who has asthma?

[Alice I]

I am sitting here whinning because this is my fifth breathing treatment today. I know I sound like a whinny little git but I am sick to death of this B***S***
Does anyone else here have ridiculously uncontrolled asthma? I have seen the Dr., I have been on Prednizone (a powerful and sadistic steroid) I have taken so much albuterol that my heart rate is now normally over 100.
If anyone out there is dealing with this horrible cr*p what are you doing to cope? How do you get through day after day of not being able to breath or feeling like your chest is caught in some kind of horrible vice?

I don't see how people can live like this indefinatly. If it were not for my children I would check out of this S**** Roach Motel RIGHT NOW!

OK I am shaking because of the meds so maybe I should just stop but I know that I want to cry but mostly I just want to breath.

[Won Wheezy]

Awww, poor thing! I don't have asthma, but my boyfriend has - although not as bad, so I can't help you on that one. Have you always had Asthma? How come it's so bad, because I think most people get to a stage where they have hardly any attacks at all. Sorry that I don't have any tips for you, but I only want to say that it sure is a horrible thing to have and I feel very sorry for you and hope it will be better soon.

[Alice I]

Have you always had Asthma? How come it's so bad, because I think most people get to a stage where they have hardly any attacks at all.

I have not always had this. As a matter of fact it only started getting bad about six months ago and has progressivly been getting worse. I am at a point now where a nebulizer treatment will allow me to breath almost normally for 2 to 3 hours at best.
I will be calling my doctor today to see what more can be done.
I went to see her right before we all went to Disney and I was given a stronger dose of Prednizone and the strongest cough medicine available (according to the doctor).
She said the only other thing they could do is to admit me to the hospital indefinatly which I of course poo pooed.
If I can't find some sort of relief soon I will have no choice but to try and find another doctor. This is ridiculous and my husband is as upset about it as me (well maybe not quite as much as he can still breath).
I have never heard of asthma being so uncontrolled and was wondering if it is just me, or has anyone else herad of this situation? If you have what have you done, or what has your doctor done?

I am sorry I sound so whinny it's just depressing to not be able to play properly with my kids. I can't even walk up the stairs in my own house without feeling like I'm drowning. My three yr. old who is quite tall and heavy (not fat just large) wants me to pick her up a lot and I simply can't anymore.

[Moonstone]

Awwwwwwwww... not fun.. i kindo now what you mean.. my mom have asthma too.. and its hard on your lungs and all.. hope you get better..

[Alice I]

Well I have some good news.

I went back to the doctor and she put me on a whole bunch of new medicine. One of the things is called Advair which is actually a powder that you inhale., Singulair which is for allergy related asthma, more Prednisone (unfortunatly because I am blowing up like a bloody baloon), and a strong antibiotic because she thinks I have pneumonia on top of all of this. I have to use the nebuliser every four hours for a while also.

I am officially a walking pharmacutical at the moment but guess what I can breath!
I still can't play hard with my boobalas but at least I don't feel so bad that I want to end it all anymore. So things are looking up

[choki]

Well, I don't know the name of the drugs I can quote to you for the treatment of asthma. Generally they belong to the beta-2 adrenoceptor agonists which cause bronchodilation so as to relief airway.
The antibiotics and steroids treat infection and increased secretion due to inflammation.
Leukotriene modifiers & cromolyn sodium can be used prophaylactically in the treatment of asthma.

[Nobby]

you sound like you have asthma just as badly as my cousin- she's always had it and it stops here doing a lot of things

Does it effect you physically each day?

[Alice I]

Over that last three weeks or so I have been sent to Emergency a couple of times and when I went to see my Dr. on Friday my O2 saturation was down in the 80's (it is supposed to be 98 or 99)
She wanted to admit me to the hospital right away but I couldn't let her. My kids were in grade school and preschool and I had to go get them.

Every couple of hours I found myself unable to walk more than a few feet or speak more than three or four words at a time, so yeah it was affecting me not only every day but all day long.
My babies kept me centered thank God because I was really starting to feel like living was simply not worth the effort.
When I started this thread I was shaking and crying while I was sucking on the nebuliser and I really just wanted to end it all.

Boy am I glad I have my kids, my hubby and you guys here at BandO.
I know it sounds kind of silly but you folks are kind of a life line to me when I feel that badly.

The combination of steroids and other drugs that I am on now has really helped, and I have been able to breath a lot easier for that last few days.
That is one of the reasons I did a big Hug Fest on the Give Another Forum Member a Smile thread. I was just so happy to be able to function again.

[Nobby]

Let's just hope you continue to feel better Alice!

*big hug*

[Alice I]

Well, I am still breathing but nearly four weeks on Prednisone has effectivly turned me into a tomato!

One of the oh so charming side effects of this "wonder" drug is rapid weight gain and bloating.

Now I'm bumming about that but it won't take too long to drop it I hope.
Luckily I like summer fruits and vegitables so If I stick mostly to them and skip the hots dogs and burgers I should get back to my old self soon.

I wouldn't trade how I felt a few weeks ago for the side effects of the medication but you know I have to complain about something!

Now that the warmer weather is here I think things should go fairly well. This powdered stuff (Advair) is quite remarkable and I think that it has actually been more help than the prednisone!

[Athena Appleton]

awwww, poor alice!!!

Cameron and I both have asthma... thankfully not nearly like you seem to be having it, our triggers are usually really bad allergies or colds... but when we get it, we get the uglies.

I'll be prayin for ya

[Q.Araignee]

I have asthma too- I don't have it as badly as you Alice, but I have plenty of attacks anyway. If I have to do pe, I sometimes have to stop after a 1/2 hour& get sent to A&E.
I'll be thinking of you next time it happens, though.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

That's an old post... by the way.

But anyway, I know a few people with asthma.. Varying levels. I've noticed that they don't really mention it.

Quite a few people I wouldn't have guessed they had it suddenly just took out an inhaler recently.