Question:
I've had mild asthma since I was a kid, but on the 14th of February,
it suddenly turned extremely serious. For over a week, I was up most of the night, unable to get my breath. My inhaler stopped doing anything, and on the night of the 23rd, I was
taken to the ER. Now I'm on a whole new line of medications, and I'm under orders to
return to the ER if things get rough. Does this kind of thing happen to asthmatics very often?
Answer:
it can happen, an asthma exacerbation due to some trigger,
often a virus, like from the flu or acute bronchitis. Asthmatics
have twitchy lungs that are especially susceptible. I have a similar story. Previously had seasonal asthma. Ten yr ago
came down with bronchitis after a ski trip; my only med was
a bronchodilator (metaprotenerol) and some cough meds; had to
sleep sitting up; eventually ended up in ER hooked up to an IV
on steroids, aminophylline, and nebulizers, for 7 hours.
That was the start of my perennial adult onset asthma requiring
daily steroid inhalers. Apparently some lung damage occured from
the acute bronchitis, which is caused by a virus
I now now have Moderate asthma.
