I had a pulmonologist tell me that sensitive airways are in the upper part of the airways and thus not life-threatening. True asthma is in the lower part of the lungs where the actual air exchange is more dangerous because of this. I am not certain if this is the same condition, but it was my diagnosis.
I also have the same problem with inhalers and sulfites.
Instead of an inhaler I have a nebulizer which I use with salbutamol. It is the same treatment they give you at the doctor's office. My portable machine is heavy, but good to pack when I am travelling.
The best long term solution for my asthma was when my doctor told me to raise the head of my bed by four to six inches, so that acid from my stomach did not leak up into the oesophagus and irritate my bronchial tubes which are right next door. My asthma is now only a problem if I get exposed to a specific irritant.
If I do not have my nebulizer on hand I place a towel over my head and a bowl of hot water to get the steam into my lungs and get my muscles to relax. Sometimes the reaction can be complicated by the additional factor of anxiety on top of the natural response and then Xanax does the trick for me.
I hope that something here can give you some help.

Wow... This is really interesting. I developed Asthma for the first time in my life 18 months ago, after an Anaphylactic reaction to Sulphites. Ever sonce then, I have had a terrible time 😢 It's as if my lungs have never recovered 😔
The trouble is, I am also allergic to Sulphur in medication (totally seperate allergy), so there is not a single fast response inhaler I can take. Only a preventative 😣 No-one seems to be able to help me. My doctors aee at a loss as to what to do when I have an Asthma attack 😣
I will now google Reactive Airway Disease and see if perhaps this is what plagues me.
Thank you for sharing this. It has given me another avenue to research in the hope of recovery 😘

This is a very interesting question but I think this type of question you should ask a doctor. I have no clue? I have asthma for many, many years. I've had an extreme case where I could not walk and breathe at the same time, and now I rarely ever have a problem with it since I figured out my food allergies. Good luck! I would be interested in learning the answer to your question.

My son uses inhalers about once per year when his allergic rhinitis turns into bronchitis and if not controlled pneumonia or an ear infection. . He was on nebulizers for years that were the equivalent of 1 puff of Flovent twice per day, Ventolin every 4-6 hours, and Atrovent every 6 hours and it wasn't controlled. I may have the amounts and timing mixed up because it has been awhile. He almost ended up on 5mg of Prednizone for one week because nothing was working when I received different counsel who advised me to switch his meds to:

Before he was 1 year old he had been placed on oxygen a few times, underwent a bronchcoscopy, numerous x-rays, and was almost put on oxygen. I've also heard the term Cough Variant Asthma.

2 puffs of 125 mg of Flovent twice a day and Ventoline when needed and for the first time in his 6 years of life, I had controlled "asthma".

Now, my son's asthma symptoms are so infrequent because he doesn't wheeze except when he gets bronchitis, pneumonia, or an ear infection that I call it Reactive Airway Disease which comes and goes based on the trigger. He coughs and only when he is asleep. Wake him up and his coughing stops which will resume when he goes back to sleep and it usually only occurs at 4am. His symptoms usually start with a sniffle for about 5 days which then progresses to congestion and cough and so on.

This is why I was wondering what the difference is between Asthma and Reactive Airway Disease. I didn't want to give too much information just to see how others described the differences so thank you very much for your response. I'm sure I haven't done a very good describing his symptoms but I hope someone will be able to tell me what he has.

Asthma is usually triggered by an external substance, like dust, or pollen. Reactive airways are more like having a predisposition to severe lung infections, and quickly developing breathing difficulties when fighting colds or hay allergies. Usually they require breathing treatments with a nebulizer when breathing becomes difficult. Asthma requires emergency inhalers for sudden attacks. I had reactive airways as a child, but I mostly outgrew it. Neither are fun, but RA is less sudden and easier to manage.