Is My Trouble Breathing Asthma?
Written or medically reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Policy.
Updated April 03, 2015.
Trouble breathing can be due to asthma or can be from a number of other conditions. The only way to know for sure is to get to a doctor and get checked out. Some of the conditions below are not commonly seen by all types of doctors, so if you are concerned ask your doctor specifically about the one that you are concerned about.
In medical school I was once accused of not seeing the forest through the trees and it turns out this is not an uncommon behavior in young physicians.
I was looking for a really uncommon disease despite being presented with the signs and symptoms of something more common and more likely. The classic symptoms of asthma include:
If you have trouble breathing and experience these symptoms, you should go to the doctor and get checked out for asthma. However, not all that wheezes is asthma so you may also want to read on and consider some of the following conditions.
COPD can cause some of the same exact symptoms as asthma. It not only leads to trouble breathing, but also wheezing, shortness of breath, cough, and chest tightness. However, patients with COPD are more likely to be older and have smoked. Additionally, asthma patients have periods of time when they are relatively symptom free and will notice fluctuations in their symptoms based on exposures to triggers. COPD patients, on the other hand, do not experience much fluctuation in baseline symptoms and develop symptoms more progressively over years.
Patients with this problem again experience trouble breathing, wheezing, and neck tightness. Unlike asthma, asthma medications will not have any effect on this condition. It is not uncommon for patients to have a number of doctors appointments, visits to the ED, and referral to a specialist before a physician considers this diagnosis.
While there are a number of different causes of this condition, your heart does not adequately provide blood to the rest the body. Trouble breathing and wheezing can be symptoms. In general these symptoms are due to fluid retention in the lungs rather than inflammation as in asthma. Additionally, a chest x-ray in an asthma patient may be normal or show hyperexpansion of the lungs, while a chest x-ray in congestive heart failure is more likely to show an enlarged heart.
GERD is not only a condition that can exacerbate asthma, but also mimic it. Unlike asthma, successful treatment of the underlying condition may cure or reverse all symptoms without further need for treatment. Unlike the previously mentioned conditions, GERD does not usually lead to trouble breathing. Rather you are more likely to experience symptoms the ‘wet burp’ or your food backing up with an acid taste in the back of your mouth. Additionally, GERD patients often describe frequent heart burn and a sour taste in the mouth that is particularly worse after certain foods.
In asthma nighttime GERD may result in you aspirating some of the ‘wet burp’ into your lung causing wheezing. As a result, treating the underlying cause of the GERD may lead to less wheezing. The initial treatments are lifestyle modifications like diet modification (e.g. avoiding alcohol, fried foods, and chocolate), avoiding eating or drinking 3 hours before lying down, and elevating the head of your bed. If these do not work there are both over the counter (Pepcid AC or Prilosec OTC) and prescription medication options. Finally, some patients with severe symptoms or those wanting to avoid chronic medication therapy may choose surgical options.
This condition causes trouble breathing because foreign substances inhaled into the lungs cause inflammation and wheezing. While this may initially seem very much like asthma, it is generally not a chronic condition and symptoms resolve if you can avoid the trigger.
CF is not likely to be confused with asthma as a cause of trouble breathing. Patients with CF will usually have poor growth in childhood, cough, frequent infections, and shortness of breath in addition to wheezing.
Source
Updated April 03, 2015.
Trouble breathing can be due to asthma or can be from a number of other conditions. The only way to know for sure is to get to a doctor and get checked out. Some of the conditions below are not commonly seen by all types of doctors, so if you are concerned ask your doctor specifically about the one that you are concerned about.
What Are The Common Symptoms Of Asthma
In medical school I was once accused of not seeing the forest through the trees and it turns out this is not an uncommon behavior in young physicians.
I was looking for a really uncommon disease despite being presented with the signs and symptoms of something more common and more likely. The classic symptoms of asthma include:
If you have trouble breathing and experience these symptoms, you should go to the doctor and get checked out for asthma. However, not all that wheezes is asthma so you may also want to read on and consider some of the following conditions.
COPD
COPD can cause some of the same exact symptoms as asthma. It not only leads to trouble breathing, but also wheezing, shortness of breath, cough, and chest tightness. However, patients with COPD are more likely to be older and have smoked. Additionally, asthma patients have periods of time when they are relatively symptom free and will notice fluctuations in their symptoms based on exposures to triggers. COPD patients, on the other hand, do not experience much fluctuation in baseline symptoms and develop symptoms more progressively over years.
Vocal Chord Dysfunction
Patients with this problem again experience trouble breathing, wheezing, and neck tightness. Unlike asthma, asthma medications will not have any effect on this condition. It is not uncommon for patients to have a number of doctors appointments, visits to the ED, and referral to a specialist before a physician considers this diagnosis.
Congestive Heart Failure
While there are a number of different causes of this condition, your heart does not adequately provide blood to the rest the body. Trouble breathing and wheezing can be symptoms. In general these symptoms are due to fluid retention in the lungs rather than inflammation as in asthma. Additionally, a chest x-ray in an asthma patient may be normal or show hyperexpansion of the lungs, while a chest x-ray in congestive heart failure is more likely to show an enlarged heart.
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
GERD is not only a condition that can exacerbate asthma, but also mimic it. Unlike asthma, successful treatment of the underlying condition may cure or reverse all symptoms without further need for treatment. Unlike the previously mentioned conditions, GERD does not usually lead to trouble breathing. Rather you are more likely to experience symptoms the ‘wet burp’ or your food backing up with an acid taste in the back of your mouth. Additionally, GERD patients often describe frequent heart burn and a sour taste in the mouth that is particularly worse after certain foods.
In asthma nighttime GERD may result in you aspirating some of the ‘wet burp’ into your lung causing wheezing. As a result, treating the underlying cause of the GERD may lead to less wheezing. The initial treatments are lifestyle modifications like diet modification (e.g. avoiding alcohol, fried foods, and chocolate), avoiding eating or drinking 3 hours before lying down, and elevating the head of your bed. If these do not work there are both over the counter (Pepcid AC or Prilosec OTC) and prescription medication options. Finally, some patients with severe symptoms or those wanting to avoid chronic medication therapy may choose surgical options.
Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis
This condition causes trouble breathing because foreign substances inhaled into the lungs cause inflammation and wheezing. While this may initially seem very much like asthma, it is generally not a chronic condition and symptoms resolve if you can avoid the trigger.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
CF is not likely to be confused with asthma as a cause of trouble breathing. Patients with CF will usually have poor growth in childhood, cough, frequent infections, and shortness of breath in addition to wheezing.
Source
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed: January 15, 2014. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma
- Tilles, Stephen. Differential Diagnosis of Asthma. Medical Clinics of North America. Vol. 90 (2006):61–76.
Source...