I’m an attorney specializing in air pollution law and the parent of a severe asthmatic. And I need to clear the air.

After three inpatient stays at 2 years old, the doctors upped my child’s diagnosis from RAD to asthma. She has since been admitted several more times. She has regular maintenance inhalers she takes daily in addition to an aggressive “sick” plan and fast-acting inhaler that we’ve been directed to use more or less any time someone on the bus sneezes.

Her tonsils and adenoids are coming out in a couple weeks. The frightening part for me about this generally-very-routine procedure is the reason they’re doing it: leaving any stone unturned in tackling her asthma is a matter of life or death. Large tonsils and adenoids are often self correcting because kids grow into them, and hers are only moderately enlarged. But her sleep study—performed while she was healthy—showed regular dips to 80% oxygen, so the doctors are taking a noodle-at-the-wall approach to help her breathe. The surgery is expected to generate minor-to-medium improvement but still considered worth the risk.

As a 3-year-old with “pediatric patient in status asthmaticus” all over her health record, she’ll be inpatient for at least an overnight after the procedure, and then I need to keep her home for two weeks.

And I’m scared. And I’m tired from being scared. Tonsillectomies are supposed to mean ice cream and movies, but I’m afraid to even let her sleep. 80% while she’s healthy?! And now her throat will be swollen?! I’ve had to hold her while PICU doctors suctioned her lungs, and the image of her face will never ever leave me. I actually sleep better in hospital cribs—cold metal, wires everywhere, toddler-length, and not exactly weight-rated for an adult—because I know she is getting oxygen and being monitored by professionals. I am so, so afraid for my baby. Now I’ll have her at home with the dust and whatever else while her little throat is raw and swollen. And the procedure is not even a tin bullet, let alone silver one. They just need to do anything, no matter how small, to help her breathe on her own.

Let me pile it on, dear Internet. My career is in air pollution control. Last autumn, my office worked through the entirety of the longest government shutdown in United States history so we could aggressively gut air pollution laws. While other federal employees were furloughed, I had to take leave and pause my air toxics deregulatory assignments so I could bring my asthmatic toddler to the pulmonologist. The cognitive dissonance was… vexing. I resigned from my dream job in the office I had previously thought was the best-positioned in the country to improve our nation’s air—the air my baby breathes—because I was batting for the team batting against what I hold most dear.

No one could safely breathe in DC last week: the air quality index was 250. I kept my daughter home and she still had difficulty breathing indoors. My little girl can’t catch a break.

I’m so tired of the public not taking air quality seriously. Just because asthma is common doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve our attention… to the contrary, because it’s so common, it needs our attention. It’s serious.

To the parents out there of children with respiratory issues: I see you, I support you, and I’m doing what I can to help you breathe easier.

Okay, so about 25 days ago I started getting sick and my asthma got really bad. I saw a doctor on July 5th via video call and was prescribed a first course of antibiotics + prednisolone without much success. I saw another doctor via video call on Monday, (My doctor is on vacation and I see him on August 12th) explaining my symptoms and the lack of improvement in my cough and breathing difficulties, and also coughing up a lot of mucus and I was prescribed another course of antibiotics (over 5 days) I've been using another antibiotic, but so far there's no improvement in sight (3 days since the start). They also increased my dose of Seretide for a month, I'm going from 250 to 500. There are days that are "a little" better, but today we can say it's a bad day. I guess I'm just making this post to get some support because it's starting to get really annoying

The air quality isn't that bad in my area so, I'm really wondering what kind of thing I've caught, if antibiotics don't work I imagine it's not bacterial. My last video appointment raised the possibility, but judged it unlikely since I am vaccinated, of whooping cough, but anyway. I imagine I'll have to wait until my appointment with my doctor.

UK based woman here, hoping someone can help.

Sorry in advance for the convoluted question. I started Montelukast around 6-8 weeks ago as I have suspected MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) as well as asthma. It’s definitely helping my GI MCAS symptoms as well as swelling, and I’m not getting any worrying side effects. Wheezing when laying down is much better too.

Starting Montelukast coincided with the June heatwave and obviously pollen is high, and I started to get a bit of a chesty cough, croaky voice and increased mucus around the same time. Then coincidentally I was at the GP and asked for a new blue inhaler, but he wanted to switch me over to a MART inhaler so put me onto Bibecfo (generic Fostair I think?) with a spacer. The dose is 100/6 twice a day (up to 8 puffs if needed).

I was previously using turbohalers as I’m shockingly uncoordinated and can’t even manage an Easihaler without just breathing the powder straight onto my tongue. The new Easychamber spacer squeaks at me if I breathe the Bibecfo in too deeply or too fast so I’m not 100% sure if I’m getting enough. To not make the spacer whistle I don’t feel like I’m breathing in deeply enough, if that makes sense?

My chesty cough is getting worse and more mucusy and the inhaler doesn’t really seem to be helping; sometimes it goes back to just being a tickly cough for a few hours but then comes back.

My chest aches and feels a little bit tight. Peak flow is in the green although it does make me cough doing it. I can’t work out if:

The Montelukast is making my asthma worse, which seems odd as it’s helping everything else

The heatwave and pollen is making my asthma worse 

I have a bit of a chest infection

and/or I need a stronger/different medication inhaler/different type of inhaler (and maybe a different spacer)

Or some/all of the above?

I was very late diagnosed so am never sure what’s going on and what the problem/solution might be. I have (as yet untreated) late diagnosed ADHD too so find things difficult to unscramble in my head, so please excuse the slightly scribbly post. I can’t get a GP appointment today.

If anyone can give me any advice I’d be very grateful. ♥️

I’m new to asthma, sorry if this is a stupid question.

All my life I’m used to the fact that when I wake up, breathing deep hurts and I have to do shallow ones first for the first 20 minutes of my day. It usually improves when I shower but sometimes it persists even after.

I mentioned this to my non-asthmatic friend and he says there’s no such thing as that. I’ve felt that my whole life but I’m newly diagnosed so I’m wondering if it’s maybe caused by asthma.

Thank you.

I thought I'd do a short write up of my tezspire experience for anyone who's really anxious about getting it or wondering what people's experiences have been like.

About me:

Meds: trelogy 200mcg 1x daily. Symbicort and ventolin as rescues. My asthma seems pretty small airway predominant. I've never had elevated IgE or eosinophils and didn't qualify for other biologics. Currently doing allergy immunotherapy for grass, ragweed, mold

Flairs: 3x flairs requiring prednisone last year 1x ED visit

Activities: I'm an avid runner, painter, work from home

Triggers: skin prick testing positive for grass, ragweed, mold. Wildfire smoke, diesel exhaust, general voc's are irritant triggers as well. Cold has been a worse trigger this year

Tezspire:

I noticed a difference 2 weeks after my first injection. It was like the pollen season just went away (though other people reported it was very much still in action). I noticed less symptoms running, had less skin itching after being outside. Prior that I was having a pretty bad time with the pollen.

After my second injection, things continued to improve. My lungs felt even better on runs, I even went up to high altitude, did a ton of activity outside on a camping trip, coexisted with a propane stove (unvented) and wood burning stove with minimal issue for a weekend in a cabin. This trip would have been a nightmare for me in the past, I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep, would have been coughing etc. I wasn't coughing any more than anyone else lol. So huge win. And was able to run/hike/scramble with no problems.

A lot of my allergy related random symptoms have also improved: itchy throat, losing my voice during pollen season, rhinitis, skin itching (I have bad skin itching with allergens, smoke and even gas). I'm generally sleeping better and feel way less foggy as well.

Even my stomach problems (chronic diarrhea) seem improved? Though it's still randomly flaring so not 100% on the correlation there. But I've had normal poops during this period, which has never happened that I can remember.

No side effects that I've noticed. My joints were maybe a bit sore the first 2-3 days after my first injection, but it resolved and hard to say if it was the med or my general activities. One of my injections was pretty painful, otherwise it's been a manageable amount of pain.

Sadly doesn't seem to be giving me much smoke immunity (yet), but I have noticed better tolerance around my other irritant triggers.

Thanks for reading if you got that far, hope that helps anyone who is feeling nervous about starting. It doesn't seem to work for everyone but really grateful it's helping me!

I have two boys (2 years old and 4 months) who recently have both been “diagnosed” with restrictive airway, possibly to be confirmed asthma when they’re older. Asthma runs in my family (maternal) and after every cold, their coughs stick around for weeks, turning wet/barky. We’ve had plenty doctor appointments/urgent care visits about them. I’m curious - aside from albuterol treatments, saline solution for the baby, humidifiers, steam showers, etc - is there anything in your homes you later found attributed to asthma symptoms in kids?

I don’t have asthma, and though it runs in my family, I’m wondering if there is anything else we could do lifestyle-wise to ease their symptoms. I know how quickly an asthma attack can come on having watched my siblings go through it, and hoping to relieve some of that for our kids.

*I do have an inhaler for our 2 year old, and possibility of moving our 4 month old to a steroid if it doesn’t improve. I’d love to not need to utilize that option, but obviously if he needs it, we’re doing it. Breathing isn’t something I want to mess with!

Has anyone here heard of this? If so, how does it manifest for you, and where on the body? I’ve been using Ventolin for years, and for a long time, I’ve frequently experienced redness and rashes on my neck and face. I’ve tried many things, but nothing has helped. Now I’m wondering if Ventolin might be the cause, even though I’ve otherwise tolerated it well.

I was on Dulera, but the insurance recently denied it and I had to be switched to Advair. I’m seeing terrible reviews and reports of side effects from it. My parents have both been on the diskus, and seemed to do fine on it, but I struggle enough with medicine and it’s scaring me. I don’t want it to do more harm than good. Any advice? Good reports from avid takers?

Hey guys. I’m very new to Albuterol. Literally got my inhaler yesterday after a visit to the doctor for a cough I’ve had for 3 months after having a cold. Doctor said I may have asthma. But I have used the inhaler as directed for 24 hours now and have not had ANY sort of relief.

My question is if it’s supposed to work right away? Or do I need to give it more time? I’ll probably call the doctor anyways but didn’t want to seem crazy for not trying it longer than 24 hours. Tbh I’m not even convinced I have asthma. My follow up appointment isn’t until Aug 28th because they couldn’t fit me in any sooner. I don’t know if I should just stick it out and deal with this cough for ANOTHER month, or if I should just go to urgent care. This cough has been so inconvenient and has caused me to vomit every morning (I always wake up with a sensitive gag reflex and the cough triggers it). So I’m just over it 😓

Any personal experience with this sort of situation? Don’t worry guys, I’m still going to consult a medical professional. Just wanted to come here and see what other asthmatic folks have experienced. Thank you 🙏🏽

Hello!
This is kind of a long story, but I feel like all of it is relevant.

So, I got pneumonia a few months ago, which set off a few lung problems. I play d1 volleyball, and played straight through being sick which resulted in me hyperventilating several times and struggling to breathe. I got an albuterol inhaler, which didn't help much at the time, so they gave me a Breyna inhaler and told me to take it once in the morning and once at night. I did so.

Then, about a month after recovering fully from all the other symptoms of pneumonia, I was still having trouble breathing when running, or sometimes even just walking to class. They gave me a pulmonary test and said I probably have asthma. They upped the breyna to twice in the morning and twice at night, and took the albuterol away. After about a week on this new schedule, I started having heart palpitations and these weird back twitches that kind of look like I'm leaning forwards. I stopped the breyna and the heart palpitations disappeared, but the twitches have stuck around. I had another doctor's appointment and they put me on wixella and gave me the albuterol again (which actually helps now that I don't have an active lung infection), which has been fine so far, besides continuing to have the body twitches.

The doctor didn't seem to think they were a big deal when I mentioned them, and didn't really give me any advice. Part of me thinks that the twitches stem from anxiety, because this whole thing has been really stressful, and they get a lot worse when I am feeling upset, but I wanted to know if anyone has had an experience like this, or if they have any advice :)

Preface by saying I am seeing my doctor soon and will ask this but am just curious to hear the experience of others.

I've been pretty sick the past week and had to use my albuterol nebulizer. I did a treatment and noticed i felt way more shaky than usual and got a little worried so i used my pulse ox and my bpm was 172? Highest I've ever seen it.

I basically laid in bed and waited for it to go down before i felt comfortable doing anything else.

What's the highest albuterol had brought your heart rate? I know it raises it but I've never seen it to this extent and just wondering if it's something i should be worried about.

Anyone else having really bad asthma flair ups? I live in the midwest, normally I don’t feel like it’s this bad in the summer but man am I having a hard time. I wake up in the middle of the night wheezing, inhalers don’t work (or if they do, it’s for a very short time). It doesn’t help that I’m allergic to just about every type of grass, pollen, etc. you can think of. I have an advair inhaler, i absolutely hate the powder and the feeling of breathing that in, but i might have to resort back to that.

Can’t see my pulm for a couple months, any one have any ideas to help these flairs in the meantime? 😪

Before the pandemic I got at least 4-5, maybe even 6 colds a year and was on antibiotics several times or more for bronchitis and/or sinusitis. Basically my lungs are very sensitive to respiratory events. As I moved into my 50s my condition worsened.

Enter the pandemic and universal masking. For me this was a game changer. It wasn’t so much about social distancing but wearing a mask with a good seal in public indoor places and even outside if in close quarters. In my house everyone followed similar protocol. During the pandemic I never caught anything, covid or otherwise so for my lungs and my asthma this was absolutely incredible, but at the same time socially isolating as our social experiences as a culture are firmly situated in being able to see each others faces and be able to communally eat and drink. So that part sucked, not gonna lie.

Five weeks ago my mother tragically passed. None of us expected this. When I was at her viewing and funeral and when spending time with family members and their children I made the judgement call not to mask, and a month ago today was the start of the first respiratory event since before the pandemic. It started with sore tonsils then quickly progressed to body aches and pains and stuffy/runny nose. My asthma medicine (symbacort) was no longer effective (I was on a two puff two times a day schedule at the 200 strength). What followed was weeks of struggling to breath as well as a course of azithromycin when it looked like my condition had turned bacterial. This moderately helped but I struggled mightily to clear my lungs, even using cough and congestion syrup which helped moderately.

It has been a long haul—but today, one month later, I’m happy to say that I am back at my baseline. I actually have cut back on my symbacort to 1 puff two times a day. I al walking several miles a day again (except when it is smoky out—we have been somewhat impacted by Ontario’s wildfires through fortunately for us not as bad as the states across from Ontario).

It is a relief, but also a warning for me that my lungs can’t handle “normal”, meaning not masking. I have to say that it was really nice to be in a group and not constricted by mask, but I realize from this experience that masking will probably be my normal from here on out.

Is there any here whose asthma requires masking and cold-avoidance to keep it under control?

PS I tested for Covid 5 consecutive days from the onset and each time tested negative)

On month 3 and not sure how I will be able to return to work/life...

Did you get better? How is your new baseline and how long did it take?

I should mention that I live in a warm climate and my only triggers are irritants and cold weather, so I have haven’t had to medicate regularly for nearly a decade, other than a few rescue puffs in the winter.

I have been at my job for two years. Recently we hired someone I work with closely (face to face). Also I like this person and we’re kind of buddies, so he tries to talk to me often (which is only an issue because of the following).

He just takes incessant smoke breaks. I don’t count, but it’s A LOT. He does it outside, but he reeks. He tried some spray to lessen the scent, but it still feels like there’s fumes coming off his shirt. I know I should get on a daily inhaler, but I really don’t miss the jitteriness of being on one of those. I also feel like I’m being forced to take a medicine that I rarely need. One of my favorite things about living somewhere warm is the fact that my asthma is almost always under control and not something I need to often consider.

I’m mostly venting. But also we don’t exactly have an HR. I think I’m going to ask him to wait ten minutes between smoke breaks and having a face to face conversation with me. He’s a sweet guy but he also takes things personally. Anyone who’s been in similar situations and has advice- I’d welcome that.

Hi All,

I have been struggling with my asthma the past 5 years. It eventually led to a really bad cold that got me hospitalized for 14 days. As part of the not being able to breathe I also had these inexplicable nose bleeds and eye infection.

After discharge I was having really bad flares every 3 months. I was put on multiple meds and did rounds of Steroids until my doctor put me on Tezpire. Once I was on Tezpire my asthma was more managed. Now I only have flares when a cold leads to the flare with no nosebleeds.

However last week I got a bad flare from the air quality in the Midwest. My nose started to bleed again. It tapers off after a day or two but once again my doctor does not know what to make of it. Has anyone else had a similar experience with nose bleeds an asthma flare? It happens every time it’s just an asthma flare and I really do not know if it should be concerning. All the work ups they have done do not seem to show any causes I have seen 3 ENTs.

Disclaimer: I’m know Reddit advice is not medical advice but I could use some peer to peer counseling.

Thank you!

This happens even when its controlled and I dont have my usual asthma symptoms.

I get in the shower and even in a cold shower I bring up a lot snot and phlegm. A bit TMI but im spitting it out and blowing it out of my nose.

When im out the shower and dried off its gone.

So i have asthma and sleep apnea. I noticed cpap use during the day tends to reduce my asthma attack rate. Today had a really bad attack. Inhaler didnt work. Grabbed the cpap and shoved it against my face. Used it for 5 minutes. Asthma attack stopped.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? I plan to go to the doctor and talk about it but it was baffling to me and made me wondering if anyone else experienced something similar.

Thankfully I’m vaccinated so I’m hoping this won’t be as extreme as when I got covid the first time. I have a low grade fever and I’m staying hydrated. Can’t call my pulmonologist’s nurse triage line until tomorrow when they open. So far just body aches and congestion. Should I be prophylactically using my rescue x amount of times during this? Any tips?