My symptoms all point to OA, what should i do?

I am a 34yr old male employed by a company who produce latex rubber products mainly for the footwear industry, we use numerous chemical as additives including resins, ultrafresh, actifresh, ammonia, curing agents and many more. My position at the moment is that i have developed difficulty with breathing, tight chest etc (December 07), i have been to my GP and at first he prescribed me Salbutamol to no effect, i am now using Qvar 100 Autohaler with noticeable benefit. Chest xray is fine my peak flow ranges from 480 -500 at weekends then drops toaround the 360 mark in and after work. All this but no diagnosis!!! Any ideas or pointers would be very helpful.

Occupational Asthma, Worker, 2/21/2008, 10/21/2008,

If you have done a serial peak flow record then we would be happy to analyse it for you.

2/22/2008

What information do you need?

2/24/2008

It sounds like you have taken some peak flow readings already so I thought that you may have completed a serial peak flow record. This is the main way that we diagnose occupational asthma. A serial peak flow record involves taking roughly 8 peak flow readings a day for about 4 weeks. The four week period needs to include some time at work and some time away from work. This can be a problem for people who work most days a week. It can also be a problem if you are off sick or have left work. Each day you should write down the date, the time you wake up, start work, end work and go to bed. You should also write down what jobs you were doing that day and any treatment taken. If taking an inhaler then do a blow before taking the inhaler. Your name, date of birth and height are also useful. Instructions on doing a serial peak flow record and the forms on which to write it all down are available from the links below. You can post the results to us when done. Data entry sheet for recording serial peak flow Workers Instructions for the Mini-Wright Meter Instructions for the Piko-1 Meter

2/25/2008

Sorry for the delay, i now have confirmation of OA from hospital after numerous lung function tests, have also had a CT scan and am awaiting an Histamine challenge test, what does a histamine challenge involve? Also what will the ct scan show?

7/14/2008

Hi. I have had a histamine challenge test before. Its a mildly uncomfortable test that takes about an hour all in. it's nothing to worry about. I think the doctors use it as a way of testing for asthma. I think the ct scan looks at the state of your lungs, I'm not sure they can use it for occupational asthma, maybe they are making sure you haven't got any other problems?

10/21/2008