Hi, I'm new and looking for information...

[megcanada]

Over the the last few years I've been having increasing trouble with what the doctors have been calling "bronchial spasms" after colds. I cough violently for weeks and months at a time. Most of the medicines they've given me (bronchodilators, antibiotics, cough suppressants, even narcotics) don't seem to help much, if at all.
Finally, after the last time, my doctor said that it's asthma, it's going to happen again the next time I get a serious cold, and there's nothing I can do about it but suffer through it.

Is that true? Is there really nothing I can do to prevent or shorten these attacks? Will I get more and more of them? (I'm in my 30's and I've got kids so I catch every cold they bring home from school.)

Where can I find information on this? I don't want to just sit around waiting for the next attack. I've noticed lately that even mild colds are starting to affect me, though not as badly.

Can you give me any advice or direct me to any useful sites?

[Blondee15]

If it's asthma, of course there are ways to treat it!=) LOL there would not be any of us here on the asthma board if there was nothing! hehe..The AAAAI(American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology), National Jewish(#1 respiratory hospital in America), also the Mayo Clinic, all have tons of info, even information on getting referred to one of their specialists. Anyways about treatments! There's soooo many, it's highly likely you will find something that can help you out! Of course there are some who are just very very sensitive & steroid resistant, but that's a very small percentage of asthmatics. Are you on any daily medication(preventers?)? It sounds like you may have Cough Variant Asthma(CVA)..I have it & it's allergy triggered(dust, grass, dogs, cats, ragweed) meaning if i'm exposed to enough those..I cough..and cough..and cough..and cough..to no end, until i'm not exposed anymore. I also have a lot of non allergic triggers(smoke, strong perfumes, sickness, etc). Have you been allergy tested? I finally gave in & got tested yesterday & while it only confirmed what I already suspected, it was still nice to see an allergist. In my experience, pulmonologists don't take asthmatics seriously unless they have very very severe asthma..remember they see much sicker people. So I recommend seeing an allergist with a strong background in asthma, you can get allergy testing & also pulmonary function testing(this will show how well your lungs work), possibly blood work to rule out any other conditions. Do you have acid reflux or any related symptoms? That can be a huge trigger for asthma & coughing! It may be worth looking into! Preventer meds(inhaled steroids, long acting bronchodialors, or a combination, also cromolyn sodium, theophyllin, antihistamines, antileukrotines) all can help prevent symptoms but they must be used for a long time to see any effectiveness for the most part. Give any you try at least 2 months to see full results~I've heard of some taking up to a year or more! Reliever meds(albuterol & the like, levalbuterol..only used in a nebulizer so far, prednisone, atrovent) all relieve symptoms..sometimes inhalers don't work well for coughing i've found cuz first they spray something suddenly in your lungs & that can make you cough it all up anyway then it opens up your lungs which can make the cough deeper. Have you used tessalon perles? They work OK for coughing, they don't completely stop it, but they help. May be more effective for you though. What about Mytussin AC(Robotussin with codine & guiafenesin..hope I spelled that right)? That can stop the coughing so it doesn't feed on itself & help you cough more up. The problem is, you shouldn't use it if you have a lot of mucous..i've learned that the hard way..it's dangerous. You should only use it at nite really. lol can you tell coughing is definitely something I know a lot about..for a long time I would get a terrible cough that would take codeine to go away everytime I got sick, even if it was just a cold, I know now it's asthma & i've got a lot better treatment plans to prevent that. I hope this helps..and also that you find some relief..anymore questions feel free to ask..

[megcanada]

Thank you!
No, I'm not on any daily meds at all.
I used to have a lot of allergies as a kid, and I'm very reluctant to go and find out that I still have them, but I guess I will if it'll help prevent more attacks (but oh, please, I can't be allergic to my cats!).
My triggers seem to be mostly colds. Each time, it's started off with laryngitis, which has turned into coughing. But I also cough a little when I breathe in cold air, or when I run. And when it starts, trying to read out loud makes it a lot worse. That's especially difficult for me, because I'm homeschooling, and it's hard to teach if you can't speak.
Yes, I do have something like acid reflux - I have a gap in my esophogeal flap at the top of my stomach, so I have to watch that I don't eat too much fat. I haven't had any problems with this for years, though.

I'm glad you know about coughing!!!
I wasn't particularly mucousy, but I would cough so hard that I couldn't stand up. A few times I almost fell out of my chair, because my back hurt so much. It scared the kids, and I didn't want to go out anywhere in public because people would really stare when I started coughing. Especially with the whole SARs scare, I was feeling like Typhoid Mary.
Sometimes I'd cough so much I'd throw up, which was distressing, too.

Codeine didn't help much last time, but it did make me sleepy, so that was good because I would eventually sleep. I tried Tussionex, but it did weird things to my ears (they were buzzing all the time) and it made me very hyper and then I couldn't sleep at all. It also didn't stop my coughing, but it made me so happy I didn't care very much.
Hot tea was soothing, but only for a few minutes. The clinic doctor put me on Singulair and Advair and antibiotics, but I don't know if they did much. My regular doctor didn't seem to think there was any point in medicating me. He said he didn't think any of those meds shortened the time I spent coughing at all. What do you think?

I've never heard of tessalon perles. Are they over-the-counter cough drops?

[Howitt44]

Originally Posted by megcanada

Thank you!
No, I'm not on any daily meds at all.
I used to have a lot of allergies as a kid, and I'm very reluctant to go and find out that I still have them, but I guess I will if it'll help prevent more attacks (but oh, please, I can't be allergic to my cats!).
My triggers seem to be mostly colds. Each time, it's started off with laryngitis, which has turned into coughing. But I also cough a little when I breathe in cold air, or when I run. And when it starts, trying to read out loud makes it a lot worse. That's especially difficult for me, because I'm homeschooling, and it's hard to teach if you can't speak.
Yes, I do have something like acid reflux - I have a gap in my esophogeal flap at the top of my stomach, so I have to watch that I don't eat too much fat. I haven't had any problems with this for years, though.

I'm glad you know about coughing!!!
I wasn't particularly mucousy, but I would cough so hard that I couldn't stand up. A few times I almost fell out of my chair, because my back hurt so much. It scared the kids, and I didn't want to go out anywhere in public because people would really stare when I started coughing. Especially with the whole SARs scare, I was feeling like Typhoid Mary.
Sometimes I'd cough so much I'd throw up, which was distressing, too.

Codeine didn't help much last time, but it did make me sleepy, so that was good because I would eventually sleep. I tried Tussionex, but it did weird things to my ears (they were buzzing all the time) and it made me very hyper and then I couldn't sleep at all. It also didn't stop my coughing, but it made me so happy I didn't care very much.
Hot tea was soothing, but only for a few minutes. The clinic doctor put me on Singulair and Advair and antibiotics, but I don't know if they did much. My regular doctor didn't seem to think there was any point in medicating me. He said he didn't think any of those meds shortened the time I spent coughing at all. What do you think?

I've never heard of tessalon perles. Are they over-the-counter cough drops?

Megcanada,
You are definitely not along. I suffered for years with a cough that I would get after a cold. The last couple of times I wouldn't even have to get a cold, just a scratchy sore throat and then BOOM! down into the chest it would go. My regular MD said it is was probably asthma because it is not normal for a cold to always go into the chest like that and linger for weeks. Well, I was tested by two different allergists (because I'm in denial) for asthma and both say I have it. Since I have been on Advair, nasal sprays, and antihistamines for allergies, I have been a lot better and am celebrating 14 months being cough-free!!That might sound strange to be celebrating, but literally I would get these mucousy coughs where I would cough up tons of whitish phlem that would leave me exhausted. I couldn't sleep and talk on the phone. I really started to believe I had this horrible lung disease. My grandfather and father and aunt all died of lung diseases so you can see how terrified and paranoid of all this I became. So there is help for your cough and shame, shame, on the doctor that told you that you would have to suffer through it!!Have him do an asthma test on you, get medicated, and see how great you feel. Good luck!!
Cindy
By the way, vitamin C is great in additional to your medication. I take about 3000 mg. a day especially during cold and flu season. It really protects your immune sytem.

[jp3892]

2 questions Howitt:

1) Are u on the very low dose Advair all through the year now or is it just for the cold season?

2) What testing did u get done for asthma and was that last november too?