How to tell if I have asthma? - Asthma Message Board

lamal3 · 03-01-2004, 03:13 AM

I've been coughing for like a month now. The coughing doesen't stop however. Sometimes I cough like alot and sometimes it just stops for a while.

Howitt44 · 03-01-2004, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamal3

I've been coughing for like a month now. The coughing doesen't stop however. Sometimes I cough like alot and sometimes it just stops for a while.

The only way to tell for sure is to have a spirometry test where you blow into a tube and a computer measures the amount of air you can blow out in a few seconds. Coughing can be a sign of asthma, especially one that lingers longer than a couple of weeks. I used to get bronchitis really easily and my cough would linger for a couple of months at a time. I would spit up a lot of white phlegm and be wheezy. Its best not to guess and have it checkd out.

thug master · 03-11-2004, 09:14 PM

i always knew i had asthma but it just got worse..... right now my breathing is 70% below normal and getting better. usually if u have asthma u will cough a lot but it is not like a regular cough it is like u have stuff in ur lungs like mucus or something. when u cough there is no way u can miss it. you will also be wezzing when u r breathing. most of the time the real test is when u lay down does your chest get tight ( if so u most def have it) try it give it like 5 mins

hope this helps

jp3892 · 03-12-2004, 03:40 AM

I always feel too many people THINK they have asthma. Coughing is only a minor part of asthma and most people actually don't cough very much during an attack. The reason why is that coughing and sneezing (at least in my experience) can aggravate the tightness in your chest so u only do it if u have sputum to come up. In most allergic asthma cases, there is no sputum and the chest is just dry and tight - very tight! If u have these kinds of symptoms then u definitely have asthma.

Blondee15 · 03-12-2004, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp3892

I always feel too many people THINK they have asthma. Coughing is only a minor part of asthma and most people actually don't cough very much during an attack. The reason why is that coughing and sneezing (at least in my experience) can aggravate the tightness in your chest so u only do it if u have sputum to come up. In most allergic asthma cases, there is no sputum and the chest is just dry and tight - very tight! If u have these kinds of symptoms then u definitely have asthma.

This is not always true, from what I have been told from doctors anyway.
For some, coughing can be the biggest part of asthma & it is often the most difficult to control. Sometimes the attack can solely be coughing. There doesn't need to be sputum to cough necessarily, coughing is a reflex from the immune system to clear the airways. However when the immune system thinks that something that isn't harmful is, coughing can occur, despite wether or not there is anything to be coughed up. Hence the baseline of asthma- a reactive airway. It's called Cough Variant Asthma & it is a real problem that many asthmatics deal with. Coughing can aggravate the tightness b/c it can cause damage 2 the cartilage between your ribs(chostochondritis), which causes swelling, which then makes it even harder to breathe. Not to mention the physical pain of coughing so much..it can be just as dangerous as your airways swelling up. But many times, both events happen.
And actually, the numbers are really scary of how many people have asthma who don't even know it. I've read in some places the numbers are comparable to the amount of people who know that they have it. Asthma is finally being recognized as a frequently undiagnosed & mistreated disease.
And there is not definitive set of symptoms for asthma really. So many things can cause it & mimic it..theres a whole host of symptoms that are subtle & not so subtle.