Severe asthma or heart attack

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grayjake

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I guess I had the worse asthma attack that I have ever had. It felt just like they describe a heart attack. It was like a vice in my chest and I could'nt breath. The only thing I have for meRAB is a syrabicort inhaler twice a day. and I have used it this afternoon and I will not have anything for tonight unless I use it three times today. I did not want to go to the ER, they will have to check the heart out if you mention chest pain. And I just had an extensive heart work up. I think I need a rescue inhaler that has been discussed on the forum.Now I will have to wait till after the week-end.

Thanks for any input.

Barbara
 
If you are going to a pulmonologist and he hasn't given you a rescue inhaler, fire him and find another. If you are not going to a pulmonologist, find one now. There is NO reason to be without a rescue inhaler if you have asthma. Using your daily med in place of one can be harmful. If you are not better, go to the ER and tell them yo are having an asthma attack and don't have a rescue inhaler.
 
hi, barbara. i too, thought it was my asthma 3 and half yrs ago when i had a very serious heart attack. i was 45 yrs old. (female). i had been using my asthma medications thinking that was the whole problem. then one monday morning ems had to be called to my home. thankfully, they got there just in time. they had to zap me 3 times to get my heart right. then, open heart surgery. please DO NOT take this kind of chance. go the the EMERGENCY ROOM. and, please check back and let us know how you are doing. your life is nothing to play around with. .. oh. my heart was checked out too, a few yrs prior, treadmill, and all. even wore one of those box things for 24 hrs. guess my heart condition just wasn't acting up at the right time for a diagnosis then. all along i thought it was asthma, and was treating it as such. the real problem was a birth defect in the aorta artery of my heart. they had to take an artery out of my left chest to bypass a part of it that had the defect. they told me i was very lucky that ems was at my home at the precise moment they were and were able to save me. i agree. .. don't be complacent about this. it could cost you your life.
 
Thank you, I am going to a pulmonologist. Where I live there is only one group and I don't know if they will let you change doctors. I am going to call Monday and get a rescue inhaler and I may look into traveling somewhere else. I saw on the forum someone was going to Birmingham and it's only a 2 hour drive for me. Maybe I can get some info on this pulmonologist.

Barbara
 
if you are not allergic to aspirin, then please take one NOW and get to the ER immediately. i assume you just experienced this problem today. .. my bad. i see the original post was a few wks ago. i stand by advice, though, to anyone experiencing this problem. time is so important when it comes to heart conditions.
 
I'm very surprised yours didn't give you a scrip for a rescue inhaler. I've never heard of anyone with asthma not being prescribed one. What are you supposed to do if you have an attack?

I go to Dr Jim Bonner in the Pulmonary Clinic at The Kirklin Clinic at UAB. Great group of docs there!
 
How can you tell between asthma problems and a heart attack? Would you not get any relief with a resue inhaler if it were a heart attack?
 
MSBluebird,

So were you using rescue inhalers when you were having a heart attack? Did they help at all if you did? How long were you having a problem up until the actual heart attack? Glad to hear you are feeling better.
 
I am better , but I have to stay in the bed at least half of the day due to the chest tightness. I did not know asthma could do this. I do have other health issues and I had a complete heart work up and it was all normal. I do have Syringomyelia and this does work on your nerves and muscles. But my nurologist said that it was not causing that pain in the chest. So I am assuming it is asthma. I go back next week to the pulmonologist and discuss this again with him. I have not had to use my rescue inhaler since that incident. And you would think if I had that much pain I would need it. I am really discouraged being house bound.

Barbara
 
Barbara: I'm confused. You said the pain was most likely asthma but that you didn't use your rescue inhaler? Do I have that right? If so, did you not use it because you thought it was your heart and didn't want to run the risk of raising your heartbeat?
 
I guess I'm the one confused about when I need the rescue inhaler. I am using it now and it does help. But it looks like I need it more often now. It's only been 8 days since he changed my meRAB and I do not see any difference. I think having several things going on in my chest is confusing me. My muscles could be causing some pain but not the shortness of breath. I can not walk to the mail box and back without being out of breath. Do you think I need the rescue inhaler each time this happens? It says you may use it every 4-6 hours, is this safe?
Barbara
 
If you are doing something that will be very short term, like going to the mailbox and back, you should not need to use your rescue inhaler as when you get back to the house, it will most like go away in a few minutes. It's when you aren't in the miRABt of an activity and have the problem, you should use it. For an example, I cannot jog more than one block without medicating beforehand (unless of course I just want to jog one block - ha ha!). I also like to dance and sometimes I might get a little short of breath during a fast one but it goes away when I stop. I don't use it then. This is just something you have to work out for yourself. If oyu know that stopping the activity will stop the SOB, then don't medicate...just stop the activity.

And as for the new meRAB, it can often take several weeks to get things under control. But I would ask my doctor how long he thinks it should take and when you should come back in if it doesn't.

Good luck
 
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