Many people with asthma can breathe, run and exercise without trouble most of the time—but certain triggers, inside or outside your body, can set off a cascade of symptoms that last from minutes to weeks. When your asthma kicks in, think about what environments you were recently exposed to and try to figure out what is setting you off. This will help you know what to avoid in the future. The most common triggers include:   Air pollution - Smog and extreme changes in the weather can irritate and greatly increase the number of asthma attacks.  Exposure to an allergen - Common allergens include grass, trees, pollen, certain foods, etc). Note that the combination of an allergic reaction along with an asthma attack can be very dangerous and should not be taken lightly.  Cold air - Cold air can dry out airways and irritate the respiratory system, causing an onset of asthma  Illness - A respiratory infection such as the common cold can dry out the airways and irritate the respiratory system, causing the onset of your asthma.  Irritants in the air - Any smoke (from tobacco to wood smoke) can trigger an asthma attack, as can fragrances in the air, like perfumes, colognes and scented aerosols.  Dust and mold - Your home environment can be the source of an asthma attack, particularly if mold or dust are present.  Stress and strong emotions - If you are overwhelmed by stress or dealing with depression or anxiety, then you may be more susceptible to an asthma attack.   Physical activity - Exercise can trigger an asthma attack in some people.   Foods that contain sulfites or other preservatives - Some people also have asthma attacks after consuming  foods that contain sulfites or other preservatives, such as shrimp, beer, wine, and dried fruit. If you are having trouble figuring out what causes your asthma to flare up, keep track of your symptoms for several weeks in an asthma diary that details all the environmental, physical and emotional factors you encountered. Grab your diary any time you experience a flareup and document your symptoms, how you felt, and what you did or were exposed to right before the attack.  Look for a pattern. If you suspect your asthma is triggered by bodily factors like the flu, track your asthma and other illnesses over the course of a year and see if you can find a correlation. Be consistent.  The diary will be most useful if you fill it in as often as possible.  If you tend to be absent-minded, set an appointment on your phone or computer to remind you to update it if something eventful has happened. Bring your diary with you to checkups with your doctor, as this can help your doctor craft a proper treatment regimen for you. You should learn to recognize warning signs of an impending attack, such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath or chest tightness. It's also a good idea to regularly measure and record your peak airflow with a home peak flow meter since you may not be able to immediately register that your lung function is decreasing. A peak expiratory flow meter is a small device that measures the maximum speed of expiration in order to monitor a person's ability to exhale air. If the measurements range from 50% to 79% of your personal best, this is indicative of an asthma flareup. Regularly measuring and logging your peak flow can help you determine what is normal and thus, what is abnormal for you. If your triggers still aren't clear, your pulmonologist, allergist or general practitioner can perform tests to help you discover what sets off your asthma. Allergy testing is not a tool used for general diagnosis of asthma, but it is a useful technique for determining triggers. A number of allergic symptoms can be associated with asthma. The association of asthma with atopy is well documented . Atopy is defined as having IgE antibodies to particular antigens, which means you would have a genetic predisposition towards certain diseases including asthma, rhinitis, and eczema.
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