Usual Symptoms of Asthma

Wheeze test:
a. Take a deep breath.
b. Close your ears with fingers.
c. Through mouth exhale fully to empty your lungs. During exhalation specially during the latter part of expiration you may feel a musical sound. This is wheeze.
Click here to hear wheeze sound in asthma.

Cough
Cough is an important sysmptom of asthma. After exposure to trigger factor it is the first symptom of onset of asthmatic attack in many patients. There is a special group of asthmatic patients who have only sole symptom of cough. They do not have other asthamtic symptoms. Therefore if cough persists for a period of more than 10 days without any disease, then one should get checked up for asthma.
Click here to hear cough sound of an asthmatic patient.

Shortness of breath
At the time of attack shortness of breath is the most distressing symptom for asthmatic patients. In such a situation even trivial exertion may aggravate shortness of breath further. Patient takes breath with great effort. Neck muscles of patient become tight and spaces between ribs become deep and prominant.
Click here to hear shortness of breath during asthma.

Chest tightness
In addition to wheeze, cough and shortness of breath, asthmatic patients also experience chest tightness. This symptom can be intermittent, as following exposure to a trigger, or continuous. It is also not uncommon to see patients having asthma without shortness of breath. Such patients may present with just cough or chest tightness. 

Thick spiral type expectoration
Expectoration is not a major problem in asthmatic patients, however, majority of patient cough out typical sputum which is very viscous. It comes out like a grain of wheat or gram and when pulled it stretches in the form of a thread. During symptom free periods also such sputum comes out with a huff or cough, though infrequently. It may indicate presence of asthma in asymptomatic stage.

Differentiation from other disease
These symptoms of asthma can be found in association with other lung diseases such as bronchitis or emphysema. Therefore mere presence of these symptoms is not diagnostic of bronchial asthma. However, pattern of these symptoms is characteristic of asthma. These symptoms are usually intermittent and improve with therapy in asthma while in other forms of lung diseases, the symptoms are usually present all the time and respond poorly to treatment.  

An important characteristic of asthma symptoms is night time flare up. The night time flare of asthma is very common and can pose diagnostic problems. Usually people with night time symptoms are totally normal during the day. Hence there is no, or little, evidence of asthma at the routine time of examination. The situation can perplex both the patient and physician. In the morning, these patients get up early due to asthmatic distress. After taking a cup of morning tea the distress subsides gradually.

Important Therapeutic Rules

It has been observed that with proper caution asthma may be controlled just short of cure. However, many a times ignorance on the part of patient may cost heavily in form of fatal attack, hospitalization, or sometimes death. Following set of rules are a bare minimum requirement to lead an asthma free life.

Know your Doctor
Patient should know the name and telephone number of his regular doctor and where he can be contacted in the emergency. Remember any asthmatic patient can have severe attack of asthma. They should also know an asthma specialist & discuss all the problems and action plans for potential problems such as what to do for sore throat, nocturnal dips, exertion induced asthma etc.

Maintain your stock
If you need drugs to treat your asthma, it is important that an adequate supply is kept at home, even if they are only needed very occasionally. Running out of drugs is not only just inconvenient, but could be very dangerous in some situations. Attacks of asthma can occur at any time and it may be difficult to purchase medicines during the night. If you are on regular daily treatment with drugs, don't wait until you have run out before purchasing new medicines.

Don't stop treatment suddenly
Unless you are told by your doctor, it is unwise to stop any drug suddenly. This is particularly important for preventive drug Cromolyn and for steroid drugs because asthma attack may return rapidly. It is quite safe to stop these drugs over a period of  few days on doctor's advice and it may be also be safe to stop steroids suddenly if they are taken only for a short time. This is a medical decision, however, and you should rely on expert advice.

Know when to consult doctor
There is no doubt that some of the most difficult attacks occur in the most capable patients because they tend to continue to tolerate for too long before calling the doctor. If you are not improving over a few hours despite the recommended treatment, it is usually worth speaking to the doctor about it. This is more important in the evening or before the weekend when it may be difficult to contact him if things are really bad.

• What are your symptoms and when these began?
• What makes the symptoms better or worse ?
• Have you ever had eczema, urticaria, allergic cold, eye allergy or asthma?
• Repeated bouts of ear infection.
• Sinus infection.
• Loss of smell or taste.
• How old were you when asthma started?
• Did the disease start first with episode of wheezing and breathlessness (asthma), daily productive cough (Bronchitis) or breathlessness on effort (emphysema)?
• Has it improved or deteriorated since then?
• Are you ever completely free of asthma symptoms?
• When is asthma more severe: around Diwali/ Holi/ Winter/ Summer?
• How many times per month,
  • Do you wake up due to asthma?
  • Have you stayed in bed?
  • Called the doctor?
• During asthma is there any difference between,
  • Indoor/ outdoor?
  • At home/school?
• Effect of exercise, cold air, exposure to pollution.
• Are you in contact with animals?
• Do you have any feathers in bed room?
• Can you tolerate aspirin?
• Smoking habit?
• Do you or any member in the family smoke?
• Have you ever been admitted to hospital for asthma?
• Do any of the parents, siblings or children have eczema, urticaria, allergic cold, eye allergy or asthma?
• Medications taken for relieving the symptoms.
• How many weeks does an asthma spray last?
• Reports of previous treatment or tests.

Learn from your doctor

• When to use reliever medicine?
• When to discontinue preventive medicine?
• How to face the challenge of trigger exposure?
• What to do when already exposed to trigger factor?
• How to make adjustment of therapy with onset of warning signals?
• Which hospital to go in emergency?

| Expert's View | Do and Learn | How I Cured | How to Consult a Doctor | Understanding Asthma |  Diagnosis | Triggers |
| Therapy | Special Issues | Asthma and Allergy | Discussion Forum | Books | Articles | Drugs | Shopping Cart |
 | Medline | Online Consultation | Chat |  News | Disclaimer | About Us | Advertise |
| FAQ | Contact Us | Feedback | Site Map |Asthma Glossary|