Does anyone have asthma?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I had a bad experience at work yesterday, the worst I’ve had in a long time. One minute I was slightly uncomfortable, and before I knew it I was in the midst of a full-blown asthma attack. It was horrible. Very little air was moving in and out and EMS came and took me to the university hospital.

Whenver we have ozone alerts in the area, I know I’m in for it; that’s one of my biggest triggers. Usually my symptoms are mild; I feel a bit like a fish out of water but can usually catch that deep breath that I need. It’s not comfortable, but never seemed especially dangerous either. Well, that’s what I thought, anyhow. Have you ever just gotten used to something like that and tried to hope that things would improve soon? I really should have seen my primary care doc weeks ago. I’ve been having a rough time with allergies this year.

At any rate, bees were found to be in the walls at work, so the outside of the building was sprayed over the weekend. The snack area was somehow infested and bees had made their way inside, so a microwave/fridge room off to the side was rather inelegantly sealed off with a rug shoved against the door and secured with packing tape to keep the door closed. The larger room immediately adjacent had been sprayed as well; I was in there briefly to get a pop. I never drink that stuff, but my usual water cooler was inaccesible.

I was more uncomfortable than usual yeaterday, and as the day went on felt more like a fish out of water than I have in a long time. I commented to my co-workers sitting nearby that I needed to see the doctor and quit procrastinating. I picked up the phone and dialed. It turned out to be good timing. I told the receptionist at the medical center that I needed an appointment asap and she noticed that I couldn’t speak in full sentences without gasping for air. She put the nurse on the phone. After a brief conversation the nurse told me that she was calling an ambulance for me, and asked my location. It was getting hard to talk at that point. I managed to tell the person working closest to me that I needed something to drink, NOW. She hustled off to get it, and the wonderful lady in the office next to mine (she can see me from her desk) asked with some alarm if I was OK. I shook my head and she came and took the phone, taking over and giving directions, explaining that I could only speak a few words at a time and so on.

I work at a university, in the financial aid department. There were five people in the office at that time, and they couldn’t have been more wonderful. One ran outside to direct the ambulance, and the director and IT person materialized and got me on the floor, propping me up against the chair. I was starting to see these floating dancing black spots by then and was scared out of my mind. I kept trying to remind myself to stay calm. These wonderful women held my hands and talked to me very calmly, telling me I was going to be fine. It helped more than I can say, but I sure did wish the elephant would get off of my chest!

Before I knew it the EMT guys had me in the ambulance. They put me on oxygen and gave my baby aspirin and nitroglycerin. It’s a small white pill that you put under your tongue. I had two of them - they kind of sting or something as they dissolve. After the second one I felt better.

I got to the hospital, where they took very good care of me. I had an EKG, three breathing treatments, a chest x-ray, and they monitored my stats. My oxygen stats were pretty good, but my carbon that I was breathing out was too low. Does anyone know why that would be? My blood pressure had been high for me, but after a while it stabilized to my usual below average readings.

The breathing treatments helped so much! Sweet relief at last. My husband and kids were able to stay with me in my tiny cube, which I appreciated. We were there for about five hours and the E.R. staff was excellent. I left with a prescription for an albuterol inhaler and Prednisone.

Now I still feel slightly breathless on occasion, but it’s better. I started using the inhaler an hour ago. It tightens me up a little at first, but that soon went away. I need to keep it with me all the time. I also have this thing that I need to blow in to get my baseline capacity or something like that. If it goes to less than half of my usual rate, I need to get help right away. It’s comforting to have that, because I feel like I can have at least some control and monitor myself if it gets bad again.

I hope it never gets bad again.

2

Scary experience. I have had asthma since I was a kid, and can sympathize with what you went through. But I hope you’ve learned that asthma is something you don’t want to fuck around with. A cheerleader at my highschool died of an asthma attack–couldn’t get her to the hospital in time. Ditto a guy my dad knew. It’s more than just uncomfortable–it can be life-threatening. But there are very good meds these days, so you can control it. I played on the varsity soccer team, despite my asthma, and the meds they have now are much better than back then (late 80s).

3

I was diagnosed a few years ago but I think I’ve had it much longer. I thought I had bad allergies, too, but I also had allergy testing and was only allergic to one thing, dust mites. Certain pollens and some other things were setting off asthma attacks but they were not allergies.

My asthma attacks start as coughing which eventually progresses to wheezing and difficulty breathing if I don’t use my rescue inhaler as soon as I start coughing. My triggers are smoke, some strong perfumes/colognes and many chemicals, especially bleach (most people at work don’t understand that it doesn’t need to be used full strength).

I also take singulair daily. I do not need steroidal inhalers yet. I try to avoid my triggers so I don’t have to use my rescue inhaler too often.

4

Yep, I was diagnosed around age five (I’m 33 now). I carry my albuterol inhaler with me every day. Generally I only use it as a preventative measure, such as right before I go for a run. I use it in response to feeling short of breath perhaps as often as once a month during much of the year. I use it more often in spring and fall due to my allergies.

A few years ago I went in for a refill on my inhaler’s prescription and ended up seeing a fantastic physician’s assistant. He introduced me to the Rule of Twos, a guideline for whether or not I have a temporary need for a long-acting inhaler to supplement my regular fast-acting one. You’ve broken the rule and likely ought to be on a maintenance medication if:

You reactively use your “quick-relief inhaler” more than two times a week
You awaken at night with asthma more than two times a month
You refill your “quick-relief inhaler” more than two times a year

The other thing he taught me is that it’s better to use the inhaler too much than too little. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to take medicines, even for simple things like a headache. Asthma, however, gets worse the more often it goes untreated. Despite the fact that it’s a serious threat anytime you can feel it, trying to push through and go without your rescue inhaler makes things worse in the long run.

Glad to hear you’re okay! I’ve not been to the ER for my asthma in about six years, but I remember how scary an experience it can be.

5

I had to go to urgent care today - it was really bad. by the time I got there I wasn’t in good shape. They gave me an IV of steroids and two inhaler/mist treatments. We got home at 5:15 and I am starting to struggle again. I just took a hit on my albuteral inhaler - hopefully it will work.

What am I supposed to do - live at the urgent care? My husband will be home soon and we can decide what to do.

6

Sorry to hear your having so many troubles!

I have been fortunate in that my asthma is usually mild and intermittent - I can go 7-9 months without any inhaler use, no night awakenings, no symptoms, no signs. Then I’ll get an upper respiratory infection or stumbling across something I’m allergic to or accidentally eat something I’m allergic to and I’m reminded that yes, the problem is still there even if it hides for months at a time.

In my lifetime I’ve been in the ER only twice, but both times were quite frightening, I do empathize. It’s also proof that even “mild” asthma can be dangerous. I’ve been on courses of steroids several times as well, which I hated hated hated, but they were necessary.

Sometimes I’ve had people tell me I’m too healthy to have asthma - no, I’m healthy because I don’t screw around with it. I carry my inhaler with me even if I haven’t used it for most of a year. I avoid my known triggers. If I get any symptoms I don’t ignore them, I deal with them appropriately.

It’s a pain in the ass, but I enjoy breathing too much to do otherwise.

7

I was diagnosed perhaps a year or so ago. I only seem to have reactions around too much perfume/cologne (we’re talking excessive or if I spend too much time in the perfume area of a store or even the cleaning supplies) and if I’m running around a lot (I went to the doctor after it took me most of the hour long bus ride to work to catch my breath, after running across the street for said bus).

Thinking back on it, the signs have been there since I was young, I just stopped doing a lot of running around. I can recall in junior high dropping from the volleyball team because I couldn’t handle the pre-game/practice running (and being massively teased as a result). I just thought I was out of shape… and none of us thought of it except to tell me to go out and run around more because I was out of shape.

Thankfully I’ve never ended up in the ER for it though.

8

I’m not but I had a girlfriend that was. Eye opening. We went camping during the fall, the temperature dropped and she had an attack during the night and couldn’t breathe. We were way up in the hills in a wilderness area and had been partying all night. I drove 40 miles out of mountain roads with a bottle of bourbon between my legs doing shots for stimulation until we got to the nearest small town that had a hospital. The last ten miles she was telling me she couldn’t breathe and was gasping “I CAN"T BREATHE!!!”. Turning blue, the whole nine yards. UN-REAL. The hospital got her on a machine that fixed her right up. I seriously thought she was going to croak.

9

Asthma can be very frightening, fortuantely I no longer have bad asthma, though there were times I would have to debate whether I had enough air to cross a street all the way without getting stuck in the middle.

The thing to remember after a major attack is your lungs will remain “twichy” for awhile.

They will be more sensative to the things that trigger your asthma than normal. So make sure you carry your rescue inhaler and use it at first sign.

You might want to even ask your doctor about giving you a weeks worth of steriods for your asthma. It’s like one pill a day for a week, to get your lungs back in shape. While steroids are not suited for long term use in asthma (in most but not all cases) a week’s worth of steriods would probably benefit you.

10

I’m sorry you had to go back to the hospital. Can you take a day off to recover? People who don’t have asthma don’t understand how scary it is. Your doctor should be able to help you come up with a treatment plan to keep it from getting that bad. Don’t be shy about asking for someone who specializes in asthma - a pulmonologist or allergist if it’s allergy related.

Asthma is very treatable these days, it’s a matter of finding the right combination for you. My sister has had asthma since she was little, and I’ve had it since my teens. The medications are so much better now, and you can get allergy testing to see if avoidance will be able to help. Avoidance, at least for me, doesn’t work perfectly but I’m in better condition when I do get an attack.

11

Where is Purplehaze? Last I saw they posted on the 18th!!! Are you alright???

12

I’ve had asthma since I was 3, and am now 48. Back in the day they didn’t have inhalers - and when they came out they wouldn’t prescribe them for kids.

I have elements of both intrinsic and extrinsic, and over the decades my allergic reactions have changed several times. (They used to think folks “outgrew” allergic asthma. Instead, more often it will go into abeyance, or manifest with different symptoms.) I’ve only required hospital treatment once, in my 20s when I was off my maintence meds, and we burnt some moldy wood while camping. Not a fun experience - what little I remember of it.

Nowadays in most cases asthma is very manageable. You just need to find the right combinations of meds. Get yourself the proper maintenance meds and ALWAYS carry your albuterol inhaler (personally, I HATE the term “rescue” inhaler)!

13

Were you breathing really fast? When you hyperventilate, you take up a lot of oxygen, so your oxygen saturation would be high (probably 100%). However, you blow off CO2 faster than your producing it. To make a long story short, if you do this long enough, you’ll jack up your bloods acid/base balance. This can cause fun things like Carpopedal Spasms. There’s other potential causes, but this is the most likely IME.

St. Urho
Paramedic