TY - JOUR T1 - The challenges of living with severe asthma JF - Breathe JO - Breathe SP - 75 LP - 76 DO - 10.1183/20734735.101114 VL - 10 IS - 1 A2 - , Y1 - 2014/03/01 UR - http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/10/1/75.abstract N2 - A 59-year-old female from France, who was first diagnosed with severe asthma 10 years ago. When I was first diagnosed with asthma, the symptoms were very severe. I had daily problems and often visited the emergency room and experienced absences from work. My doctor tried a number of different high-dose treatments, but my asthma remained uncontrolled. I was referred to a specialist clinic and my asthma was defined as eosinophilic severe asthma. This meant that I could be enrolled in the DREAM trial, which was testing the effectiveness of antiinterleukin- 5 therapy. During this trial, my symptoms improved and my asthma was well controlled, but after the trial, I returned to oral steroids and experienced an exacerbation every month. Taking the steroids resulted in me gaining weight, which left me feeling depressed. My asthma has had a serious impact on my life and I am now afraid of doing things that I used to perform without any fear in the past. I have always competed in tennis tournaments since I was a child; however, I had to stop this and found that I couldn’t even play for fun with my partner. When I was first diagnosed with asthma, I remember asking the question, “Why has this happened so late in life?” I did not understand why asthma was commencing at 40. It was an enigma and the physicians were unable to answer this question. I also asked about the origin … ER -