World Asthma Day Tuesday May 6th-Guest Speaker on BBC Radio Manchester.

Hi Folks!

Hope you are all well and that the spring pollens aren't playing havoc with your asthma! Joking aside, at this time of year, many more asthmatics than usual are affected. Thankfully, for most asthmatics, sympoms can be annoying, but for some, they can be life threatening.

So how can you tell when your asthma is poorly controlled?

The symptoms below should help you!

• Waking in the night coughing, wheezing or short of breath.
• A fall in your usual peak flow readings.
• Needing to use your reliever inhaler more than usual, and its effect not lasting very long.
• Waking earlier than normal and needing to use your reliever inhaler.

Now is the time to visit your asthma  nurse or a doctor. They will help you to quickly gain control of your symptoms. They can only help if you make that appointment!

You are having an asthma attack if:-

• Your reliever inhaler does not relieve your symptoms.
• You are too breathless to eat or sleep.
• Your symptoms of cough, wheeze, breathlessness or tight chest are out of control.

To treat an asthma attack:-

1. Take two puffs of your reliever inhaler which is usually blue.
2. Sit quietly and try to control your breathing.
3. If you do not feel any relief, take another two puffs of your inhaler every two minutes up until ten puffs have been taken.
4. If you do not feel any improvement, call 999.
5. If you have to wait for an ambulance for a while, you can repeat step 3 again to ease your breathing.

For more information, tune into http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiomanchester on Tuesday after 8am, where I will be acting as a guest speaker on this imprtant issue.

Take care,

Cathx