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Asthma in Teens and Adults - Living With Asthma
You can control the impact
asthma has on your life by following your asthma
action plan consistently. A management plan can help you reduce
inflammation
to decrease the severity, frequency, and
duration of
asthma attacks. Following your action plan may be hard
because of the many different factors involved.
To help yourself remain consistent in following your asthma action plan:
- Educate yourself about asthma. By doing so, you can learn to control symptoms and reduce the risk of asthma attacks. This questionnaire can help you determine what you already know about asthma and what you may need to discuss with your doctor.
- Understand your barriers and solutions. What may prevent you from following your plans? These may be physical barriers, such as living far from your doctor or pharmacy, or emotional barriers, such as having undiscussed fears about the condition or unrealistic expectations. Discuss your barriers with your doctor, and work to find solutions.
- Develop goals that relate to your quality of life. Being able to measure your success gives you greater motivation to follow asthma plans consistently. Decide what you want to be able to do. Have symptom-free nights? Be able to exercise on a regular basis? Feel secure in knowing you can deal with an asthma attack? Work with your doctor to see if your goals are realistic and how to meet them.
Your asthma action plan generally consists of the following:
- Seeing your doctor regularly to monitor your asthma. The frequency of checkups depends on how well your asthma is controlled. Checkups are recommended every 1 to 6 months. Bring your asthma plans to appointments.
- Following your
asthma action plan. The plan describes which medicines
to take every day to help delay the long-term effects of asthma. The action
plan also contains the steps to treat asthma attacks. It helps you better
control your asthma attacks by keeping you aware of symptoms and of how to make
quick decisions about medicine and treatment. See an
example of an asthma action plan
(What is a PDF document?)
. You may also have an
asthma diary where you record your
peak expiratory flow, symptoms, and triggers of asthma
attacks. This tool can help you manage your asthma too.
For more information on how to monitor and treat asthma, see:
To effectively manage your asthma and use your asthma action plan, you will have to know how to monitor your peak airflow, identify asthma triggers, and take your asthma medicine correctly.
Monitoring peak expiratory flow
People often underestimate the severity of their symptoms. They may not notice symptoms until their lungs are functioning at 50% of their personal best measurement. Measuring peak expiratory flow (PEF) is a way to keep track of asthma symptoms at home; it can help you know when your lung function is becoming worse before it drops to a dangerously low level. You can do this with a peak flow meter. For more information, see:
Identifying asthma triggers
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
Asthma in Teens and Adults Topics
Asthma is the most common reason children get short of breath while exercising, but it's not the only reason.
