Asthma is a disease that makes breathing difficult. The difficulty can come from inflammation in the airways, airway obstruction or a sensitivity to the environment in which an individual lives. Asthma usually impacts young people, but it is not limited to that. Adult onset asthma impacts more than 20 million Americans.
Shortness of Breath
One of the primary symptoms of asthma is the inability to get a full breath. The individual can't take a deep breath without coughing or hacking and the result is often extreme fatigue. Instead of breathing normally and not even thinking about the activity, you are thinking about trying to get a deep breath and it's not happening. Fatigue sets in and sometimes panic.
Coughing
In addition to not being able to get a deep breath, the presence of mucous and phlegm in the airway leads to significant coughing. The action can be seem quite extreme to outsiders who see an individual coughing constantly and having a difficult time catching his breath.
Wheezing
Wheezing is a telltale symptom that is almost always associated with asthma. When you are exhaling, there can be a very slight, high-pitched sound similar to the sound of air going out of a tire. This indicates that the individual is losing a bit of his air and not getting the full impact of the breath that has just been taken.
Extreme Fatigue
An individual can set out to participate in a sport or exercise or even just leave the house to shop or go to work and get extremely fatigued. This fatigue can be so devastating that even walking for 15 minutes can force the individual to return home in order to rest. The idea of leaving the couch or bed is beyond the individual's capabilities.
Inability to Sleep Through the Night
While asthma can leave the individual exhausted and ready to do nothing but rest, actually achieving a full night's sleep can be difficult or even impossible. The asthmatic individual often can fall asleep due to exhaustion, but cannot stay asleep because a cough or discomfort associated with the illness will wake him up.
