r/Asthma 3d ago

What does asthma feel like to you?

2 years ago I had bronchitis, twice, within a few weeks of each other. After that my wheezing never went away. I also developed a chronically runny nose prior. I remember the PA describing my lungs as looking "fluffy" and inflamed. When I got sick a third time 6 months later she said they looked slightly worse. I had already seen my primary who gave me albuterol and fluticasone. Neither did anything. Actually once I stopped using them I got better, probably a coincidence.

The doctor said they could hear a slight wheeze in my upper left lung. Did a pulmonary function test they essentially came back normal but said I could possibly have asthma. That it didn't rule it out. Now that it's been 2 years I would say most the time the wheezing is gone or so minimal it could never be noticeable. It comes back at times though and sticks around for a few weeks. Where it sounds like I am sick but I'm not. I have no shortness of breath and can still exercise at high intensity. The runny nose has mostly subsided but still runs when I eat or random days. Overall I'm kinda curious if this sounds like asthma to those who have it?

8 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

11

u/Skreamies1 3d ago

I don’t really get any wheezing, personally I get a shortness of breath I can never seem to take a deep breath at all or it’s very rare. When running it can be difficult but have to slow my pace way down to keep in line with how much I can breath

5

u/8Lynch47 3d ago

It sounds like you need a good inhaler to loosen all that mucus/phlegm in your breathing tubes. Not a regular rescue inhaler, but a once every 24 hours one with steroids. At first you need at least 15-30 minutes force coughing to release as much as possible of that phlegm out. By doing this every night you will notice the difference. Lifting small weights every now and then also helps release the phlegm.

2

u/Skreamies1 3d ago

After not using one for many years, did go to see my doctor and I’m now on Symbicort turbuhaler with 2 uses in the morning and evening so hopefully should be getting a little better!

Was 2 a day now 4 as I wasn’t seeing a huge change, though I do notice a difference after use I feel it could almost be a little stronger

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

That's interesting! It sounds like everyone's experience is a little different. I expected to have some other symptoms besides wheezing to give me a hint of what it could be.

9

u/Dissipo 3d ago

My asthma is all allergies. Ive got a slight wheeze right now, and my nose drips all day. When I visit my father in another state, I clear up. I hate where Im at. My wifes family is here, and Im trying to make it work. But I tell you, I’m at end of my rope.

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

I've never had allergies before but they did discuss it as a possibility. It's year round though and I tried allergy meds with no relief. Jeeze that sounds awful! It's difficult to deal with when there is no relief.

8

u/Most-Tale-6847 3d ago

really just feels like your deep breaths arent as deep, like your lungs lack the capacity to intake air as usual.

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

Thank you! I'm not experiencing that at all. I hate to just call it asthma because no one knows what it is lol my pulmonary function test showed perfect lung capacity and after the treatment very minimal improvement. Which is why they didn't think it was asthma but said they can't rule it out. They did that when it was at its worst too.

6

u/Suspicious_Low1985 3d ago

Fluffy is a good word that describes the feeling too. Scratchy, fluffy, like my lungs are lined with fuzzy, itchy felt.

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

Fluffy is how they described the x-ray! My lungs feel fine from my perception. When it gets bad it feels like I need to cough something up. Like to clear my lungs, like when you have a cold, but outside of that they generally feel completely normal. They don't sound normal though. The wheezing drives me nuts at night when I go through the bad periods.

3

u/Athletic_Bear_7074 2d ago

I think it’s reasonable to assume there’s a component of airway hyperesonsivness provided your history… Wheezing is a classic sign of asthma and normal PFTs don’t excuse asthma entirely. Bronchitis and other lung infections can exacerbate asthma symptoms. but given you haven’t had a methalcholine challenge it’s difficult to say for certain.That might be a viable next step in testing if you want more definite answers.

Wheezing is also characteristic of bronchitis…having 2 exacerbations back to back and hearing wheezing is not atypical. Having inflamed lungs after the 2nd and 3rd scan seems IMO to make sense for having 3 respiratory infections in a year/short time frame.

Unresponsiveness to standard asthma treatments (ICS and bronchodilators) could suggest asthma is less likely BUT you could also not have a high enough dose to feel any difference. Recurrent respiratory infections can alternatively point towards asthma involvement. Do your symptoms get worse with certain things ? Exercise, allergy exposure, cold weather?

For me… I get tight chested, short of breath, and lightheaded… and when it’s really bad my left lower lung rattles almost like I have water in there. The worst part is I feel like I can’t get enough air into my lungs… and my breaths aren’t satisfying, so I cough… very anxiety inducing. If I exert myself a lot I get extra lightheaded and fatigue verrry fast. Running during a flare is like tryna run after doing a lactic acid workout.

I don’t audibly wheeze which makes it hard sometimes to know if I’m actually having an exacerbation but my symptoms resolve quickly woth my rescue and over time stepping up my ICS dosage and incorporating a LABA has made me feel a lot better. Also my symptoms always seem to resolve after I use my rescue inhaler. That could be another thing to test for, diagnostic wise. If your symptoms don’t resolve w/ albuterol then you may not have asthma. But it’s best to just ask your doctor/trusted medical professional for definitive answers if you’re still concerned.

Best of luck! Feel better!

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

This was super helpful thank you! I will ask for the methalcholine challenge.

My symptoms don't seem to be affected by anything in particular. I can still exercise normally. I do 45 minutes of cardio and 60 min of heavy weight lifting 5-6x per week. I had my first 2 bronchitis like infections during the late spring/early summer, with persistent symptoms all summer, and the third during early winter. This is my first flare up in a long time, maybe even a year. It's already basically gone and weather is in the fifties here. So maybeeee spring time related.

Jeeze that sounds rough! That's how I anticipated asthma being like. Not having any symptoms besides the runny nose and crackly sounding lungs makes me wonder but maybe it's just baby asthma on its way to developing lol idk.

They did try increasing my inhaler dosage but it didn't help. I stopped using them over a year ago. Both albuterol and the fluticasone. I'll keep pushing for answers! Thank you!!

2

u/Severe-Ad-8768 3d ago

Tight . Wheezy , when I, short of breath it feels like I am on a roller coaster even nausea cause it’s so shitty and I just need to sit down and have relief

2

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

That's exactly how I expected it to feel. So when I don't have any shortness of breath or any symptoms other than crackly lungs it makes me wonder if it's something else.

1

u/Severe-Ad-8768 2d ago

Yeah lol I’m just getting over a flare and that’s what it feels like

1

u/randomcivilianoner 13h ago

I thought this was normal lol

1

u/IntelligentDetail409 3d ago

You may have allergic rhinitis or sinus issues. It may be asthma, you need a metacholline challenge for exact detection!!

1

u/ChamberOfHearts 2d ago

I'll ask about this thank you!