I went to the doctor on Sunday after finally getting tired of my nagging cough.

It had been hanging around since I finally got over my cold last month. It seemed like a long time to have a cough and also in the past week I had also had trouble breathing and was wheezing at night.

This wasn’t something that was normal for me and to be honest it freaked me out.

Te fear of wheezing finally convinced me to go visit the doctor. Obviously wheezing at night and coughing all day means something is wrong, right? It was time to get a medical professional’s opinion because my knowledge and Web MD just weren’t cutting it anymore.

Doctor’s Visit

After taking my vitals and a super quick medical history talk, I got to take a breathing test!

You blow into a tube that measures your breathing. At my best I reached 330, but I was supposed to be blowing a 470 or so.

When the doctor told me this I was really worried. What did that mean? Those numbers are not close together like they should be. I knew I had been having trouble breathing but that sounded bad. He agreed that the numbers weren’t good and then explained to me that I have ASTHMA.

Yep, asthma. Surprise!

I’ve never had breathing problems before. I’ve never had asthma. At least, I’ve never known that I had asthma.

The doctor said that the asthama was triggered by one of a few things: my cold, the new climate, or allergies. I’ve been joking for a while that I’m allergic to New Zealand, but it might actually be true! Until I moved here I never had allergy problems but now I do. And they may or may not have caused this asthma thing. Or it might have been the cold and climate change. Or it might be the house we live in which is damp and sort of horrible since I’m not used to it.

So now I’ve got medication and an inhaler to take care of the breathing situation. We are also moving to a new place soon so I’m hoping this is just a case of temporary asthma and not something I’ll be dealing with forever. Cross your fingers for me.

What is asthma?

I don’t know many people with asthma and it’s never run in my family. I had to google to find out more about it because I honestly had no clue what it was or what to expect after my diagnosis.

According to web MD, Asthma is a disorder of the lungs that causes intermittent symptoms. In the airways there is:

• Swelling or inflammation, specifically in the airway linings
• Production of large amounts of mucus that is thicker than normal
• Narrowing because of muscle contractions surrounding the airways

The symptoms of asthma include:

• Feeling short of breath
• Frequent coughing, especially at night
• Wheezing (a whistling noise during breathing)
• Difficulty breathing
• Chest tightness

Now that I know all the symptoms of asthma, my diagnosis makes a lot of sense. I was experiencing ALL of these things. I simply didn’t connect them all to the idea of having asthma because I thought if I didn’t have asthma as a kid, I would never have asthma.

Asthma as an Adult?

Turns out, you can have what is known as Adult-Onset Asthma. This is when a doctor diagnoses asthma in someone over the age of 20. Since I’m in my mid-20s I classify as an adult-onset asthma case.

Again, according to web MD, people more  likely to get adult-onset asthma are:

• Women who are having hormonal changes, such as those who are pregnant or who are experiencing menopause
• Women who take estrogen following menopause for 10 years or longer
• People who have just had certain viruses or illnesses, such as a cold or flu
• People with allergies, especially to cats
• People who are exposed to environmental irritants, such as tobacco smoke, mold, dust, feather beds, or perfume. Irritants that bring on asthma symptoms are called “asthma triggers.” Asthma brought on by workplace triggers is called “occupational asthma.”

That makes sense! I’ve got allergies and just got over a cold. I’m hoping that controlling my environment by getting away from asthma triggers and staying healthy means asthma won’t be something I have to deal with on a daily basis. I’d much prefer to breathe easily and not have any problems!