Newly diagnosed - Are these symptoms 'normal'?

@Daniim1991 Hello Daniim1991, thank you for starting this discussion. I hope you're feeling better, that must have been a frightening experience for you, especially during this strange time!  Let me tag some members who may be able to share their experience of asthma and its symptoms with you.

Hello all, I hope you're doing well! How were you diagnosed with asthma? Did your symptoms come on quickly like Daniim1991? Do you have a constant state of breathlessness? Feel free to share you story with us here!

@Delys47‍ @JuMarello‍ @MOTHERALL‍ @Amylouise902020‍ @ShirleyMiller‍ @Cyclewidow‍ @Claireruth‍ @cowgirl‍ @Kizzy05‍ @Wendsxx‍ @Liz simpson‍ @Sarah78a‍ @Nickiee91‍ @Rainbowskies‍ @babykangaroo‍ @Tinawil‍ @stephd‍ 

Take care,

Courtney

With suspected Covid I was diagnosed as a child but don’t suffer very often only if the pollen count is really high like this year but when am bad like at the moment am back on steroids nebuliser 5 times a day just to try and control it got sent to hospital with suspected Covid luckily it was negative but still very scary 

My symptoms were the exact with regard to not being able to taking a deep breath for about a year prior to my diagnosis. I still can't take a deep full breath 80% of the time. It also gets more noticeable when uphill walking.

I never thought it would be asthma until I had a cold back in Nov 2019 and it developed into a non stop cough which lasted a month. Really severe, much worse than any chest infection I'd had so I went to docs and they gave me a blue inhaler, and tested me for allergies as I had just got a new puppy around the same time the symptoms got severe. Blood tests came back positive to dog, cat and grass allergy. So I had to get rid of the new puppy and I take the brown inhaler everyday.

I'm not convinced I have asthma as I haven't had an asthma attack and I still have a dog which we already had prior to the new puppy. I was convinced it was Covid I had back in November that had left me with asthma symptoms but an antibody test has shown I haven't had Covid.

It's all so confusing. My spryometry test showed I had lungs of someone 10 years younger than me so I just don't understand what's going on. 

@lisay9 Hello lisay9, thank you for sharing your story. It's sounds like you've had a confusing and frustrating diagnosis experience, and I'm sure the COVID pandemic at around the same time hasn't helped!

Let me tag a few newer members who may not have seen this thread yet.

Hello members, when were you diagnosed with asthma? What were your symptoms like? Did you have a "straightforward" diagnosis or was it a bit confusing like lisay9's experience? Feel free to share here!
@Scpark‍ @TOPSY72‍ @JackieJ‍ @gmcguire2829‍ @Sarah1971‍ @rachaelp‍ @janey64‍ 

Take care,
Courtney

@lisay9 That's very interesting, it sounds like COVID to me! I wonder about the accuracy of the antibody tests. My daughter made a trip to Asia for work in the fall and when she arrived home she became very ill with a cough that lasted for weeks. She just had an antibody test the other day and tested positive for the antibodies, so we think it may have been COVID. This was back in October or November!

Maybe it was COVID, but it's also possible that you initially had an allergic reaction to the puppy and then your body got used to it. Have you thought about getting allergy tested or retested for the COVID antibodies?

@Sophie1974‍ Thanks for your reply.

I may do another test when they are more established. I bet your daughter feels relief that she has had the virus! Did anyone she spends time with develop similar symptoms? 

I have had a blood test which shows I am level 3 allergic to dogs, I have always had minor symptoms around dogs and cats and I used to have severe hayfever. I think maybe having 2 dogs was just too much for my allergy and now we only have 1 dog, I have settled down, but that may be the brown inhaler I use everyday that's controlling the asthma now.

@lisay9 Yes, I think she does! Her boyfriend developed a similar cough when she returned, so I guess he had it too! I'm glad to hear you're feeling better!