my friend had a sever asthma attack just a few hours ago. it lasted for about 2 hours but shes calmed since and restored regular breathing. it was quite severe. she was coughing (and she still is ) a dry cough, that irritates her. now she is having much difficulty taking deep breaths. any type of deep breath at all. her breathing is shallow (but not like an attack). she tried to take deep breaths but it is a struggle. shes getting frustrated more and more by the minute and im afraid it may induce another attack.
are there any exercises to do with her, or common medicine that i can give her to help her take deep breaths or relax her breathing more. im very worried about another attack now.
thanks for your help.

by the way. she has exercise induced asthma

Hi

First of all did she take her recue medication (ventalin or whatever her doctor gave her). I know with me sometimes it helps me to relax by taking a bath. I have also inhaled tea by making a pot and just breathing it in for a few minutes. The hardest thing to do is for her to try and slow down her breathing. If she takes a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth that may help. The coughing just makes it worse so if she can try not to cough so much it would be good. Easier said than done! Good luck and let us know how she is doing.

If she does not feel better she should see a dr as soon as possible.

It is difficult to try to do "calm breathing" when having an attack.
Does she practice Hatha Yoga breathing exercises?
She should talk to her Dr. to find out if there is some medicine that could help when that happens.
Sometimes breathing into a paper sack is helpful.

She should have a rescue inhaler and use it BEFORE doing any cardio. I have regular asthma and jog. I have to use 2 puffs of albuterol 20 minutes before jogging or I will have an attack.

thanks for your help. she ended up having another attack, although it was turned into a panic attack rather than an asthma attack. We went to the hospital last night from 2-8 in the morning. She finally calmed her breathing. They gave her Xanax as well.
BUT,
there is another problem. The cough she had still persists. her lungs "hurt" which makes sense to me due to the coughing and the hardness of breathing before. she also just threw up. she hasn't eaten anything really today, but she has had something to drink. her cough is bad and it has me worried. her breathing is still normal, and she can take somewhat deep breaths. but she continues to complain about being dizzy (she complained about this in the hospital last night too, after the drugs. she didn't really know where she was and she was dizzy). she knows where she is now, but remains somewhat dizzy.
we're on a college campus, and i'm wondering if i should make her come to the student health office here or if anyone had any ideas. the doctors yesterday said her lungs were clear so thats a good sign, but they did not take an x-ray. her coughs have gone from dry, to somewhat not dry. there seems to be a small bit of phlegm or something in the cough now sometimes.
thanks for your help again.

Has she actually been diagnosed with asthma? She should really see a pulmonologist for that. They will determine if she has asthma and put her on a regimen of a daily preventer and a rescue inhaler. Sounds like she's not doing what she needs to if she truly has asthma.