"Excellent quality support, advice and follow-up…"

I am asthmatic. Worse still, I am a stubborn asthmatic. I have always largely self-managed the condition, and I have never had a ‘bad’ asthma attack in years. Nobody knew my asthma better than me, and I knew best how to manage it. Admittedly, I was taking Qvar beclomethasone three times in the morning and three times at night, and using in the region of six inhalations of Ventolin salbutamol in between. This equated to approximately one whole canister of each drug per month. This was just what was necessary in order to maintain a level of perceived stability. I avoided annual asthma reviews as much as practically possible; I’m just too busy and they were an inconvenience. And I maintained a view that review appointments were for people who had ‘really bad’ asthma.

The usual annual asthma review letter from Glenpark Surgery arrived in December 2019 and I decided that it was probably time to pay lip-service and attend. I was seen by one of the Practice Nurses, who reviewed my use of inhalers and advised that any more than three inhalations of salbutamol in a week and asthma was deemed to be poorly controlled. I was using double this amount most days.

The nurse suggested trialling a different inhaler, which I reluctantly agreed to, and a follow-up appointment was scheduled for the end of the month. I commenced taking the new inhaler (DuoResp – two inhalations morning and night), with instruction to take Ventolin salbutamol when required).

I started the new inhaler and had two completely Ventolin-free days, although unfortunately, I developed a chest infection that resulted in having to use almost a full canister of Ventolin, just to keep it under control. However, the two days were enough to suggest that the new DuoResp may just work. The nurse scheduled a further appointment for me towards the end of January, at which point I was able to report that I had was on my fourth consecutive Ventolin-free day, once I’d fully recovered from my chest infection. We agreed for me to continue with the new inhaler on the proviso that I returned if my asthma required any more than three inhalations of Ventolin in a single week.

My last appointment was twenty two days ago, and I have now managed twenty six consecutive days of being completely Ventolin-free. And I’m still going strong. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I feel that my asthma is wholly under control, and I am no longer panicking when I realise that my Ventolin inhaler is not in my pocket.

I know that this will be selflessly shrugged off and deemed to be ‘just part of the job’, but credit where credit is due, and I feel that it is important to let someone know when they have impacted so significantly on my daily life. I am not as tired, I don’t get breathless walking up flights of stairs…and my fiancée is over the moon because, apparently, my snoring has also significantly improved.

Thank you.