I been to the doctors 2 x's this week. Im so frustrated. I feel like im not getting any air at times. Then i panic. I have been asthmatic for 30yrs. On theodur,advair 500/50 daily. Now that i got this cold i have been started out at 120 mg from one er doc. I seen my allergist today and he doesn't believe in big burst of predinisone. My peeks are running 250-300 (not to bad). Some wheezing in the left lobe. My conjestion is in my chest and IT HURTS. It feels tight as a drum. Had xrays they were clear. and thats where it is out Now im also on 2 antibotics zithromax and septra. Zithromax i was started on a few days ago. The asthma doc isn't sure whether the zithromax is working, but wants me to stay on it with the septra. I need some advice on how i can get some relief of what feels like a inflamed bronchial tube in my chest. .I feel like im pushing air. I got a croopy cough that sometimes brings up green and yellow mucus. The taste is awful. The doctor also prescribed the mucus thinning med starts with a gul.. and a gel pill for the cough. Its been about 4 days and still battling. If anyone can help this lifetime asthmatic that has tried everything to get out of this hell. If you have any advice on what i can take to lighten the load in my chest and get that feeling breathing normally. Im sure someone out there that has this happened to them. It would be nice take anything that will relief this tiring run. Thanks to all that take the time.

Have you tried nebulized saline? Or maybe even ask your doctor for an acapella or flutter valve? Does the mist help? You could also add supplemental flovent....

I been to the doctors 2 x's this week. Im so frustrated. I feel like im not getting any air at times. Then i panic. I have been asthmatic for 30yrs. On theodur,advair 500/50 daily. Now that i got this cold i have been started out at 120 mg from one er doc. I seen my allergist today and he doesn't believe in big burst of predinisone. My peeks are running 250-300 (not to bad). Some wheezing in the left lobe. My conjestion is in my chest and IT HURTS. It feels tight as a drum. Had xrays they were clear. and thats where it is out Now im also on 2 antibotics zithromax and septra. Zithromax i was started on a few days ago. The asthma doc isn't sure whether the zithromax is working, but wants me to stay on it with the septra. I need some advice on how i can get some relief of what feels like a inflamed bronchial tube in my chest. .I feel like im pushing air. I got a croopy cough that sometimes brings up green and yellow mucus. The taste is awful. The doctor also prescribed the mucus thinning med starts with a gul.. and a gel pill for the cough. Its been about 4 days and still battling. If anyone can help this lifetime asthmatic that has tried everything to get out of this hell. If you have any advice on what i can take to lighten the load in my chest and get that feeling breathing normally. Im sure someone out there that has this happened to them. It would be nice take anything that will relief this tiring run. Thanks to all that take the time.


So sorry you are feeling so badly. Everything you describe sounds appropriate (except the 120mg pred...I agree with your allergist and personally don't think you will get any more benefit from 120mg than 60mg but what do I know). Are you taking albuterol by nebulizer? If not, that might make a big difference. I know when I've got bad bronchitis, it will open my airway AND break up a little mucus that I can cough up within the first 30min of dosing. Mucus thinner is probably guifanesin, which is the main ingredient in robitussin, et al. I sometimes get liquid guif with hydrocodone in it, which dulls the pain but it's up to your doc. (the hydrocodone may not mix well with the theodur--I don't take any theophylline meds any more). Coughing is a good thing, although it's tiring and can certainly make your rib cage hurt.

Good luck. Let us know how you are doing in a couple of days!

Thanks for the advice. I am using my neubilizer w/albuterol every 4hrs. Has anyone else used 2 different antibotics at the same time? Thanks for your responses. I have had to pull some new tricks out of my hat on this attack. In my earlier years of having asthmatic as a kid and teenager. I was hospitalized every month just about. Then i went into somewhat remission. Just managed asthma with all the inhalers and pills. This recent attack has been a battle. The dr. usually lets me call my own shots. Except this time im all out of suggestions. This makes me nervous.
If anyone reads this post that has this stubborn cold. So far what has helped me to move my lungs is try to throw up. Sorry sounds gross, but its survival. It also helps when i exhale hard and try to break it up that way.
This nasty cold is a bugger for asthmatic. Unless i am out of remission with mine this is the hardest i have had to work in years. Thanks for all you post and i really apprieciate it.

I've been on two antibiotics at a time - Rifampin and Ceftin. The rifampin was not for TB, by the way. It was used for it's bacteriostatic properties, meaning that it prevents the bacteria (haemophilus influenzae in my case) from colonizing further. The ceftin was to kill it.

I agree with hc about asking about a flutter to help you. My doc recently gave me one, and it has helped a bit, along with chest pt. The mucus thinner that your doc gave you was probably guaifenesin (sp?), which I hear helps a lot of people, but personally, it gives me more trouble. A repeat chest xray would probably be a good idea, considering that a lot of your symptoms sounds like pneumonia, especially because you had wheezing confined to your left lung. Asthmatic wheezing is usually heard throughout both lungs, all lobes. I'd have thought that the antibiotics would work though. A sputum culture would probably be a good idea too, to see if the antibiotics you're on right now are appropriate for the bacteria ... or if it is a bacteria that you have. 120 mg of prednisone is a bit ridiculous, considering that after 60 mg, you'll still get the horrible side effects, but it does little else for your lungs. Maybe you could ask about Medrol/Orapred, whatever your doctor calls it. It's the same thing as Solu-Medrol that you usually get in the ER...in pill form. Maybe you could even ask about Duoneb (via nebulizer), it's albuterol with some atrovent in it. The atrovent could help dry up some mucus. Do you have a lot of allergies? Have you ever been on Singulair? Have you come in contact with some major triggers lately besides a cold (cigarette smoke, perhaps?) It might also be that because you're panicking when you can't breathe, the anxiety makes you feel like you can't get any more air in. Have you had a pulse oximetry taken lately?

Wow, that was long...sorry, lol.

Make sure you drink a lot of water. Water is the best expectorant. Drink water even when you're not thirsty. Avoid milk.

I am feeling just as bad you today. I've had a severe cold and I cleaned out my basement yesterday on the spur of the moment, my cat had an infection and was urinating all over the place. I went down there to mop and next thing you know I'm moving boxes, kicking up dust. Didn't wear a mask, stupid me. Now I'm hurting, BIG time, on the weekend when my dr is closed. I started myself on prednisone. In fact if anyone has any recommendations on how many pills I take to get me through the weekend until I can see my dr, that would be great.

Back to your problem. You could go into the bathroom and turn on the shower with hot water and sit in the steam for 10 mintues, every hour or so. That will loosen you up. Also, drinking hot liquids, like tea helps. I am giving you some home remedy types, since it sounds like you're pretty rx'd out. But I find the only thing that clears me up is the prednisone and the nebulizer. I have been taking Singulair for a while now, and as someone else mentioned that really helps with the asthma. Feel better.

I hate to hear your not feeling good. I hope you have a speedy recovery. Thanks for taking the time to respond to me. :angel:
How does the singular work? Any side effects? I have had several severe asthma attacks, but never one like this. It is the weirdest think. I guess im not a no at all with asthma like i thought. I tried every rx and home remedy i could think of to loosen this tightness in my chest. It was something i that felt more like bronchitis, but with the worse feeling of no air getting to my lungs. Im not a kid no more so i tended to freak out when i used everything i no to do and nothing worked. Then my peaks and oxygen levels were good. I still am short of breath, but the tightness and dry, croopy cough is getter better. It just gets tight all of a sudden. I was a smoker for a while but quit. Eventhough i know this is caused from a virus. It scares me from ever looking at a cigerette. I couldn't imagine waking up everyday struggling to breathe like that. I feel so sorry for kids that don't have good health plans. Or anybody that can't get the help they need. I was counting my blessing while i was going through this experience. I guess i needed a kick from the big guy up above. Thanks for all or your advice and well wishes. I hope all of you a healthy year.
I do have a quick question on viral infections vs. bacterial infect. Maybe that is what i have is a viral infection that and needs to run its own course. What is the difference? Will antibotics help both infections? Thanks again!!!

Are they in 20 mgs pills? Usually 40 is just enough to get me back 2 normal, but 60 for more severe attacks. 40 I usually use when i'm having a low lying long term thing, 60 for sudden severe attacks. 60 makes me really sick though so I dont know about you..

Pink,
Prednisone comes in 5mg,10mg,20mg and up i believe. My asthma doc says 20mg 2x's aday is the max. Every doc is different. Recently i went to the er for treatment for my asthma and was put on 120mg pred. I new that was wrong, but you don't really want to argue with the docs. Eventhough you usually know exactly what keeps you from getting a attack, and what you need when your having a attack.
Hope you get better!! Im pulling for you.

Antibiotics will only get rid of a bacterial infection, but can also prevent bacterial infections. Stay on the antibiotics...viral infections can easily turn into bacterial ones.

Byrdwoman - Singulair is a pill taken once a day at bedtime. I think it opens up the bronchial airways to make breathing easier. I really don't know if I have side effects. I am starting to wonder if all of these colds and sinus infections are caused from all the meds I take. Many of the meds list upper respiratory infections as side effects. And I've literally been suffering from one ailment or another since September. The tightness in your chest - could it be from something else? Acid reflux can give asthmatics symptoms. And also heart problems.

I have 5 mg of predinisone tablets. They usually prescribe something like 60 day 1, 55 day 2 etc and wean down to nothing. I should save the directions so that I know next time what to take. I am going to try and get in to see my pulminologist tomorrow and ask him about the side effects of singulair and advair and the cortesteroids and the immune system.

Singulair is actually a lukotriene modifier. It works for some asthma/allergies, but not all...

I was getting to wonder if this is some sort of other lung ailment. Only because i have used everything i have under the sink. Today is just as bad. Day 6 on prednosone and 2 antibotics. I think the last time i took the zithromax didn't really help. I know this is asthma because my daughter brought the cold over to our house about a week ago, and my husband is in bed coughing and has the chills. He has mild asthma and it has attacked his chest area. Sometimes its a dry wheeze, then a croopy cough, and then it will get extremely tight and you get short of breath so fast. It makes it so scary. I don't know if it because i have had my asthma under control for years or this is just one bad mutta of a cold. I heard on the news about a 3 wk cold going around. Im just not sure when to call it quits and go back to the doctors to be admitted. I get moments of not knowing if im going to die cause i can't catch my breathe, to be able to feel tight in my chest. I just think after all these meds and all the hard work i have been putting into trying to get this crap up. I hope and pray i can do it on my own.
If anyone knows what to do to rush a viral infection along. Does it just run its course. Odd that prednosone hasn't even helped the shortness of breathe or tightness.

I have a friend who is a paramedic who said that this week alone he transported seven people with pneumonia. Apparently it's rampant too...

Is that in America? Coz the same is going on over here in Ireland!

Yep, in the US.

Thank you for all your advice. Like i said i have been managing my asthma well for closed to 30 yrs. Im kinda thinking maybe the zithromax doesn't work well for me. I went on septra when i first got sick 2 wks ago. Went to ER and they put me on the zithromax. 2 days after the er visit i seen my asthma dr and he included the septra w/zithromax. Went back to er Monday for the day and night. The respirtory therapist said that my mucus was real thick (sorry if that grosses you out), and after all the antibotics its dark yellow. They ran test on the spudum. I thought by the time i left the er with some new drugs i would then be able to try to tackle this nasty crap without going into the hospital for a few days. Its just a matter of getting it all broke up. Im sorry if im ranting about how thick this is, but i have never ever dealt with this before. To be going on 2 wks. Im so exhausted. Today my asthma doc prescribed me amoxicillin so maybe that will be the one that breaks this whole thing open.
Thanks again for all your support. I hope all of you a good clean breath of fresh air!!!
Jane

I'm sorry you are feeling so poorly still! It is so hard to get rid of all that mucus.

The amoxicillin should help. If not, have your specialist handle you rather than the ER doc. ER and urgent care docs generally prescribe antibiotics that are weaker. Also if there is a strain of something that is resistant to certain antibiotics going around, your specialist may have that info ahead of the ER doc. Zithromax no longer works fo rme. I have to use either Levaquin or Augmentin.

Are you drinking plenty of hot liquids, sitting in the bathroom with the hot shower running and getting plenty of vitamin C? I can't live without these when I'm that clogged up with mucus.

Good luck!