Asthma must be taken seriously. Ventolin is fine to relieve some tightness or to use before a game of cricket or practice. But you really should be on a preventive, something to keep you from having the attacks in the first place, too. Advair is a great medication, but there are many out there on the market. You may even want to have your own nebulizer at home for when you are having a hard time or have a cold, etc., and your asthma is getting aggravated.

A young woman (1 month short of being 21) who was like a daughter to me was living with me a few summers ago. She was out of college for the summer and didn't have much money, so she never bought her asthma preventive medication, just the ventolin for when she felt tight. I left on a 2-day trip, and the first night I was gone, she had an asthma attack. She had finally started on a preventive medication for it, but she hadn't been taking it long enough to get it built up in her system yet. She called 911, but they didn't make it there in time. She died in our apartment.

So, as Sharni said, better to spend even a number of hours in the emergency room than to end up like my friend. Plus, they SHOULD see you damned fast if you tell them that you have asthma and are having trouble breathing. That should be taken as seriously as someone who is having a heart attack. Or, at least call your doctor; every doctor has to be on call on weekends or have someone covering for him or her. That person can talk to you on the phone and advise you as to whether you should go to the emergency room or whatever. DO IT, please.

BTW, your doctor or the asthma specialist should give you what's called a spirometer. It's a tube you blow into. It will tell you just how bad your lungs are at that point. Usually there are numbers on the side of the tube measuring it but also 3 gauges you can set where appropriate--put the green one up where it means that your lungs are in good shape if you were able to blow the marker that far or farther. A yellow one is placed at a point that means you better be careful; you're starting to have trouble. A red one is placed where it means you are definitely having trouble and should either use whatever medication the doctor said to use or call your doctor, etc. It comes in handy to get an idea of just what shape your lungs are in at that point asthma wise. I expect the asthma specialist will have you use one in his or her office and then will send you home with it. My daughter (who has had asthma all her life) has used one for years with great success.

GOOD LUCK...but ALSO DON'T WAIT FOR THAT APPOINTMENT WITH THE SPECIALIST. You need to see what is wrong, NOW.

PS: You should not still be left with a little wheezing even after you have used your ventolin. You should be able to end up wheeze free. You may need to be on prednisone for a while, too, if you are really having problems.

Now, I'm going to be worried about you until you write us back and tell us you saw or talked to some medical person about this.

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Communication is the key.