r/Asthma

I have asthma that’s been largely under control for about 8-9 months with rare if ever albuterol.
I take monthly Tezspire and daily trellegy and get allergy shots.
About 2 weeks ago, i started to notice i am tight, when around our dog. It goes away when I am not home for awhile.
I know she’s a trigger for me but hasn’t been in a long time.
Nothing has really changed.
Is this just a flare? Is it possible that this will pass and things will stabilize again? I can take prednisone, I haven’t needed it in over a year.
Feeling scared.

I was diagnosed as an adult- I started noticing trouble breathing in college, my primary doc suspected asthma and prescribed Advair. I eventually stopped using it since I couldn’t really tell if it was helping, and was not convinced since he only did the spirometer test that came out normal.

In the past few years I’ve noticed it getting worse, ESPECIALLY after getting sick with colds. I went to a pulmonologist after I had intense wheezing and a cough for weeks after being sick, he finally gave me the diagnosis based on my symptoms. I’ve changed steroid inhalers a couple times, I am on Breo now but i’m still not well controlled all the time. anytime I get sick it just blows up in my face. My doctors team finally noticed/pointed out my EOS levels on my blood work has historically been high, and since I have been on steroids/antibiotics combo 3 times this year I’d likely be a good candidate for biologics.

I’m going to do my first dose of nucala this weekend. I’m just feeling some imposters syndrome since I’ve never had a hospital stay or a “major” asthma event. I feel more of a baseline of moderately shitty breathing all the time. And I do wonder how much of it is my body just becoming used to this baseline. I’m curious if anyone had a similar experience or has doubted the severity of their asthma? how’d you get through it?

I have bad seasonal allergies + asthma. My allergist is suggesting Dupixent or two other drugs from infomercials i can’t remember. Has anyone tried and what’s your experience?

A persistent issue is making my daily life really difficult, and I feel like I’ve hit a dead end. TLDR at the end.

My main symptom is that I constantly feel like I can’t take a proper, satisfying deep breath—only very rarely, as if something is blocking a "good" inhalation. I can breathe fine, I’m not suffocating, but it feels like the air just doesn't go deep enough into my lungs. Quite often, I can only get a satisfying deep breath if I manage to yawn at the same time.

I had the exact same symptom back in childhood, and even then, doctors couldn't pin down the exact cause. I was prescribed an asthma inhaler at the time. It eventually went away for a long time, but after more than 20 years, it returned last year.

Test Results & Timeline:

• 2025 Bloodwork: OK
• 2025 Chest X-ray: Negative
• 2025 Chest CT scan: Negative
• 2025 Pulmonologist: Suspected bronchial asthma based on a spirometry test showing mild airway obstruction (FVC: 110%, FEV1: 93%, FEV1/FVC: 71.4%).
  • Prescribed Symbicort (2x2); symptoms eased and spirometry improved (FVC: 115%, FEV1: 108%, FEV1/FVC: 79.12%).
• Dec 2025 – Jan 2026: Symptoms completely vanished (even though I was still using heated tobacco / IQOS at the time).
• September 2026: I no longer smoke/vape, yet the symptoms flare up again.
• 2026 Allergy Prick Test (inhalant panel): Completely negative.
• 2026 Pulmonologist: Recommended restarting Symbicort (2x2).
• Present: Symptoms have barely improved after 3 weeks on the inhaler—definitely not a satisfactory improvement.

I also attended cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for several months. Last year, it was easy to blame anxiety since I was going through a stressful period (new job, buying an apartment, taking out a mortgage). However, stress isn't a factor this year—everything is fine in my life, and I have good coping mechanisms in place.

I find it hard to accept that this is purely psychological.

An interesting detail: The shortness of breath does NOT occur during sleep or physical exercise. My sleep is restful, I have no runny nose, no coughing, and no other systemic symptoms. I really want to find the root cause of this.

Questions:

1. Has anyone experienced similar "air hunger" that occurs at rest/during the day rather than during physical exertion?
2. What other specialists or tests should I look into? (GERD/Reflux? ENT? Cardiology? Food intolerances? Diaphragm/physical therapy?)
3. For those who solved this, what brought you actual breakthrough or relief?

I’d be extremely grateful for any experiences, ideas, or advice!

TL;DR:

• Symptoms: Air hunger at rest; difficulty getting a satisfying deep breath (yawning helps). No symptoms during sleep or exercise.
• History: Present in childhood, returned last autumn, flared up again this September.
• Test Results: CT, Chest X-ray, Bloodwork, and Allergy Prick Test are all NEGATIVE. Diagnosed with mild airway obstruction. Symbicort only provides minimal relief. Completed CBT therapy.
• Question: Has anyone dealt with something similar? Which specialty (ENT, GERD/GI, Cardiology, PT) or treatment worked for you?

I was just diagnosed over a month ago. Dr started with albuterol when he got test results. When I saw him, he put me on Wixella. Even though I rinsed afterwards really well, I ended up with a severe sore throat about a week into it. Had to stop to heal my throat. Then he switched me to symbicort aerosol. Now after about 3 weeks of that, sore throat again. I have a call into the dr and waiting for a call back. But I'm at a loss of what to do with this. Does anyone else get a severe sore throat and is that a reaction to the medication? Or a typical side effect? And the symbicort dose is not strong enough either. I'm mild in the asthma, so for the moment I stopped to allow my throat to recover.

My asthma has been pretty unpredictable lately. I was on Advair for over 20 years, and it controlled my asthma really well until it stopped working a couple of years ago. I’m currently trying out different medications to see which one helps me the most.

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a lot of air hunger, so my pulmonologist had me do a breathing test and found that I’m having air trapping.

Does anyone else have this, and did it get better? I’m wondering if I’m screwed and if feeling like I can’t breathe all the time is my new normal. I don’t have any wheezing, just a tight chest, and there are days when I feel out of breath and like my lungs are sore.

Has anyone been able to reverse their air trapping and get better test results?

I've had uncontrolled asthma for a while now and (on top of being on a biologic immunosuppressant for an autoimmune disease) every cold I get turns into bronchitis or pneumonia. I've had bronchitis twice this year (currently have it) and pneumonia once which got very serious.

I'm wondering if I'll get sick less often and/or less severely once I start daily preventative meds for my asthma? That would be really great. I'm tired of getting knocked on my ass by illnesses all the time. My doc prescribed me montelukast (scared to take, but I took it as a baby and young kid before my mom decided my asthma "went away), an Advair daily inhaler, and an albuterol rescue inhaler.

i take my symbicort inhaler every night due to my asthma flaring up particularly at night, but it always speeds up my heart rate preventing me from sleeping. im certain its the inhaler doing that. last night it went up to 121 bpm. i usually have a higher heart rate due to many things but ive never seen it that high, any ideas how to prevent that and why does it do that? i do have a doctors appointment scheduled btw dw

hi !
I’ve had this lingering cough for a few months and it triggers asthma throughout the day.
it started maybe 2 months ago when i got a cold, i got over the cold fine but fire season came in and i struggle with that typically. And whenever the seasons start to change i have flare ups. So i felt like it was thing after thing that just kept me not feeling better. I just had another short cold in september too.
Either way im hoping for cough suppressant methods or whatever you use when it lingers !

Whew the doggo is in shed mode and I’m feeling it. I’ve been cleaning the house, washing him as needed, and taking some otc medicine (prob not the right ones bc this is fairly new after moving to a smaller place: Claritin 10 mg 24 hr and Benadryl). What do you do for this if you’re in the same boat? Thinking it’s time to schedule an allergist appointment re this.