Sometimes you might be frustrated or depressed because, despite your serious efforts and careful monitoring you don’t seem to get relief from your asthma symptoms. Even after months or years of treatment you find yourself sitting in the waiting hall to see your doctor. Any medicine or treatment procedure doesn’t seem to help. Do not worry or panic; just relax as you and your doctor can figure out the exact cause of asthma by asking few basic questions about what exactly triggers your asthma, in what environment do you experience asthma symptoms, do you take your medicines properly etc. By finding the answer for such basic questions you and your doctor can find the reason for your asthma not getting better. Based on the findings you can plan to avoid any triggers or find a better and different way of treatment.
Below are a few simple things that you would never give much thought to and ignore, but in the end may be the cause of your asthma not getting better.
Environment and asthma
Worried that your asthma is not getting better even after years of treatment, watch out, your surroundings might be the reason. You might be close to something that you are allergic to, which triggers an asthma episode. Some common triggers of asthma are dust, pollens, animal dander (skin, scale or fur of animals), dust mites, cockroaches, mold, cold, tobacco, some medications, perfume, pollutants, chemicals, gases, paint fumes, cold and dry weather, and exercise. Your doctor may perform a blood or skin test to identify the environmental trigger that you are allergic to. However, these tests are not conclusive, just because your skin and blood reacts to some allergens doesn’t conclude that your lungs will also be allergic to them. This is just an initial test done as a starting point. Identifying the agent that you are allergic to and just by simply removing them or staying away from them will help you to control your asthma and this may lead to a decrease in the amount of medication required.
Work place and asthma
Do you suspect that a change in work place has increased your asthma symptoms? Do you feel better at home during holidays or vacation? If yes, then you can be sure that you are allergic to something in your work place. This is called as occupational asthma. It is not clear that why some people develop occupational asthma. There are more than 300 occupational triggers, few are – allergic substances, irritants like sulfur dioxide, chlorine, hydrochloric acid and some environmental gases; animal substances, chemicals, metals, plastics, enzymes, and plant substances. Discuss this with your doctor and identify the trigger, you also need to know whether these triggers cause or aggravate your symptoms.
Medicine and asthma
Taking certain medicines may worsen your asthma symptoms. Not all medicines have adverse effects, but you need to be very careful while taking a new medicine. You should never take any medications without talking to your doctor first. Taking drugs like aspirin, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug, beta blockers for controlling blood-pressure and heart disease and many other drugs may be harmful. Few drugs that are considered safe may also sometime cause side-effects. Therefore, it is recommended to seek medical advice prior to using them.
Taking medicine the right way
Not taking medicines the right way or in the right quantity can also be a reason for your asthma not getting better. Follow your doctor’s advice in taking medicines in order to prevent or control asthma symptoms and to avoid fatal results. In order to control your asthma symptoms, you need to work out with your doctor and prepare an asthma action plan, which will guide you in taking your medicines the right way. Your follow up treatment procedure will depend on how well your asthma action plan is working in keeping your symptoms low.
Using inhaler the right way
Using an asthma inhaler the right way is very important for you to get the required quantity of medicine. It is also very important that you keep a track of the amount of medicine you are inhaling every time, for this you can use a metered- dose inhaler that delivers a specific amount of medicine into your lungs. You can also use a spacer that helps in more effective delivery of the medicine deep into the lungs. Talk to your doctor about using a spacer and also learn the right way to use it.
Changing medicines
There are list of medicines available to treat asthma, if the currently prescribed medicine doesn’t seem to work then you can consult your doctor who will decide on changing your medicine. Two different kinds of medicines are used for treating asthma – Rescue medicine (quick reliever) and Control medicine, which you need to take every day. But if your symptoms are due to allergies then consult your doctor about taking an antiallergic shot called immunotherapy.
Understand asthma
Knowing completely about asthma is very important in controlling it effectively. Understanding why, how and when you can get an asthma attack and what happens in your lungs during an attack, also know what is the importance of each medicine and each step in the action plan, and what will happen if you do not follow the plan. Knowing these things is for sure a step forward in gaining control over your asthma. Learn how to manage and control your symptoms. Talk to your doctor; clarify your doubt without any hesitations. Remember your doctor is always there to help you out but day-to-day care of asthma is your responsibility.
Know how bad your asthma is
It is very unfortunate that many people do not know how serious their asthma is. You need to keep a track of your symptoms and the severity of your symptoms. A peak flow meter may help you to measure the severity of your symptoms. This device measures how quickly you can expel air from your lungs. Note down the readings of peak flow meter during each asthma attack and discuss with your doctor about how severe is your condition. You can also learn how to use a peak-flow meter and what the reading means.
May be it is not asthma
There are many other respiratory diseases that have symptoms similar to asthma. If your asthma treatment isn’t helping you reduce your symptoms, it could be because you were misdiagnosed for asthma, or there might be some other underlying cause for your symptoms. Consult your doctor, who may perform additional tests to confirm or rule out asthma.
Conclusion
Individuals diagnosed with asthma may be concerned that they will not be able to participate in activities like others and that they will miss out on all the fun. On the other hand, some individuals may choose to ignore their asthma symptoms and refrain from taking prescribed medications. But always remember that if you have asthma and you don’t want it to take control of you then you take steps control it. The best tool to control asthma is to follow the asthma action plan that your doctor gave you. With right care you can prevent hospitalization and emergency visits to hospitals.
