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Help You Stay as Well as Possible
all the Time.
Monitoring can help you stay as well as possible all
the time on the minimum medication needed to keep you there.
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Help Your Doctor to Assess You
and Your Needs
When you visit your doctor or nurse for a follow-up,
they will want to gather as much information as possible about how
well you are at the visit and in the run-up to the visit. Records
from home monitoring can provide the maximum amount of information
in the minimum amount of time, helping your doctor ensure you get
the most appropriate care. |
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Enable You to Have a Self-Management
Plan
A self-management plan is a set of guidelines agreed
between you and your doctor on 'what to do when'. This plan gives
you much more control over your asthma and can help you to stay well.
Most plans require some degree of home monitoring. You can find out
more about this in the the page Having a
Self-Management Plan. |
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Help You to Identify Your Triggers
It is very important to identify those things which
bring on your asthma symptoms or make them worse. Most people with
asthma have more than one trigger. Although some triggers are obvious,
others prove more difficult to identify. Monitoring can be a great
help in identifying these elusive triggers. Getting
to Know Your Triggers provides more information on this area.
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Help You Feel More in Control of
Your Asthma and Your Life!
Most people with asthma should be able to achieve
the quality of life they wish. If you want to be in control you must
take the time to find out about your asthma. It is important to know
the signs which indicate you need to alter your treatment or seek
help; leaving things to chance and hoping you will get better soon
can be dangerous. Monitoring at home combined with good education
and care from your doctor and/or asthma nurse can help in achieving
this goal. |
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Help You Understand Your Asthma
Monitoring can help improve you knowledge and understanding
of your condition. The records you produce can also provide an excellent
focus for discussion with your doctor or nurse. |
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If Your Doctor is Not Sure it is
Asthma
Sometimes it can be quite difficult for doctors to
confirm asthma is present. This is particularly so in young children
and in older people unable to use a peak flow meter. Monitoring at
home can help confirm the diagnosis. This is explained more fully
in How Does the Doctor Know
it is Asthma? |
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If You Have Just Been Diagnosed
With Asthma
If you have just been diagnosed with asthma, you will
probably be starting one or more asthma medications. Monitoring at
this time can help ensure that the treatments are correct for you
and are working effectively. |
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If Your Medication is Changed in
Any Way
You should always monitor your asthma when your medications
are changed in any way. This is to ensure the change has the desired
effect. Changes may include:
(a) An increase in the dose of your current medication or the addition
of a new medication if your asthma is showing signs of poor control.
(b) A decrease in your current medication(s) if you have been well
and free from asthma symptoms. |
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To Check That You Really Are as
Well as You Can be!
It is useful to monitor your asthma for a couple of
weeks every now and then even if you think you are at your best. This
will ensure that you are in fact, as well as you could be. The variable
nature of asthma means that your asthma control may vary from time
to time. In addition, people with asthma often think they are at their
very best when in fact things could be improved further. |
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If You are Trying to Establish
Your Personal Best Peak Flow
It is important to know your personal best peak flow.
Any peak flow readings, whether taken by you at home or in by the
doctor in the surgery, should be compared to this. Your best peak
flow will change over time and with age so it is worth re-establishing
it about once a year. In addition, if you obtain a new peak flow meter
for home monitoring, it is essential you re-establish your best value.
This is because meters vary slightly in their readings even if they
are the same make! You can find out more about peak flow in Understanding
Peak Flow. |
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If You Suspect Something is Making
Your Asthma Worse But are not Sure What it is
Monitoring can help you identify those sometimes elusive
triggers which are responsible for bringing on or worsening your asthma
symptoms. |
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If You Have Recently Had an Asthma
Attack
The first days and weeks following an asthma attack
are a particularly vulnerable time. Your lungs will be very irritable
and need a reasonable 'settling down' period. Your medication will
have been changed in some way to help your lungs recover. Home monitoring
can help you and your doctor accurately assess your improvement; it
can give you a clearer idea as to when (and if) you are well enough
to reduce your medications. |
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If You Use a Self-Management Plan
Many self-management plans require you to monitor
your condition. You can find out more about this in Having
a Self-Management Plan. |
