Scared I'm going to have a fatal asthma attack.

[JesseBarrett96]

So a couple days ago I went for a physical and I was newly diagnosed with asthma due to me complaining about my shortness of breathe with no wheezing or coughing. So my doctor ordered a peak flow and it came back abnormal and he said it was asthma and it was being flared up due to allergies and anxiety. I'm just afraid I'm going to have fatal asthma attack because I'm allergic to my roommates cat and I won't be moving for another 7 months so I'm scared me being constantly exposed to the cat is going to cause me to have a fatal asthma attack. Also I'm just scared with the whole asthma thing in general. I've been taking my inhalers for a couple days and my rescue inhaler doesn't seem to relieve the shortness of breathe.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Try to remember that you have not had the attack you fear whilst already being exposed to triggers and before starting meds for it. The odds of something happening are now decreasing due to treatment.

Also you need to remember that there is a big difference between the mild-moderate asthma most sufferers have and those who are severe. The latter need more medication and more care as regards triggers. Unless you are in the severe camp, your odds of a serious attack are going to be low.

Asthma is very common and we live our lives quite normally. People run marathons with it these days.

I've only ever had a couple of attacks in over 30 years and they were mild. I've had pneumonia, which put me in hospital for a week, when I was younger and I got through that ok once they gave me some breathing support the first couple of days.

It's a pain trying to work out what is anxiety and what is asthma. Expect to take some time working out the differences. Anxiety can impact on it and vice versa but remember that anxiety can't do much more than exacerbate it therefore it's temporary

As you get stabilised with the meds, you could look at ways to improve your asthma. For instance, improving your cardiovascular system through exercise is one of the best things, obviously with a doctor's agreement if needed. It helps increase your lung capacity, which helps asthma sufferers and why they tend to have more problems later in life as this naturally reduces with age.