Hi everyone,

Have been diagnosed with asthma this morning, after spending most of the last couple of months coughing etc. Just feeling a bit down now, as I was really hoping that it wasn't asthma. Although the inhalers do appear to be working, so I guess that's a good thing. Any reassurance or advice would be great.

Emma

Hi Emma,

I've had asthma symptons for a long time now - over twelve years ago since moving to a different part of the country which seemed to trigger them off (as well as really bad eye allergies which was infinitely worse since I had to have drops three times a day :().

Anyway . . . I used to blame my asthma for my shortcomings at sport at primary school and used it as an excuse to avoid games lessons at secondary school. But I was just being lazy and mismanaging my asthma. I understand your concerns about being diagnosed as asthmatic - we all have this mental image of some poor person clutching their chest with one had, resting their other hand on their knee, hunched and gasping for air. But it doesn't have to be that way!

A couple of years ago I realised that, having blamed my relatively inactive lifestyle on my asthma for so long, I had become pretty unfit in general. I wanted to lose weight. How? By running (and eating less :D). To begin with running was tough and I really had to grit my teeth to get through it because of the wheezing. But that's when I made a concious effort to take my preventative medication religiously - twice a day as instructed. Before then I lazily skipped a day here and there because I didn't suffer symptoms if I remained inactive.

As soon as I got on top of my medication administration I started to wonder if I actually was asthmatic. It was great - I could run like the wind and never really got out of breath. I hope this offers you encouragement. The message is simple: do as your doctor tells you to (including doubling up the dosage if you feel the need, perhaps due to a cold) and you will stay largely on top of your asthma, and not the other way 'round. As you already said, the relief your medication offers you is testament to how effective the condition can be controlled. But make a real effort to stick to the preventers as well as the relievers!

Welcome to the boards ;)

EDIT: If you tell us a little bit more about yourself (e.g. age, typical activity/exercise level, social habits, current asthma medication) then we might be able to offer some tailored advice :)

Hi, I am still fairly new to asthma, was diagnosed over a year ago, but am learning a lot more as I have it longer.. jhart is right, if you follow your doctor's advice, you will most likely be fine.
But a word about the exercise. I couldn't figure out why I was soo sick last year, always coughing & I had bronchitis 3 times in one year, pneumonia, respiratory infections monthly. I woke up short of breath, always needing my inhaler & then the chest pains started. Had pleurisy, triggered by asthma, it was the most painful experience. Now this is where I say i've been a gymnast & all this was going on during gymnastics season.. when season ended & no more gymnastics, the symptoms pretty much subsided. Of course I need my daily Advair & am allergic to a host of other things also, but my biggest problem is dust, which is RAMPID in gymnastics gyms. I can't run outside either, i'm allergic to grass & ragweed & that sets me off real fast. But I CAN sometimes run a little bit, slowly hehe, in a nice, clean, allergen free environment(my health club =) ). Have you been tested for allergies? It helped sooo much to learn what I was allergic to & everything made complete sense when I found out. Would be a good idea!
But you will be fine don't worry!=)

EDIT: If you tell us a little bit more about yourself (e.g. age, typical activity/exercise level, social habits, current asthma medication) then we might be able to offer some tailored advice :)[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the replies. I'm 25, fairly active and social and on ventolin and flixotide. I'm feeling a bit more upbeat today, I guess at least I know what it is now!

Emma :)

I couldn't figure out why I was soo sick last year, always coughing & I had bronchitis 3 times in one year, pneumonia, respiratory infections monthly.

One of my doctors told me that last year was the worst season for respiratory infections she's seen in her 13 years of practice.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Heheh.

Emma - when I asked your social habits what I was driving at was do you hang around with smokers? If so then you seriously want to ask them to refrain from it in your company. Not that it's always easy: some of my "friends" seem to think I'm kidding around when I ask them to quit it while I'm with them :(

Emma - when I asked your social habits what I was driving at was do you hang around with smokers? If so then you seriously want to ask them to refrain from it in your company. Not that it's always easy: some of my "friends" seem to think I'm kidding around when I ask them to quit it while I'm with them :(
Fortunately no, not many of my friends smoke. And the places we tend to go to aren't generally that smoky.