it may just be me, but i think my asthma is, peculiar..

my doctor diagnosed me in 2001 or 2002 with exercise induced asthma.. he didn't run any tests, he just said it sounded like asthma, we'd treat it, and see if it helped..

so i was thankful.. i was tired of being short of breath all the time..

since, my symptoms include, shortness of breath, tight chest and neck, wheezing coming from my chest (that goes away soon after, and eases up with clearing of throat), constant mucus dripping down my throat, it just seems i can't get rid of it, my throat will feel as if it's swelling or tightening, however i can still blow a 500-550 on my peak flow meter (i can usually blow a 550-650 or higher), and a dry but mucusy cough..

also, i can't breathe thru my nose correctly.. when i try breathing thru my nose, it seems like i'm not getting enough air, and when i try to take a deep breath thru my nose, it just wont happen..

now does this sound like typical asthma? or like it might be working in stride with something else?

Edit: i currently take 10mg singular nightly, and have an albuterol inhalor that i rarely use..

[This message has been edited by ilaugh@myself.why (edited 10-01-2003).]

Hi. I don't know if it's typical asthma or not, but it sounds exactly like my problem. My doc diagnosed me as EIA originally and I have trouble breathing enough air into my nose. I have also gained triggers over the past 4 yrs tho. I'm so glad I'm not the only one in this situation.

Sorry I forgot to finish my post. So anyways, she didn't run any test either and we just tried Maxair (equivalent to albuterol). Eventually over the past summer she added Advair which helped alot but I still have probs around triggers. I have most of the same symptoms as you also.

really? i'm thinking of requesting some testing, in hopes that it might give me and my doctor a better idea of effective treatments for my asthma..

y'know.. i've also been putting off allergy testing.. i just can't afford it.. probly don't need it anyways..

awhile ago i was diagnosed with tonsilitis, and also told i had larger than normal sinuses and something was wrong with my deviated septum..
i suspected the deviated septum might have been hindering my breathing thru my nose, but then i found out that it's something common, and doesn't bother breathing..
i've yet to look into my large sinuses as a contributing factor.. it doesn't sound likely to me..

maybe someone will be able to help us out here tho..

-Ryan

Several have mentioned feeling that they can't breathe well through their nose. I have just started using "Breathe Right" strips. I thought everybody had heard of them, but when I mentioned them to my sister, she never had. So maybe some people here haven't either.

If you watch football on TV, you will see a lot of the athletes with a thing that looks like a small bandaid on their nose. It is a Breathe-Right strip. It's like a semi-rigid piece of plastic the size of a small band-aid. It has adhesive on one side. You put it on your nose, right behind where your nostrils flare out. It pulls the skin upward and opens your nostrils. I've been sleeping with one on, and then leave it on in the morning until I have to leave the house.

It's amazing how much more air you can breathe in with your nose opened up like this.

They aren't too expensive. I got a box of 30 at Target for about $10.

Have you thought about allergies or possibly chronic sinusitis? An infection in your nasal passages will do that to you. You should also consider doing nasal irrigation. Run a quick search about neilmed sinus rinse or netti pot or something. National Jewish recommends neilmed. Have you also considered nasonex or flonase? These are both nasal steroids that may reduce some of the inflammation in your nasal passages.

plm:
yeah, i've seen the breathe-right strips.. but i'd always thought they were for use only when sleeping.. doh!
thanks for letting me know they're not limited to sleep.. and sounds like Target has a nice deal on them..
thanks plm


hotchic85:
yeah, i've definitely thought about allergies.. however i've been putting off scratch-testing, as i haven't really had the money for it.. i'll do it someday.. but i'm also on singulair and have albuterol.. so it seems i wouldn't have much trouble anyway..
hmm chronic sinusitis y'say?.. i had never considered that until very recently.. i didn't even know it could be a chronic condition.. but after thinking about it, after i had my wisdom teeth out, i had got a horrible sinus infection, which isn't normal for me, and i'd started suspecting i had weakened sinuses since then.. and also, i do have that constant drip..
sinus rinse.. ugh! a;eiofja;weofijaw;ofija
i've had nasonex and flonase both, but i never used them, 'cause i'm stubborn and lazy.. y'really think it'd be worth it?

thanks for replying
-Ryan

My sister has chronic sinusitis. Her doc put her on a three-week course of levaquin and it cleared it up. We thought she had allergies because she always had cold symptoms! They did a sinus CT and found inflammation. They put her on the levaquin and it cleared it up. I do nasal washes, and it sounds really bad, but it really does help me. It cleans out all that gunk. The nasal sprays will help as well. It's only like four dollars to just get the trial wash system. Look at it this way: Would you rather suffer all day or wash out all the gunk and medicate twice a day? It doesn't hurt to give it a try. And, you may consider taking something like Claritin OTC to try and see if it may clear up you 'allergy' symptoms.

Oh my, I'm so glad I found this board! You've described my situation to a T - and I'm new to this whole asthma thing too.

I had all the allergy testing and nothing came back positive. I think it might help you find triggers if you do it, but it also might not. I have not had the blood allergy tests, just the skin scratch and injection tests (not fun!).

I think my asthma is pretty well managed in terms of breathing, but I still have chronic sinusitus, mucous running down my throat all the time, and basically feel "gunky" in my throat and nose. (I take Advair and Flonase.) I seem to have developed a NASTY case of cotton mouth too now - probably from the medications.

I'm going to my primary care doctor to find out if there's anything we can do about the sinus problem.... I'm hoping that is my main trigger for the asthma, so once it's corrected, then the asthma might get better too. I haven't a clue what the do to "cure" chrionic sinusitus, but I know that I can't spend another winter having every cold turn in to a sinus infection again!

Eve

Eve, I have had chronic sinus problems all of my life (at least as long as I can remember). To answer your question from another post, I don't have the cotton mouth, the only time I did was when I was taking Zyertec, I was on Flonase at the same time - it could have been either.

My big break through was with Singulair, it helps reduce the mucos, I haven't had one sinus infection or bronchitis since I have been on it, a miracle drug for me anyway. Ask your doctor, you may want to give it a try. Do a little research on line and there are several threads here that talk about Singulair, not everyone likes it and it doesn't work for all, but if you should be one of the lucky ones that it works for it is great.