Living with asthma

The key to managing asthma is understanding your symptoms and what triggers and relieves them. A good asthma management plan should be able to reduce severity and frequency of asthma symptoms and prevent unscheduled visits to the clinic or emergency room.

Managing asthma

• Take your controller asthma medicines every day, even when you feel good. These medicines are preventive and will not work quickly, so they have to be taken daily to control inflammation in the lungs.
• Follow your asthma action plan (PDF).
• Know the warning signs of an asthma episode. Make sure you have written instructions for what to do in an asthma emergency.
• Manage your medications.
  • Know the kinds of medications you should take, how much and how often.
  • Learn the correct use of an inhaler with a spacer.
  • Keep a good record of medications (PDF) and dosages and make sure someone else knows where to find this information in an emergency.
  • Do not run out of your medicines.
  • Ask your doctor or pharmacist to check all new medications for possible interactions with the asthma medications you are taking.
• Keep daily records of your symptoms, peak-flow readings and responses to medications, so you can reduce the number and severity of asthma episodes.
• Identify and avoid triggers.
• When an episode occurs, follow your asthma action plan (PDF); stay calm, stop your activity, take a few relaxed breaths, drink extra fluids and use your inhaler. Treat symptoms within minutes of their onset. It takes less medicine to stop an episode in its early phase.
• Stay physically fit. You should be able to control your asthma so you can exercise.
• See your doctor regularly for exams.
  • If your asthma is under control, schedule at least two visits per year.
  • If you use daily therapy, you may require three to four visits per year.
  • Those with unstable asthma may require visits at least every two weeks until your asthma is stable.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Overweight people tend to experience more severe asthma symptoms.