anyone got asthma?

mudcow007

i've had it most if not all on my life, when i was a nipper (im only 28 now) i was on 2 inhalors, steroids tablets, other tablets and nebuliser (thing with a mask that is noisy an tastes like crap)

anyways i had totally grown out of asthma, even been discharged from the hospital until recently when my mrs decides she wants cats....it turns out i'm really allergic to them

an now i'm back on my inhalers, the past few weeks though have been odd. i can be riding along fine when the next min im gasping for breath, two goes on my inhaler an im reet again

when my chest does kick off im not pushing my self or anything, pretty scary to be honest

an my mrs wont get rid of the cats!!

so anyone else sound like old wheezy?

Paul E

I have, I have what they described as adult onset asthma, I developed a bad chest infection which put me in A&E at the end and they said I had 25% lung function left, and they say that's what had triggered it off.

So at the moment I am on blue inhalers for when my chest gets tight, a purple steriod and long acting dialator (seretide) two puffs in the morning two in the evening and normally if I am not suffering from a cold that regime keeps me symptom free. I do tend to get more chest infections which do floor me and means time off the bike.

I used to be allergic to cats but I seemed to get over it and they don't trigger any response anymore but when they did, yes they made me very wheezy.

I have found my cycling keeps my lungs more open, the asthma nurse was surprised when she took a peak flow reading and asked what exercise I did and when I said she went "aaahhh, don't stop doing it"

daviesee

Sorry to say it but your Mrs obviously values the cats more than your health :evil:

I had it as a youngster but seem to have outgrown it.
More likely, I am now pet free and dust (carpet) free.

The Rookie

If you have cats and an allergy, get a Sebo vacuum cleaner, lowest exhaust contamination of any household level cleaner which is why most Hospitals use them (the problem there being the nut holding the handle.....)

Simon

rjsterry

Wear one of these around the house?



I and my brother are both allergic to cats (among other things) yet we always had between 2 and 4 cats in the house. Not sure why I didn't call social services TBH. Something preventative, rather than treating the symptoms when they occur would probably be best - maybe a visit to the GP for some advice. That plus hiring a good cleaner.

fenboy369

Yep, I do. I go wheezy with a change of cats. The soon-to-be-ex-mother-in-laws cat always sets me off and had me end up in hospital once cos I forgot my inhaler. After a day I'm ok, then my cat does me a little bit when I get home, but a day later I'm fine.
I find riding helps enormously. The Dr has even commented on how my inhaler usage goes up and lung capacity etc...goes down when I'm not cycling.
I'm on Symbicort and Ventolin btw, the symbicort is awesome and I hardly ever use the ventolin now.
If you havent had a review for a while ask your gp or better still an astha nurse (if your doctors have one) about maybe getting a change of inhalers.
I'm also a lot better with less carpet about. I've got solid floors through most of my house and find its much better for me.

mudcow007

funny you should mention a peak flow reading, i had mine done about 2 months ago an was only able to get to about 350, the nurse said i should be easily near 500

im only on blue Ventolin (salbutamol) and Clenil (purple)

i think i need to go back to the quacks as it seems to be getting worse to be honest maybe just a change in dosage is what i need

we have solid floors too, in the house i have told the mrs the cats are banned from certain rooms to kind a clean room

i will phone the docs

cornerblock

mudcow007 wrote:

i've had it most if not all on my life, when i was a nipper (im only 28 now) i was on 2 inhalors, steroids tablets, other tablets and nebuliser (thing with a mask that is noisy an tastes like crap)

anyways i had totally grown out of asthma, even been discharged from the hospital until recently when my mrs decides she wants cats....it turns out i'm really allergic to them

an now i'm back on my inhalers, the past few weeks though have been odd. i can be riding along fine when the next min im gasping for breath, two goes on my inhaler an im reet again

when my chest does kick off im not pushing my self or anything, pretty scary to be honest

an my mrs wont get rid of the cats!!

so anyone else sound like old wheezy?

I have asthma, born with it I think. I had numerous asthma attacks as a child, some very serious and really frightening. As I have got older it has improved, although my inhaler is used now and again. Cats have always been a trigger for my asthma, to the point where I can tell if a home has cats within moments of stepping inside the front door. Your mrs surely can't be putting owning cats ahead of your health! :shock: No way would I suffer tight chest and wheezing because of a cat. Time to tell her ' it's me or the cats', should tell you where you stand!

Medders

yeah - asthmatic here too. Like an idiot I smoked for years too.

its ok now - but find I am still wheezy when pollution and/or pollen levels are high.

I have a cat - doesnt make me wheeze but makes me sneeze if I havent been around him for a few days. Worth that minor hassle imho. Not sure I would have the same view if he exacerbated my asthma.

dewei

I have had asthma since age 3. Fortunately it is easily controlled and rarely if ever exercise induced. Attacks occur gradually and can be spotted some time before.

From your description, your asthma attacks can be of quite rapid onset which is worrying.

Get the docs/nurses to check your inhaler technique.

A sign of a successful asthma inhaler regime is that you take the steroids regularly (clenil) with the very occasional bronchodilator (ventolin)

The cats need to go.
Explain that you have to breathe in all these drugs just to keep going chestwise. You never know (I hope it does not happen) but you may get a very severe asthma attack with your next cold. I cannot understand how somebody who loves you prefers cats over your health?

EKE_38BPM

Your missus values her cats more than she values your health?
Time for an ultimatum: "Lose the cats or lose me." Simple really.

On a side note, a friend's girlfriend gave him an ultimatum: "Facebook or me". He chose Facebook. I was wetting myself laughing at that.

cjcp

Another asthamtic here. Not as bas as yours, mind (touches wood).

Cats get my eyes streaming, mouth itching and nose running. So, I have to take piriton before I go to a cat-occupied house.

Hell will freeze over before I have cats in my house.

Get rid of the cats.

Aguila

mudcow007 wrote:

funny you should mention a peak flow reading, i had mine done about 2 months ago an was only able to get to about 350, the nurse said i should be easily near 500

im only on blue Ventolin (salbutamol) and Clenil (purple)

i think i need to go back to the quacks as it seems to be getting worse to be honest maybe just a change in dosage is what i need

we have solid floors too, in the house i have told the mrs the cats are banned from certain rooms to kind a clean room

i will phone the docs

I'm not asthmatic but I am a chest doc. If you have clear allergic triggers to your wheeze then it's not surprising that if you have ongoing exposure your control will be worse. the cats really should go. If your control is inadequate on the clenil ie if you are using significant salbutamol, have a peak flow less than 75% of your best or especially if you have nocturnal symptoms/ventolin use, you should step up your preventative treatment. this means either having a higher dose of inhaled steroid in the clenil or switching to a combined steroid/long acting bronchodilator such as symbicort or seretide via a spacer. Your GP should be happy to do this for you.

mudcow007

Aguila wrote:

I'm not asthmatic but I am a chest doc. If you have clear allergic triggers to your wheeze then it's not surprising that if you have ongoing exposure your control will be worse. the cats really should go. If your control is inadequate on the clenil ie if you are using significant salbutamol, have a peak flow less than 75% of your best or especially if you have nocturnal symptoms/ventolin use, you should step up your preventative treatment. this means either having a higher dose of inhaled steroid in the clenil or switching to a combined steroid/long acting bronchodilator such as symbicort or seretide via a spacer. Your GP should be happy to do this for you.

i phoned about 20 mins ago an got an appointment with an asthma nurse at my local GPs

i use to take bricanyl an pulmicort inhalers an take theophylline (in tablet) an then if i was really bad

hopefully i wont get back to that stage!

thanks for the info

Agent57

I was asthmatic as a child, but seemed to grow out of it around the age of 15 or so. Fast forward 25 years, to last August. I rode a regular 5 mile commute each way to and from work, which never caused me any problems. Then suddenly, one Thursday or Friday morning, I sprinted up a short hill, racing a van; when I got to the top, I was fighting for breath. Not just "out" of breath, but short of breath (to me, there's a difference; I didn't feel my lungs were working at their normal capacity).

Anyway, that went on for a couple of months, and now after 25+ years without an inhaler, I've got two. A grey Ventolin (salbutamol) "reliever", and a white Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol) combination preventer. I take the preventer daily; not sure if I still need it, TBH. I carry the reliever with me, but I've not had cause to use it for about 6 months.

My peak flow has been as low as 350, but as I type this it's 640. I'm 172cm and 42 yrs old, so that's around normal for my group.

Worst in winter for me, as it's cold, damp air that seems to trigger mine. We've had a dog, and currently have 2 cats; animals don't seem to present any problem for me. There are loads of triggers for asthma though. I've no idea what triggered mine last August.

sc999cs

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Your missus values her cats more than she values your health?
Time for an ultimatum: "Lose the cats or lose me." Simple really.

Hate to say, but I agree with this. Asthma kills - the son of a friend dropped dead at school from an asthma attack - he was 14.

Anyway on a brighter note I have exercise and allergy induced asthma. Cycling is about the only exercise I can carry out which doesn't affect my asthma and has probably made me healthier than I would have been otherwise.

bigmat

Another asthmatic here - have mainly grown out of it, but have been getting tight-chested recently and been puffing on the blue inhaler for relief. Something to do with the weather / pollution / hayfever? I can't cope with cats, they seriously need to go. Harsh, but necessary. Funny how people without allergies just can't grasp the concept - you always get some "I'll keep them out of your way" crock, as you're choking on airborne furballs.

weedy1

I've had childhood asthma.

Struggling to breath 'cos your missus wants a couple of fur balls in the house?. seriously.

Get crafty and take them on a day out over the bridge

Paul E

My peak flow dropped as low as 200 at one point but normally I hit over 700 and sometimes after a ride out I can push it to the end.

I was told by my old gp (who was fantastic) if you need to use your reliver more than a couple of times in a day come back to me as the preventer should stop the symptoms which it does unless I have a chest infection.

mudcow007

ive ran out of my steroid inhaler so im just using the blue one for the time being

i have a appointment with an asthma nurse on the 28th so im holding out paying for a prescription that might change

my mrs has started to clean the house religiously every day now to see if that helps, i cant see it my self, so i think the cats will have to go.....anybody want two cats?

davis

How suddenly can attacks like this occur? And how... dangerous/scary can they be. I'm not trying to be macabre; I do have a genuine reason for asking.

mudcow007

can come all of a sudden to be honest, i generally get an itch just below my ribs on my right side just before i find it hard to breathe so its a kinda warning sign

i haven't had a really really bad attack yet, if i sit down an calm down i can control it (luckily)

Paul E

Last one I had I woke up chest felt tight, started to cough and cough and cough, couldn't get my breath.

As it's rare to have an attack I don't tend to keep a reliever inhaler next to my bed so I had to get to the living room, by this time struggling for breath more and bascially on the floor, trouble is when I use an inhaler while having an attack it makes me cough more.

I found my really concentrating on slowing my breathing down, then I can take a puff on the inhaler which then has more time inside my lungs to work.

It can be frightening which makes you breathe shallower but you just have to relax and calm yourself

mudcow007

does anyone else got an itchy feeling just before their chest tightens up?

Agent57

mudcow007 wrote:

does anyone else got an itchy feeling just before their chest tightens up?

Nope. I don't have any warning signs I can think of - but I also don't have sudden attacks either. So far, I think all mine have been a gradual tightening as a result of cold, damp air or exercise.

Rooner

Had asthma all my life, been in hospital couple of times, but a puff of ventolin before a run / ride seemed to hold worst of it in check (until I got a cold....which progressed every time to a chest infection).

Always had cats and dogs, house dust was my trigger....BUT went vegetarian 4 years ago and not had a cold since, not had asthma since, don't think I've used my inhaler since either. I've done nothing else different, not moved house, not changed pets, and even done lots of things that would / should trigger an attack (running in Germany at -25oC, running through woods at peak pollen time, cleaning out airing cupboard of old bedding).

Controversial I know, and not scientifically representative at all. So, go vegetarian and be super healthy

KonaMike

I had childhood asthma which I grew out of in my late teens but when I lived with my first girlfriend (when I was 21) it flared up again. She had two cats which I think caused the problem for me because as soon as I moved out the breathing issues stopped !!

Last year I visited a mates house,they had two of those long haired cats and all the way home in the car I was wheezing !

Apart from that one incident I havent used an inhaler in about 10 years .

Agent57

But... but... I lubs mah meats.

Rooner

Oh, and the go vegetarian and be super healthy is kind of a joke, so please no anti veggie abuse! Just saying what my experience is, doubt if the two are even connected.

but eating dead animals is gross :?

mudcow007

Rooner wrote:

but eating dead animals is gross :?

but surely if eating meat was wrong, why did god make them just so damn tasty??

Agent57

Rooner wrote:

but eating dead animals is gross :?

I enjoy it. :P