Asthma in young people and teenagers

4) Know your symptoms

Group of teenagers laughing

© Crown copyright 2009

The first step in managing your asthma is to know how and when it affects you – your symptoms. For more information please see Causes of asthma.

You may have “asthma triggers” such as allergies to chemicals, dust mites or animal fur. For more information please see Asthma triggers.

Some asthma triggers are unpredictable such as cold weather, emotional induced asthma or even laughing.

Not everyone who has asthma has a wheeze.

Some people with asthma have most of their symptoms at night. This can affect how you can manage tasks during the day.

Keeping a note or diary of your symptoms and peak flow readings is a good way to keep a check on any changes in your asthma. For more information please see the section on peak flow.