Got my asthma treated

strtdv

After about a year of using a borrowed reliever inhaler when I got wheezy (didn't happen often, generally triggered by soot from bus exhausts, exercise particularly in cold weather, and any time I got a head cold it would leave me very wheezy at night to the point where I couldn't sleep without taking the inhaler before bed), I decided, or rather my wife persuaded me, to see the asthma nurse at my GP practice and have it properly looked at.

I did the spirometry and peak flow, which was interesting. My FVC was a little over 6 litres which was good, and my peak flow was 700, which again is good but not quite as good as you'd expect. They were also able to tell from the shape of the curve that I had some small airways narrowing.

Anyhow, I got started on a combined steroid/long acting beta agonist inhaler, and the difference is really surprising.
It's not that I thought I was particularly limited by wheeze before hand, but it's only now that it's treated I realise how it was affecting me, particularly during exercise.

I did a 40 mile cycle today. Normally my pace would be somewhat limited by a combination of my leg muscles and my chest feeling tight (which I thought was normal for the exercise I was doing). Today I didn't feel my breathing at all and knocked out the fastest 40 miles I've done in about 6 months, despite not being down to my summer weight.

So there you go, turns out it was worth getting treated after all!
Now I just need to build up the motivation to go to the optician for the first time in 7 years..

cj73

PM your real name and I’ll stick a tenner on you for the 2020 tdf

cj73

In all seriousness, well done for getting sorted 

shaunyshaun1234

Well played!! 

I've had asthma for all of my life (31 now) and about 6 months ago I visited the usual yearly clinic but was seen by a different person this time. They changed my steroid inhaler to one called Fostair (sounds very similar to yours)  and it has literally changed my life.

I was using a full Salbutamol inhaler every month and now go 2-3 months easily when combined with the new Fostair one!! Amazing! 

strtdv

I had childhood asthma but it had largely disappeared through my teens and twenties but lots of people seem to get recurrence of their symptoms in their 30s.
I'm on Symbicort using a SMART regimen so I don't have a reliever, I just use more of the Symbicort if I get any wheeze

Stuckfast

I've had asthma all my life, but the thing that has made the biggest difference is moving to a newbuild(ish) house. Even running (which used to be a certain trigger for an asthma attack) no longer sets me off, and I'm not taking any preventers.

chillidoggy

Good news!

And with any luck the eyesight test and subsequent prescription specs will mean you’ll be able to identify road signs, traffic lights and all kinds of Highway Code-related things............

strtdv

chillidoggy said:

Good news!

And with any luck the eyesight test and subsequent prescription specs will mean you’ll be able to identify road signs, traffic lights and all kinds of Highway Code-related things............

Haha, I already wear glasses, I just haven't been for an eye test or indeed new glasses in 7 years. I figure that if my prescription changed I'd probably notice. I hadn't been for 7 years prior to the last eye test and my prescription hadn't changed a bit. I'm not diabetic, don't have glaucoma etc so no particular reason to go very often

menamestom

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Well played!! 

I've had asthma for all of my life (31 now) and about 6 months ago I visited the usual yearly clinic but was seen by a different person this time. They changed my steroid inhaler to one called Fostair (sounds very similar to yours)  and it has literally changed my life.

I was using a full Salbutamol inhaler every month and now go 2-3 months easily when combined with the new Fostair one!! Amazing! 

I’ve been using a Fostair Nexthaler which has been good for me also.  To be honest if i had to rely on the previous brown preventer I’d be struggling now, but the Fostair keeps things at bay, meaning I need to use the blue reliever hardly ever.

Hootsmon

what was your % for the spirometry? FEV 1

Nunogilberto

I was diagnosed with it as a small child; our cats and their fur triggered my symptoms, so we had to move them on. After that, it was just exercise or a bad cold that brought on the wheezes, which I usually dealt with via the Ventolin/Salbutamol inhaler.

Over the last couple of years (I’m 35 now) I’ve had a recurrence of symptoms, particularly during the cold weather. After seeing my local GP (once I’d got past the nurse who tried to tell me I didn’t have asthma (what is it with those bloody surgery nurses?), I was prescribed the brown inhaler once or twice a day and it seemed to help. I lapsed in taking it though, and when I had an Occ Health clinic in work a year or so, the respiratory test revealed I had the respiratory system of a 64 year old. I started taking it again straightaway and it wasn’t long before I felt better again.

Iamnobody

I got diagnosed with it when I moved from the east coast to Birmingham. Smog?

Very mild but both types of inhalers were prescribed - last test I was told I didn’t need them. So just a heads up that it might not be a permanent condition for you.

And what were you doing borrowing an inhaler? Look after yourself better in future!

57Deluxe

all you needed was to ingest some gut parasites. They kill the asthma cos is a threat to them!

Jalapeno

Switching to Seretide once a day changed my life - asthma attacks are rare these days. Well done for sorting it out.

menamestom

Nunogilberto said:

I lapsed in taking it though, and when I had an Occ Health clinic in work a year or so, the respiratory test revealed I had the respiratory system of a 64 year old. I started taking it again straightaway and it wasn’t long before I felt better again.

I used to lapse.  I always thought if my triggers aren't around, there's no point in taking a preventer, so I used to go on it when I felt I should (hayfever season and cold weather)  The asthma nurse said I was the worst type of asthmatic and generally the type that die.  The chronic all year round sufferers tend to be better controlled, whereas I was fine, but totally unprotected.  Cold snap, chest infection, run for the bus, forgets inhaler..... made me think It's best not to be in that position.

So I'm a good every day preventer type now!

Nunogilberto

menamestom said:

Nunogilberto said:

I lapsed in taking it though, and when I had an Occ Health clinic in work a year or so, the respiratory test revealed I had the respiratory system of a 64 year old. I started taking it again straightaway and it wasn’t long before I felt better again.

I used to lapse.  I always thought if my triggers aren't around, there's no point in taking a preventer, so I used to go on it when I felt I should (hayfever season and cold weather)  The asthma nurse said I was the worst type of asthmatic and generally the type that die.  The chronic all year round sufferers tend to be better controlled, whereas I was fine, but totally unprotected.  Cold snap, chest infection, run for the bus, forgets inhaler..... made me think It's best not to be in that position.

So I'm a good every day preventer type now!

Same here mate. My asthma has never been the extremely serious type and I was a seasonal inhaler user as well - normally the colder months.

I take it without fail now though, especially after hearing some asthma horror stories on a recent Radio 5 phone in...

Tone71

Xolair injections for me 3 in the back of the arm every 2 weeks , totally transformed my life from emptying a Ventolin every 14 days to using it maybe once or twice a day.

Thread about it here:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/99815/i-ve-just-mown-the-lawn/p1

Peak flows are still shit though 340 on a good day.
I never truly understood just how dangerous asthma is until the doctor explained when I was in hospital for tests, now I never screw with my medicine, I want to breathe!

strtdv

Yep, asthma still kills people.
There was an NCEPOD review into asthma deaths quite recently, a large proportion of them are people who use a reliever inhaler a month but rarely use their preventer.

ZenOvertone

Another one here, caused by Allergies.  Taking the Qvar brown inhaler properly for some time has finally controlled it well so the Salbutamol is not necessary but I find I have to have it around for peace of mind at all times. 

guitargeek62

menamestom said:

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Well played!! 

I've had asthma for all of my life (31 now) and about 6 months ago I visited the usual yearly clinic but was seen by a different person this time. They changed my steroid inhaler to one called Fostair (sounds very similar to yours)  and it has literally changed my life.

I was using a full Salbutamol inhaler every month and now go 2-3 months easily when combined with the new Fostair one!! Amazing! 

I’ve been using a Fostair Nexthaler which has been good for me also.  To be honest if i had to rely on the previous brown preventer I’d be struggling now, but the Fostair keeps things at bay, meaning I need to use the blue reliever hardly ever.

My dr switched me to those last summer too and it’s been brilliant - so much more effective for me than any other I’ve tried so far☺️

Btw - it’s a dual preventer and reliever, so it should be rare that you need your salbutomol too!