Clean Air? - Asthma Message Board

mergatroy · 07-21-2006, 09:51 PM

I have only been diagnosed as asthmatic for about a year and a half. I am still learning about what triggers it.

But once it is triggered, I still need to breathe, and I can't breathe the air around me. What would YOU do? Albuterol and xopenex and astelin spray and naxonex and rhino cort aqua and allegra and omnihist II LA do NOT rescue me.
Only Prednisone.

But I still need to breathe. So I though about a scuba tank. Why not carry a tank with clean air? Breathe it for a period of time, until you are doing better or until the ambulance gets there.

What do you think? Inputs appreciated.

iyami · 08-08-2006, 12:25 PM

carrying around a tank of air seems to be a bit over the top to me, its expsensive heavy and impratcical, but if you want to do that there shouldnt be anything worng with it. i just try to get away form whatever it is thats triggerying symptoms for me, i havent found anything better i can do just yet

are you suposedto go to teh hospital when you have attacks? my school nurse just said "it will pass" when i complain that it feels like someone is squishing my lungs and i cnat cetch my breath, which i FINALLY found out means ive been having astham attcks, but i think theyre not that bad if no ones told me to go to the hospital? but my shcool nurse was also one of the most unhelpful nurses ive met, so i may be wrong.

mergatroy · 08-09-2006, 11:13 PM

iyami,

Hi, I am not excited about "lugging around" a scuba tank. I just bought a used one tonight. I will fill it and leave it here at the house. When we travel, I will put it in the motorhome and if I hit an area like I did in June, I can at least have enough good air so I can survive. I take two HEPA air filters with me when we travel, plus my epi-pen, plus my dozen or so meds I am on.

To answer your question, my doctor is furious with me when I don't go to the ER with these attacks. He says my reliance on Prednisone will kill me someday. I hope she is wrong. My asthma does not "go away". I have to use prednisone to lower my autoimmune system, then my lungs will accept the air around it. My pulmonologist told me my asthma is severe enough to kill me. When we go on a trip in our MH, I ask how close their hospital is, then when I get there, I drive to it, so we know its location.

It isn't any fun. I do it to try to stay ahead of my problems. I hope you never get asthma this bad. I only got it about 18 months ago. I am 61.
My wife taught Elementary school for 32 years and she says most school nurses are all kinds. Good and bad. Be careful, if you have severe asthma,
make sure your doctor sends a prescription to the school. That will show the nurse you have a serious ailment and she won't think you are goofing off.
I was a real goof off in high school and the nurse would roll her eyes when I came in. There is a form in the nurses office for your doctor to fill out. If you will do this, she will have to take you more seriously. good luck

iyami · 08-10-2006, 03:12 PM

that sounds like a very good plan to me, not as inconvenient as i was thinking before, and it sounds much safer than just trying to get outof the area as fast as you can.

i hoenstly was enever even told what asthma really IS, i just realized that, all i know is that it feels liek my lungs are squished, i should probably try to find an explanation on webmd.

yikes, if its that bad you should atleast go to yourdocter if not the hospital, it sounds dangerous indeed. my fiance worrys about my asthma though so far it hasnt seemed to be too out of controle (i have no controle over it but i havent passed out atleast, and my attacks do eventually just ware off) he has asthma but his is very mild.

mergatroy · 08-10-2006, 11:02 PM

iyami,

If you have been told you have asthma, and if you have medical coveage, or if you qualify for any health aid, I would HIGHLY recommend you find out.

When I was first told I had asthma, I sort of thought...oh....whatever. That will be inconvienent if it is true. No big deal.

But after a couple of episodes where I fell in the floor gasping for air, I was a believer and not having enough air scares me silly.

A lot of ways to die, lack of air is one I really fear. You may just have allergies, but you need to see a doctor to get the process started.

I wish you the best of luck...it has taken me over a year to start understanding what is going on in my body. I don't like any of it. I am a prisoner in my own home. On bad air days, I can't walk 50 ft to the mail box without gasping for air. It scares me.

I hope they are mistaken, I hope you don't have it. I went 59 years without it, then it just seemed to pop up. You sound a lot younger than 59, so take care of yourself and see a doctor......take care.......