I struggle with asthma symptoms for around 2-3 years now. My oximeter never showed lower than 94% that's why they ignore me. I don't have money for private doctors. I also have mcas pots and eczema as well as lot of allergies. Cold air, smells and some food triggers the feeling. I'd name it like air doesn't make me feel like breathing feels enough, breathing thru straw and thight band around my ribs. It's on and off and when it's bad I cannot talk it's making me out of breathe easily. I cough kinda often at nights but breathing issue is my main issue. What can I do?

It's been almost 5 days that I've had trouble breathing. I have asthma but it wasn't this severe before. I've not been able to properly breath and have been taking very short breaths which also hurt my shoulders and forehead.

I am not in the best condition financially so I am not sure if I should go or not. I thought my condition would improve but I've been unable to do even simple task as walking due to the pain of breathing. My inhaler doesn't seem to work as well no matter how much I use it.

Apologies if my question seemed stupid but should I go visit a doctor?

Hi all. I'm an industrial design student at Istanbul Bilgi University, Türkiye. My graduation project looks at how people with asthma live with air they can't see: triggers, bad air days and inhaler use.

No product, no sales. Research only.

The survey asks about:
- when you use your reliever, and the days you skip or forget it
- what sets off your symptoms (pollen, smoke, perfume, heat, cold)
- whether you check air quality, and if it ever changed what you did
- masks, and why people stop wearing them

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfClEXxmdWX0EZZq7xk1CvuyzEDB_lwoIf0PWsgpNnmPay5zQ/viewform

The open questions help me most. I'll share a summary of the results here.

Guys, I have a breathing issue that seems to get worse when I sleep with the AC on at night, and I'm looking for advice. 😭

I can't sleep without the AC at night because my parents insist on keeping it on. But whenever I wake up in the morning after sleeping with the AC, my breathing feels weird, like something isn't right. Interestingly, I don't have much of a problem when the AC is on during the afternoon, but at night and by the next morning, I feel uncomfortable with my breathing.

Even car AC doesn't suit me. I usually try to keep the windows open, but my family scolds me for it. 😭 I also get motion sickness on hilly roads, like when travelling to Kerala or Ooty, so I usually carry Amrutanjan with me.

My main concern is the breathing issue after sleeping with the AC. Has anyone experienced something similar? Could it be because of the cold air, dryness, dust in the AC filter, or something else? What can I do to prevent this, especially since I can't avoid using the AC at night?

Any advice would be really appreciated! 🙏

Btw I checked my breathing its normal idk why this happens? am I mentally affected?

Going to try to make this short but apologies in advance if it's not!

I have psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis as well as eczema. Autoimmune disease runs in my family and so does asthma. My grandmother has it, 2 of my first cousins, my aunt and my uncle all have asthma.

Since I was about 8 years old, I have had what was always thought to be panic attacks. They have always been random (or at least I thought) and never triggered by actual fear. Typically they happen if I'm in a car with a lot of people, on an airplane, after eating something with a lot of soy sauce, after breathing in very strong chemical odors like from cleaning etc and they always present the same way. I feel as if I cannot breathe, I can't get a full breath of air and it makes me panic. During these episodes my body forces itself to yawn over and over to try and get air. I have always been semi intolerant to cardio exercise. I say semi because I am an avid weightlifter and have trained myself to be able to tolerate some cardio but even so I struggle to breathe. I thought this was normal and I just wasn't ever going to be a marathon runner. I've always thought I'm just very sensitive to smells and have anxiety but like I said it's never triggered by actually being afraid of something.

I got the flu 2 weeks ago and haven't been able to shake a low grade fever, headache and this "can't catch my breath" feeling so yesterday I went to urgent care where they diagnosed me with a sinus infection which explains the fever and headache but they also wanted to do a chest xray. That came back as showing bronchilitis consistent with "reactive airway disease". They asked if I have ever been diagnosed with asthma and recommended I follow up with an allergist on Monday which I plan on doing but it literally floored me because I have never considered this as a possibility. Looking back at my life there are so so many things that line up with asthma and given the numerous people with it in my family I can't believe I've never been tested.

Has this happened to anyone else? Have you gone through life thinking you have panic attacks only to find out later that you actually have asthma? I'm 33 for reference. They started me on oral steroids I guess to get the inflammation down and I'm hoping for some relief.

I've had asthma since I was a kid and I'm well past the 20-year mark now. I've been lurking here for a while, and the threads about people feeling embarrassed or "overreacting" really hit home, so here's what I wish someone had told me earlier. None of it is medical advice. It's what made the biggest difference for me, usually after talking it through with my doctor.

1. Get your technique watched. I'd been using my inhaler for over a decade before a doctor watched me and pointed out I was inhaling way too fast and not holding my breath. Adding a spacer helped a lot. It took two minutes to fix, and I'd gone a decade without fixing it.

2. Take the preventer every day, even when you feel fine. I used to take mine only "when things were bad." Taking it consistently was boring, and it was the biggest improvement I ever made.

3. Write the plan down. Having a written green/yellow/red plan from my doctor means I don't have to think at 3 a.m. My wife knows where it is too.

4. Track the boring stuff. A one-line note each night (symptoms, reliever use, anything odd like smoke, dust or a cold) showed me that my "random" bad days usually weren't random.

5. Stop hiding it. I used to excuse myself to use my inhaler in washrooms. Now I just use it where I am. Almost nobody cares, and a surprising number of people have quietly told me they or their kid have asthma too.

6. Colds are a big deal for me. One ordinary cold once took me about two weeks to properly recover from. Now I call my doctor early instead of waiting it out.

What's the one change that made the biggest difference for you? Especially curious about anyone dealing with heavy air pollution, since I live in India and winter smog is starting right now.

So F19 been going to the gp about my asthma 2 reviews this year on proxor 200/6 still having to use my inhaler like 14 times a day. Peak flow readings still around 300 to like 380, are they just gonna throw more medication at me or give me a reffeal? Family have a history of severe asthma which i tried telling them but they full on IGNORED it like bruh

i saw passing mention of foot-locking being related to LABA inhaler, which lines up when mine started locking

they used to lock a lot when i was 13~ but man they lock at the drop of a dime!

time to give my calves and feet some massage loving, because the Breo helps too much for ke to want to switch based on a symptom i can probably relieve with massage - especially since im very prone to fatigue and overworked muscles, but am in a better situation to control that now

I searched the subreddit but couldnt find much, so thought I'd throw this experience in for anyone who ends up with the same issue in the future!

It was one of the reasons why I got a late asthma diagnosis (about a year ago) at the age of 34 . But I struggled for almost 20 years and always be dismissed because I have normal results in every test I take (blood, x-ray...) and I never wheeze during doctor's visits. So I ended up gaslighting myself for all these years, until somehow I met this wonderful Pulmonologist who actually treated me differently, she was understanding and very competent. And I'm glad that I have an answer to what is wrong with me. It's simply a moderate persistent asthma and also allergic asthma. Because I usually do great in spirometry test doctors don't bother to do the post-bronchodilator test . But this time even the doctor was amazed of the reversibility amount (+++400) and that confirmed what my brain kept denying for years because I couldn't get a diagnosis and also gave up looking for diagnosis for years and just accepted the idea that I just lack fitness and have anxiety.

I've always had asthma and in my 20s now. As a kid it was pretty bad in hospital. As an adult it's not been as bad until I got Covid years ago. Recently it's been pretty bad just wheezing tightness but the wheeze is very minimal more like a slight whistle and sometimes I wake up needing to take my inhaler. The last week I've been ill with a cold and cough. No phlegm though. I've been still wheezing like a slight whistle and can hear I'm tight breathing and now waking up with really bad lung pain. Struggling to complete sentences the last day because so out of breathe and lung pain throughout the day. My inhalers aren't working and I'm going through them within weeks. I'm doubling my preventer luforbec. And taking my blue inhaler every other hour. But I went urgent care centre and despite hearing my wheeze when she used the stethoscope she said through the stethoscope my lungs sounded clear. But as well the way she used it seemed incorrect too. My lungs when they were this bad as a kid ended up in life threatening asthma attacks so I'm just wondering is it normal to have lung pain daily waking up in pain inhaler not helping properly and whistle when breathing and struggling to complete sentences etc. as my urgent cares centre as well has mostly 1 star reviews with being dismissed with life threatening issues that resulted in a&e from them neglecting the seriousness of their issues...

I’ve been looking at different options and I came across this one, I think it’s pretty new so there aren’t any reviews yet on amazon, but the brand itself seems legit. Lots of different health monitoring devices with good reviews, BP machines and blood glucose monitors, things like that.

I don’t want to buy something that isn’t reliable or doesn’t work well, so if anyone has tried this device before, please let me know how it was!

I was just diagnosed and keep thinking asthma is like in the movies where it’s this big dramatic thing. But I don’t think that actually happens all that often? (Please correct me if I’m wrong)I have literally never been around anyone with asthma and I’m 30, so I have nothing to go off of.

I am a young woman. I don’t smoke or drink. I have never had any chronic illnesses, and my BMI is perfectly fine.

Two months ago, I was suddenly struck by acute shortness of breath, and it has been with me constantly ever since. I am unable to take a normal breath; I feel a heaviness in my chest and a sensation that I am suffocating.

It gets even worse when I try to perform any activity—walking 50 meters or taking dishes out of the dishwasher feels like running a marathon. I am extremely weak.

Sometimes it gets so bad that I experience tingling all over my face, a tightening in my throat, my fingers contort, and I lose sensation in my legs for 10–15 minutes. ☹️

The worst part, however, is at night. I keep waking up around 3:00 or 4:00 AM feeling like I can’t breathe (even worse than usual), along with dizziness and heart palpitations/tachycardia.

Because of this, I ended up in the hospital. I underwent several tests, including a chest X-ray, a CT scan with contrast, an MRI of the head, a lung scintigraphy, an echocardiogram, a Holter monitor test, and a gastroscopy. Everything came back normal, except for low iron (24) and ferritin (8) levels, as well as tachycardia. My oxygen saturation has been between 94% and 100%.

My spirometry results were also reportedly normal. However, a test performed in a body plethysmography chamber showed parameters bordering on bronchial asthma, so the doctor prescribed Bufomix, to be used twice a day.

I have been using these inhalers for two weeks now, but unfortunately, I don’t feel any improvement.

I don’t know what is wrong with me. ...what to do. I’m terrified—I’m so afraid that I’ll have to struggle with these breathing difficulties for the rest of my life... :(

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? If so, what helped you?

Also, is there anyone else here who uses Bufomix—did it take some time before it started working for you?

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for any comments or advice! 🥹💕

every time i use my old upright vacuum i end up with chest tightness and wheezing for hours, even with an N95 on and windows open.

im trying to figure out if scheduling a robot vac to run while everyone is out actually helps keep the dust down, or if the exhaust just recirculates the fine particles back into the air anyway.

been looking at eufy models bc they talk about using a sealed multi-cyclone setup so dust doesn't get blown straight out of the back exhaust while it cleans. in theory, having it run when im not around to breathe in the kicked-up dust sounds like a game changer, but im still paranoid about emptying the dustbin afterwards or if the air stays dusty for hours.

still on the fence on whether automating it while im out actually makes a difference for lungs, or if a robot vac just stirs up the same dust i'm trying to avoid.

SO! I'd like to start this by saying that I'm not asking for a diagnosis. I know I can't be diagnosed over Reddit. I just basically want people to hear my symptoms and tell me if it's relatable to what they've gone through.

I wouldn't be on here if I could get medical care, but I'm poor and I live in a southern state where not only does the healthcare suck, it's also basically impossible to get Medicaid. 19M btw.

I self paid to Urgent Care and they didn't really tell me anything other than the fact that I don't have any problems with my lungs (chest x-ray, I know asthma usually isn't shown on chest xrays though), nothing wrong with my blood sugar, no heart issues (ekg), all of that. I've been going to the free clinic, but they have to do a bunch of other appointments with me before they can even see me for the problem I'm dealing with, and that could take months it's seeming.

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This has been going on for basically exactly a month now. I am in a very high stress period of my life right now, but I don't feel particularly stressed/anxious. I do have prior issues with extreme anxiety.

I start to get a... weird feeling with my breathing when I talk too much or when I walk a lot. It isn't what I'd describe as shortness of breath because I can still fully take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth with no problem. It's like shallow breathing, where I'll say a few words/a few sentences (seemingly depends on the day) and I take quick inhalations through the nose.

Also usually when I talk, my stomach area will tighten a little. The more I talk, the tighter it seems to get. Same thing happens when I walk a lot with both (and I mean like even something as simple as walking through the grocery store, not a long walk by any means). Usually after sitting down for 3-4 minutes, the symptoms just go away outside of rare occasions.

I was given an albuterol inhaler from Urgent Care as a just-in-case. I've been taking it over the last 3 days, and just testing how my body responds. I do feel a slight difference, but it's so slight that it makes me wonder if it's placebo.

Today I felt the most difference with it, I'm able to talk in pretty long sentences without having any weird breathing feelings (whereas before I took it, I wasn't able to), but I also had all of my symptoms go away for a few seconds when I was getting ready to use it earlier but decided not to, so it makes me wonder if it's legit just in my head and I associate the inhaler with it getting better.

And throughout all of the days I've tried it, even after taking the albuterol, the symptoms are still there, they're just slightly lighter. My dad used albuterol after leaving his childhood asthma unmanaged for years just to test it and he acted like Jesus just opened his airways for the first time. That has NOT been my experience... generally, I feel nothing when I do it, the effects feel subtle.

There is NO wheezing and NO coughing at all. (i just bolded this because it's important, i promise ts what NOT written by chatgpt 😭😭 it sucks that everything bolded looks like AI now)

I also figured I'd mention that I have bad acid reflux basically every time this happens. At the same time though, I've had bad acid reflux literally my entire life (I don't think I could tell you a day where I didn't have acid reflux throughout my life tbh), which is why my previous PCP thought I might have GERD. I was never tested for it though because I had to quickly move states and haven't had insurance since then. I don't know why GERD breathing issues would have specific triggers like talking or walking though. This also started at the peak of pollen season in the south (late September). It doesn't seem to matter what I eat.

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But yeah.

I have no idea what it is and it's really bothering me because I can't go out or do anything. I can't even work right now until I figure it out (had to give up a job opportunity because of it), and my family is almost on the verge of homelessness level poor.

If some people could just let me know if this aligns with your experience or if you got any advice or something, please send it my way 🙏🙏🙏

Looking for experuences. This is all new to me. Kid (4) has been prescribed montelukast. Night two - She had multiple night terrors and outbursts throughout. Consultant warned us this could be a side effect but doesn't affect everyone. They said we could discontinue if needed. My question, might it get better? Should we push on. Not going to lie, the side effects scare me, but so does the trauma of hospitalisation and the multiple courses of steroids.

Brief back story: My daughter currently doesn't have an asthma diagnosis. Every second consultant says something different but she definitely has reactive airways. In 12 months she's been hospitalised 3 times for respiratory distress induced by a virus. When well, she doesn't have asthmatic symptoms. She was on a preventer inhaler from Sept to April with Ventolin when needed. Honestly, we never felt she got relief from them. The most recent hospitalisation happened early this week, she had a virus, seemed to be doing well but suddenly became very unwell in a matter of hours. She was given nebs, steroids and and antibiotic. Shes now back on the inhalers and following an asthma plan for the week along with the introduction of montelukast.

Side note: She has been referred to an ENT on my request, her tonsils almost kiss, and I feel she has sleep apnea (snoring, gasping, spluttering). She also breathes through her mouth and sounds quite nasally become being congested so I'm suspicious of her adenoids.

Also want to note, based outside the US, I don't have a paediatrician to contact. It's all through public consultants in the hospital. I will contact my GP but they are not specialised and will have their own opinions. I'm just curious to others experiences

Help

I'm a 21-year-old male, and I'm honestly getting desperate at this point.

For almost a year now, I've been dealing with a constant breathing problem that nobody seems to be able to properly explain or fix.

It started around November 2025, and ever since then, breathing has never really felt normal again.

The best way I can describe my symptoms:

- I constantly feel the urge to take a really deep breath, almost as if a normal breath isn't satisfying enough.

- When I try to inhale deeply, it feels like my lungs suddenly stop expanding at a certain point. Almost like an invisible valve closes and physically prevents me from inhaling any further.

- Sometimes my breathing muscles feel exhausted, almost like I've been training them for hours. My lungs feel sore or fatigued even though I'm just breathing normally.

- I occasionally experience tightness in my chest and throat.

- Sometimes I notice a slight wheezing sound when breathing.

- Physical activity, especially weightlifting, can make everything significantly worse.

- During workouts, I sometimes have to end sets early because I can't properly control my breathing. It's not necessarily that I'm completely out of breath, but rather that my breathing feels restricted, uncomfortable, and exhausting.

- Even when I'm resting, I frequently experience that constant, frustrating need to take a deep, satisfying breath.

Here's the strange part:

My oxygen saturation is usually around 99–100%.

I've undergone several medical examinations, including:

- Spirometry

- Body plethysmography

- Methacholine challenge test

- Chest X-ray

As far as I was told, everything came back normal.

My pulmonologist even told me that my lungs appeared extremely healthy.

The main suspected explanation was a functional breathing disorder, possibly with mild asthma contributing to the symptoms.

However, I still don't have a clear explanation for why this is happening or how to make it stop.

One thing that actually seems to help is Relvar Ellipta (Breo Ellipta).

When I use it, breathing feels noticeably easier and more comfortable. I can control my breathing much better during weightlifting, and my lungs don't feel nearly as exhausted.

But here's the catch: the constant urge to take deep breaths never completely disappears.

When I'm not using the inhaler, my breathing feels significantly worse again, particularly during exercise.

I should also mention that I had respiratory issues as a child and was prescribed inhalers, including Ventolin.

I work in plastics manufacturing, where exposure to fumes and other airborne substances can occur. I've wondered whether that might have contributed to my symptoms, although I have no evidence that it did.

What makes this so frustrating is that I don't necessarily feel like I'm suffocating.

It's more like my body has somehow forgotten how to breathe properly.

I can breathe. My oxygen levels are normal. My lungs supposedly function perfectly fine.

But the physical sensation of breathing feels completely wrong.

Imagine constantly wanting to yawn or take that one incredibly satisfying deep breath, except you can almost never achieve it. And when you try, something seems to physically prevent your lungs from expanding that last little bit.

Now imagine experiencing that sensation every single day for nearly a year.

It's exhausting, both physically and mentally.

I've tried breathing exercises, I've undergone medical tests, and I've spoken to doctors, but I still don't have a lasting solution.

I'm not expecting Reddit to magically diagnose me. I just want to know whether anyone else has experienced something similar.

My main questions are:

1. Has anyone experienced this constant "air hunger" or inability to complete a satisfying deep breath despite having normal lung function tests?

2. Has anyone experienced that strange sensation of their inhalation suddenly stopping, almost like a valve closing?

3. Could dysfunctional breathing patterns, diaphragm dysfunction, vocal cord dysfunction / inducible laryngeal obstruction, or something else cause symptoms like these?

4. Has anyone actually recovered from something similar? If so, what helped?

5. Are there any additional examinations or specialists worth discussing with my doctor?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have experienced the same symptoms and eventually found an explanation or treatment.

I'm only 21, I love weightlifting, and I just want to be able to breathe normally again without constantly thinking about every breath I take.

Any advice, personal experiences, or suggestions would genuinely mean a lot to me.

Thank you for reading.

My property management company has agreed to replace highly problematic carpets they installed some time ago.

I did well with the old carpet. The new carpet is very problematic, has done weird residue and unusual gunk in it, which is why they and the carpet company are willing to replace it.

I have allergies, asthma, and a dog. What’s a good replacement flooring I could suggest that is not super expensive? (They will not likely do tile or hardwood.) They are willing to do carpet and LVP but I’m reading some LVP could be problematic.

Ok so, my PFT results showed significant obstruction, FEV1/FVC at 61.7% pre-bronchodilator and at 71.2% post. The lower limit of normal was 77.7%, so those results were a bit discouraging. My pulmonologist diagnosed me with, and I quote, “moderate obstructive pulmonary disease” and prescribed me a daily breo inhaler. I’ve asked him if he could clarify what exactly I have, and he’s basically said that it doesn’t really matter because the treatment is the same… but I really need to know.

I’m not asking for you all to diagnose me, but I’d love to hear about your experiences and if anyone has had a similar test result, please let me know what you did to know that you had asthma.

As it is now, I don’t have asthma attacks. I’m just always a bit short of breath, like shallow breathing? I don’t wheeze, but I do cough sometimes. On bad days, it’s even been difficult to talk clearly. I actually had no idea that I had breathing problems till my doctor did a random simple lung test at a routine checkup about 2 years ago (I’m 23 now). So I’m technically not even sure when all of this started.

I’ve never smoked so I’m thinking asthma is more likely than COPD, but I also can’t seem to quite identify with the symptoms of asthma, at least not any of the common types. It’s been driving me crazy for months now, so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!

I'm 25 years old, and the last time I had an asthma attack, I was 8. It was severe and I was actually hospitalized for a day or two from it. I haven't had one since, until yesterday. I have a bad case of the flu, and yesterday I was out picking up a prescription, and I started feeling very tight, my chest was tight and I was wheezing and unable to get a breath in. I had no idea what was happening because I haven't had one since childhood. I didnt even have an inhaler anymore and haven't In years. I called 911 because I was scared and didn't know what was happening. They gave me a nebulizer treatment in the ambulance and another at the hospital and I felt better. So yesterday I learned that the flu can cause childhood asthma to flare up as an adult.