Is this really asthma?

[DougieG]

My wife 47 was diagnosed with asthma about 6 months ago. She uses an inhaler and taking singular. They said she now has some allergies. She never had them before. They said she was allergic to pet dander, dust and a few other things. I am thinking she may be misdiagnosed and suffering from something more severe and possibly life threatening. Her condition is getting worse. She has coughing fits that scares me and anyone else that is around her during one of the attacks. She seems to have an unusal amount of fluid in her lungs. During her coughing fits, this gets even worse. She just about can catch her breath.
The inhaler does not seem to help much. She wheezes while sleeping and you can hear the fluid bubbling in her lungs. A short walk up a hill triggered a bout a few days ago. Last night after having a chocolate cookie she coughed for about an hour short of breath, full of fluid in her lungs, turning red and then white in the face, eyes watering and perspiring and warm from all the exertion from the incesant coughing. She complained of pain at the bottom of the neck / upper chest after the bout last night. The other thing that seems to be unusual with her currently is that she bruises quite easily. She does not smoke or drink coffee. She does stress herself out quite a bit and on the hyper side of the norm. Is there anything else that she should be checked for? I am taking her to the emergency room for an evaluation now.

[National Jewish]

This could be severe asthma, with or without allergies, that is difficult to control.  There are many lung conditions other than asthma that can cause coughing and wheezing.  Her coughing spell after eating a cookie raises the suspicion of aspiration.  When foreign materials, including food and gastric contents, enter the windpipe this is called aspiration.  The symptoms of aspiration can be coughing and wheezing just like with asthma.

She may be suffering from one of the conditions that can masquerade as asthma.  She should be seen by a pulmonologist.  This specialist can evaluate her to see if one of these other lung conditions is causing her coughing and wheezing.