Please help. Gasping for air at night.

[meant2live]

I've had this maybe a handful of times in my life and it scares me. I wake up, feeling like I can't breathe or like I haven't been breathing. In the past, I've had to mentally tell myself to just breathe and then it's fine.

Fast forward to know and I've had some strange respitory problems in the last few months. I got a cold, which turned into bronchitis, which brought on very bad coughing and a wheeze when I inhale. The wheeze, or stridor, isn't always present, but it's there enough to scare me.

I'm seeing an allergist who has me taking asthma medicine. I know that you can have adult onset asthma, but I am questioning this.

This waking up and gasping for air happened last night. I believe I was woken up by coughing and then my breathing felt shaking as I forced air in.

The thing is, I never used my inhaler and it settled down pretty quickly.

I'm on singulair, a controlled daily inhaler called Breo, and a rescue inhaler as needed.

Even today, I feel like my throat is tight, but I can't tell if it's anxiety or not.

I made an ENT appointment, but I feel like most doctors think I'm crazy for being my own advocate. They aren't the ones that live with this.

I get scared about sleep apnea and I also wonder about vocal chord dysfunction, as the tightness is there in the day too.

If it was asthma, you'd think I would need the rescue inhaler to make the episode stop, but I didn't use it last night.

Any advice?

[paranoid-viking]

Oh. Welcome to my world. Yes, I have that too, have had it for 20 yeats. I have been tested for asthma and pretty much everything that could be a possible reason for it - nothing. They find nothing and it is suggested that it may be mental. I mean, it only happens at night, and the horror can last for hours, but at one point I do fall asleep eventually, but it is not there in the morning, but extremely tired of course.
I have never been referred to an allergist for this, but maybe I should. The reason I have not pushed it too much at the doc is because it comes and goes and gets worse in periods. I have been thinking since it has ben recuring for 20 years it cant be something dangerous and that it may be panick attacks that occurs at night. Some times I had just given up and then woke up to read a book and even dressed on and go for a walk outside. Better than just lying in beed feeling that you get chocked. Hope you can get to the bottom of this which I have not after two decades. You said it only happened to you "a handful of times". More than that for me, that is for sure.

[meant2live]

Thank you for responding.

I'm sorry that you've been having this so often. What tests have you had done for this?

[Kay8010]

Hi I have the same and its the worst thing ever! I wake myself up coughinge every night! My throat feels like ive inhaled a mint all the time and it scratches like that of when you inhale deodorant and it gets in Your throat, its awful!

During the day my throat wheezes, yes wheezes. Like I have an obstruction blocked air by my vocal cords. Ive had this for a year.

Ive had 2 chest xrays, endoscopy, lyranoscopy, and numerous blood tests. The Dr gave me an inhaler, when i wheeze and feel like someone is strangling me i use the inhaler and it goes away for a bit. Ive had a lung function test to kook for asthma and copd but all normal. Dr has put me on a steroid nasal spray and reflux tablets (AGAIN!!) been taking the meds for 3 weeks nearly and the cough persists, i wake and cough and struggle to breathe a little due to tbe tickling in my throat.

Im back at the GP on Tue but a different ince! I just want to have a normal throat. My chest does not hurt and the cough is dry.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've had asthma since childhood and I purposely don't use my Reliever preferring to control my breathing naturally until I would have to use it. So, it may not always be the case that you can't do without, it will depend on severity. The Preventer may be helping too so you are able to go without. I would put these questions to the doctor.

Testing for asthma is very simple so they should work that one out quite quickly.

[Kay8010]

Thanks. Ive been tested for asthma and i haven't got it. The constant scratchy, irritation is high up in my throat. Its so annoying and worrying me tagt its more than just "a cough"!!

[meant2live]

I've had asthma since childhood and I purposely don't use my Reliever preferring to control my breathing naturally until I would have to use it. So, it may not always be the case that you can't do without, it will depend on severity. The Preventer may be helping too so you are able to go without. I would put these questions to the doctor.

Testing for asthma is very simple so they should work that one out quite quickly.

I'm not sure if it's because the office where I go is extremely busy, but they never really sit there and explain things.

They had me do the test where they measure my breathing, then use the nebulizer, then measure it again to see if it improved. I was at the lung capacity of a 34 and then went down to a 26 year old (I'm 29).

Even with that, the allergist said it's not a significant difference. At that point, he just gave me a rescue inhaler. Then the wheezing got worse one night and they gave me the daily Breo inhaler.

They have never said, " you have asthma." I am going to make them sit and answer my questions the next time I go, but it's always so rushed.

If it is asthma, I'm kind of scared because of the warnings saying that adults who use controlled inhalers for a long period of time die from asthma. Also, it's sometimes difficult to know if the difficulty breathing is asthma or anxiety.

This all started with a bad cold back in February.

[paranoid-viking]

Thank you for responding.

I'm sorry that you've been having this so often. What tests have you had done for this?

Sorry for the late reply. Well, I have had the asthma test and have had the hearts and lungs checked although that is years ago now. Nothing out of the ordinary found.

[meant2live]

Could you describe the asthma test?

[paranoid-viking]

Could you describe the asthma test?

It is so many years ago I dont remember it very clear now; I think more than ten years so my memory is a bit or quite blurry now but I can ask my GP next time I visit. Far as I remember I was blowing into something.

[MyNameIsTerry]

That's a new one on me that adults using asthma inhalers eventually die from asthma. Asthma is a chronic condition that you will likely receive treatment for all the rest of your life. That includes old age where it becomes a factor and your health worsens and disease has a greater effect on top of it. Asthma is likely only an added complication.

Given the high number of asthma sufferers, if it were true then we would have some serious health worries.

Asthma is something that can be well controlled, people run marathons with it these days!

I suspect you have read about severe asthma, which is a very different thing to what the majority of us deal with.

Asthma inhalers tend to be steroidal and reduce inflammation. This means they also get used to treat allergies and may even be used in cases were lung function is impacted in other issues. That doesn't mean the person has asthma and I suspect this is what you are receiving since as asthma diagnosis is relatively easy these days.

I was diagnosed as a child. They had me take a peak flow reading and then run around the surgery about ten times then take another. They don't do that any more for very obvious reasons as the nurse at my last asthma clinic check up laughed about.

[Catherine S]

Hi, to answer your question about what the test involves, I had a test for asthma in 2015, which involved blowing really hard into a nebulizer type of machine that measures lung function while the nurse counted to a certain number. Then she showed me how to use a puffer spray after which my lung function was measured again. I had to do this several times and she noted the before and after numbers and after the test she was able to tell me that I didn't have asthma. The complete test took about 45 mins. Hope that helps.

ISB ☺

[meant2live]

MyNameisTerry: It's just that I've read that on multiple explainations of adult onset asthma, plus the box on my daily inhaler. It really scared me when I read it, but I also did wonder if they meant elderly patients.

To be honest, I can't tell if either inhaler is helping me. It's difficult for me to tell the difference between shortnessbof breath from asthma vs anxiety.

I haven't had the stridor since I started the daily inhaler, though.

My issue now is that I've got itchiness, like an allergic reaction, one week into taking it. I'm seeing my allergist tomorrow and I'm worried that, a. He'll tell me to stop the daily inhaler and my breathing will get worse or b. He will have me continue and I'll have a severe reaction like anaphylaxis. That's a big fear of mine.

[meant2live]

Hello,

I’m opening up this old thread of mine because the symptoms have returned twice this week.

To give an update, Ive kind of accepted the fact that I have asthma. I’m not on a daily inhaler and I have the emergency inhaler, as needed. I also take singulair at night and an allergy pill during the day.

Now, as far as the choking feeling, I’ve had to happen to me twice this week. Something that I failed to explain in the posts before is that I’ve had the “waking up choking” feeling for many years now, but it’s always been very random and spaced out, so I never really brought it up with a doctor. I’ve always put it down to stress.

Back to this week: I have a cold and I’m also stressed about a possible new job. Yesterday and this morning, I was abruptly jolted awake and realized I couldn’t breathe. When I would try to breathe, it was like the air just wouldn’t go down my throat. I make this awful gasping/croaking noise until the air comes in.

Yesterday, I think I reached for watcher and everything opened up. This morning, I pushed air out of my throat and then it opened up.

It could be because of the cold and it’s awful post nasal drip or it could be from stress. I really don’t know.

What scares me is the possibility of sleep apnea. I believe my brother has it and my father may have it as well. I know my brother was tested, but I think he is having issues wearing the mask at night. For my dad, I think his doctor mentioned that he should be tested.

I am overweight. It’s somethng that I’m trying to work on by being more consistent with my gym visits and with eating better. I haven’t been to the gym lately because I had a breast cancer scare (see other thread) and because of this I cold (asthma may act up).

I really don’t want to bring this up to my doctor, but it terrifies me every time. The first time I met this doctor, he made a comment about how I had been “tested more than anyone in this office.” So, if course, I feel like an idiot to add some new symptom into the mix. My health was pretty much great before, but in the last two years or so, it’s been one new thing after another. Some of it has been anxiety-related, but some of it has been diagnosed conditions like asthma and orthostatic hypotension.

I guess I’m just wondering if you all think it’s the post nasal drip and that I should wait until the next appointment (later this month) to bring it up, or if I should try to get in sooner? If it is the cold, I’m hoping it will have gone away by that time.