The muscles in your air tubes tighten. Asthma attacks may start suddenly, or they may take a long time, even days, to develop. Proper treatment depends on whether these attacks are severe, moderate or mild. Severe attacks cause you to become breathless. In the case of a severe asthma attack, take your asthma medicine immediately and get emergency medical help.
People sometimes die from severe attacks.
Moderate and mild attacks are more common. You may feel your chest tightening gradually. You may start coughing or spitting up mucus, feeling restless, and making whistling or wheezing sounds when your breathe. If this happens, take your asthma medicine right away. Usually, this will open the air tubes within minutes, but may take a few hours.