It's that time of year again...cold air induced asthma

[MountainReader]

I just need to vent to people who understand.

Well, the cold air is officially here. Last night, I walked a short distance to my car and by the time I got in, I was having a cold air induced asthma attack. I used my rescue inhaler 3 times before I finally fell asleep last night (early in the morning). I woke up with the tightness and cough this morning. It wasn't until about 2 p.m. today that I actually got it under control. I had to take the day off work because I was afraid going outside would make things even worse this morning. I ended up needing emergency care just over a year ago under very similar circumstances when I went out about 1/2 hour after using my rescue inhaler and felt "better" after an attack. It is soooo frustrating. I don't know if this is a single incident right now or if it is the start of a major flare. All I can do right now is be careful and watch to see if it gets bad enough I need to go on steroids again. I do have an asthma action plan in place to follow.

I'm on Singulair and Advair 250/50 for preventatives and use a scarf or gaitor over my mouth in the cold air. What scares me is that the cold air is just beginning for the year. Is this going to be a bad year again? It took a lot of work to get things under control for last year. In addition, I'm newly diagnosed with TMJ and all the asthma coughing certainly doesn't help my jaw either. Kind of undoes some of the PT I'm getting for the jaw right now.

[MountainReader]

Well, I started on the steroids for my asthma flare today. A minimum of 5 days with enough in the prescription to go 17 days if needed. It is a tapering dose after the first 5 days.

I've been on steroids a couple times a year since the 90's. This is the first time I've been to this particular doctor. He prescribed me to take 3 a day for the first 5 days for 1 at 3 times per day. In the past I've always been prescribed to take the Prednisone at the higher dosage once per day. For example, this prescription would have been for 3 at 1 time per day.

Is there really a difference in how this is administered in this instance? It was certainly easier to take them all at once in the past.

I guess it really is what ever works.

[Titchou]

Wish I could give you a clue but I have to avoid the prednisone as much as possible as it sends my BP skyrocketing.....and I already have BP issues and am on meds for it...

[Capttom48]

They always put me on a pred taper. In my case it's a safety measure since pred affects me a lot. Perhaps your new doctor doesn't know that you can handle the heavier dosage for a short time without a taper. He's just being careful.