i would like to hear about some people’s asthma symptoms and see if i should investigate
i live in the uk, so it can be really difficult to get a gp appointment, and even harder to be taken seriously.
i’ve had suspicions about my lungs for a long time. from when i was maybe 5??, i used to get bronchitis around twice a year during my childhood, and every time i caught a cold i would develop really severe mucus in my airways. apparently there was also something wrong with my breathing when i was born because i needed a nebuliser, although i don’t actually know what the problem was.
even now, i still seem to get a chesty cough with a lot of mucus at least every month or two.
my parents also told me that when i was around four years old, a doctor suspected i had asthma and prescribed me an inhaler. unfortunately, my parents lost it and never took me back for another appointment shrugging it off as nothing.
during pe in secondary school, especially when we had to exercise outside in the cold, i would cough really badly. i’d get a burning sensation in my lungs that almost tasted like blood, but my teachers always told me it was normal and to keep running.
i also get pretty severe hayfever every spring. from around february onwards, i usually start with a postnasal drip that then turns into a really mucusy chest cough. this time, i had a postnasal drip for two days, and then yesterday, out of nowhere, i couldn’t even speak in full sentences without gasping for air and coughing.
my hayfever also makes it incredibly difficult to breathe whenever i go outside.
i also remember that when i had covid and was isolating, i developed really bad wheezing. it genuinely felt like my lungs were submerged in mucus, and at its worst it felt like my airways were being suctioned shut 😭. i remember my lungs making really strange wheezing noises, and i honestly thought it was going to be the end for me.
when i’m not having these episodes, my breathing feels mostly normal, although i often still notice a bit of pressure in my chest. my parents have always brushed it off as just a cold or hayfever, but it’s been happening for years.
my attendance at school was also affected because i seemed to get ill with chest infections or coughs much more often than everyone else.
i’m wondering whether this could be asthma or something else affecting my lungs, and whether it’s worth pushing for a proper assessment rather than assuming it’s just hayfever every time.
i’m also worried that because my breathing is usually okay-ish when i’m not ill, any tests i have will come back normal. it feels like most of my breathing problems only become obvious when i get a cold, have hayfever, near smokers or vapers, exercise in the cold, or get some sort of respiratory illness, so i’m worried i’ll finally get an appointment only for it to be a “good day” and nothing will show up.