not sure what to make of this?

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momtobaby1

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For about a week to 10 days I was having lots of problems with my sinuses. I was taking sudafed and tylenol around the clock to deal with the heavy pressure and pain in my face and ears. Then it stopped, no more pressure or pain. Then I started coughing though, now I feel this heaviness in my chest and feel the need to cough frequently. By frequently I mean in spurts of time throughout the day. This has gone on for about 4 days now. I didn't think too much of it the first day, thought perhaps the congestion had just moved down into my lungs and I'd need to cough to clear it.

Then the next day I was on my way to school (i'm a sophmore in college), had just finished up 6 hours at work and was driving the 45 miles it takes for me to get to school. I felt those familiar feelings suddenly of tightness in my chest, shortness or breath, pain and heaviness in my chest and although I wasn't audibly wheezing I could feel it. Does that even make sense to feel it but not hear it? I used my inhaler and continued on my way just fine. Next day it happens again. I've managed today without having to use it but I've had symptoms. I've just paid attention and tried to make sure they were really needing treatment before using my inhaler. Sometimes I worry I am using it when I don't really need it. I'm just coughing a lot, particularly in the morning and later on at night. Not sure what to make of it. I'm not coughing anything out and my peak flows aren't different.

Last night dropped a small amount down to 370 when I'm usually around 400-410. However I've gone to 350 before so it wasn't anything I was worried about. I'm also still confused on this whole peak flow thing. It doesn't always show change even when I'm experiencing symptoms great enough to require me to use my albuterol. I know a few of you have said to not pay too much attention to them but does anyone know why this happens?
 
This time of year (here in beautiful Kansas) it's pretty likely that you're feeling the effects of allergies. Ragweed season started about 10 days ago and the pollen counts were sky high, and those types of allergies can definitely cause your asthma to act up as well.

It definitely makes sense that you can feel the reaction before you can hear it (and that you may start to feel it before your peak flows drop noticeably). It also sounRAB like you're doing all of the right things to keep it under control as much as possible.

The only thing I might recommend would be taking a daily antihistamine (Claritin or Zyrtec) for several days to see if that helps with the symptoms (if you're not already). Keeping the allergic reaction under control should help with the symptoms you're experiencing.
 
I take prescription Claritin (I get generic for cheaper through my insurance) every morning and Singulair at night. It does make sense though that it could be allergies acting up.
 
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