Some feedback, please.

What brought your doctor to the diagnosis of Asthma?

Did the doctor say it was a hunch?
Was it after he heard things from your breathing?
Or was it the results of a breathing test?

I need to figure out exactly what I have. I won't see the pulmo til March.

Laci,

My doctor diagnosed mine by:

1. Listening to my breathing. (Can hear sounds.)
2. A normal lung x-ray.
3. My description of my symptoms. (Wheezing, being able to breathe in and not out.)

Hope this helps.

Cheri.

My doctor diagnosed me:

-symptoms I was having
-listening to me breathe (very wheezey)
the above made him do the following:
-breathing test, (clipped my nose and made me breathe in and out and the amount of (air?) was measured - or I guess it measured the compacity of my lungs??

Hope this helps.

I had hideous symptoms, and finally got frustrated and went to the doctor and said "send me for lung testing, this is idiotic," and I did.

Wrin:
When you went for your lung tests, how was your exhalation rate? Mine was very good. And that's why he doesn't think it's asthma.
I know -- they think -- it's a mold inhalation inflammation. I know because it happened in Nov. and since then I've had chronic sinusitis and asthma flareups. The whole respiratory system is involved when you have a sinus inflammation -- not an infection. Although I had one of those for 3 weeks just before xmas.
I'm now finally put on anti-fungal medication & prednisone for just 6 days. I've been telling them all along to do this. I pray this will take care of this fungal sinusitis problem. If not -- it could be surgery.

My peak flows were fine, or mostly fine, (80% of predicted,) but flows for my small airways were right in the area we like to call "pretty crappy", all my small-airway flows were less than 60% of predicted.

but how do they know it's really asthma as opposed to COPD, emphysema, Gerd/acid reflux? That's what I would like to know. :bouncing:

My peak flows were hideous (about 40%), the doctor said I was barely breathing. My pulse ox's were also low. I was put on antibiotics and breathing meds. The breathing meds helped, but I needed larger doses than the expected I would. I also was just never able to get off the breathing meds. I also had a normal chest x-ray. I was told I had reactive airways disease. 6 months later (on meds the whole time), I was told it was asthma. 1 year latter the diagnosis was confirmed by a specialist through spirometry. My father has asthma, so the genes were there. I also have GERD, which has a huge connection with asthma.

Blondy,

When you say that you have GERD and asthma has alot to play in that, what exactly do you mean?

GERD and asthma often go hand in hand. Some studies suggest that as many as 90% of people with GERD will develop asthma if given enough time. My GI doctor says that both diseases make the other worse, and my allergist suspects my asthma would stop needing meds (and I'm on a lot of meds) if my GERD got better. I have severe GERD though and have had a lot of difficulty controlling it lately though.