Sometimes, no matter how careful you are
about taking your asthma treatment and avoiding your
triggers, you may find that you have an asthma attack.
You should be doing daily peak flow measurements to determine
your need for additional treatments or medications. Quite often, using your reliever is all that is needed
to get your asthma under control again. Have a plan for
what to do in an emergency.
What
to Do in an Asthma Attack:
- Take
your usual dose of reliever immediately, as directed.
- Relax
as much as you can. Sit down,
don't lie down. Rest
your hands on
your knees to help support yourself
and slow your breathing down. This
will make you
less exhausted.
- Wait
5-10 minutes. If the symptoms disappear, you should
be able to go
back to whatever you were doing.
- If
the reliever has no effect, CALL
911 .
It is safe
to keep taking your reliever inhaler until help arrives.
It is not
possible to overdose on reliever.
Do
not be afraid of asking for help, even at night. It
is better to err on the side of safety. Asthma can
be fatal.
Take the details of your treatment with you. Call us
after you have been discharged so that we can review
your treatment to avoid the situation arising again. If
your asthma symptoms are slowly getting worse, don't
ignore them! Most people find that attacks follow a gradual
worsening of symptoms over a few days. Doing daily peak
flow measurements can determine when to seek help. |
