A question for people with asthma? or have kids that do, or know someone that does?
Question:
What exactly does it feel like when you have an asthema attack? what you feel in your body and what you think in your brain? what did it feel like the very first time before you knew what to expect? how scared were you? does it start, is it sudden or gradual? and lets pretend for a little bit that inhalers don't exist yet? complications?
And slightly more promently (to my needs, I'm sure not to YOU) what would an asthma attack look like from second person? what does it look like from far away?
thanks very much!
Answers:
All asthma attacks are different, depending on the severity and not everyone experiences the same symptoms when they occur.
Over the past few years my asthma has gotten worse and I've been very conscious of what happens. I can pretty much tell when an attack is going to hit. People who don't have asthma are not conscious of breathing at all. In between attacks, when asthmatics are not experiencing any symptoms, they aren't conscious of breathing either. However, when an attack is about to hit, you KNOW. Suddenly you are very much aware of the fact that you have to breathe and it's not as effortless as it should be. You'll be breathing quietly and then all of a sudden you have to take this HUGE gasp to get air. It's loud - sounds like when something gets stuck in a straw and you can't get it through. I'm not really a wheezer, but some people will experience a wheeze when they are breathing (a high pitched whistle). For me, it's just a loud gasp with a small whistle - kind of like wind during a storm. Then, when it gets worse, the gasps become more frequent and you're just heaving for air and you realize you can't breathe. You don't really feel it in your throat - it's not like your throat is closing. It's more in your chest. It doesn't expand as much as it should. You can't exhale much so you try to compensate by inhaling deeply. But even inhaling is hard because you can't inhale that much. The sound of it, for me, is scary because it adds to the realization that you're not breathing normally and are having an attack.
That's one way an attack can start. When it's gets really bad for me, the gasping becomes quicker and I start going into a coughing fit, but nothing comes out. It kind of feels like you're choking, sort of. It's like you need to get something out of your chest so you can breathe, but NOTHING is coming out. The real reason for this, as I just learned, is that your airways have gotten inflamed and are becoming lined with mucous. Your body thinks something foreign is stuck in there, but there's nothing there. Your airways are just swollen, making air movement minimal. So you cough to get "it" out, but it's useless. Then the gasping continues. I usually cry when it gets really bad. Throughout this whole process, your chest can tighten, making it feel as if there are tons of weights sitting on your chest. At some point, when I can find a break in the gasping, I take a puff of my rescue inhaler. Usually, if the attack is bad I have to take a few extra puffs. It typically takes at least 15-20 minutes for it to fully take effect and the attack to die down. It dies down slowly, but you notice the gasping becomes less and you become more at ease because you can feel it getting easier to breathe. After an attack, you're kind of numb to what just happened because you were so terrified of dying and just hoping that it would end soon. Normally, I sit in silence and stare - I've noticed that this usually happens to me after a severe attack. I think that you're just so worn out physically and emotionally from what just happened. Sometimes another attack will hit a little after the first one, so I guess part of you is anticipating the worst.
The very first time I ever experienced an attack like this, I had NO idea what was going on in my body, no idea how to control it, and literally thought I was going to die. I was so terrified that my entire body was shaking in spasms and I could not sleep for days because I thought I'd die in my sleep. The first time I ever heard myself say "I can't breathe" scared me simply because of the desperation I heard in my voice. It's truly a terrifying experience to have to go through.
As for what it looks like to other people, I don't know. My sisters have seen me have them, they just try to calm me down and tell me that it will pass. But to someone who's never seen one before, I don't know.
If no inhalers existed -that just adds a WHOLE new level of fear. In the back of my mind, I know my inhaler really is a rescuer/life saver. It just takes time for it to take effect. If I didn't have that knowledge or way out, I don't want to even imagine...
Anyway, hope it helped. I've tried to write a few creative pieces as means of catharsis. Hopefully my insight helps you too!
Adon't have asmtha but I have wisnessed people having them and experiences breathing problems like it. You feel lots of pressure in your chest, its hard to take a breath. You may start coughing and sometimes you vomit.
I dont get them severe any more. I did when i was little. My parents took me to an emergency room, it was so bad.. Now, They get activated when the air is too extreme. Too dry. Too hot. Too Humid. My chest tightens up and it feels painful to take a breath. I feel like someone is sitting on my chest. I cant fully get my lungs to expand. It helps to take a cold shower. To cool my body down. To stand in the freezer at work and breath the air there. To slow down. My inhalers dont always do the trick. So I just kinda have to take it easy.
Seen from afar? I guess people would see me moving slow.. See me kinda haunched a little trying to ease the pressure on my chest. Probably be a worried, stressed look on my face. My breathing would be shallow and rapid.
Hope that helps!
First off, From the prospective of a second person.confusion, panic and helplessness.
I suffered from sever Asthma attacks for 12 years. I eventually grew out of them by the time I was 22 years old.
Sports and physical activity probably helped me to strengthen my respiratory system.
It hurts and it is fatiguing because you have to strain so much to get air. It is complicated by the fact that you can't sleep because you can't breath, so you are extremely tired.
Just being alive is work because breathing is so difficult.
The second sensation is panic and fear, because you know what is coming and how much suffering you will endure.
Breathing, or I should say Wheezing is so taxing on your body that I would pray to die just to stop the agony.
I am going to pray to God right now and thank him for ridding me of that plague.
Well, I had a really bad asthma attack recently - running to a maths class where I was about to have a big test (there was a LOT riding on that test!!). It was the middle of winter and there was backburning being done, and I was late. The combination of the stress of the test, the running, the smoke and the weather combined and gave me the biggest asthma attack I've ever had. I remember getting into the room, sitting down and the teacher was giving us the pre test lecture and I was caught up in that and suddenly it felt like someone had taken a massive elastic band and put it around my chest and was slowly tightening it. My breathing got very shallow and if I tried to take a big breath I ended up in a coughing fit. Eventually, I couldn't breathe. At all. My brain stopped thinking about everything else and just focussed on trying to breathe. Tears started streaming down my face and the teacher just looked at me and was like, "what now?" - insensitive!! I managed to gasp out something along the lines of, "need...ventolin" and the teacher was like, "what?" and the person next to me said, "she's having an asthma attack" and suddenly everyone stood up and was like, "oh gosh, oh gosh, what do we do?" Eventuall someone grabbed an inhaler and I was ok, but I was so scared! Sorry for going off on a tangent...
Basically, your chest feels like it's being constricted, you can only take in tiny amounts of air no matter how hard you try and if there is any air in you at all you wheeze loudly and sometimes cough. People around you hear you wheeze, see you struggling for air (or in my case see the tears streaming down your face!!) and that's how they work it out. I hope this helps!! And again, my apologies for the life story!
i have asthma and so does my 2 year-old son and i have to tell you its no fun.when an attack begins you start feeling your chest get tight as if someone is sitting on it,you cant get a full breath in,and once it gets worse it gets harder to breath.you may start getting dizzy and light headed,feel some tingling in your face and your heart may be beating fast.the whole time your scared and not knowing if your gonna be OK or not.from a second person it appears as if someone may pass out or even stop breathing . its very scary.hope that explains it.
My asthma problem only began when I was 49. I have learned that can be a result of hormonal changes.
In just a few words, asthma feels as if I want and need a gallon of air and can only take in about half a cup full. VERY scary and it takes me a long time to get it to settle down.
My personal experience between me and my sister has taught me ..First off all people don't feel the same in an asthma attack. Me i cough and gag and sound like a barking seal, my sister wheezes you can feel it if you put your hand on her back. What goes through your mind while your gasping for air, usually where the hell is my inhaler, or give me caffeine, it works to open your lungs... its what my mom uses when inhalers get lost or someone in our house doesn't seem to have one. But its a little scary the first time I got bronchitis, its how I ended up w/ chronic asthma, but you go to the doctor. I don't have it very bad... It felt like an elephant sitting on your chest and your trying to breath. its the best example to give. Another home remedy to breathing issues is to be propped up... babies: you lay them on their stomachs and elevate the top of their beds some how, my parents use to use a portable crib and raise one end up so that the head and chest were elevated more then the feet. adults use 2 or 3 pillows so your kinda laying down mostly sitting... steam works well too... so yes inhalers work the best. The easiest way to identify someone who is having an asthma attack is they cough funny over and over and over again, or in my sisters case you can hear her breath its wheezing, you can feel it too... their lungs don't work right... also if all else fails and its bad enough their color changes my sister had been known to get bluish lips... she had a sever case as a child.
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