My asthma was practically non-existant until I went of my HRT . . within 7 months I had full-blown asthma symptoms. Boy, did that take me by surprise!
Hi,
Thank you for your comments. Your experience highlights the impact of hormone levels and more so, what happens with changing levels female hormones. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent years because of risks thought to be associated with long term and/or high dose use. For this reason, lower doses for shorter periods of time are more commonly considered.
Perhaps you have a better understanding of why you had problems when you went off HRT, based on some of the explanations I mentioned in the article.
Hopefully you are under the care of a health care provider who is guiding you through a process that will improve your asthma control.
Good Luck!
J. Thompson, MD
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I'm kind of a wierd case of a female asthma patient, I think. My asthma was really bad and very poorly controlled when I was a kid (a few years, I would miss as much as one day in three from school, and ER trips were at least a bimonthly occurance). Around the time when I hit puberty, my asthma actually improved quite a bit and stayed under fairly good control until my final year of university, when I caught a cold, then influenza, and then my asthma spiralled out of control for the next... well, it's been fourteen months now, and I'm still not well controlled. Right now, I'm "partially controlled" in that my current level of asthma control is an immense improvement over what it was a year ago - I have symptoms whenever I get sick and also about two days a week, but that's better than being unable to walk across a room without getting out of breath on a good day. I'm working with my allergist and my primary care doctor to further improve my control.
So my asthma both improved at a certain age and worsened at another age.
As to your other question, I find there is a definite PMS-related worsening of my asthma. Fortunately, birth control pills take care of this for me, and I don't notice any significant difference in my asthma when I'm on my period versus when I'm not as long as I'm on birth control.
Nscangal,
Thanks for sharing your asthma experience. I have found that despite the reports of specific patterns of asthma, everyone has their own unique story. Many women have worsening of asthma control after puberty, not necessarily at puberty. Your improvement in asthma control at puberty is not common, but also not rare. The worsening that followed in later years brought you back to the majority experience.
Often there is a triggering event such as bad cold, flu syndrome or exposure to a strong chemical or fume, which precedes the asthma worsening. Furthermore, your monthly asthma course is actually very common. Many of my patients also have increased need for their reliever inhaler in the days leading up to their menstrual period.
I am glad you are under the care of an asthma specialist. Discuss any concerns you have about your care with your allergist, and include information you have learned here or from other resources.
Best Wishes,
J. Thompson, MD