Imagine trying to breathe through a paper straw in your mouth while your nose is pinched closed! That’s how millions with asthma describe breathing when they have symptoms of an asthma attack. Now think about living daily, breathing through a paper straw. Can you see how difficult it might be to stay active and alert, engage in exercise, and be productive at work or school?

That’s why getting an accurate asthma diagnosis and using the prescribed asthma treatments are priorities for living well with this common lung condition. Self-managing asthma by avoiding asthma triggers or causes of asthma and using the proper asthma medications allows the vast majority of those with asthma to live active lives without asthma symptoms of coughing, wheezing, or chest tightness.

Asthma symptoms come and go for the majority of people with the condition. So it’s very common for patients not to have obvious asthma symptoms when they arrive at the doctor’s office. You may cough and wheeze all week only to have no asthma symptoms when you see the doctor. This makes diagnosing asthma more difficult — but you can help.

Keep a daily asthma diary by jotting down whenever you have respiratory symptoms. Also, write down any factors or exposures that may have caused your respiratory symptoms. Your doctor or health care provider can review the diary, ask questions, do a brief physical examination, and perhaps do a lung function test. Using all of this information, your health care provider can usually make an accurate asthma diagnosis.

Your doctor may use several tests to make an asthma diagnosis, including lung function tests. The most likely lung function test will measure how much air you can exhale. These important asthma tests confirm the presence of airway obstruction that improves with asthma treatment.

As an example, your doctor will have you perform spirometry, a lung function test that measures how much air you can blow out of your lungs and how quickly. This asthma test is done before and after using an asthma inhaler with albuterol, a bronchodilator. If your airways expand, allowing air to pass through more freely, then it is highly likely that asthma is the cause of your respiratory symptoms.

You’re probably thinking of the illegal anabolic steroids that some athletes take to improve performance. The most commonly prescribed asthma controller medication is an inhaled corticosteroid, which reduces airway inflammation. With less inflammation, the airways are less twitchy and sensitive and less likely to react to asthma triggers. This means you’ll have more control over your asthma — and your life. Oral steroids, which most often are given for severe attacks, can have significant side effects especially if taken for more than 2 weeks.  Proper asthma care should markedly decrease or eliminate the need for these medications.

A severe asthma emergency is frightening and life-threatening. The symptoms of asthma continue despite the use of asthma rescue inhalers and other asthma medications. A severe asthma emergency, or an anaphylactic attack, can occur with little warning and can quickly move to asphyxiation.

Symptoms might include breathlessness at rest, high anxiety, wheezing during inhalation and exhalation, severe shortness of breath, chest tightness, and difficulty speaking in complete sentences. When these symptoms and signs occur, don’t hesitate to quickly dial 911 for an ambulance. The ambulance crew will immediately provide you with oxygen and nebulized bronchodilators. They will also monitor the level of oxygen in your blood (using a pulse oximeter), and your heart rhythm (using an ECGmonitor). And during the trip, they can talk with a doctor in the emergency department for further lifesaving treatment. None of this monitoring or emergency treatment is available if you get a ride to the emergency department or use public transportation.

Readings from a peak flow meter can help you to recognize early changes that may be signs of worsening asthma. During an asthma attack, the muscles in the airways tighten and cause the airways to narrow. Reduced readings from the peak flow meter may alert you to the airway narrowing often hours or even days before you have worrisome asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest tightness.

The peak flow meter can also be used to verify that respiratory symptoms are due to bronchospasm. Ask your doctor or allergy specialist for a written asthma action plan that includes the use of a peak flow meter to determine whether you are in the green, yellow, or red zone.

It’s possible that you have work-related asthma. This happens when substances at your work (irritants or allergens) cause asthma or worsen asthma. Hundreds of substances found in workplaces have been proven to worsen asthma. Examples of people who are at higher risk for occupational asthma include health care workers, those who work with cleaners or solvents, workers in the chemical industry, construction workers, welders, auto body painters, those using isocyanate foams, and animal care workers.

Talk to your doctor or asthma specialist about your work-related asthma symptoms. Once the workplace triggers have been determined, your health care provider can help you find ways to reduce your exposures to these substances.