Asthma symptoms, what are they? What to look for? Asthma affects the respiratory system. It is often a chronic condition and is affecting thousands of individuals across the globe. People with asthma usually explain an asthma attack or a flare-up as a heavy pressure crushing on the chest, feeling as if someone is squeezing your chest taking every molecule of air away.
Some asthma symptoms are common among all sufferers. However, some of the symptoms can be specific to the person suffering the asthma attack and the environmental conditions at the moment. You can classify asthma symptoms in three main categories:
early symptoms, asthma attack symptoms and extreme attacks symptoms.
Early Physiological Asthma Symptoms
Asthma symptoms in the early stages are usually felt before the asthma attack. The symptoms can be unique to the individual and can be unique to environmental conditions. Early symptoms might only be noticed by the person suffering them while in some other cases could be seen by others.
Some of the early physiological asthma symptoms are:
- Breathing changes
- Rapid heart beat
- Under eyes dark circles
- Feeling tired
- Intolerant to exercise
- Headache
- Runny nose
- Becoming sweaty
- Scratchy throat
- Fever
Other Early Asthma Symptoms
- Being moody
- Feeling sad
- Wanting to be alone
As you can see, the above symptoms can be mistaken for a cold or the flu. Parents must pay attention to the early signs as sometimes is not clear if a child has asthma or not.
Asthma Attack Symptoms
During an asthma attack the symptoms become more focused on the lungs and the chest area.
- Tightening of the chest
- Coughing
- Wheezing
- Shortness of breath
If you were near a peak flow meter the readings will be in the red zone. In children the wheezing can be noticed even without a stethoscope, by just listening to the chest.
The asthma attack symptoms might show up in different sequence at times. Sometimes you will feel the tightening of the chest for days before you start wheezing. Sometimes you will start coughing before the wheezing. Sometimes you will go straight to wheezing, especially if chemicals are involved.
In a study done in Norway in 2007, it was discovered that some symptoms can also developed in the upper airway system. Those symptoms were described as itching inside the nose, sneezing, hearing impairment, nasal blockage and mouth breathing.
It is also quite common from asthma sufferers to feel sleepy through the day due to the lack of sleep during the night coming from breathing difficulty.
Extreme Attack Asthma Symptoms
During an extreme asthma attack, the symptoms will be life-threating. If you are suffering from the following symptoms or you see someone with the following symptoms, call 911 or take the sufferer directly to an emergency room for treatment as they are probably in danger of a respiratory arrest and death. If you are the one suffering the symptoms, do not attempt to drive, call 911.
The extreme asthma symptoms are:
- Extreme shortness of breath
- Feeling lightheaded
- Talking and concentrating is extremely difficult
- Nostrils are flaring to inhale as much air as possible
- Shoulders are hunched (posturing)
- Blue or gray tint to the skin, especially around the mouth
And the last sign before respiratory arrest:
- Drooling, as your body is working so hard to breath, that you cannot control your saliva
Identifying asthma symptoms is critical to the control and the management of the asthma condition. Sufferers, parents, teachers, trainers and coworkers should understand and recognize the warnings and symptoms for a prompt treatment.
An accurate evaluation of the situation at hand should be able to aid you in determining if the situation requires in home treatment, a doctor’s appointment, or a trip to the emergency room.