How to identify asthma triggers

1. Identify possible asthma triggers. A trigger is anything that can lead to an asthma attack. When you are around something that triggers your symptoms, keep track of it. This can help you find a pattern in what triggers your symptoms. Record triggers in your asthma diary( What is a PDF document? ) or on your asthma action plan.
2. Monitor your lung function. Check yourself for asthma symptoms. Watch for things like being short of breath, having chest tightness, coughing, and wheezing. Also notice if symptoms wake you up at night or if you get tired quickly when you exercise. If your doctor recommends it, measure your peak expiratory flow (PEF). A trigger may not always cause symptoms. But it can still narrow your bronchial tubes, which makes your lungs work harder. To identify triggers that do not always cause immediate symptoms, you can measure your PEF throughout the day. PEF will drop when your bronchial tubes narrow, so your PEF will drop when you are near things that trigger symptoms.
3. Be tested for allergies. Skin or blood testing may be used to diagnose allergies to certain substances. Skin testing involves pricking the skin on your back or arms with one or more small doses of specific allergens. The amount of swelling and redness at the sites where your skin was pricked is measured to identify allergens to which you react.
4. Share your trigger record with your doctor. After you have found some things that may trigger your asthma, you and your doctor can devise a plan for how to deal with them.