About 3 months ago, I'm sitting on the couch. I felt like I got a real bad chest cold really quick. Started coughing, wheezing and production of mucus that I was coughing up. Also had a hard time breathing. I took two benedryls and started feeling better withing 20-30 minutes.

I've had one asthma attack that I know of in my entire life. I had a reaction to iodine used in a cat scan. It felt just like that.

Monday morning, as soon as I walked outside, it hit. Drove to work. Guys were concerned. I took two benedryls and same thing - started feeling better within 20-30 minutes.

This morning, sitting on the couch working up the effort to go to work, hit me again. I took 2 benedryls and was fine by the time I got to work.

I don't have issues normally sitting on the couch. Nothing has really changed. There is no consistant pattern. But it has to be asthma brought on by some allergic reaction, right?

Just monitor it? See if I can see a pattern and try and figure out what is triggering it? Know of anyone else who has never had an issue and then all of a sudden it is a problem? Any other ideas - other than going to see some doctor who all they are going to do is to prescribe me some life long pills?

Allergy-induced asthma. I dealt with it when I was younger and it's mostly gone away. I know you can develop it as you get older as well... there's really no rhyme or reason.

I would see an allergist and explain what happened and he'll likely test you and prescribe an emergency inhaler to use when needed.

See your primary care and consider seeing a pulmonologist. I had a similar thing a few years ago where I suddenly had shortness of breath with exercise and my O2 sats would drop to high 80s. Confirmed very high pulmonary inflammation with a FeNO test with my ENT- started on inhaler with steroid + long acting bronchodilator and monteluekast. Had pulmonary function test a month or so later and they were perfect.

I changed my diet based on Deep Nutrition and now off all meds. I chalk it up to a combination of COVID infection, RSV infection, episode of bronchitis and a bad american diet causing my immune system to get a bit wacky for a while.