Asthma Symptoms

[Gah-Gah!]

Does any one have asthma that could describe some of the early symptoms?

Can you acquire this at any age? Even adult age?

[Tibiki Kinew]

Age has nothing to do with asthma. You will hear raspy lung breathing, when infected it can actually bring the skin color to an ugly green tint! Go and search on yahoo search engine. you'll be suprised at the number of hits!! Good luck. Hope whoever doesn't get it!!

[jisgwaunega]

I have adult onset asthma, its not like childhood asthma that you outgrow. Adult asthma is there from now on. If you think you might have asthma get it checked get it under control as quickly as you can. I let mine go too long thinking it was a bad cough or chest cold that was hanging on. In the mist of all of the coughing I got into some chemical fumes at work that really set it off, couldn't breath..after that any chemical fume set it off and it got so out of contol that ..I got sensitive to almost everything. I have basically been forced into retirement by it..a prisoner in my own house..my environment has to be very controlled ,no more pow wows, not much getting out at all, just beading and doing fans at home, and, massive doses of steroids to help me breath on a daily basis, breathing treatments..a real pain, then the steroids cause your bones to be brittle and I now have a cataract in one eye because of the steroids. Get it checked and get on contoling it if it is , don't let it run away with you. I don't mean to scare anyone but I want to stress getting it checked and controlled so it doesn't get as far as mine did.

[fmreyna]

Its ironic that this subject should come up. I sm going through an asthma education class given by the army hospital where we are stationed. My son has asthma. so far we have learned that asthma can come on at any age. you dont grow out of it, it is always with you it just takes more to irritate your system as you get older and bigger. some of the signs are wheezing, coughing, just generally feeling bad, stomach hurting(diaphram), yawning alot when not sleepy or tired. You can have all or one of these signs. They have also taught us that allergies and excema go hand in hand with asthma. My son has the allergies but not the excema. It will take 2-3 episodes of the wheezing or coughing before a doctor will diagnose asthma. They usually treat it systemically before the rule on asthma. my son has only been diagnosed for about 2 years. The first doctor he saw on post took him off his maintenance inhaler and put him on a rescue inhaler which is albuterol. He is taking that 3 times a day until he goes back to the doctor on wednesday. Its a hard disease to deal with esp in kids because they want to do the things other kids their age are doing. If their asthma is not controlled like my sons is not right now. they dont have much fun. I hope I have helped a little. this class has really opened my eyes to the fact that you can have astma with out wheezing and/or coughing. Sorry for such a long post but this really hit home. By the way let me give you an example before i go. my son went for a lung capacity test. They have you blow into this tube 3 times and then they give you puffs of an inhaler and you blow 3 more times. My son acting fine when we went in there. His numbers before the inhaler were in the red. after it they were great. but that showed me he wasnt getting enough oxygen and we didnt have a clue. that scared me alot. thanks for letting me put my extremely long 2 cents in.

[Ladybug]

asthma

I have adult asthma and it is not an easy disease to deal with, but besides the other recommendations given from the other responses, I would recommend a Naturopathic doctor. I went to one for my young son and his eczma problem, as well as having lots of congestion. I was breastfeeding and so the diet that the doctor recommended for him also applied to me. My eczema cleard up, my congestion in my sinuses and ear canals cleared and it made a big difference in my asthma.
There are a lot of foods out there we eat all the time that may be a trigger/allergen for a certain individuals. If your body is having to fight off all of these "toxins" it is being subjected to daily in the form of food, then it has an even harder time to fight off inhalant allergens, which can trigger the asthma.
I have severe inhalant allergies and have undergone allergy shots for 7 years, this helps with the inhalant allergies, but not the food allergies. My biggest triggers were dairy and wheat. Just a thought. Good luck, explore all of your options.

[sweetkwe69]

Having adult set asthma as well, the symptoms very from person to person. The triggers can be from pollen, pollutions and perfumes as well exercise induce asthma or foods (like my cousins son cant eat candy or chips because it will cause an attack). one of the biggest tipoffs for a asthma is wheezing, swallow breathing and sometimes ur lips get pale in color to a ugle greenblue tinge to them. or ur fingers nails lose color and or clamy. but the best thing is to use google or yahoo search. even webmd is a good site for medical questions. with asthma one doesnt have to a prisonner in the home or enviroment although some do because of the severity of their asthma but with control medication and treatments u can prevent it as well. but for me it took the last 5 years to figure which medicine work the best for me, from the rescue inhalers and the steriods type inhalers. there should be educational classes as well to help. even after 10 yrs of having it i am still learning. it was a shock to learn i had asthma after having an attack at a pow-wows which scared the heck out of me. good luck on ur search and all that \

[Riverwoman]

Re: Asthma Symptoms

Originally posted by WantsNewName
Does any one have asthma that could describe some of the early symptoms?

Can you acquire this at any age? Even adult age?

Yes, I have asthma as well! Have had it since the day I was born, and I will have it for the rest of my life. There are certain things that bother me such as: cold winter air, smoke, certain pets (dander) and the like.

As for symptoms, when I do not take my medication properly... I can feel wheezing, sometimes you can actually hear me in person, or over the phone. Tightness in the chest, and difficulty getting my breath.

Thank god for the chronic disease program here in town! It is put forth by the Yukon Government. It pays for all medication for chronic diseases that are recognized, and signed for by your doctor ( papers must be filled out). Some people might have to pay a premium, but others don't. It all depends on your income.

For example, on a daily basis, I take Singulair, Pulmicort, and Brycanyl. It is worth it, but thank god again that I do not have to pay for them:)

[Gah-Gah!]

Thank you for some informative replies.

Well I was wondering because the other day I went running and mid run it felt like a "sheath or filter" was lodged in my throat and lungs.

No matter what I did by the end of the run I felt no air coming in. I undid my running pants I undid my sports bra thinking this would help. It didn't!! I was trying to breathe in so deep but felt like I got a tiny tiny bit of air. Sis came running up and I scared her too because she saw how I looked and I was literally "clawing" at the dash board trying to get air.

I thought it may of been from the smog since we were so high in altitude but it really wasn't that smoggy. This is the first time that ever happened to me so it scared the **** out of me big time!! To say the least!

The rest of the day, into the next, I felt it was hard to breathe even when taking deep breathes. I would hate to go to the doctor and him tell me "it's nothing, maybe you you over exerted yourself". I hate when that happens and I waste 20 dollars for nothing.

I have worked in a wood shop for the past 8 years I wonder if breathing in all those wood dust particles has something to do with it after all these years?

Anyways, thanks for the advice!! :flowers:

[Riverwoman]

Originally posted by WantsNewName
Thank you for some informative replies.

Well I was wondering because the other day I went running and mid run it felt like a "sheath or filter" was lodged in my throat and lungs.

No matter what I did by the end of the run I felt no air coming in. I undid my running pants I undid my sports bra thinking this would help. It didn't!! I was trying to breathe in so deep but felt like I got a tiny tiny bit of air. Sis came running up and I scared her too because she saw how I looked and I was literally "clawing" at the dash board trying to get air.

I thought it may of been from the smog since we were so high in altitude but it really wasn't that smoggy. This is the first time that ever happened to me so it scared the **** out of me big time!! To say the least!

The rest of the day, into the next, I felt it was hard to breathe even when taking deep breathes. I would hate to go to the doctor and him tell me "it's nothing, maybe you you over exerted yourself". I hate when that happens and I waste 20 dollars for nothing.

I have worked in a wood shop for the past 8 years I wonder if breathing in all those wood dust particles has something to do with it after all these years?

Anyways, thanks for the advice!! :flowers:

That souds like to me, that you had an asthma attack! That doctor would be a dumbass to tell you that nothing was wrong:( Anyways, if that happens again, I would head to the ER, and tell them what is going on, and that you need some liquid Ventolin, with Oxygen. That is what I have had to do on several occasions! Sure made the difference between being able to breath, and not breath when you are in a crisis like that!:)

[SmokeEater]

Asthma is caused by an involuntary constriction of the bronchiols and alveoli (the tiny bubble like structures in the lungs where oxygen and other gases are exchanged throughout the body). In more serious cases the bronchiole tubes will become inflammed and decrease the amount of air the person reasons even further.

Asthma may or may not be a chronic condition in a person. In most cases it is antagonized by an allergen of some sort (anything from pollen, dust, to exertion). It can develop at anytime in an individual. So called "Childhood Asthma" usually develops in children, but they grow out of it by adolensence. Some adults who have asthma may develop it as a symptom of some other acute condition- namely allergic/anaphylactic reactions, asipiration (the breathing in foreign gases, objects, or liquids), and even heart attacks.

Asthma often presents with wheezes located in the bases of the lungs (just below the nipple line and above the diaphragm), and start to work it's way up. In severe cases the wheezing can be heard without the assistance of auscultation devices (stethescopes). In extremely severe cases wheezing cannot be heard at all, due the extreme constriction of the lower airway. In somecases with elder person, Asthma may accompany Pulmonary Edema as a result of Congestive Heart Failure, which is condition where the heart cannot pump blood effieciently enough, so fluid backs up into the lungs.

Asthma is often treated with some form of Bronchodilator, such as Proventil, Atrovent, Combivent, Isoetherine, Terbutaline. Those can be administed in an inhaler (a puffer), or a nebulizer which vaporizes the medication in a fine mist, that is inhaled into the lungs. In severe asthma (such as the kind that is brought on by an allergic reaction) cases Epinephrine (Adrenealine) is used to dialate the bronchioles. It's either injected or can be inhaled. Most doctors will treat Asthma with steriods, such as Solu-Medrol which reduces the swelling of trachea and the lower airway.

Asthma attacks are common respiratory calls that we run in Fire/EMS. Generally we treat it with Albuterol, Brethine, Epinephrine (if needed) Oxygen, and Solu-Medrol. One common problem we find is undiagnosed asthma (which may or may not be diagnosed by the physician), and expired medication.

So hope this helps...