I've had moderate asthma for about 15 years now but its gotten unmanageable in the last 6 months.
I take albuterol, singulair, advair, azmacort for asthma, claritin, and flonase for allergies. I also have a nebulizer which I've had to use daily. Within the last 2 months, i've been to the hospital 5-6 times. Each time at the hospital I've been given neb treatments, iv steroids and the last time, inhaled epinephrine with a script for prednisone tablets. After a few days, my breathing starts getting worse. I now have panic attacks worrying about my next asthma episode and worrying about having to visit the ER again.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something that might help?
I'm tired of gasping for air everyday and taking meds that dont help!

Hi there Kym,

I sympathise with you and understand how you feel. My Asthma was playing me up for 3 months recently and I had several Asthma attacks a day which has reduced now luckily. :)

Has the doctor ruled out a chest infection or done any recent Xrays? Have you had blood tests to check your oxygen levels or for anemia? Do you smoke or have any other medical problems?

Personally I think you should have a thorough check up and see a specalist who can hopefully see if any lung disorders or diseases could be the culprit for this. Usually doctors will have a idea if its a lung disease/disorder and your SATS are usually low. But some doctors are useless and put everything down to allergies or asthma. :)

I have found that controlling my allergies, control my asthma symptoms since most cases of asthma are caused by an allergy. When I tried to control the asthma, it didn't do anything because my allergies weren't under control. See a good allergist to get you on the road to feeling better!!! Good Luck!

I have had asthma since I was 10 and have now been prescribed symbicort by my dr. It is a preventative, and I take it twice in the morning and twice in the evening and it has done the trick. I used to use a ventolin inhaler pretty constantly and now I use it maybe once every six months!!!!! There is also a natural breathing method you can use through a homeopath that helps a lot. Hope this helps some....

buteyko breathing method is a natural method to help control asthma, at bhas helped peopel tremdenously....it also wouldn;t harm you to see a natrupath and people like that to help boost your system.

I actually ended up going to the ER last night. When I got there they immediately took me back because I had no lung sounds in one lung. I got an iv of solu-medrol, did a neb treatment with atrovent and albuterol which still didnt help. I felt like my lungs were collapsing and that I would die but finally after the 4th neb treatment it started working. They did take blood for testing and also did chest x-rays which turned out to be fine.
I have tried homeopathic medicine on my own which did help a little but i think it would help to see a doctor for it. Can you take homeopathic medicine and traditional asthma meds at the same time? Should I go to an allergist and/or a specialist?

buteyko breathing method is a natural method to help control asthma, at bhas helped peopel tremdenously....it also wouldn;t harm you to see a natrupath and people like that to help boost your system.
Do you think just breathing will help when the asthma is severe? Or is something you should practice everyday to keep symptoms from getting bad?

See a pulmonologist. Your symptoms are very severe and you need to get this under control.

Sounds like you may have anxiety which also mimicks asthma problems. Are you stressed out alot?

Sounds like you may have anxiety which also mimicks asthma problems. Are you stressed out alot?

I am stressed and used to have panic attacks which I really don't have much anymore. But when my asthma gets really bad, I do start to panic and have to tell myself to relax because I know it does make it worse.

Well I pick up my prednisone prescription today and I've been doing my albuterol nebulizer just about every 4 hours, taking regular albuterol in between and took daily azmacort and singulair. I'm still having trouble breathing somewhat but it seems different than regular asthma. There is less wheezing but its just as hard to breathe and almost seems worse to me and making me nervous. Is this part of normal asthma? I've had asthma for about 15 years and it's never been like this.

Until my teens I never had a wheeze in my astha only difficulty breathing.

Sorry you ended up in the ER again last night. I have never heard of anyone being on azmacort & Advair but I'm defintely not a doctor. Have you seen a allergist? For me my allergies are what trigger my asthma. Maybe you can find something you are allergic to and get shots. I would also have your iron levels checked.

Good luck & hope you get better soon.