Signs and Symptoms
Most people with asthma have attacks separated by symptom-free periods. Some people have long-term shortness of breath with episodes of increased shortness of breath. Either wheezing or a cough may be the main symptom.
Asthma attacks can last for minutes to days, and can become dangerous if the airflow is severely restricted.
Symptoms include:
Asthma attacks can last for minutes to days, and can become dangerous if the airflow is severely restricted.
Symptoms include:
- Cough with or without sputum (phlegm) production
- Pulling in of the skin between the ribs when breathing (intercostal retractions)
- Shortness of breath that gets worse with exercise or activity
- Wheezing, which:
- Comes in episodes with symptom-free periods in between
- May be worse at night or in early morning
- May go away on its own
- Gets better when using drugs that open the airways (bronchodilators)
- Gets worse when breathing in cold air
- Gets worse with exercise
- Gets worse with heartburn (reflux)
- Usually begins suddenly
- Bluish color to the lips and face
- Decreased level of alertness, such as severe drowsiness or confusion, during an asthma attack
- Extreme difficulty breathing
- Rapid pulse
- Severe anxiety due to shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Abnormal breathing pattern --breathing out takes more than twice as long as breathing in
- Breathing temporarily stops
- Chest pain
- Tightness in the chest
Treatment
The goals of treatment are:
There are two basic kinds of medication for treating asthma:
Long-term control drugs for asthma are used to prevent symptoms in people with moderate to severe asthma. You must take them every day for them to work. Take them even when you feel okay.
Quick-relief (rescue) drugs work fast to control asthma symptoms:
- Control airway swelling
- Stay away from substances that trigger your symptoms
There are two basic kinds of medication for treating asthma:
- Control drugs to prevent attacks
- Quick-relief (rescue) drugs for use during attacks
Long-term control drugs for asthma are used to prevent symptoms in people with moderate to severe asthma. You must take them every day for them to work. Take them even when you feel okay.
- Inhaled steroids prevent symptoms by preventing airway swelling. These work very well and are almost always the first choice.
- Long-acting beta-agonist inhalers also help prevent asthma symptoms. These drugs should be used together with an inhaled steroid drug. It may be easier to use an inhaler that contains both drugs.
Quick-relief (rescue) drugs work fast to control asthma symptoms:
- You take them when you are coughing, wheezing, having trouble breathing, or having an asthma attack. They are also called "rescue" drugs.
- They also can be used just before exercising to help prevent asthma symptoms that are caused by exercise.
- Tell your doctor if you are using quick-relief medicines twice a week or more to control your asthma symptoms. Your asthma may not be under control, and your doctor may need to change your dose of daily control drugs.
- Short-acting bronchodilators (inhalers), such as Proventil, Ventolin, and Xopenex
- Your doctor might prescribe oral steroids (corticosteroids) when you have an asthma attack that is not going away. These are medicines that you take by mouth as pills, capsules, or liquid. Plan ahead. Make sure you do not run out of these medications.
References
Asthma. (n.d.). University of Maryland Medical Center | Home. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/000141sym.htm
Asthma. (n.d.). Pulmonary & Sleep Center of the Valley. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.sleepdrs.com/Asthma.htm
Asthma: MedlinePlus. (n.d.). National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthma.html
Asthma. (n.d.). Pulmonary & Sleep Center of the Valley. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.sleepdrs.com/Asthma.htm
Asthma: MedlinePlus. (n.d.). National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthma.html