Typical asthma symptoms include nocturnal cough and shortness of breath. Such symptoms can persist while others use asthma symptoms suddenly and increase to an asthma attack. Read here which symptoms trigger asthma and which dangers can arise due to the seizures!
Asthma Symptoms
Asthma is usually characterized by a change from largely symptom-poor phases and suddenly occurring, repetitive asthma attacks. Signs of asthma include:
- Cough, especially at night
- difficulty in breathing
- shortness of breath
- Tightness in the chest
- audible with a bare ear – a dry, whistling sound when exhaling
- tedious, long exhalation
Asthma attack: symptoms
Typical asthma attack symptoms are:
- sudden onset of respiratory distress, even without physical stress
- agonizing cough with occasionally less viscous, clear or yellowish mucus
- Restlessness and anxiety
This is how the asthma attack works:
An asthma attack starts with a dry cough and tightness in the chest. Exhaling is particularly difficult, patients feel they can not breathe and they do not have enough room to breathe. Most are then excited or feel anxiety as an indication.
The number of their breaths per minute increases and they use their respiratory aid muscles. This is called a group of muscles of the upper body that can support the work of breathing the lungs. This can be achieved, for example, by supporting the arms on the thighs or on a table. In addition, there is audible wheezing and wheezing while exhaling as part of typical bronchial asthma symptoms.
After a period of intense and often perceived as threatening respiratory distress, the asthma attack sounds usually by itself. At this stage, the patient begins to cough up yellow mucus. Doctors then talk about a productive cough. This is still accompanied by an audible wheeze while breathing.
During an asthma attack, the following symptoms may also appear:
- bluish discoloration of the lips and fingernails due to lack of oxygen in the blood (cyanosis)
- accelerated heartbeat
- bloated thorax
- raised shoulders
- exhaustion
- Inability to speak
- in case of severe dyspnea: recesses of the chest (between the ribs, in the upper abdomen, in the area of the choke pit)
A very severe attack of asthma may, without treatment, be accompanied by a decreased heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and fatigue leading to coma.
First aid in an asthma attack
Which first aid measures are important in an acute asthma attack, read here: Asthma attack.