Who has a child with asthma?

[MaBelle]

My niece (17), who is overly dramatic has started telling her mom that she is having asthma attacks.  Saturday I witnessed one of these episodes that went like this.  Sister and I went to watch her ride her new horse that I had given her.  Horse is a challenge and was acting up.  Niece gets embarrassed and mad and runs a short distance after the horse.  She can't catch him.  She starts crying and wheezing and saying very loudly "I'm having an asthma attack".  

Long story short my sister tells her that if she is indeed having an attack that they will go to the doctor/hospital and confirm the problem and do something about it.  Otherwise niece is to straighten up.  

I think her "attack" was a temper fit.  What actually happens when someone has asthma?  She was fine, put her horse up and we left.  She went to a football game that night, no more complaints.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Wheezing (or possibly coughing a lot) can be an asthma attack.  I don't know if you're niece is faking, but since a quick trip to the doctor would get her a rescue inhaler, I think that needs to happen.

[MaBelle]

3 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

 

Maybe she is out of her league with this horse- having owned them most of my life, a person with a bad match of a horse, that’s a dangerous situation in and of itself.  So maybe she scared and is afraid to tell her family as another possibility. 

Nah, I told her when I gave her this horse that he was hers to do with as she wished.  Train, sell, whatever.  She wouldn't be afraid to tell her mom.  

She's a good rider whose single mom can't afford a lot so she works at barns and leases horses.  Over the years she's improved and won with many horses only to have the barn snatch them back out from under her and sell them, and in one case a competitor that she was beating at shows pulled some strings and had the barn "retire" the horse.  We gave her one of our Arabians so she would have her own.  

She rode him at our ranch before we brought him to her.  Usually they do fine, this was just an off day for them both.  

I THINK this was her way of being embarrassed.  But of course we need to be sure.

 

[PeterPan]

A $15 peak flow meter will let you know if she's having trouble or not. I don't understand why the starting point is *she's faking* on something like this. I have asthma and no one else in my family does. I had mild symptoms for years before it started getting bad and giving me pneumonia. If she says she's having symptoms, maybe she's having symptoms. And yes they'd get worse with exertion or stress. She's running through grass after a HORSE. That's just asthma city. I'm losing the flow of the story, but if the complaints have flared up since she got the horse and started working more, it may be connected.

So this                                             Quest AsthmaMD Lung Performance Peak Flow Meter Measures Lung Performance for Athletes, asthmatics, Breathing Lung Exerciser. Breath Measurement System. Includes Downloadable Free Tracking App                                       isn't exactly the one I have but it's similar. Try walmart or whatever too. Just saying they're cheap and easy to use. Have her take measurements, doing it maybe 4 times every hour, making data, writing it down. Then she'll have some kind of baseline to compare to during an incident. 

You can't rely on *charts* for peak flow, because it really varies with the person. She actually needs to make her data and track what happens. For me, when I'm having an asthma attack, my peak flow is still in the "normal" range per the charts. But if you take my peak flow when I'm well, it's almost DOUBLE the normal range, lol, Like it's crazy how high it is. And when I'm working out (lifting, etc.) it goes even higher. I must just have big lungs or something, lol. And if she has constant low level constriction, she might not be at her best even when she's thinking she's fine. But make the data and see what happens. Put her on an antihistamine and daily vitamin C and see what happens.

Also you can get a pulse oximeter inexpensively to see her oxygen drop.

So the other thing to do, if she thinks exercise provokes it, is just do a 5 minute step test (step up onto a chair, step down, up, down) and see if it provokes it. Does she thinks exposures are provoking it? See if she's noticing a pattern.

Asthma SUCKS, so I'd start by assuming this is legit. Is there some reason a 17 yo would make this up? I don't know her. I could see an 8 yo saying that to cover embarrassment, but a 17 yo? Is she impaired in some way and doesn't understand what she's saying?

So then, I'll just toss out here that we got my asthma under control finally with turmeric. An antihistamine and daily vitamin C (I take 6 divided over b/l/dinner) can help too. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by PeterPan

[Roadrunner]

I have a kid with asthma. He has never had an episode when he gasps for air as you often see on TV. In our case it always involves coughing and wheezing. 

[PeterPan]

7 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Although I think it is certainly worth a trip to the doc for testing,

See I've been through multiple docs and a pulmonologist who didn't "test" ANYTHING for my asthma. The pulmonologist just handed me the scrips and said move on. He wanted to put me on stronger and stronger stuff. And when my dd's asthma started flaring up (being in college in the south) her ped was like who here's a scrip for Singulair, no tests.

So people are saying go to the doc, they'll test, and they may or may not. They could, but they might not. And you can gather data with a $15 meter and actually have evidence, in the moment, like yes her oxygen just dropped, yes her peak flow just dropped. 

If she's actually having problems from the horses, it would be good to know. And with our friend amazon and a little work, you could sort it out in about 1 day.

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I have a kid with asthma. He has never had an episode when he gasps for air as you often see on TV. In our case it always involves coughing and wheezing. 

Fwiw, op did say wheezing. But yes, it's an issue of problems getting it OUT, hence the wheezing instead of gasping. Others having mentioned coughing and that's usually my first symptom besides the tightness. I can also have exercise induced stridor, which is difficulty getting it IN, haha. So I'm sometimes cursed both directions, lol.

Op asked how it rolls if you have an attack. Others can say, but here it varies with the severity. It can be a mild tightening, which might flare up while running and then improves as you rest and let it pass. It might take an hour, and if she has something like orange with some C it might help. Or it can be more severe and have side effects that last many hours. So having it clear without an inhaler doesn't mean it wasn't an asthma attack. Just means it was mild if it was. 

So I hope for her sake it's not, sure. But the thing about mild attacks is you never know when they won't be. Like say it's this grass she's running through and the horse. I've had attacks go from 0 to 60 like BOOM, in a flash. So I'll be fine, breathing great, and then my peak flow drops so much I'm ready to go to an emergency room if it doesn't shape up. And it's THAT FAST. 

So if it is, she really has to have an inhaler available. She'll never know when it could be nothing to SOMETHING really fast. And I'm normally controlled now, but I don't go ANYWHERE major without access to my inhaler. It can happen that dramatically and be that dangerous. It costs very little to have an inhaler on hand.

[Roadrunner]

Ours universally happens if mine is sick and often with sports, but is also heavily tied to allergies.

generally, if a kid says she is wheezing, I would take her in. We were once sent to a hospital when I took in my 4 year old to doctor for cold. It wasn’t even obvious that he was having an attack of any sort, but apparently the tightness was extreme. We learned our lesson. Asthma doesn’t always look like people think it should (gasping for air).

[hippiemamato3]

If there's wheezing, she isn't faking. Why would you assume she's faking?

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, MaBelle said:

  Horse is a challenge and was acting up.  Niece gets embarrassed and mad and runs a short distance after the horse.  She can't catch him.  She starts crying and wheezing and saying very loudly "I'm having an asthma attack".  

 

That sounds normal and I don’t think anyone could/would fake wheezing. I just got myself a primary care doctor and she just gave me a script for a rescue inhaler because that was what I used in college and during my pregnancies.

In my case, she just assumed that with suffering through an asthma relapse in college and then using the rescue inhaler a few times during my pregnancies that I am a seasoned inhaler user.

I had to go to the ER/urgent care a few times for nebulizer treatment during college days. My asthma attack was so bad it spiked a fever at the same time so the ER triage nurse told me to sit in a wheelchair because they didn’t want me walking and fainting. For your niece, I would rather have her checked for asthma then wait until it gets worse.  

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Asthma is not something to mess around with.  It serves no purpose for anyone on this message board, or any family member who is not actually a doctor, to attempt to guess if this girl is really having an attack or not.  Take her to a breathing specialist.  She is or isn't crying wolf, but given the gravity of the risk, she needs evaluation.

[Tanaqui]

You sound really judgmental and unsympathetic. Even if it's not asthma - which should be evaluated by a doctor, and that evaluation shouldn't be treated as a threat - why use words like "over dramatic" and "temper fit"? Why not "anxiety"?

As far as "she wouldn't be scared" about admitting the horse is a bad fit, she might be scared of mocking. I mean, her mom and her aunt both think she's lying about asthma and she throws tantrums because she's over dramatic.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Tanaqui

[PeterPan]

45 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

Wow ime our asthma doc ALWAYS has done lots of testing with tools and gadgets and documentable stuff before discussing meds! Sorry about your experience. 

Yeah and we're not in podunk land either. I've gone multiple times to a pulmonologist in the big city at a major hospital system that gets featured on tv. Zero testing. For mild to moderate (which is what op is describing) they're just like here's your inhaler and singular, call me if it gets worse. And the ped (no testing for dd), same gig, biggest practice in town, popular guy. I think the key is mild to moderate, not the kind that's landing you in the ER regularly. Or that we're self-pay with a high deductible? But I think it's the mild.

But mild can still get you in big pickles very fast. It's really not something to mess around with or blow off. 

So say it's not asthma. Exercise induced stridor also produces wheezing, but it's wheezing on the IN, not the OUT. You could ask her which way the noise occurs, with the in or out. If it's on the in, there are specialized breathing and relaxation techniques she can learn, etc. Either way, seriously not stuff to mess around with.

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by PeterPan

[Pen]

Running plus things commonly around horses (dust, pollens, hay, fur, and maybe some chemicals from fly spray to vehicle exhaust to saddle cleaners) could easily trigger asthma symptoms in family members of mine who have it. 

I think she should be checked by a pulmonary doctor. 

[Terabith]

Asthma is weird.  Like, my kid has never had an official "attack," but she has moderate asthma.  For her, it looked like as a little kid she got sick a lot, and every time she got sick, it went to the chest.  Lots of coughing, wheezing, bronchitis, a couple bouts of pneumonia.  Then she had a cough that never went away.  Finally the pediatrician (when we were there for something else with another kid) was like, "That's asthma."  I felt so bad, but I really didn't know.  

Emotions trigger it.  Exercise triggers it. Allergies trigger it.  It can be super weird.  It's not necessarily dramatic, but my kid can need the rescue inhaler and it not be at all obvious.  If she's wheezing, she almost certainly needs to be seen.  

When it's over; it's over.  

[JenneinCA]

My oldest was diagnosed with asthma while at college from student health services.  She goes running here at ground level with no issues but up in the elevation and cold temperatures of Flagstaff she was having issues.  I don’t think any specific tests were done just lots and lots of questions.  She does have a rescue inhaler and daily meds that have been changed at least twice because the first ones didn’t solve the problem.  

She does have anxiety issues that I am sure didn’t help.  But she wasn’t faking this and student health believed her when she described the problem.  I think they see a number of cases like this because of the elevation.  The air is just thinner up there and that by itself can cause issues.

[Liz CA]

I know very little about asthma - others have chimed in on that. Just wanted to say that she is 17 and it takes time and maturity to deal with embarrassing moments or what one perceives to be an embarrassing moment. It could be she used this to distract from what was happening though I don't know but even in that case, I suppose I would assure her that even the best of riders can have a difficult time with a horse - sort in the vein of the ole saying "Every horse can be rode, any rider can be throwed." She obviously possesses some expertise since she has shown and won events. I would build on that. And if asthma attacks continue at random times with nothing preceding it, then there is the answer for that.

And it's really nice you gave her a horse that will be her own. I bet she will try another time and they will get used to each other. Horses can be stand-offish with new people or just because it's sunny, cloudy, Saturday or whatever.  🙂

Edited September 1, 2019 by Liz CA

[MaBelle]

5 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

You sound really judgmental and unsympathetic. Even if it's not asthma - which should be evaluated by a doctor, and that evaluation shouldn't be treated as a threat - why use words like "over dramatic" and "temper fit"? Why not "anxiety"?

As far as "she wouldn't be scared" about admitting the horse is a bad fit, she might be scared of mocking. I mean, her mom and her aunt both think she's lying about asthma and she throws tantrums because she's over dramatic.

Yeah, I am.  She's a huge hypochondriac and takes every opportunity to blow nothing into something.  My brother is a doctor and has seen her more times than he can count for  nothing.  Especially when she's fine five minutes later and parties all night with her friends the same night.  Just seems not right to me.   Her mom has indulged her for years and is coming to the conclusion that  her reaction to dd's reactions are not helpful.   Dd is 17 like I said, and her mom is a helicopter.  Evaluation was not treated as a threat, just something her mom said was going to have to happen.  Niece is already fighting going to the doctor.

Could be anxiety, she over reacts about a lot of stuff, some stuff that hasn't happened and probably won't.  And btw, she DOES throw tantrums and is over dramatic about things that most kids wouldn't think about.  And yes, she has been evaluated by a psychologist.  

 

[MaBelle]

Also, can asthma just show up suddenly?  She's been around barns and hay and grass and chased horses since she was eight with no problem.

[MaBelle]

5 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

You sound really judgmental and unsympathetic. Even if it's not asthma - which should be evaluated by a doctor, and that evaluation shouldn't be treated as a threat - why use words like "over dramatic" and "temper fit"? Why not "anxiety"?

As far as "she wouldn't be scared" about admitting the horse is a bad fit, she might be scared of mocking. I mean, her mom and her aunt both think she's lying about asthma and she throws tantrums because she's over dramatic.

BTW, I get it.  You think I'm an asshole.  That's fine.  But my personality was not the question here, info about asthma was.

I think you're a bit judgmental pronouncing me judgmental.  You aren't very sympathetic.

Edited September 1, 2019 by MaBelle

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, JenneinCA said:

She does have a rescue inhaler and daily meds that have been changed at least twice because the first ones didn’t solve the problem.  

She could read about exercise-induced stridor, just to be sure. I have both. The asthma affects peak flow and output. The stridor causes wheezing and difficulty on the way in, a gasping feeling, like you can't get your breath. Apparently it's commonly misdiagnosed as asthma in athletes. The muscle relaxant of the inhaler might help, but it misses the real issue. (learning how to relax the muscles and how to breathe to prevent it)

[Terabith]

I have a child who is a hypochondriac.  It IS annoying, and super frustrating, because you never know what is really a big deal and what is nothing.  It's led to me ignoring things that turned out to be (relatively) serious, because I assumed she was just being dramatic.  It particularly bugs me because this child also has major anxiety about swallowing pills and so she complains but refuses to do anything about it (take a claritin or a tylenol, for instance).  

The thing is, though, hypochondria really is an anxiety based thing.  And for my oldest, at least, it's also rooted in some sensory stuff.  She's not being a hypochondriac in order to be a jerk.  She's being a hypochondriac because she's anxious and she doesn't really have the awareness to know what's a big deal and what's a little deal.  She can't really rate pain or discomfort.  

It's frustrating, but it doesn't make anyone bad or horrible.  It's just inconvenient and annoying.  

[PeterPan]

23 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

My brother is a doctor and has seen her more times than he can count for  nothing.  ...

Could be anxiety, she over reacts about a lot of stuff, some stuff that hasn't happened and probably won't.  And btw, she DOES throw tantrums and is over dramatic about things that most kids wouldn't think about.  And yes, she has been evaluated by a psychologist.  

That's really awkward if a family member is her doctor and hasn't gotten her mental health issues straightened out. Will she be seeing a different doctor this time? If she's under 18 it's non-negotiable. 

We got radically improved care for my dd with a doctor change. We had tried peds, pdocs, and plenty of psychs and counselors. One good gp who actually treated her like an adult and listened for an hour, and we got a number of things solved.

Did you look at the peak flow meter? It's $15 and it would give her concrete information.

25 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

Also, can asthma just show up suddenly?  She's been around barns and hay and grass and chased horses since she was eight with no problem.

Sure. Stress can bring it out.

[PeterPan]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

The thing is, though, hypochondria really is an anxiety based thing. 

Exactly. So then they haven't treated the known mental health issues and are frustrated. May need fresh eyes on her, a fresh doc. 

[MaBelle]

15 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

That's really awkward if a family member is her doctor and hasn't gotten her mental health issues straightened out. Will she be seeing a different doctor this time? If she's under 18 it's non-negotiable. 

 

He's not "her" doctor, sister just took her in to his office for every little thing.  They'd also see her numerous other doctors.  Brother is not into treating family members and keeps referring her out.

He didn't see her for mental stuff, not his thing.  Again, referrals.

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by MaBelle

[MaBelle]

17 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Exactly. So then they haven't treated the known mental health issues and are frustrated. May need fresh eyes on her, a fresh doc. 

She's been examined by therapists.  The mental issue they see is slight OCD.  She wants everything just so.  I get that, I'm that way too.  This is one reason I wonder about the incident after her horse misbehaved.

 

[PeterPan]

Like I was saying, a fresh doctor, a long appointment, and really having things written out, and a doc who was a gp (not ped, not rushing) who would think and connect a lot of dots got us somewhere. 

It can take a while to get in with a new GP. If they're burnt out on her there, it might be worth it. 

I think my doctor is Catholic. I didn't really ask, but I think the practice is. Maybe catholics make better doctors?? LOL I mean seriously, I don't know how it happened that I got a doc who was actually helpful. 

The other thing you might do with this is get her in with a counselor or OT who could work with her on interoception. They can do body scans, mindfulness, whatever they want to call it. It can help the anxiety somewhat, and it just pairs really well with mental health work. We here on the boards can't tell if something is wrong, but sometimes someone is feeling something, doesn't know what, so working on self-awareness can help. It would be another strategy that probably connects dots. It's a normal thing to do if someone has mental health issues, ADHD, trauma, ASD, anything that improves with mindfulness.

[MaBelle]

7 hours ago, PeterPan said:

 

So I hope for her sake it's not, sure. But the thing about mild attacks is you never know when they won't be. Like say it's this grass she's running through and the horse. I've had attacks go from 0 to 60 like BOOM, in a flash. So I'll be fine, breathing great, and then my peak flow drops so much I'm ready to go to an emergency room if it doesn't shape up. And it's THAT FAST. 

 

How fast do you recover?

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

She's been examined by therapists.  The mental issue they see is slight OCD.  She wants everything just so.  I get that, I'm that way too.  This is one reason I wonder about the incident after her horse misbehaved.

 

Did they put her on medication? 

Therapists, pdocs, counselors, etc. are a frustrating thing, because they only know what the get told. 

Was it inositol that people were talking about for OCD and anxiety? You could search the boards. We've had some threads. Supplements, medication, something could be on the table to get it under control, given how problematic it's being.

And no, the horse thing doesn't seem really OCD to me, just more normal anxiety. That's why I was asking about meds, because that will definitely respond to meds. Also 5HTP, some supplements.

[MaBelle]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

Did they put her on medication? 

Therapists, pdocs, counselors, etc. are a frustrating thing, because they only know what the get told. 

Was it inositol that people were talking about for OCD and anxiety? You could search the boards. We've had some threads. Supplements, medication, something could be on the table to get it under control, given how problematic it's being.

And no, the horse thing doesn't seem really OCD to me, just more normal anxiety. That's why I was asking about meds, because that will definitely respond to meds. Also 5HTP, some supplements.

Yep.

 

[Roadrunner]

3 hours ago, Terabith said:

Asthma is weird.  Like, my kid has never had an official "attack," but she has moderate asthma.  For her, it looked like as a little kid she got sick a lot, and every time she got sick, it went to the chest.  Lots of coughing, wheezing, bronchitis, a couple bouts of pneumonia.  Then she had a cough that never went away.  Finally the pediatrician (when we were there for something else with another kid) was like, "That's asthma."  I felt so bad, but I really didn't know.  

Emotions trigger it.  Exercise triggers it. Allergies trigger it.  It can be super weird.  It's not necessarily dramatic, but my kid can need the rescue inhaler and it not be at all obvious.  If she's wheezing, she almost certainly needs to be seen.  

When it's over; it's over.  

 

Thats my kid.

and that was me my entire childhood, only I never knew I had asthma. 

 

And to OP. It can come quickly and also go away quickly. Sometimes my kid will run and start wheezing, but then sit it out for 10 minutes and he is better. You just never know. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Roadrunner

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

How fast do you recover?

Oh pretty quickly if it's mild. Like if it flares up at the gym and I don't have my inhaler with me, I can stop working out, get my stuff from the locker room, drive home, be pretty worried still on the driving there (because frankly it's a freakish feeling), and by the time I get home it's gone. So 20 minutes even. That's if it's mild. 

I had a really sudden attack once, where I was just minding my own business on a Sunday afternoon, laid down for a nap on my nice fuzzy blankets on my bed, and I woke up CHOKING, COUGHING, SPUTTERING. Checked my peak flow (because it was actually making me panic it was so bad, I was really scared), and it had dropped 40% BAM, just like that. Maybe it was 38%? One more drop, and my butt would have been going to the ER. I did all my tools (inhalers, vitamin C, antihistamines, blah blah), and it slowly went down. Now I was tired the next day from the inhalers and just how scary it was, but when it was over it was over. Maybe 2-4 hours? It took a number of hours. I probably should have gone in, because I would have recovered faster with a nebulizer treatment.

I started on turmeric a year ago, and my asthma has been really well controlled since. Turmeric is for inflammation, and asthma is an inflammation process. There's some research on it. So stress increases inflammation, which is why an increase in her stress could have brought out problems that weren't as obvious before. 

[PeterPan]

3 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

Yep.

 

Are they keeping logs to make sure the symptoms are well-controlled? If they are, then I'm back to asking why we're not gathering data to find out if there's a problem. A peak flow meter is $15. Maybe your local walmart or drug store would have one. It's that simple.

Also think about side effects, like whether one thing is making another thing worse. But yeah, mainly just gather some data at this point. You don't even know basics, like whether the wheezing was with breathing IN or OUT. Talk with her about what provokes it.

And if she's not able to choose to go to the doctor for medical care, again, not sure her treatment is complete, kwim?

[MaBelle]

Just now, PeterPan said:

Are they keeping logs to make sure the symptoms are well-controlled? If they are, then I'm back to asking why we're not gathering data to find out if there's a problem. A peak flow meter is $15. Maybe your local walmart or drug store would have one. It's that simple.

Also think about side effects, like whether one thing is making another thing worse. But yeah, mainly just gather some data at this point. You don't even know basics, like whether the wheezing was with breathing IN or OUT. Talk with her about what provokes it.

And if she's not able to choose to go to the doctor for medical care, again, not sure her treatment is complete, kwim?

I don't know, I'm not mama.  I do know she doesn't want to go to the doc for this which is very untypical of her.

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

I don't know, I'm not mama.  I do know she doesn't want to go to the doc for this which is very untypical of her.

That's interesting and a challenge. I hope they can figure out why and get her good help! Honestly, my anxiety is high enough that I didn't go to the doctor for years, many years. But that's a choice I made as an adult. For kids, under 18 or 21 or when you have financial ways to compel them, yeah I'm kinda your butt will be in there. My dd was none too thrilled, because she knew this doc was going to run tons of blood labs, something the ped never did. I told her that was the POINT, that if you're so anxious you can't go get the care you know you need and want, then you need treatment.

Maybe the dc stopped her medication? Wouldn't be shocked. If they aren't monitoring, that may be what happened. Another person in my life does this with their psychiatric medications, sigh. They'll start acting funny, and turns out they decided to drop one thing. 

[kiwik]

12 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Wow ime our asthma doc ALWAYS has done lots of testing with tools and gadgets and documentable stuff before discussing meds! Sorry about your experience. 

Echoing everything you said about the peak flow meter. That gadget saved me from lots of anxiety by helping with many decisions about whether to do something overnight or if it could wait til morning. True about getting a baseline personal history, good point. 

I think it depends where you are. In NZ asthma is so common it is often the starting point. 

[J-rap]

It could be that over-exertion + anxiety has simply caused her to breathe more heavily, which to her, feels like wheezing.  

If she could see an allergy/asthma doc, they could probably confirm it, or not.  Generally someone who has asthma attacks which have been untreated also has inflamed lungs, even when feeling good and not having an attack.   A good doctor would pick up on this with a variety of quite simple tests.

We have asthma in our family;  with one dd especially, it has been scary.

 

[Tap]

Have her tested. It is the best way to know if her breathing is compromised. 

We didn't realize dd20 had asthma when she was in middle school until she started running track. She started talking about being short of breath so I took her in. She absolutely had asthma. Once she used an inhaler before exercise, she said "This is what it feels like to breath when running!?!?! I had no idea!!" She had always been out of breath as a kid and thought it was normal so she never said anything. She has never had what looks like an asthma attack, but she actually has severe asthma.  She uses a daily steroid inhaler. Her dose is so high, it is what they give people who have COPD.  Even with this dose, she barely passes spirometry (a breathing test doctors do). So, just because an asthma attack doesn't see to follow tradional paths, and because she has never complained before...don't rule it out. And yes, stress can cause an asthma attack.  So what you saw may have been a panic attack, but it could still be asthma too.

Edited September 4, 2019 by Tap