My PCP dx'd me with asthma last September, I had 3 weeks where it felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest and wheezing while inhaling. I had fall allergies with lots and lots of wheezing, cough, runny/itchy nose, itchy eyes and more. I was put on albuterol and sent home.

This spring (mid February) it started all over again. The only problem over the winter months was I couldn't run in the cold air, other than that no other problems. I went back to my PCP and she rx'd Pulmicort, Zyrtec, Flonase and Clariten D, but I have never had the test to determine if it is really asthma.

I have read here that most of you have a chronic cough with your asthma, I only have wheezing and elephants, I only cough with colds, flu, & allergies.

I guess my question is: Can you have asthma without the chronic cough?

I have an appt. set up on Tuesday with an Asthma specialist, I want to be certain that all these meds are even worth taking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please let me know if some of you have dx'd with asthma and have not had a chronic cough.

OK, first of all, everyone has different symptoms. With me, it's shortness of breath. Others wheeze, some cough. You should be on a daily preventive med (pulmicort/flovent/advair/etc). Don;t know why you are on two antihistamine (zyrtec and Claritin D). You probably need only one. And the flonase is a good kick for nasal issues.You then need your albuterol as a rescue inhaler (if you have an attack) or to keep from having an attack during any cardio work that causes you to wheeze (two puffs, 20 minutes before jogging, aerobics class, mowing the grass, etc). You should be seeing a pulmonologist, immunologist or at least an allergist, not your PCP, for these issues. When I run in really cold weather, I put a bandana over my face so I won;t inhale really cold air. That helps also. FYI, I am a 60 year old female, jog 3-4 times per week, hit the weights 3 times per week and have had asthma for about 10 years, allergies all my life (I did immunotherapy for the allergies so rarely take an antihistamine). Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply Titchou. I am on Pulmicort and have an appt Tuesday with an Asthma Specialist. I guess I just don't want to look like an idiot because I don't have the chronic cough I keep reading about.

I am on Zyrtec everyday and add Clariton D when my allergies are really bad (and believe me, this year they have been really bad).

I'm guessing by your response, not everyone has the "chronic cough".

I've never had the pft but I'm assuming they will do that Tuesday. I'll post on here what I find out.

Let us know what you find out Tuesday. Good luck!

I have pretty severe asthma but I don't like the steroid inhalers because of the thrush it causes, so I am only on albuterol and claritin and an albuterol inhaler. I have had a hard time the last 3 days so I put myself on prednisone to get some relief. (I had it and never took it before) They say the more water you drink, the less symptoms that you have but how much is enough? Water makes me terribly full and then when I am full, it makes it hard for me to breathe because I am so full. I guess we just can't win with asthma. :( But yes, everyone has different symptoms. I do not usually cough as it makes my asthma worse but I have the tight feeling.

Thanks for everyones replys. I went to the Asthma specialist yesterday and they ran all the test and I have moderate to severe asthma. I feel better knowing I'm on medication that I really don't need.

They also did an allergy test and I had such a severe reaction to tree pollens, ragweed and grass pollens that they had to give me prednisone and made me wait there until I was better.

The good side, I'm not allergic to my dogs:)

They did tell me that I could be having asthma flares from GERD. I had no idea, although I don't have the classic sytmptoms of gerd it can still give people with asthma all kinds of problems.

Singer 1, i have been on pred so many times I have lost count and most of the time long term and not for asthma, the side effects are nasty but wow, they sure do make you feel better when you're taking them. I have a love/hate relationship with prednisone!

I never wheeze and hardly ever cough. My asthma is chest tightness and shortness of breath. The way one doctor described it for me was, people who wheeze have athma in the upper lungs. People who have chest tightness have it deep in the lungs. I dont get thrush from the inhalers because I rinse my mouth out with mouthwash after each use. Also, when I first got asthma they had me on prednizone, singular, advair, claritin d. etc. My girlfriend came to talk to me and said that for thirteen years she went around and around with all kinds of meds. Finially the started to administer the allbuteral with a nebulizer because I wasn't getting the albuteral down deep enough with the inhalers. I've never been on prednizone since. It was almost instant relief from the elephant. They also switched me from advair to pulmacort for my type of asthma. It only took me four years to get the right combination rather than her thirteen. Be patient, its confusing for the doctors as well at first.
I started allergy shots last summer. Its the first time in years that I've been able to do that. It helps that I take flovent too. Take care.

Glad your more at ease about the meds after your appt.
About the Gerd.
I had NO spymtoms of Gerd other than the laringitic voice. I sounded like a frog one minute and in the same sent, I sounded normal. After I found that out, I try not to eat more than a cup of food at a time and believe me, most of my asthma problems are after I eat. Drinking alcohol flares gerd and then asthma wild. Same with any carbonated beverage and caffine. Water is my best friend.