Treatment

If you and your doctor have worked out an asthma plan, follow its directions at the first sign of an asthma attack.

This generally means taking two to six puffs of a quick-acting (rescue) inhaler to get airway-expanding medication, such as albuterol (ProAir HFA, Proventil HFA, Ventolin HFA, others) and levalbuterol (Xopenex), deep into your lungs. Small children and those who have trouble with inhalers can use a nebulizer. After 20 minutes, you can repeat the treatment one time if necessary. If you continue to wheeze or feel breathless after treatment, visit your doctor or urgent care that day.

If you're having symptoms of a severe asthma attack, such as difficulty speaking because you're so short of breath, use your quick-acting (rescue) medication and get to a doctor's office or urgent care immediately.

Your doctor may recommend that you continue to use quick-acting medication every three to four hours for a day or two after the attack. You might also need to take oral corticosteroid medication for a short time.

Emergency treatment

If you go to the emergency room for an asthma attack in progress, you'll need medications to get your asthma under immediate control. These can include:

• Short-acting beta agonists, such as albuterol. These are the same medications as those in your quick-acting (rescue) inhaler. You may need to use a machine called a nebulizer, which turns the medication into a mist that can be inhaled deep into your lungs.
• Oral corticosteroids. Taken in pill form, these medications help reduce lung inflammation and get your asthma symptoms under control. Corticosteroids can also be given intravenously, typically to patients who are vomiting or who are experiencing respiratory failure.
• Ipratropium (Atrovent HFA). Ipratropium is sometimes used as a bronchodilator to treat a severe asthma attack, especially if albuterol is not fully effective.
• Intubation, mechanical ventilation and oxygen. If your asthma attack is life-threatening, your doctor may put a breathing tube down your throat into your upper airway. Using a machine that pumps oxygen into your lungs will help you breathe while your doctor gives you medications to bring your asthma under control.

After your asthma symptoms improve, your doctor may want you to stay in the emergency room for a few hours or longer to make sure you don't have another asthma attack. When your doctor feels your asthma is sufficiently under control, you'll be able to go home. Your doctor will give you instructions on what to do if you have another attack.

If your asthma symptoms don't improve after emergency treatment, your doctor may admit you to the hospital and give you medications every hour or every few hours. If you're having severe asthma symptoms, you may need to breathe oxygen through a mask. In some cases, a severe, persistent asthma attack requires a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU).