asthma while pregnant
Has anyone here dealt with an asthma exacerbation while pregnant?
I have a history of asthma, but have been a lot healthier in the past ten-twelve years due to a different lifestyle, and almost completely symptom-free since I got pregnant with my son in 2006. I started avoiding chemical cleaners at that time, which I think has something to do with it. I only have symptoms when I get a respiratory illness.
I started coming down with a cold almost two weeks ago. Before I even started feeling sick, I noticed my breathing passages getting inflamed and giving me apnea episodes at night. As soon as I started feeling sick, I started needing to use my rescue inhaler a few times a day. I saw my primary care physician, and she was pretty concerned, stating that asthma can get really bad really fast in pregnancy and it's possible to go from mild symptoms to the E.R. in 24 hours, so she put me on the lowest possible dose of Flovent (an inhaled steroid) and sent me to a pulmonologist, partly for the asthma but mostly to help me manage the sleep apnea (which I have had before, and it comes back if my weight is too high, including during pregnancy).
The pulmonologist would like to see me taking oral steroids for the rest of the pregnancy, or at the very least continuing the inhaled steroids until the end of the pregnancy. My primary care doctor isn't as insistent, but doesn't think either idea is a bad one. When I followed up with her on Tuesday, I felt confident I was getting better as the cold faded. Sunday I didn't use the rescue inhaler at all, Monday I used it once. But since I saw her on Tuesday I've been feeling a little worse again, and using the rescue inhaler a few times a day, and feeling like I can't get a deep breath even when I'm not feeling like I specifically need the inhaler. (I know a certain amount of this is normal at 29 weeks, but this feels different.) My son has a virus which I think is different from the cold we had last week, so maybe that's related, but he's not coughing and I am. I'm kind of afraid to call her back because I'm afraid she'll tell me to start the oral steroids and I really don't want to take them. I am more comfortable with something that is inhaled and not systemic. I think I'm going to give it the weekend and then call next week if I don't have improvement, but I'm not feeling great about the whole thing.
I am very interested to hear what kind of advice other people have gotten from their doctors or OBs/midwives about asthma flares during pregnancy, and what treatment options you decided on.
(29 weeks)
I have a history of asthma, but have been a lot healthier in the past ten-twelve years due to a different lifestyle, and almost completely symptom-free since I got pregnant with my son in 2006. I started avoiding chemical cleaners at that time, which I think has something to do with it. I only have symptoms when I get a respiratory illness.
I started coming down with a cold almost two weeks ago. Before I even started feeling sick, I noticed my breathing passages getting inflamed and giving me apnea episodes at night. As soon as I started feeling sick, I started needing to use my rescue inhaler a few times a day. I saw my primary care physician, and she was pretty concerned, stating that asthma can get really bad really fast in pregnancy and it's possible to go from mild symptoms to the E.R. in 24 hours, so she put me on the lowest possible dose of Flovent (an inhaled steroid) and sent me to a pulmonologist, partly for the asthma but mostly to help me manage the sleep apnea (which I have had before, and it comes back if my weight is too high, including during pregnancy).
The pulmonologist would like to see me taking oral steroids for the rest of the pregnancy, or at the very least continuing the inhaled steroids until the end of the pregnancy. My primary care doctor isn't as insistent, but doesn't think either idea is a bad one. When I followed up with her on Tuesday, I felt confident I was getting better as the cold faded. Sunday I didn't use the rescue inhaler at all, Monday I used it once. But since I saw her on Tuesday I've been feeling a little worse again, and using the rescue inhaler a few times a day, and feeling like I can't get a deep breath even when I'm not feeling like I specifically need the inhaler. (I know a certain amount of this is normal at 29 weeks, but this feels different.) My son has a virus which I think is different from the cold we had last week, so maybe that's related, but he's not coughing and I am. I'm kind of afraid to call her back because I'm afraid she'll tell me to start the oral steroids and I really don't want to take them. I am more comfortable with something that is inhaled and not systemic. I think I'm going to give it the weekend and then call next week if I don't have improvement, but I'm not feeling great about the whole thing.
I am very interested to hear what kind of advice other people have gotten from their doctors or OBs/midwives about asthma flares during pregnancy, and what treatment options you decided on.
(29 weeks)