1. Signs and Symptoms of Acute Asthma
As an asthma patient, the more you educate yourself, the better you will get at preventing acute attacks. Signs and symptoms include difficulty breathing, tightness in your chest, audible wheezing, coughing (sometimes at night if it follows a circadian rhythm), a raised heart rate and even straining your neck muscles and pursing your lips as you try to pull air into your blocked lungs.
2. Spot Signs Before an Attack Begins
Most people show certain signs long before an asthma attack begins. These include trouble sleeping because of coughing or wheezing, chest tightness or pain, lower peak flow meter results and unusual fatigue or weakness when exercising. You can also have cold or allergy symptoms such as sneezing and a runny nose, congestion or sore throat, and you may feel generally tired, moody or irritable. Also, be aware of how your asthma medications are working. If you're getting a poor response and still have difficulty breathing, then an attack is likely.
3. Medication Becomes Ineffective
If you are taking your asthma medication correctly but it is still not working properly, you might be about to have an acute attack or be in the first stages of one. For example, poor response to two inhalations of a metered inhaler is one way to spot a sign of acute asthma. If your medication does work but the benefits last less than 2 hours, you might have acute asthma. When you need more medication or your symptoms get worse or fail to improve, you are having an asthma attack or acute asthma.
4. Seek Immediate Medical Attention
You should see your doctor if your lips or fingernails are turning bluish, if your fast-acting inhaler doesn't work after 20 minutes or if this is the first time you are experiencing acute asthma. The episode could quickly worsen without treatment and become life-threatening if you don't have the medication to treat your symptoms in time.
