What's the worst asthma attack you've experienced?
445571
When I was about 10 years old, I was having a severe attack.  My mom was at work and I was home with my **** step-father.  He was under the impression that all he had to do was yell at me (for faking it) and I would snap out of it.  He also did not want to spend money on meds or visits to the doctor or the emergency room.\n\nThat night, I lay in bed, barely breathing, and he refused to call my mom (and she even worked in the emergency room as a phone receptionist).\n\nIt got so bad, I stopped coughing and it stopped hurting and my fingers turned blue.\n\nIn a screaming rage he finally called my mom and reluctantly took me to the emergency room.\n\nI don't remember much after that - just waking up - telling my mom my fingers were blue.  She was more embarrassed about what her co-workers would think, than about how sick I was.\n\nI made it through that night.  Grew up.  ...and had kids of my own.  ...and to my great dismay, one of my kids has asthma.  But I treat her much better than my parents treated me, especially during asthma attacks.\n\n'still hate my step-dad, though.
29203
"Asthma is a disease of the human respiratory system in which the airways narrow, often in response to a “trigger” such as exposure to an allergen, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress. This narrowing causes symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing, which are the hallmarks of asthma".
1015611
You for real?  Asthma sufferers are the last people that should smoke - YES it will make it worse.
519539
I have never heard of this happening...I think that the worst case scenario would be that your brain wouldn't get enough oxygen and you could die...though I guess it may be possible if a person were rescusitated that they could have suffered some brain damage that leaves them paralized.  I have heard of people having tingling in their arms and legs when they are having an asthma attack though.
685529
Common asthma symptoms include: \nCoughing. Coughing from asthma is often worse at night or early in the morning, making it hard to sleep. \nWheezing. Wheezing is a whistling or squeaky sound when you breathe. \nChest tightness. This can feel like something is squeezing or sitting on your chest. \nShortness of breath. Some people say they can't catch their breath, or they feel breathless or out of breath. You may feel like you can't get enough air in or out of your lungs. \nFaster breathing or noisy breathing. \nThe only way to know for sure would be to see your doctor.
560396
asthma\n\nAddendum: in light of the second answer, I'll elaborate a little more.  Asthma is an obstructive pulmonary disorder.  The airway narrowing results--somewhat counterintuitively--in the patient having trouble getting air *out* of the lungs, resulting in air-trapping in the alveoli.  Clinically, patients have a prolonged expiratory phase.  The standard pulmonary function test is to measure how much air patients are able to exhale with a forced effort.  On X-ray, patients having an acute asthma attack will have hyperinflated lungs from the air-trapping.\n\nObviously, if you can't get the air out of the lungs, you won't have much capacity to inhale....
725143
i crapped myself once when i drank seven glasses of V8 juice.\nfarted at school once when i sneezed.\nnever stole a t.v., im unlucky like that and would get caught.\nnever smoked crack but sometimes i feel like im high lol.\nwouldn't think of thinking of thinking of selling a baby.\ni licked an apple then put it back once.\ni wiped a booger on my brother because he was wrestling me.
706726
I got terrible chest pains from it. So bad that I thought I was having a heart attack. I went off it immediately
1110601
People coughing their blady lungs out. I have heard one girl cough for two hours non-stop in an exam. I told she could have died hehehehehe
57953
Yes there is.\n\n30-40% of female asthmatics have increased asthma symptoms during the premenstrual and/or menstrual period.
271135
The most tramatizing was two months ago. January 9 to be exact. I woke up 7 that morning to say good-bye to my dad and his brother, they were going to Atlanta for my dads dr. appointment. I went back to my room and like 10 minutes later I look out side and my uncles car was still there. I went back out in the den and my dad was on the floor.His brother or my uncle was doing cpr on him, about 30 minutes later the fire rescue and parimedics showed up. They worked on him for another 30 minutes and shocked him a few times to get his heart beating again, but it didn't work. I believe he died before the ambulance even showed up, but they didn't call it till he was at the hospital at 9:00 am.
370230
Worst beating of my life came when I was about 14 years old.  I offered my little brother a stick of gum and he took the whole pack.  He was a pill so I got mad.  I called him a bastard.  I've called him worse names before, but that apparently was the worst for my mom.  She was walking down the hallway and flung the clothes in her arm to the floor and JUMPED on me.  She was screaming, and slapping at me!  Eventually she apologized, but it does make ya wonder why THAT word made her the angriest.
128213
severe asthma , check your doctor
1101928
Laugh myself into an asthma attack.
340831
Haha. I do that all the time.\n\nMy allergies are sooo bad, and one day I could barely breath.  I had a concert to go the next weekend, and I knew if I called off for the allergies, I wouldn't be able to call off for the concert.\n\nSo indeed, I went to work sniffling, coughing, and wheezing...  But I enjoyed the best weekend evaaa`!  :]
717925
Asthma is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There are many different kinds of asthma. Extrinsic asthma(asthma that can be clearly associated with exposure to a specific antigen like pollen, grass, dust, etc.),Intrinsic asthma(which cannot be directly linked to a specific antigen), Exercise induced asthma(typically occurs 10-15 minutes after vigorous exercise).During an asthma attack the smooth muscles surrounding the small airways constrict(bronchospasm)causing difficulty in moving air in and out of the lungs.
544497
What Is Asthma? \n\nAsthma (Az-muh) is a chronic disease that affects your airways. The airways are the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs. If you have asthma, the inside walls of your airways are inflamed (swollen). The inflammation (IN-fla-MAY-shun) makes the airways very sensitive, and they tend to react strongly to things that you are allergic to or find irritating. When the airways react, they get narrower, and less air flows through to your lung tissue. This causes symptoms like wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing, especially at night and in the early morning. \n\nAsthma cannot be cured, but most people with asthma can control it so that they have few and infrequent symptoms and can live active lives. \n\nWhen your asthma symptoms become worse than usual, it is called an asthma episode or attack. During an asthma attack, muscles around the airways tighten up, making the airways narrower so less air flows through. Inflammation increases, and the airways become more swollen and even narrower. Cells in the airways may also make more mucus than usual. This extra mucus also narrows the airways. These changes make it harder to breathe.