when my asthma is really bad i use alleve for the muscle pain (seems to work better and is less toxic for the kidneys/liver) and also i do the hot steamy shower thing. also i use a vaporizer or a pot of hot water on the stove and drape a towel over my head and breathe in the steam from that...it helps to mositen things up and make the breathing easier.

sometimes when the chest pulls are bad they hesitate (with me anyway) to give anything for pain because my breathing is already compromised and that would make it more so....os the trick is to loosen up the congestion inside the lungs which will make it easier to bring crap up and ease the pain.