Asthma- smoke, allergens, inhalers, steroids- help!

When I was in college, I volunteered at the local homeless shelter.  Back then you were allowed to smoke indoors, and the morning after a night shift I would leave with my hair stiff with the smell of cigarettes (I had a lot more hair back then).  The next time I caught a cold, I was left with a cough that did not go away.  I hacked all day and woke up through the night coughing.  After a month of misery, I went to the college infirmary.  The PA there said I had a cold, and sent me on my way with a paper packet of cheap and gritty cough drops.  Weeks later, still hacking,  I went back.  The PA said and did the same things, again to no effect.  Weeks after that I went back yet again, this time insisting on seeing the doctor.  The doctor listened carefully to my story, said I had mild asthma from the combination of the cold and the cigarette smoke, and gave me an inhaler.  Within days, my cough was gone. Many people find asthma confusing and complex.  It is sometimes hard to diagnose, like my episode above.  It can be triggered by so many things and all the medicines can be confusing- what do I take when I am sick, and what medicines do I take when I am well?  Hopefully the next few paragraphs will give you a better understanding. Asthma, simply put, is wheezing that can be reversed by medicines.  In asthma, airways in your lungs are extra-sensitive to irritants, and close up to keep out those irritants- cold viruses,  pollen and other allergens, and cigarette smoke.  When the airways narrow and close, the wheezing you hear and feel is your breath whistling through those skinnier passages.  To reverse that airway narrowing, we use two classes of medicines.  The first are called bronchodilators, that open up ("dilate") your airways ("bronchioles").  These medicines are breathed in through inhalers and nebulizers.  The second medicines are steroids, which take away the swelling in inflamed airways.  Prednisone, taken as pills or syrup, is the most commonly used steroid.  Prednisone is very different from the steroid athletes abuse.  For the short five-to-seven day courses we use for asthma, it does not cause weight gain, hair growth, or rage attacks.  The most important treatment for asthma is to avoid the things that irritate.  If dogs make your kid wheeze, don't get a dog!  Teach your asthmatic kids good hand-washing so they don't get so many cold viruses at school.  If you smoke and your kid has asthma, quit!  At the very least, smoke outside the house and car where your kids breath.   Finally, for bad cases of asthma, there are medicines to take when you are well, all the time.  There are pills and inhaled steroids (again, perfectly safe)  that keep your airways from being so sensitive.  If exercise makes your kid wheeze, there are inhalers to take before exercise to help that.  All asthmatic kids should get a flu shot in the fall, since the influenza virus is particularly hard on airways. If all this is still confusing, ask your doctor for a written asthma plan to help you keep it straight.  Your child with asthma should be able to go to school, to run and play, without having asthma attacks.  If he can't, see your doctor to improve the asthma plan.  And for heaven's sake, if you smoke, see your doctor about ways to quit!