My first post after recovering from an asthma attack back in late July.

It all started from a cough, which by itself wasn’t unusual for me. You see I’ve suffered from chronic coughs not long after moving to London many years ago. The first time it happened it was nearing exam time. I couldn’t stop coughing but didn’t have any other symptoms (no cold, flu or high temperature), when I saw my then GP at the time, they told me it was nothing to worry about, the cough will go with time and the best thing to do was to drink lots of water and do breathing exercises, she hypothesised that perhaps it was due to the stress of exams. In time it went away although it took weeks. The next summer I had the same cough again, so I went to my family GP who got me to get a blood test and chest x-ray – came back normal. Again, the diagnosis was just to let the cough run its natural course. I thought it was strange but as the years have gone by, not all summers but quite a few there after, I’ve had this mysterious cough.

This summer when I started coughing it just felt different. Instead of getting better with time, I was coughing more and couldn’t stop. My desk had moved to directly underneath the air-conditioner and working in a mainly male environment, it was on full blast for most of the day! I noticed that when the air-con was on, my cough would get worse. Eventually, I asked for the air-con to be disabled in my direction which helped, but I still felt unwell. I looked frail and was persuaded to see my GP. I knew it was a waste of time because of the previous times I’ve seen a GP. I wasn’t wrong, my GP said I should do some star jumps and it will go in time – hmm, I’m soo frail at this point, I can hardly walk let alone do star jumps! I mentioned that my dad has chronic asthma and my aunty and uncle too. Perhaps, I hypothesised, I have asthma, to which my GP replied, ‘very unlikely’.

As the weeks went on, I was really suffering. My GP kept telling me it would get better, but it wasn’t. Eventually one morning, I woke up and couldn’t breathe, suddenly I started to wheeze quite badly (never wheezed in my life), each breath became painful and harder. A neighbour saw me and urged me to go to A&E. I was soo tired all I wanted to do was collapse. That night, I started to panic about going to sleep as I was alone. I decided that the next day I was to go back home and see a chest specialist at Spire hospital in Cardiff. I managed to get a quick appointment. I was bored with going back and forth to GP’s, I knew they were wrong.

I was in agony, but I finally got to speak to someone who actually listened! Best Dr I’ve ever seen (he has an OBE too). Listened to my history (I told him I’ve had chronic coughs for years), did the appropriate tests and said I was absolutely correct in my diagnosis – I had asthma, probably for years but it was mild, but the longer you go undiagnosed the greater the risk of long-term damage. Luckily there was no damage, he gave me the correct medication, and even got me to show him how I would use an inhaler. The best part was that he told me it’s highly unlikely I’ll end up like my dad (unless I smoke, which I don’t), and not to worry as I may not need long-term medication. He said I reminded him of his daughter who looks ridiculously young for their age, and I should start thinking about getting married/having children – made me smile!

Weeks later, I’m starting to feel like myself again – I was told by my specialist that I could have seasonal asthma and that I may only need medication during those months. However, I was to take peak flow readings in the mornings and evenings to determine whether this is the correct diagnosis. A number of weeks later, I went to my GP to discuss my peak flow readings (I did the graph) and the doctor I saw said I can take medication as and when? But I retorted I still have an underlying cough, I’m not completely there yet. I was soo angry, that I complained to the practice, finally I ended up seeing a male doctor who apologised for his colleagues mistakes, and said he will deal with me from now on as he has a keen interest in asthma.

I can’t honestly thank the specialist enough, no more enduring coughs for weeks on end. Now, I’m starting to feel like myself again – I wish I saw him sooner, it’s worth seeing a specialist, they’re in a different league! As for my triggers, air-conditioners (recycled air – yuck!) and possibly pollution, although recent reasearch has shown that it could be the cause rather than a trigger, and stress (my uncle recently died of cancer).

When I go back to the countryside, my breathing is normal again, perhaps I’m just allergic to city-life

One thing I’ve learn’t (through weeks of complete agony), never be afraid to question your GP, they can get it wrong, sometimes you know when something isn’t quite right, and if all else fails, pay to see a specialist…