If you are an sufferer, then for many of you, your inhalers are a special part of your lives; a safety net if you like when symptoms begin "to rear their ugly heads." Many people believe they are in control however, if you are using your inhaler several times a week then are you really in control of asthma.

Monitoring Asthma Symptoms

Consider these facts and ascertain what level of control you have:

- have you had to use your inhalers several times a week?

- have symptoms such as tightness in the chest and breathlessness as well as coughing at night been a factor at least three times a week?

- have symptoms prevented you from completing regular activities?

If the above scenarios are dominating your life, then asthma control may not really be present as you would like it.

What Can You Do To Better Control Asthma?

While controller medicines "can knock symptoms on the head" when they begin to emerge, while they are effective, they are really only delaying the onset of the next asthma attack. You need to be a little more dilligent and a little more preventative conscious. Try the following to gain better control:

1. Take a few minutes and write down the triggers which are common with an attack.

2. Underline those which seem associated with the emergence of symptoms in your case. Be honest here as it's important you identify correctly which ones seem to be a factor everytime an attack is imminent.

3. Make an appointment to see your doctor and take your list with you.

4. Discuss with your doctor those triggers you've underlined and what they are associated with. A plan of action can then be determined so you can avoid as much as possible the triggers.

When making your list, you may be surprised at how long it can get. Triggers are everywhere but what affects one person may not affect another. Make sure to be truthful in your initial assessment.

Asthma control medicines certainly play an important part in the overall monitoring game. Your doctor will consider those triggers which affect you and draft up a plan which will suit your day-to-day living. Once a plan has been devised, it will be up to you to follow it. By staying away from the triggers which seem to effect you, living as free as you possibly can from this disease can become a reality.

A step-by-step plan won't cure asthma but can certainly give you better control.