Hi there,

I am in my early 40's, female, live in Australia,  was first diagnosed with
Asthma in my late teen's, I very rarely have needed to use my inhaler, I
could go a whole year and not even need to pick it up, however what triggers
my Asthma is usually when I get a cold, cough, sore throat, feeling run
down, stress.

A few weeks ago I developed a chest infection and started coughing a lot,
doctor placed me on antibiotics, the chest infection cleared up but I kept
coughing, the chest infection is what triggered my asthma, and last Sunday I
had a asthma attack and started coughing up blood, I spent 7 hours in
hospital receiving treatment.

The whole time I've had the chest infection I never once felt wheezey,
usually when I get a cold I always get wheezey, my doctor had told me to use
my inhaler to help my coughing even though I was not wheezey, so this I did,
but it was not enough to prevent the asthma attack.

I'm now at home, on several different medications, my asthma inhaler has
been changed to a Reliever using a Space Convertor, (a bottle type thing to
inhale the inhaler through), I mostly cough at night time, which is keeping
the whole household awake.

If I could control the coughing more I think I would feel a lot better, I
don't think I ever realised the seriousness of having asthma, the mucus in
the back of my throat is caused by asthma, I thought it was because of the
chest infection, the tightness in my chest was caused by asthma, I did not
recognise the signs because I was not wheezey, I always associated asthma as
being wheezey and now I know that is not always the case.

Its time for me to get serious with my asthma, to learn how to control it,
can anyone offer tips on how to control my breathing especially when I'm
coughing, and also tips on helping me recognise the signs of when a possible
asthma attack may be approaching, I don't want to panic and think I have
asthma every time I get a sore throat.

Thank you

Linda