Hormones made it impossible for me to control my severe asthma

Poppy, 30, from Stratford-Upon-Avon, spent every month fearing she would end up in hospital as her hormones had such a terrible effect on her asthma. Here she shares her story.

Wondering whether every breath will be your last is an exhausting and terrifying way to live. I should know because I have severe asthma, and for years, I was too scared to be alone in case I had a life-threatening asthma attack.

I was diagnosed with severe asthma at the age of 11, after years of wheezing and chest infections – but when I hit my teens and started my periods, my lung health went from bad to worse.

By the time I was 13, my asthma was pretty much impossible to control, which strangely, coincided with the onset of puberty. It was my mum who first noticed a clear link between a worsening of my asthma symptoms and my periods. She started to keep a diary as evidence that my menstrual cycle was playing havoc with my breathing.

Finding the link with hormones

Over the next eight years, despite being on steroids, I had regular asthma attacks and nearly every one of them occurred in the run up to my period. It got to the stage that I was in hospital up to six times a year. On four occasions, I had to be put into an induced coma and ventilated. Each time this happened, my poor family had no idea whether I would survive.

Although other things would trigger attacks such as animals, certain foods, cold air and pollen, the link between my lung health and my hormones was impossible to ignore, and the more research me and my mum did, the more we became convinced that the hormones oestrogen and progesterone were triggering my asthma.

Losing hope

Asthma affects the airways in your lungs and can cause symptoms like coughing, wheezing and breathlessness. And for many women, female hormones can trigger asthma symptoms around times of hormonal change, like menstruation.

My mental health really suffered as a result of my asthma as it was a struggle to maintain my independence. Some days it was difficult just getting dressed, and often, I’d have to cancel plans with friends at the last minute because I was so breathless. I never really knew when I’d end up being rushed to hospital next.

As for living out my dreams - such as embarking on an exciting career and enjoying my freedom, it got to the stage where I was too scared to have any aspirations. I tried my best to stay positive and to plan, but the truth was, I was gradually losing hope.

Often, I felt like I was breathing through a straw. The only thing that was keeping me alive was long-term oral steroid tablets, and although I was grateful for them, I hated the fact they had such a brutal impact on my body. Taking them, meant that I put on weight easily, I nearly always had a puffy face, and they caused me to bruise and my hair to shed.

Worst of all, because I was taking them in such large quantities, I was warned that I was at risk of ending up in a wheelchair if I continued to take the medication in such high doses as my bones were likely to become brittle.

A life-changing treatment

Nine years ago, my fortunes changed when after my fourth ventilation, I was offered a drug called Omalizumab. This life-changing medication is a biologic treatment and is only available for certain types of severe asthma that are not controlled with high doses of steroid inhalers. It is something Asthma + Lung UK has spent years campaigning for people like me to access.

It has been an absolute game-changer for me, and I haven’t been hospitalised since I started receiving monthly injections of the medication at the age of 21.

I am now 30, and my life couldn’t be more different to how it was then. I live with my fiancé, and work as a television presenter, something I never imagined I’d be able to do as I have to talk for hours on end, and before starting on biologics, I’d have been too breathless. I have also trained as a nutritional therapist. Although I still need to be more cautious and I use my reliever inhaler more at certain times in my menstrual cycle, I’m very happy to say that my asthma is now very well controlled.

I have been lucky, but my heart still goes out to all those other women who dread every hormonal change (periods, pregnancy and perimenopause) for fear that they will experience a life-threatening asthma attack.

Asthma is worse for women

Earlier this year, Asthma + Lung UK published research revealing that women are more than twice as likely to die from an asthma attack as men, with the belief that hormonal changes are driving this shocking trend.

Women aged between 20 and 49 in England are 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than men the same age. This is why I echo the charity’s call for doctors to recognise these gender differences and to treat asthma in women differently.

Taking a preventer inhaler as prescribed, and keeping a symptom diary are good ideas, but overall, we need much more research into the sex-related differences with asthma. Without this, more women with asthma run the risk of living as I was – in constant limbo, and too terrified to live their lives. That’s why I’m wholeheartedly supporting Asthma + Lung UK’s campaign to call for more research into how female sex hormones can affect asthma. I am excited that the charity has agreed to fund another six studies on this subject, thanks to support from its generous supporters.

Do you want to learn more about how asthma affects women and what we’re doing to find the answers you need to live well with your lung condition? Sign up for specific news and updates on women and asthma here.

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