• The muscles around the airways tighten.
• The linings of the airways become swollen
• The normal secretion of the airways (called mucus) becomes "trapped," thus clogging the air ways.

As the airways become narrower and more obstructed, it takes extra effort to breathe and force air through them. The air may make a whistling or wheezing sound as it goes past the narrowed parts of the air passages. A person having an asthma attack may also cough a lot and spit up a lot of very sticky mucus.

So one or more of the following symptoms may occur once the airways have narrowed in response to a trigger.

Coughing:

Coughing is often a sign of asthma, but is easily overlooked. As a general rule, healthy people don't cough unless they have something in their throats or have a cold.

Wheezing:

Wheezing is a whistling noise heard during breathing, as if something is "caught" in one of the breathing passages.

Tightness of the Chest:

Many adults with asthma describe a tightness of the chest, an uncomfortable feeling caused by over-inflation of the lungs  due to difficulty in pushing air out through the narrowed airways.

Shortness of Breath:

Shortness of breath is the feeling that a breath is barely finished before another is needed. It has been described as "air hunger" by some people.

Mucus Production:

Wheezing is a whistling noise heard during breathing, as if something is "caught" in one of the breathing passages.

For many people, asthma symptoms are worse at night and in the early morning or after exercise. Furthermore, and asthma episode often gives early warning signs, thus giving the person time to act.

TRIGERS

Allergy and asthma attacks are both provoked by environmental factors. Generally harmless substances such as dust, pollen, peanuts or cold air become "triggers" to the sensitized immune systems of people with allergies or to the inflamed airways of those who endure asthma.

The first step in controlling your condition is to find out which triggers provoke an attack. Keeping an allergy/asthma diary may help you isolate suspected triggers.

If you are not able to identify the triggers on your own, skin tests are an accurate and inexpensive method to do so. The skin is pricked or scratched with a small drop of a potential allergen and the reaction is observed.

While the number of potential triggers is as varied and numerous as the people who might suffer them, there are several common ones that can be listed.

Indoor Triggers:

• Cessation of menses
• Dust
• Dust mites
• Mold
• Pet dander
• Colds and flu
• Tobacco smoke
• Wood burning smoke
• Perfume
• Paint fumes
• Aerosol sprays
• Foods
• Medications
• Cockroach debris