Any asthmatic expectant mums?

[Ella5555]

Hello,

This is my first pregnancy and I just wanted to know if there were many other people who have experienced asthma with pregnancy and any other info or advice they might have as I find my gp and midwife have not been that helpful? I have moderate asthma, prior to being pregnant I would take sabutamol everyday especially at night. Since being pregnant my asthma seems to have worsened where I’m taking a couple pumps about 5 times a day as I’ll suddenly find myself wheezy. I’ve never been hospitalised for my asthma but I don’t leave the house without my pump because when the sudden wheezing comes on I feel light headed, claustrophobic because I can feel I’m not getting a clear breath in and I suddenly sound very dry whistle and squeaky. If I feel a bit wheezy should I immediately take the inhaler or is it best to wait a while as sometimes it can go away on its own after 30 minutes. I’m getting quite paranoid about constantly taking something and the potential side effects it might be having on my baby? When I asked my gp if it was safe she said ‘well if you need it then you need’ but I still would like to know the effect it’s having on my baby because I’d rather put up with a bit of discomfort (with my inhaler to hand) and wait/see if it will pass on it’s own (Which it sometimes does) if it’s better for baby.

I hope that made sense and thank you so much in advance to anyone who can share some info! Xxx

[Delbelleber]

I have asthma. Had my baby yesterday! I found asthma got worse in pregnancy. The way I see it is if you are low on air then that can't be good for pumping blood to the placenta so I would use the reliever when needed and take the preventor regularly.

[tallulahhulah1]

Hey, I'm pregnant and have asthma. the best thing for your baby is not to make you unable to breath in the worry the inhaler will harm your child. I have been in hospital a couple of times as it wasn't controlled enough.

They are safe and you just need to monitor how you use it to ensure your asthma is not getting triggered more or if you need to renew your plan. I have a brown and blue inhaler and before I had to use it consistently but now I'm fine and more in control of it. But just like you I always take the blue one with me just in case. Also being pregnant you will be out of breath at times.

But please listen to your GP and don't go google crazy, remember your health is super important as well :-)

Hope that helps

[MrsBromeliad]

I'm asthmatic and pregnant, but in a different situation as my asthma hasn't got any worse during pregnancy. At my last asthma review, I told the asthma nurse I was trying for a baby and asked if I needed to do anything differently, and she said all the medication I was prescribed (including salbutamol) was perfectly safe during pregnancy, and that asthma often does get worse during pregnancy, so keep an eye out, and if it gets worse, make an appointment to see if the doses need increasing.

So I would do exactly that in your shoes: make an appointment with the asthma nurse and see what they say!

Good luck

[KatnissMellark]

Your asthma sounds quite poorly controlled generally if you need your reliever every day. I would ask for an appointment with your asthma nurse as GP and midwife are not specialist in this.

In the meantime keep taking your inhaler!

[Girlinajumpsuit]

My asthma worsened significantly from about 18 weeks. It doesnt sound like your gp has given you very good advice - I saw the gp and asthma nurse and they both said I should not need to be taking the reliever inhaler daily and that was a warning sign of poorly controlled asthma - and that we needed a plan to get it back under control. I wasnt taking it as much as you, maybe two puffs twice or 3 times a day but I was told that was too much (not because its harmful for pregnancy but because it means asthma not under control).

In the end I was prescribed a stronger preventer inhaler and then a much stronger one as that still wasnt enough. I hsvent used the reliever since and feel much better. I think you really need to push your gp to get the asthma under control. I also found that getting my heartburn under control through prescription medication seemed to help as that was aggravating the asthma.

[milknapplayrepeat]

Thank god for this thread, has made me feel so much better!

I have mild asthma normally, only really use my reliever inhaler for during/after exercise under usual circumstances. Don’t remember having any issues with my first pregnancy but I’m now 22 weeks pregnant with my second and my asthma has got dramatically worse. My GP believes it’s hayfever related, as my allergies have gone mad in the last month or so as well.

I went for about a fortnight of being unable to sleep due to coughing/wheezing but now I’m managing to get some rest thanks to the combination of a new reliever and a steroid nasal spray. Reading your replies about the frequency of reliever use though (2-3 times a day here 😬) makes me think I need to talk to my doctors again about my symptoms.

It’s the worst as whenever I’m at the hospital for scans, all I can think about is not coughing so people don’t think I have The Virus but then obvs that’s all I end up doing! 🙈

[Ella5555]

Thanks so much everyone for all your help and advice. I did request with the receptionist for an asthma review appointment and someone was suppose to call me back to arrange... still haven’t heard anything and every time I call the line is engaged, but I’ll keep trying!
@milknapplayrepeat Im also 22 weeks, and I read that the pollen count this year is the worst it’s been in 70 years so I’m sure that’s got something to do with it! I had a similar experience at my 20 week scan, the sonographer looked like she didn’t want to do the scan anymore even though I explained my asthma was giving me a chest cough