Nothing seems to help asthma

[Lissac1967]

I have asthma for about 5 years.  I got it, so I thought, from having two cats. I got rid of the cats and the asthma seemed to almost disappear for a couple of years.  I got a bird and started to have trouble again. The bird left.  I seemed to get better.  THen this last year, when I had a new baby, I would get sick alot because he brought home bugs from daycare. It started setting my asthma off again.  Nothing has changed as far as triggers. I do not have any pets.  I was on prednisone 3 times this year so far.  IT kept getting worse until now it is constant. I need my albuterol every day all day long. I currently take Flovent 220 twice a day, Serevent twice a day and the rescue inhaler at least 3 times a day.  I am currently feeling really awful and am out of breath just climbing a flight of stairs.  My pulminoligist has me on a long term antibiotic to see if it is possibly a pneumonia infection. I am on week 4 of that and so far no improvement.  I am not on prednisone now because I refuse to take it again. It doesn't help anyway.  I never even notice a change when on it.  The inhaled steriod does not seem to help. The Serevent doesn't either. And the albuterol doesn't help much.  It used to, but not much now.  My peak flows always stay the same, never change even when well.  I don't wheeze, never have.  I don't cough from it.  I am lost as to what could be the problem. I am developing severe anxiety from this and obsessing about it. It keeps me from exercising which I really enjoy.  It is hard to even read a full book to my baby before running out of breath. Any ideas?

[National Jewish]

This sounds like a very frustrating problem, as well as a complex one.  It is clear that you have difficulty breathing.  The rest is not clear.  Because the peak flow does not change when you are having these problems, you do not wheeze, and do not cough the first question is the diagnosis.  It is possible that this is asthma, but it certainly is not definite.  It is probable you are allergic, but it is not clear that this is the cause of the current problem.  I would highly recommend a thorough evaluation of the difficulty breathing to get a better idea as to the diagnosis.  Then, I would suggest getting control of the symptoms and treating the cause.  That is easy to write, but not as easy to do.  This is why many people come to National Jewish Medical and Research Center for evaluations, when the obvious reasons are not the cause.  It is possible you will need tests to look for other problems such as vocal cord dysfunction, sinus inflammation causing a reflex in the lungs.
Good luck!

[Ellis7]

Sounds like its time for a 2nd opinion; preferably from a university hospital top rated in pulmonary disease; see US News & World report ratings.

PFT [pulmonary function tests] can help diagnose your lung condition. Chest x-ray and thoracic CT scan might be indicated.
Maybe a treadmill test with EKG and pulmonary monitor. Check your oximeter readings, when you visit the doctor.