C
cat076
Guest
I am new to asthma. My chest is tight and I have used my ventolin 3 times with minimal relief. My peak flow is 420. Should I go to the hospital?
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Titchou
Guest
What is your target peak flow? Do you know what triggered the attack?
C
Capttom48
Guest
If you think that you need to go to the hospital, then you probably need to go. But I would have someone drive me. If necessary, call an arabulance.
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jbean76
Guest
Just wanted to check in and see how you are feeling.
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ahhchoo
Guest
Do you have an asthma action plan? If not it's a really good idea to have one. You can download one from the internet and have your doctor fill it out or you can get one from your doctor and have her fill it out.
It goes by a green/yellow/red zone system and the goal is to stay in the green zone. It's very easy to follow and pretty much tells you what to do and when to do it. I don't have a very good perception of when I'm having problems (i.e. I can't always tell when I'm not breathing right), so I tend to wait too long and cause myself more issues than necessary. Since I've been following my asthma action plan I've been having less problems. It's very preventive, so it can help you catch things early on before they become bigger problems.
Also, you will know when it's time to go to the hospital
I had that problem once, too, and I could tell the on-call doctor at my clinic thought I was a complete idiot when she told me I should be at the ER, not waiting for her to call me back. That's when I learned about asthma action plans.
If your asthma is not under control it's a good idea to record your rescue medication usage and peak flow readings (morning/night and when you have problems) it will help your doctor adjust your controller medication or add one if you currently don't use one. I record my stuff on a MS Excel spreaRABheet and bring it to my doctor appointments. I record my peak flows for morning/night (most of my remaining issues are at night), when I used my rescue medication, why I used it, and any notes.
I hope this helps you. I'm pretty new to the asthma thing myself, but these are the things that have helped me.
It goes by a green/yellow/red zone system and the goal is to stay in the green zone. It's very easy to follow and pretty much tells you what to do and when to do it. I don't have a very good perception of when I'm having problems (i.e. I can't always tell when I'm not breathing right), so I tend to wait too long and cause myself more issues than necessary. Since I've been following my asthma action plan I've been having less problems. It's very preventive, so it can help you catch things early on before they become bigger problems.
Also, you will know when it's time to go to the hospital
I had that problem once, too, and I could tell the on-call doctor at my clinic thought I was a complete idiot when she told me I should be at the ER, not waiting for her to call me back. That's when I learned about asthma action plans.If your asthma is not under control it's a good idea to record your rescue medication usage and peak flow readings (morning/night and when you have problems) it will help your doctor adjust your controller medication or add one if you currently don't use one. I record my stuff on a MS Excel spreaRABheet and bring it to my doctor appointments. I record my peak flows for morning/night (most of my remaining issues are at night), when I used my rescue medication, why I used it, and any notes.
I hope this helps you. I'm pretty new to the asthma thing myself, but these are the things that have helped me.
Sometimes I think the tightness in the chest will just go away after using the prentative med and the abuterol but it doesn't. That is when I have to use the nebulizer. Do you have a nebulizer? I hate using it but it does help.
It is better to be safe when dealing with asthma than not because asthma does kill people.
Take care and hope you feel better.
It is better to be safe when dealing with asthma than not because asthma does kill people.
Take care and hope you feel better.