Asthma and Chemo

Hi Lillian, Cosette is correct in saying that I had asthma prior to chemo. My asthma is usually triggered by wood smoke -bushfire season is usually when it is at is worst. I didn't have any trouble with asthma during chemo but I did have very bad shortness of breath which was a side effect of the docetaxal. It took the onc quite a while to work out what was causing it. Apparently only 1% of women get this as a side effect - don't know if it is usually women with previous history of asthma though. My oxy sats were constantly in the 80s and I was on oxygen via tank for a bit when things got really bad around my 3rd round. They kept giving me CT scans to check for a blood clot which always came back clear. I felt like I was 150 yrs old because of this. I couldn't walk up any stairs and it was worse at night when I laid down so I had to sleep propped up. The symptoms were definitely different to asthma as there was no wheeze - just incredibly short of breath. If that's what it is, then it will get better after treatment. Mine went away 2 weeks after my last treatment. But still mention to your onc and go to hospital if it gets really bad so they can rule out anything else. Good luck

Nadine