living with asthma
Your asthma may get better or worse at different times. There may be periods when you have asthma symptoms, but in between you may be generally well, even for many years. Here are some things you can do to help keep your asthma under control.
Self care
Self care is an integral part of daily life. It involves taking responsibility for your own health and wellbeing with support from the people involved in your care. Self care includes what you do every day to stay fit and maintain good physical and mental health, prevent illness or accidents and care more effectively for minor ailments and long-term conditions. People living with long-term conditions can benefit enormously from being supported to self care. They can live longer, have less pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue, have a better quality of life and be more active and independent.
Take your medication
It is important to take your medication as prescribed, even if you start to feel better. Taking your preventer medication every day will help you keep your asthma under control and can help prevent asthma attacks. If you have any questions or concerns about the medication you're taking or side effects, talk to your doctor or nurse.
Regular reviews
Because asthma is a long-term condition, you'll be in contact with your healthcare team regularly. A good relationship with the team means that you can easily discuss your symptoms or concerns. The more the team knows, the more it can help you.
Keeping well
Everyone with a long-term condition such as asthma is encouraged to get a yearly flu jab each autumn to protect against flu. They are also recommended to get an anti-pneumoccocal vaccination, a one-off injection that protects against a specific serious chest infection called pneumococcal pneumonia.
Stop smoking
If you are a smoker and you have asthma, you should stop smoking. This will significantly reduce the severity and frequency of your symptoms. Smoking can also reduce the effectiveness of asthma medication. If you do not smoke and you have asthma, avoid being exposed to tobacco smoke.
Research has shown that you are up to four times more likely to quit smoking if you use the support of the NHS in addition to stop-smoking medicines, such as patches or gum. Ask your doctor about this, or see the Smokefree website
Want to know more?
- Your health, your way: What is self care?
- Smokefree
Daily life
With the right treatment and management, asthma shouldn’t restrict your daily life.
Sleeping
Asthma symptoms are often worse at night. This means you might wake up some nights coughing or with a tight chest. Effectively controlling your asthma with the treatment your doctor or nurse recommends will reduce your symptoms, so you should sleep better.
Exercise
If you have asthma symptoms during or after exercise, speak to your doctor or asthma nurse. It is likely that they will review your general symptoms and personal asthma plan to make sure your asthma is under control
Your doctor or asthma nurse may also tell you to:
- Use a reliever inhaler (usually blue) 10-15 minutes before you exercise and again after two hours of prolonged exercise, or when you finish.
- Structure your exercise plan around short-burst activities and ensure you warm up properly.
- Exercise in humid environments, such as swimming pools.
- Breathe through your nose to avoid hyperventilation (excessively rapid and deep breathing).
Diet
Most people with asthma can eat a normal, healthy diet. Occasionally, people with asthma may have food-based allergic triggers and will need to avoid foods such as cows' milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, yeast products, nuts and some food colourings and preservatives. However, this is rare.
Want to know more?
- Asthma UK: Healthy lifestyles
- Asthma UK: Exercise and asthma
Know your triggers
It is important to identify triggers where possible by making a note of any worsening symptoms or by using your peak flow meter during exposure to certain situations. Some triggers, such as air pollution, viral illness or certain weather conditions, can be hard to avoid. However, it may be possible to avoid other triggers, such as dust mites, fungal spores or pet fur.
Want to know more?
- Asthma UK: Asthma triggers A-Z
Complications
Quality of life
Badly controlled asthma can have an adverse effect on your quality of life. The condition can result in:
- fatigue
- underperformance or absence from work (in the UK, asthma accounts for at least 12.7 million work days lost each year)
- psychological problems including stress, anxiety and depression
If you feel that your asthma is seriously affecting your quality of life, contact your GP or asthma clinic. Your personal asthma action plan may need to be reviewed to better control the condition.
Respiratory complications
In rare cases, asthma can lead to a number of serious respiratory complications, including:
- pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
- a collapse of part or all of the lung
- respiratory failure, where the levels of oxygen in the blood become dangerously low, or the levels of carbon dioxide become dangerously high)
- status asthmaticus (severe asthma attacks that do not respond to treatment)
All of these complications are life threatening and will need medical treatment.
Death
In the UK in 2006, there were 1,200 deaths from asthma, 40 of which were in children aged 14 or under. On average, three peoplea day die from asthma.
Pregnancy and asthma
There is no danger that the medicines you use for asthma will cause any problems for the developing baby in the womb. Due to the changes that take place in the body during pregnancy, many women find that their asthma symptoms change when they are pregnant. Some women’s asthma improves during pregnancy, some women’s asthma worsens and for others asthma stays the same.
The most severe asthma symptoms experienced by pregnant women tend to occur between the 24th and 36th week of pregnancy. Symptoms then decrease significantly during the last month of pregnancy. Only 10% of women experience asthma symptoms during labour and delivery, and these symptoms can normally be controlled through the use of reliever medicine.
You should manage your asthma in the same way as you did before you were pregnant. The medicines used for asthma have been proven to be safe to take during pregnancy and when breastfeeding your child. The one exception is leukotriene receptor antagonists. While there is no evidence that it can harm babies during pregnancy and breastfeeding, there is not enough evidence about its safety compared with other asthma medications.
However, if you need to take leukotriene receptor antagonists to control your asthma, your GP or asthma clinic may recommend that you carry on taking them. This is because the risks to you and your child from uncontrolled asthma are far higher than any potential risk from this medicine.
Want to know more?
- Asthma UK: Pregnancy FAQs
Financial support
Asthma is classed as a disability if it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal daily activities. This impairment must:
- have lasted for 12 months
- be likely to last 12 months or
- be of a recurring nature where a recurrence is likely in a 12-month period
If you or your child has care or mobility needs because of asthma, you may be entitled to benefits.
Occupational asthma
If you develop asthma because of your work and this is fully documented by your doctor and your employer, you can make a claim for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit from the Benefits Agency. This pays £20-100 a week to people with asthma that was caused by certain respiratory sensitisers. You can still claim even if your respiratory sensitiser is not on this list, as long as it is a 'known sensitiser' (a complete list is available from the Health and Safety Executive).
If you want to take legal action against your employer because of occupational asthma, your lawyer must act within three years of diagnosis.
Want to know more?
- DirectGov: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (diseases and deafness).
For information about the medicines used in the treatment of asthma follow this link
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Last Reviewed: 25 November 2010
Next Review Date: 20 August 2012
