Asthma Community

You can also try to breath slowly and move away from anything that might be triggering you. In the summer, air-conditioned air is probably better than outside.

But if nothing is working and you are having real difficulty breathing, call your doctor or go to the ER right away.

If your inhaler is not helping, you need to call your doctor!

I hope you're feeling better.

Perhaps when you're feeling better, you should get with your doc and make an asthma action plan. That way you'll know what to do when situations arise.

I'm feeling better. Thank you for all the advice! It helped greatly. I'm going to make an appointment today with my doctor. I really appreciate all of the help.

Glad to hear you're doing better & making an appt. Choo chu is right about the action plan. I never had one, I didn't think my asthma was bad enough to need one, & I thought I knew what to do. My allergist retired, I got a new one, she gave me a written action plan, & I discovered that I was not treating nearly as aggressively as I should be, even for minor problems. I would never have used my rescue as aggressively as my action plan directed, therefore I may have been keeping myself from getting better faster. Since it sounds like you may be new to asthma, it would probably really give you more confidence that you are doing the right thing. It takes the thinking & worrying out of it & gives you exact steps to follow, & what to do if you still aren't better.

How are you doing today, uncentain?

Did your doctor have any advice or new updates? Please take care and reach out to let us know how you are, when you can!

Have a great weekend!
Amelia

Hi uncentain,

Hope you're feeling better and that your appointment with your doctor went well! I think as everyone else suggested below, you definitely want to have an asthma action plan moving forward because when it escalates, sometimes you can't help but have high anxiety so it can keep you calm to have an "emergency" plan.

You may want to get a personal nebulizer as this helps the albuterol (or whatever you're using as a rescue inhaler) get into your lungs quicker for a better relief.

If I'm having an acute asthma attack (for example, when my fingernails turn blue) I always go straight to the ER. However, even if it doesn't feel like it's "that bad" of an attack, it is always always always better to be safe than sorry and you should never feel sheepish about popping into the ER for your asthma.

Something else I've found helpful, is that my doctor has equipped me with a "spare" prednisone treatment (I'm experienced with prednisone, if you're new to this type of steroid you definitely want to be under your doctor's supervision using it for the beginning at least). This way, if I'm having a "seasonal" asthma attack (i.e. change in weather, allergy season, etc.) that I can't seem to kick, but not severe enough that I need to go to the ER, I can give myself a prednisone treatment to relieve chest tightness and take the swelling out of my airways. Now, be forewarned, prednisone is not always a fun drug to be on (some side effects I've experienced are increased appetite and rapid heart rate) but it's well worth it to be able to breathe!!!

Hope that sharing my "action plan" will aid you in discussing some options with your doctor!

Happy Breathing : )