When My Asthma Attacks

 

After being dormant for the past 6 months, ay asthma decided to resurface last week. Since I had no idea if my meds were still updated, I scheduled an appointment with my pulmo. I was prescribed a bevy of drugs which would hopefully control the attacks. 

I thought I outgrew this but the allergies came out full force during my second pregnancy, including my asthma. Not only did I have to see my OB and my endo but my pulmo as well. It's frustrating that my body became sensitive to stuff which I usually ignore--like dust and my favorite food--mangoes. Either would trigger a round of coughing and wheezing. 

There's also the matter of cost. The above meds cost me around P7+K. I have to nebulize two types of meds and one of them costs P200 each! And I have to nebulize 3x/day. Out of all of these, it's the Zykast I hate the most as it makes me groggy the next day (side effect of antihistamines).

I've tried essential oils but I can't seem to find the right mix yet. Maybe one of these days, I'll find one that will be able to control the attacks. 

Awful Week

It has been an awful week. I've had worse but this is just one of those weeks that makes me crave for alcohol. 

I hate arguing and being at odds with other people. I almost ended the day with a negative thought about a co-worker. But I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy my weekend with having that hanging over my head. So I read her message and wrote back a consolatory note. I acknowledged her message and apologized as we can't do what they've asked. I could've argued further but I ended it by wishing her a happy weekend and for us to rest. We can continue our argument on Monday.

In the meantime, my kdramas are waiting for me. 

Oh, and my asthma is also acting up. I've forgotten that February is that start of asthma season. I managed to snare a teleconsult schedule with my pulmo. She managed my asthma before when I was pregnant and hopefully, I can live with this without too much suffering the coming months. Something in our room is triggering my allergies. Funny though that I haven't suffered an attack from the months of July to January but it's now starting all over again. Six months of bliss versus six months of hell. Quite a cycle but then, we can't always have good things happen to us.

 

Asthma During Pregnancy

My recent pregnancy was harder compared to my previous. The first one was easy peasy. Granted I went on leave for two weeks just for the morning sickness, but I can't recall going on bed rest or sick leave for the rest of the pregnancy (probably once or twice).

However, for this recent one, I had allergies galore specifically asthma. I've always been asthmatic but it was worse this pregnancy. My inhalers received quite a workout and I was even prescribed three inhalers early in my pregnancy. Not to mention I almost exhausted my sick leaves as my attacks became more frequent especially during my last trimester.

I was initially apprehensive and shared this with my OB as on top of my inhalers, I also had to take anti-asthma medicine. She said that she prefers the alternative of me being able to breathe as whatever happens to me, affects the baby in my tummy.

A couple of weeks before I gave birth, I visited my pulmo again to prepare for my caesarean operation. She prescribed more anti-asthma meds and even steroids which I'm supposed to take the day before.

I don't know if it's the results of all those meds but when my son came out, he was screaming madly. I guess there's no question how healthy his lungs are.

Ten weeks after giving birth, I haven't had a bad asthma attack like the ones I experienced during my pregnancy. I really hope not to go through that again.

Barely Breathing

My recent prescription

When I said in my blog introduction that I'm asthmatic since I was a child, I'm not kidding. I've been hospitalized before because of it and I do not want it to happen again.

Ever since I returned from the US last December, I haven't stopped coughing. I've visited a doctor twice: one on Dec. 22 and the other on Jan. 14. The December doctor noted (this was at the Asian Hospital ER) that I just arrived from the US a couple of weeks before my consultation and immediately had x-rays done. Since I was not showing any signs of infection, he just prescribed Strepsils for Dry Cough. I went home relieved and bought my first batch of lozenges. Unfortunately, even if I'm sucking on those tablets like crazy, the cough still won't abate.

I went back to the hospital on January and this time, visited a pulmonologist. After listening to my breathing and my lungs and considering my other symptoms, she ruled that I'm having an asthma attack. I was surprised as I was barely wheezing but apparently, the cough is already a symptom in itself. Since my attacks have been not as frequent lately, I have not been taking my maintenance, moreover, I'm not comfortable in taking in medication. I just use my inhaler whenever I'm having an attack.

So, she gave me steroids, asthma medication and something for my cough. I took those things as prescribed but the cough, though it abated a bit, still won't go away.

When I had a bad attack last weekend which kept me in bed the whole time, I succumbed and found another pulmonologist yesterday. This time around, she added to my medication as noted in my prescription above. I was shocked when I saw it but since my symptoms were not going away, she decided to aggressively treat my asthma. It was that or be hospitalized due to bronchial spasm which my lungs will I will end up with if I don't treat my current condition. I was also given antibiotics as the lethargy that I was feeling which made me take half the day off last Friday was already a throat infection, which exacerbated my cough.

I've also been ordered to rest for another day. Hopefully, I will get better soon. I miss walking and biking. I want my life back!

Asthma is a condition which I have to live with for the rest of my life. I just have to learn to live with it and not let it rule my life. Unfortunately, having a low RBC count is not helping my case. I'm still having tests done for that as I'm perennially anemic which means that oxygen is also not circulating properly in my blood. Thus, it was not a surprise that I feel faint whenever I push my heart rate (in fact, in my last Executive check-up, the nurse made me life down after my treadmill as I was quite pale and my blood pressure was dropping too fast). Let's just see where that will go.

In the meantime, I hope this latest batch of meds will do the trick!