:57

Alypaly You said that the cold air did not affect you but was worse when you went into a warm room. Asthma can be like that, I certainly get affected by a change in temperature like that.

Do you find it harder to breath out? Most asthmatics (although not always the case) have difficulty breathing out but can take breaths in easier.

OrmRenewed · 04/04/2010 09:59

No I don't think I am omniwhatsit

I get an itchy back - that is usually because the athsma is being triggered by something that I am allergic too. Had a bad do in the vets on Thursday when someones hairy JR was getting a bit upset and shedding hairs everywhere. Was awful.

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 10:06

orm i thought you had name changed....

Misty....i was always told it was the cold that made the tubes close up.

Getting worried that i have something horrible.

OP posts:
Fizzylemonade · 04/04/2010 17:14

I was diagnosed with post-viral asthma at 34! Never had it before then. Sounded like I had bag pipes in my chest when I breathed and you could hear the crackle of the wheezing.

Also it felt like I couldn't breathe deep enough so my breathing was more shallow and it was harder to breathe out than in.

My sister's asthma was diagnosed when she was 2 and she has always been really bad (hospitalised loads) hers triggered really badly when she went into centrally heated houses (am showing her age now ) as the air is drier inside a house.

I was put on an inhaler and had to do peak flow testing every day for a week and then back to the asthma clinic to be checked. Ended up going for months every 2 weeks.

Have you been referred back?

StewieGriffinsMom · 04/04/2010 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 23:19

thanks eveyone for replying.I really am not sure if i have asthma as these damned inhalers are not helping at all and ive now been on them 6 days. Or am i expecting too much. I still feel really anxious tonight which will make my chest feel tighter. I have been googling and i have frightened myself silly. Wondering if ive got COPD,cancer etc.... i have never smoked and COPD seems to point to smoking,but i have alot of the symptoms.

Tickly cough getting worse since november,
Have had a post nasal drip forever.
Start to cough more when i lie down.
If i raise my voice at my DS's i become breathless.
Exercise is making me short of breath.
Feel really tired.
Walking upstairs is knackering me.
Have had to go to bed this afternoon as my body was saying rest.
This is all so unlike me as i normally play badminton 3 times a week and and never sit still.

I still feel really anxious and tearful tonight........

Fizzy.......i have another appt with gp which i made on thursday as i felt a bit wobbly before the easter break. I have an appt with spirometrist but not til may 4th,which seems a long time away.

OP posts:
chixinthestix · 04/04/2010 23:43

alypaly it does sound like asthma to me - esp if you have post nasal drip. ENT consultant told me lining of nose throat and lungs is like a carpet its all the same type of tissue and what irritates one area will likely irritate all of it. In my case dust mite allergy which causes asthma, and chronic rhinitis (runny nose). Both now totally controlled with the right medication. I used to be short of breath or wheezy really often and its scary but its at least 3 years now since I felt like that. Try not to worry - it make take a whle to sort out the right med.

gaelicsheep · 04/04/2010 23:48

It sounds like my mild asthma. If I aggravate it (mine is generally exercise induced) then my throat and upper chest gets tighter and tighter and I get a bit wheezy. I've suffered with it since school but it was only diagnosed a few months ago when I finally went to see the doctor about it. I now have an inhaler to use when needed and the difference is miraculous!

RedbinDipperrs · 04/04/2010 23:49

I got asthma at 40, see a quack as soon as possible. if ventolin cures the symptoms then asthma it is. Once diagnosed it's pretty easy to live with.

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 23:49

hi chix,thanks for replying...i am lying in bed at the moment feeling really scared with this tight chest. I have had PND for years but it has never caused these symptoms before. I get really bunged up at night and can feel this awful mucus dripping down my throat. Both DS's have it too. DS2 has a dust might allergy and im wondering if i have that too as i cough alot in hotel bedrooms when i go on holiday.How long did yours take to settle noticeably

OP posts:
gaelicsheep · 04/04/2010 23:50

I've never even heard of post nasal drip. Googled it and I have that too!

Original poster
alypaly · 04/04/2010 23:55

hi gaelic......PND is horrible, how long have you had it. does it cause you any problems?

OP posts:
gaelicsheep · 04/04/2010 23:58

Well I frequently feel like I can't swallow properly because of thick mucousy stuff right at the back of my throat that won't go up or down. Often find myself snorting crap up and out through my nose in the morning - nice. Very prone to sore throats. Does that sound right? Or am I just being a hypchondriac? (Only skimmed a couple of pages about it).

Original poster
alypaly · 05/04/2010 00:01

yes sounds about right. Do you wake up with a blob of phlegm...in fact the blob of phlegm actually wakes me up (its like a thick jelly) and then i have to get up and spit it out, as its so much mucous. I couldnt swallow it otherwise i'd throw up.
You get the sore hroat because you are probably a mouth-breather when you are asleep and i bet you probably snore.

OP posts:
gaelicsheep · 05/04/2010 00:04

Yes about the blob. Most mornings, not all.

Re sore throats, whenever I get a cold (which is when the swallowing problem is at it's worst) I usually get a horrible one-sided achy sore throat with swollen glands.

I categorically do not snore!

chixinthestix · 05/04/2010 00:08

think I had it for years both rhinitis and asthma - runny nose and a bit wheezy esp in evenings and in bed at night, had got gradually worse over the years. Asthma flared up badly about 5 years ago, was so breathless I couldn't speak. GP treated with steroid pills and calmed down over a week (I think) or so but do recall I used a lot of salbutamol as well. The rhinitis continued though till I saw ENT guy about something else and he suggested a nasal spray. Cleared up the sniffing like a miracle within a couple of days. Have not sniffed or wheezed for yonks but both come back after a few days if I stop the meds.

Sorry for delay replying ancient laptop and britains slowest broadband connection - am in stix after all

Swipe left for the next trending thread