My doc has tried everything for my asthma. I still have four or five attacks a d!
Question: I go into this horrible productive cough. When I take a puff of the inhaler, I get better for a few minutes, but not long. And you can only use the inhaler so many times a day.
Can anyone tell me anything to help?
I know my doctor is baffled!
Answers: I go into this horrible productive cough. When I take a puff of the inhaler, I get better for a few minutes, but not long. And you can only use the inhaler so many times a day.
Can anyone tell me anything to help?
I know my doctor is baffled!
The first answerer is assuming you live in the desert. I just read your update. My son used to use an inhaler (now he takes Singulair tabs) as he had a severe allergy to oak pollen. But, where you live can affect the frequency and duration of asthma attacks. My first question would be is the doctor you are referring to a specialist in Pulmonary medicine? In the U.S. Air Force part of my job was to perform pulmonary function exam's (PFE's) to test patient's lung capacities.
If I understand asthma correctly there are "allergy causing and environmental triggers". So have you ever been to an allergist? As to the issue of the productive cough. Use a cough medicine with an expectorant in it which breaks up the mucosal drainage from your lungs. Use vapor bath. You can get it at any CVS, Walgreen's or any store really. A hot vapor bath breathing in as deeply as you can through your nose and out your mouth can help to breakup the congestion. The link below from WebMD seems to have contain a lot of information about the disease and treatments available. The link below that goes to the American Lung Assn. where you might be able to find research studies being conducted in your area. Check your local newspaper as here in Florida they are always running ads for "clinical research studies" for investigational drugs and treatments. My father suffered with COPD, emphysema, and asbestosis and I watched him suffer to be able to breathe. Best of luck and I hope you find some answers.
perhaps you should move to an area with lots of trees so you can get more oxygen breath
If you have not already :
See a pulmonologist
Have your doctor put you on maintenance drugs:
inhaled corticosteroids (like Pulmicort, Azmacort, Flovent)
long acting beta 2 agonist ( Serevent)
Leukotriene modifiers (Singulair,Accolate)
These are used in addition to your rescue inhaler.
Also, I know of a young girl whose asthma was out of control and her pulmonologist went "old school" and put her on Maxair. It worked well for her and dramatically cut down her attacks. Maybe your Doc should look into meds that worked well in the past and give them a try.
Also, you may want to see if you could have developed Bronchitis.
Definition of Chronic Asthmatic Bronchitis
Chronic asthmatic bronchitis refers to an underlying asthmatic problem in patients in whom the asthma has become so persistent that clinically significant chronic airflow obstruction is present despite anti-asthmatic therapy.
Symptoms of Chronic Asthmatic Bronchitis
Wheezing, shortness of breath, recurrent infections and cough all appear as symptoms of this problem. While these also occur in those with simple asthma, those with chronic asthmatic bronchitis tend to have increased severity and frequency of these complaints.
Hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon!
Good luck!
the best treatment for asthma is learning your triggers and avoiding them. Do you know your triggers?
Have you thought of genetic diseases like Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency? It is an enzyme deficiency that presents as asthma or COPD.
http://alphaone.org/
http://alpha1.org/
I see that I have already answered this for you before. Did you ever get tested for alpha1?
To receive a FREE test kit courtesy of the Alpha one research registry in Charlesto SC, call 1-877-886-2383.