Asthma Management

David Cook87 said:I could really use some advice here.
My buddy deals with allergic asthma—pollen, certain foods, the whole deal...
He lives abroad right now, but since he’s planning on moving to the States soon, I wanted to see if anyone has recommendations for
a solid doctor or a specialized hospital in New York City who knows their stuff when it comes to this kind of thing.

Mayo Clinic

Hi there.

I’m entering my third year on treatment for allergic asthma. I had testing done two years ago, which confirmed allergies to low grasses. For the first two years, everything was perfectly under control.

But this year, a nasty cough and chest pain hit me out of nowhere. It lasted about ten days—constant coughing fits, especially brutal ones at night, wheezing, and lung pain. I was prescribed an antibiotic, which cleared up the initial infection, but those nighttime coughing fits haven't left. They've evolved into what I suspect are actual asthma attacks (which I’ve never experienced before).

Basically, I wake up with my airways spasming. I can't breathe. I try to force air through, but nothing happens. During the struggle, I end up swallowing air, barely manage to get my Ventolin in, and then need several minutes just to stabilize.

I have an appointment scheduled with my Pulmonologist, but it isn't for another ten days. Honestly, I'm starting to get worried because last night's attack was severe; for a second there, I genuinely thought I was going to suffocate.

What do you all do when things get like this? Should I wait for my doctor's appointment, or should I be doing something else?

The situation at the Pulmonology department at the Mercy Hospital in New York City is absolutely terrible. Every single time I go, they schedule all the patients for 10:00 AM, and then you just sit there waiting three to five hours for an appointment. Nobody ever bothers to explain anything to you. Just once, I sat in that waiting room with everyone else for five straight hours.

And when you finally get inside, the doctor doesn't even look at you. He literally won't even make eye contact during the entire exam, and then he just sends you out. So much for medical care! I’ve also seen the chief physician and a couple of others—same exact attitude.
The nurses are constantly bickering right in front of us, too. We all have to listen to it; it’s a total disaster. I’ve been going there for a few years now, and nothing has changed.
It looks like this department never learned what "bedside manner" actually means.

Is there any other pulmonology clinic in New York City that’s more approachable and actually acts normal? I need somewhere where I can actually show up when I'm scheduled instead of waiting five damn hours without a word. People who work for a living don't have time to deal with their internal drama.

Matthew Wilson59 said:Hi there.

I’m entering my third year on treatment for allergic asthma. I had testing done two years ago, which confirmed allergies to low grasses. For the first two years, everything was perfectly under control.

But this year, a nasty cough and chest pain hit me out of nowhere. It lasted about ten days—constant coughing fits, especially brutal ones at night, wheezing, and lung pain. I was prescribed an antibiotic, which cleared up the initial infection, but those nighttime coughing fits haven't left. They've evolved into what I suspect are actual asthma attacks (which I’ve never experienced before).

Basically, I wake up with my airways spasming. I can't breathe. I try to force air through, but nothing happens. During the struggle, I end up swallowing air, barely manage to get my Ventolin in, and then need several minutes just to stabilize.

I have an appointment scheduled with my Pulmonologist, but it isn't for another ten days. Honestly, I'm starting to get worried because last night's attack was severe; for a second there, I genuinely thought I was going to suffocate.

What do you all do when things get like this? Should I wait for my doctor's appointment, or should I be doing something else?

Don't sit around waiting for your pulmonologist. Call your primary care doctor instead.
Singulair helps with allergic asthma, and your regular doctor can prescribe it without needing a specialist's sign-off first.

@Raymond Castillo5 great post!

Here’s the deal: my primary pulmonologist told me I have Asthma, but the tests they ran were absolute garbage—completely unreliable. For instance, during a spirometry test, nobody bothers to tell you to straighten your body out, even though they're watching you; instead, they just leave you in the exact same breathing position as the previous patient. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how poorly they handle these tests.

So, based on that flawed spirometry, they concluded I had Asthma. Later, I did some digging online and found out that GERD (acid reflux) can actually mimic asthma symptoms, effectively masking the real issue. You might not have Asthma at all; you might just have GERD.

Even though the doctor won't even look me in the eye during an appointment (so much for bedside manner and the doctor-patient relationship), I've told him multiple times that certain foods trigger acid reflux for me—things like chocolate, soda, and so on.

If you know how to use the internet, you can find a PDF book by a doctor from San Francisco who linked GERD and Asthma. There are also endless English articles online about it.
A lot of people don't actually have Asthma.

On another note, when I get an "attack," I deal with it using a sedative tablet because it relaxes my muscles and nerves, and it works every single time. Ventolin has never helped me, not even once.

Do your own research and educate yourself. Most doctors here are stuck in the past and are pretty resistant to new information.
Yoga (and even Reiki) can be really helpful for your breathing. Even though I don't practice either, I've seen plenty of Yoga classes specifically designed around breathing techniques for Asthma.

Look at Novak Djokovic—he managed his Asthma through a nutritionist and cutting out gluten.

Learn things on your own. Don't just wait around for doctors who will struggle to help you unless you're paying for a private specialist.

Gary Garcia10 said:@Raymond Castillo5 great post!

Here’s the deal: my primary pulmonologist told me I have Asthma, but the tests they ran were absolute garbage—completely unreliable. For instance, during a spirometry test, nobody bothers to tell you to straighten your body out, even though they're watching you; instead, they just leave you in the exact same breathing position as the previous patient. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how poorly they handle these tests.

So, based on that flawed spirometry, they concluded I had Asthma. Later, I did some digging online and found out that GERD (acid reflux) can actually mimic asthma symptoms, effectively masking the real issue. You might not have Asthma at all; you might just have GERD.

Even though the doctor won't even look me in the eye during an appointment (so much for bedside manner and the doctor-patient relationship), I've told him multiple times that certain foods trigger acid reflux for me—things like chocolate, soda, and so on.

If you know how to use the internet, you can find a PDF book by a doctor from San Francisco who linked GERD and Asthma. There are also endless English articles online about it.
A lot of people don't actually have Asthma.

On another note, when I get an "attack," I deal with it using a sedative tablet because it relaxes my muscles and nerves, and it works every single time. Ventolin has never helped me, not even once.

Do your own research and educate yourself. Most doctors here are stuck in the past and are pretty resistant to new information.
Yoga (and even Reiki) can be really helpful for your breathing. Even though I don't practice either, I've seen plenty of Yoga classes specifically designed around breathing techniques for Asthma.

Look at Novak Djokovic—he managed his Asthma through a nutritionist and cutting out gluten.

Learn things on your own. Don't just wait around for doctors who will struggle to help you unless you're paying for a private specialist.

Solid advice right there! You really have to track your own symptoms and pay attention to what's actually happening with your body. Doctors often don't have the drive or the actual time to do any real digging—honestly, they don't even try most of the time because they just follow whatever the pharmaceutical industry hands them in the form of "guidelines" and "data." Both kids and adults just get processed through the system without anyone looking at the root cause, so getting real results feels almost impossible...

As for childhood asthma, please don't delete this post (instead of moving it to whatever category you think it belongs in) — this is something doctors suggest too, and I can tell you from experience, take your kids to the coast... maybe somewhere like Southern California or some island paradise. If it's for your kid, and if you can swing it, move near the ocean... it would save a little person years and years of suffering, all those side effects from medications, and the endless running around from one clinic to another...

I should mention, when I was first prescribed Ventolin, my dad practically had to beg the doctor for it. Back then, the doctor didn't even want to prescribe it because of the heart-related side effects, and I was only about 8 years old at the time, and the medicine I'd been using before wasn't doing anything anymore (can't remember the name...). Nowadays, the industry recommends that exact same Ventolin for everyone, even babies (I know because a friend of mine has a little one with asthma). So, what exactly changed?...

There’s this one unproven trick I’ve been playing around with that might actually help take the edge off an attack, and that’s hitting the Vitamin C hard—I mean, like, "athlete levels" of Vitamin C, somewhere between 1 and 2 grams... I've tried it on myself, anyway. The key thing you have to realize about this kind of therapy is that you shouldn't just slam it all at once; you really need to space it out and take smaller doses throughout the day, mostly because your body just flushes out whatever it doesn't use through your urine, so you'll probably find yourself running to the bathroom a lot more often than usual, but you're still aiming for that 1 to 2 gram total. Now, don't get me wrong, Vitamin C isn't going to magically make an attack disappear entirely, but it does seem to help widen those airways, which makes breathing feel just a little bit easier when things get rough...

Tyler James5 said:Mayo Clinic

Who's the best pulmonologist at the Mayo Clinic?
Thanks.

Current meds: Seretide two puffs twice a day, Spiriva one inhalation daily, Alvesco once a day, and Ventolin as needed. My asthma is definitely getting worse.
I feel like this combo is pretty rare—hitting almost every major asthma med at once. Has anyone else ever been on all of this simultaneously?
Is it even normal for my asthma to be flaring up like this when I’m actually sticking to such a heavy regimen?
I've had to use my Ventolin five times just in the last 24 hours.

Patrick Thomas29 said:Current meds: Seretide two puffs twice a day, Spiriva one inhalation daily, Alvesco once a day, and Ventolin as needed. My asthma is definitely getting worse.
I feel like this combo is pretty rare—hitting almost every major asthma med at once. Has anyone else ever been on all of this simultaneously?
Is it even normal for my asthma to be flaring up like this when I’m actually sticking to such a heavy regimen?
I've had to use my Ventolin five times just in the last 24 hours.

Maybe try taking something to relax, like Xanax or something similar. Anti-anxiety meds help loosen my muscles, which actually made a difference for my asthma.

Gary Garcia10 said:Maybe try taking something to relax, like Xanax or something similar. Anti-anxiety meds help loosen my muscles, which actually made a difference for my asthma.

Thanks for the reply, but I honestly think there’s more going on here. I’ve got a slight fever and the doctor said there’s some kind of congestion in my lungs. I’ve been an asthmatic for years now, and with the therapy I'm on, my asthma should be totally under control, but clearly it isn't... anyway, I have an appointment with a Pulmonologist in a month, so I guess I'll just try to survive until then.🤣no, but I'll give your advice a shot🙂

Given the temperature, it might be something else entirely. There are different types of Asthma—some are triggered by psychological factors, like stress for example. In that regard, you should look into taking something to calm down; it actually helps, and I know because I've tried it myself. I'd love if there was a "healthier" option that didn't cost an arm and a leg like Normabell, but there isn't. All those herbal teas are pricey, and natural supplements are even worse...
One more thing: learn about this yourself. Educate yourself, even if it's just online. My Pulmonologist didn't help me one bit; went to see him a few times and it was a total waste of time. I hope your pulmonologist is better. A lot of doctors here tend to be old-school and refuse to accept any kind of medical progress.

Here's an example: about 10 years ago, a friend of mine had this type of migraine, and she realized on her own that oxygen therapy helped her. Her neurologist told her she was talking nonsense, yet today, neurologists are actually recommending oxygen for headaches. So, take charge of your own education. You're your own best doctor, unless you want to wait 10 years for the medical field to catch up. :-)

I'd give you some more advice, but shoot me a DM.

Patrick Thomas29 said:Thanks for the reply, but I honestly think there’s more going on here. I’ve got a slight fever and the doctor said there’s some kind of congestion in my lungs. I’ve been an asthmatic for years now, and with the therapy I'm on, my asthma should be totally under control, but clearly it isn't... anyway, I have an appointment with a Pulmonologist in a month, so I guess I'll just try to survive until then.🤣no, but I'll give your advice a shot🙂

Given how messy and inconclusive the data looks, you really can't rule out pneumonia as a super common complication of Asthma—especially when you're dealing with COPD too.

So, anyway, As soon as possible. Honestly, if I were heading into my next appointment, I’d tell my doctor that just doing a standard lung auscultation isn't quite cutting it. It would be worth getting a CRP and a full CBC/differential done, too. Plus, grabbing a chest X-ray to check out the heart and lungs seems like a no-brainer, and honestly, it wouldn't hurt to run an ABG and some respiratory gases while we're at it just to get the full picture.

Patrick Thomas29 said:Current meds: Seretide two puffs twice a day, Spiriva one inhalation daily, Alvesco once a day, and Ventolin as needed. My asthma is definitely getting worse.
I feel like this combo is pretty rare—hitting almost every major asthma med at once. Has anyone else ever been on all of this simultaneously?
Is it even normal for my asthma to be flaring up like this when I’m actually sticking to such a heavy regimen?
I've had to use my Ventolin five times just in the last 24 hours.

Are you taking anything else alongside the bronchodilators, like blood pressure medication?

Are you coughing? What kind of cough is it? If you are, do you notice a particularly unpleasant odor when you cough?

Do your lungs "wheeze" when you breathe? If so, what does it sound like?

Gary Garcia10 said:Given the temperature, it might be something else entirely. There are different types of Asthma—some are triggered by psychological factors, like stress for example. In that regard, you should look into taking something to calm down; it actually helps, and I know because I've tried it myself. I'd love if there was a "healthier" option that didn't cost an arm and a leg like Normabell, but there isn't. All those herbal teas are pricey, and natural supplements are even worse...
One more thing: learn about this yourself. Educate yourself, even if it's just online. My Pulmonologist didn't help me one bit; went to see him a few times and it was a total waste of time. I hope your pulmonologist is better. A lot of doctors here tend to be old-school and refuse to accept any kind of medical progress.

Here's an example: about 10 years ago, a friend of mine had this type of migraine, and she realized on her own that oxygen therapy helped her. Her neurologist told her she was talking nonsense, yet today, neurologists are actually recommending oxygen for headaches. So, take charge of your own education. You're your own best doctor, unless you want to wait 10 years for the medical field to catch up. :-)

I'd give you some more advice, but shoot me a DM.

The problem is that up until now, I pretty much knew how to handle things—when to act and what to do. This is something totally different. It’s a whole new ballgame, and I haven't dealt with anything like this before.

velvetmoose9 said:Given how messy and inconclusive the data looks, you really can't rule out pneumonia as a super common complication of Asthma—especially when you're dealing with COPD too.

So, anyway, As soon as possible. Honestly, if I were heading into my next appointment, I’d tell my doctor that just doing a standard lung auscultation isn't quite cutting it. It would be worth getting a CRP and a full CBC/differential done, too. Plus, grabbing a chest X-ray to check out the heart and lungs seems like a no-brainer, and honestly, it wouldn't hurt to run an ABG and some respiratory gases while we're at it just to get the full picture.

Yeah, I’ve got a fever today too. I'm heading to see my doctor. It's hitting 100.4°F—not higher than that, but it definitely wears me out. I have bronchial asthma and chronic allergic rhinitis, but I know what a real asthma attack feels like, and this isn't it. This is just heavy breathing that settles down for a second once I use my Ventolin.

Thomas Gray8 said:Are you taking anything else alongside the bronchodilators, like blood pressure medication?

Are you coughing? What kind of cough is it? If you are, do you notice a particularly unpleasant odor when you cough?

Do your lungs "wheeze" when you breathe? If so, what does it sound like?

I’ve got this cough, just constant hacking. I don't notice any weird smells, but honestly, coughing it out actually feels like a relief. My lungs are wheezing, though—you can really hear that long, drawn-out exhale.

I'm currently on some meds for my stomach—dealing with a duodenal ulcer—and I take Movalis for rheumatic inflammation, too. So far, everything's been smooth sailing. But just so we're clear, taking anything like Dorato, Aspirin, or Voltaren is completely out of the question for me.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. 🙂

Hey everyone...
Last year I went in for a checkup, and my spirometry results showed significant obstruction. I was referred to a pulmonologist (maybe asthma?) and prescribed Singulair 10 mg tablets. After taking them for a month, I went back for a follow-up, but the results were identical to the first test. I went in again three months later, and once again, nothing had changed. Since I don't actually have any symptoms, they told me to just keep taking the Singulair. I'm wondering how long you can stay on this medication. I've seen info online where people take it for years—is that actually the case?🤔
Thanks

Brandon Perez5 said:Hey everyone...
Last year I went in for a checkup, and my spirometry results showed significant obstruction. I was referred to a pulmonologist (maybe asthma?) and prescribed Singulair 10 mg tablets. After taking them for a month, I went back for a follow-up, but the results were identical to the first test. I went in again three months later, and once again, nothing had changed. Since I don't actually have any symptoms, they told me to just keep taking the Singulair. I'm wondering how long you can stay on this medication. I've seen info online where people take it for years—is that actually the case?🤔
Thanks

Years old..

Singulair is a pretty selective medication; they have kids on it from a really early age, and even within the medical community, it's treated with a specific kind of focus. Just checking in to see what's current. I mean, honestly, I reckon it’s a pretty safe bet for a medication. 👍

If you’re thinking about taking a break from everything, you should probably have a real conversation with your doctor about it—maybe aim for those windows when your symptoms aren't hitting you quite as hard and things feel relatively chill.

Thanks for the quick reply!
To be honest, I’m not usually one for long-term medication; I've never really had to stay on anything for this long before.
I was told that sometimes you have to stick with Singulair for several weeks, or even months, before you actually start feeling the effects. I just hope the benefits end up outweighing any potential downsides. 😁
Best...

Hi there!
I deal with allergic bronchial Asthma—it was a struggle during my younger years, and now it flares up occasionally, mostly during ragweed season and when that autumn fog rolls in. My nose runs, and my chest feels tight, making breathing feel heavy (not quite full-blown choking, just labored breathing).

In the past, using two doses of a Ventolin inhaler helped quite a bit, but lately, it feels like it’s barely doing anything. The folks at the pharmacy suggested I talk to a doctor about getting a prescription for corticosteroids, but I don't feel like I really need them since my symptoms aren't life-threatening—I'm not sure why they're being so insistent.

Does anyone know of an over-the-counter alternative similar to Ventolin that I could try? I recall hearing that clenbuterol was used before albuterol became the standard ingredient in things like Ventolin.
I would truly appreciate any advice or shared experiences. Thanks so much.