Asthma Helpline Case Studies

Each month of 2010 we will feature a new case study on our website from the most commonly asked questions and cases our Asthma helpline receives. If you would like to be featured as a case study or if you have a question about asthma you would like our nurse to answer please email us at admin@asthmasociety.ie or call 01 8788511

March Asthma Case Study	Choose previous months January February
March Case Study; Brian* 32 This case study is told from the Asthma Nurse's perspective "My name is Brian, I am 32 and I have had asthma since childhood. I was tired all the time, having trouble sleeping and taking my reliever through the night. I called the ASI helpline for help." Recently I answered a call on the Asthma Society Helpline from Brian, a 32 year old man who has had asthma since childhood. He was having trouble sleeping and needed to take his reliever inhaler throughout the night in order to breathe freely. He was tired all the time and felt very stressed and run down.

Brian used to run at the weekend and some evenings after work but he had to stop because he was too tired and couldn't breathe properly when he ran. Brian smoked and although he was trying to give up he felt that his stress levels were only making him smoke more and more, which made his asthma worse. His fiancé was a nurse and she advised him to call the Asthma Society helpline.

On questioning Brian about his asthma history I discovered he slept with his reliever inhaler on his pillow and took it around six times during the night, every night. He was buying one reliever inhaler per week which was expensive. He was prescribed a preventer inhaler but he didn't use it regularly as he was worried about the steroid content and its effects.

I told Brian that his asthma was out of control and should be reviewed by his GP. I reassured Brian that any side effects of taking his preventer inhaler are far outweighed by the danger of not taking it. I suggested he may need a short course of oral corticosteroid steroids and his reliever 3-4 times a day to get his asthma back under control. This is why it was so important for Brian to go to his doctor. I stressed to Brian that he should start taking his medication as originally prescribed.

Correct inhaler technique is of the utmost importance as it ensures prescribed delivery and reduces possible side effects. On further questioning it transpired that Brian breathed mostly through his mouth as opposed to through his nose. This is a symptom that his GP should be made aware of as it may warrant a nasal spray or further investigation. I was aware that Brian smoked and I gave him some practical advice on smoking cessation.