Question:
Of an impending one,or one in progress...dr tells me I wont feel fine
one min,then bang have an asthma attack the next,she said it takes days
even weeks to come on..what are the signs/symptoms that one is coming?
Answer:
I suggest that you ask for a referral to an asthma specialist. Asthma
attacks can happen without warning. Colin is right...an asthma attack can happen very quickly. I have also had
"delayed reaction" attacks such as when I am exposed to mold in the garden I
will wake up that night with extreme SOB. Yawning a lot is an another
indicator to me that I'm having an asthma flare. It's confusing at first
and will take you some time to identify your triggers and just how exposure
to them will affect you...be it immediate or progressive. I don't know if these signs would be any different in an adult, but the info
my son's pediatrician gave us says that some of the clues of an impending
asthma attack are: a low number on the peak flow meter
cough
tight chest, heart beats fast
throat is scratchy
itching
tummy hurts, throwing up
a little wheezing
nose runs, sneezing
red or watery eyes, dark circles under eyes
feeling tired, quiet, lays around
feeling dizzy, head hurts
other clues:
change in behavior
can't sleep
change in appetite
rashes, hives
face hot or flushed
voice changes
Patrice mentioned a delayed reaction she had to mold...incidentally, we were
also told that if your asthma is affected by cold weather, you can have a
delayed reaction to that up to six hours later. However getting your asthma well-controlled and finding out what your
triggers (if any) are will reduce the likelihood of an unexpected
attack. I've never had one - but my asthma is the coughing variety, not
the falling-on-the-floor-struggling-to-breath variety. I'm cough-variant too, but MY coughing spasms get so intense and so long
that eventually I'm falling on the floor (or on my bed, or on my sofa,
or....), coughing my guts out. I've actually had neighbors complaining to me about all the noise I
make. ("Can't you stop that damn coughing? We're trying to sleep!!")
