kjd

Hi,

My name is Ken. I was diagnosed with asthma 16 years ago when I was 8, after some bouts with pneumonia and severe allergies. I grew up having asthma problems, but mostly only had real issues when I was sick. I was never on any long-term steroids, oral or inhaled, though I would usually have an inhaled steroid prescribed when I was ill, to be stopped shortly after feeling better.

Until this summer, for several years I had thought I had mostly outgrown my asthma and allergies, as I rarely had significant allergy problems, and only showed asthma symptoms when I was very sick (e.g. flu). Colds and such usually weren't even too much of a problem, especially for the last few years.

Unfortunately this summer a couple weeks after a flu-like illness I had an asthma attack (I almost forgot what they felt like!), and went into the E.R. where they gave me a breathing treatment and sent me home with some Albuterol, which I was once bound to, but hadn't had for quite some time. To make a long story short, I ended up back in the ER twice the next week, got on some Prednisone and Levaquin (ugh, ugh) which cleared up the asthma symptoms but made me somewhat, er, psychotic/paranoid, particularly because my doc couldn't figure out what was wrong (I had some odd results in my bloodwork). The bloodwork turned out to be normal; my bilirubin was a bit elevated but a specialist said it was probably normal as it was not VERY high, and it conveniently explained the slight yellowness I've always had in my eyes.

I got with an Allergy/Asthma specialist who got me off the Prednisone and onto a small daily dose of Pulmicort and Albuterol for when I need it. This has done well for nearly two months and I've rarely needed to use the Albuterol until the fall allergies swept in recently, which is great.

Recently though (within the last couple weeks) I've been experiencing increased irritation in my chest. It feels slightly (but not very) tight, warm, and somewhat "raw". Congestion has been noticable. My allergist asked that I increase my Pulmicort dose significantly for a few days (from 2 puffs once a day to 4 puffs 3 times per day (200mg/puff)). This seemed OK for a day or so but it simply came back slightly worse than before. My symptoms were previously worse in the evenings but now persist throughout the day.

So finally my question (and I apologize for being long-winded, but I liked reading some of the personal stories here and felt like contributing). For those who've been using the inhaled steroids longer than I, what does it feel like when you get a respiratory infection while on these drugs? I know the symptoms can be masked, but I don't have any experience to draw upon. I've been around several sick people over the last few weeks; I don't feel noticably "sick" but maybe a little out of it, with the exception of the asthma symptoms.

Thanks,
Ken