Remember Piggy from Lord of the Flies?? (My Experience of Asthma)

Name: themoomin

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Product:	My Experience of Asthma
Date:	12/10/01 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Erm . . none?

Disadvantages: Expensive, inhibiting, annoying . . .

Before I launch you, dear reader, unsuspecting into my own personal experience of this condition, let me tell you what my good friend Jeeves has to say about it. I typed in ‘what is asthma?’, and this was the first answer he came up with (from www.infoplease.com):

* * * ASTHMA: chronic inflammatory respiratory disease characterized by periodic attacks of wheezing, shortness of breath, and a tight feeling in the chest. A cough producing sticky mucus is symptomatic. The symptoms often appear to be caused by the body's reaction to a trigger such as an allergen (commonly pollen, house dust, animal dander: see allergy), certain drugs, an irritant (such as cigarette smoke or workplace chemicals), exercise, or emotional stress. These triggers can cause the asthmatic's lungs to release chemicals that create inflammation of the bronchial lining, constriction, and bronchial spasms. If the effect on the bronchi becomes severe enough to impede exhalation, carbon dioxide can build up in the lungs and lead to unconsciousness and death. Following a steady 30-year decline, asthma deaths in the United States, especially among poor, inner-city blacks and among the elderly, began to rise from the late 1970s through the early 1990s.
There is no cure for asthma. Although the disease may go through a period of quiescence, it appears that childhood asthmatics do not outgrow the disease as previously believed. Treatment includes inhaled or oral steroids or bronchodilators (albuterol, theophylline), breathing exercises, and, if possible, the identification and avoidance of triggers. * * *

So there you have it, in a nutshell. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? I mean wheezing and shortness of breath – well we all get that sometimes, don’t we? And compared to all the other horrible diseases that are around, this one seems pretty insignificant.

Well, as someone who has suffered from asthma since an early age, let me tell you
that this disease is not pleasant. It’s inhibiting, annoying, disruptive and often painful, as well as expensive. Read on . . . .

Before my asthma was confirmed as asthma, I used to get very wheezy when doing sports, or being around animals. When having an attack, the only thing I could do was stop whatever I was doing, and try to relax. Often the breathlessness would last for what seemed like ages, with no respite. Eventually when I was a teenager, my Mum relented and took me to the Doctor, and after a Peak Flow reading was taken, I was instantly diagnosed. Asthmatic I have been ever since, however these days I am able to control my symptoms myself, and rarely have a full-blown attack.

(I always thought Peak Flow had something to do with, you know, periods. Don’t laugh. So when the Doctor first asked me if I knew what my Peak Flow was, I thought ‘Eh? What on earth does that have to do with my breathing??’. Luckily, before I made a total eedjit of myself, he produced a weird looking machine and got me to blow into it, which solved that little problem . . . )

Although I do not now suffer crippling asthma attacks, scarcely a day goes by when I don’t get uncomfortably out of breath at least once. Walking, swimming, laughing (yes laughing, really), hoovering, lifting bricks, mixing cement (guess whose garage isn’t finished yet?) – all cause me to lose my breath and start to wheeze. I walk to work and back each day - a 20-minute walk beside fume-laden main roads, I swim once a week and do quite a lot of DIY/Housework – all set off the asthma. Mr Moomin and I also do a fair bit of hill-walking and general rambling – both activities have the potential to turn from enjoyable days out into hard slogs with me whining and cursing my poxy lungs, while Mr Moomin strides purposefully on.

I’ll try to explain what it feels like, shall I? Typically, the first thing I notice is diff
iculty in drawing a full breath. While this is irritating, it doesn’t actually hurt, and sometimes if I sit down and try to relax, after a few moments my breathing will return to normal. More often though, the attack progresses – and I feel my back start to throb and breathing does become painful. It’s a bit like a stitch, but all across my back. Then it goes into my chest - I imagine it's how those Dickensian women felt when their corsets were tightened - horribly constricted. I start to wheeze audibly, and huff and puff. At this point it’s wise to do something about it . . .

I use two types of inhaler to control my asthma. The first is a preventative inhaler called Becotide. If taken every day, morning and night, it is supposed to stop you having to rely so heavily on the ‘reliever’ inhaler, called Ventolin or Salbutamol. The trouble with Becotide is that it can cause a thrush-like infection in the mouth. Luckily this has never happened to me, but I know people who have been affected by this and apparently it’s not nice. Anyway, personally I struggle to remember to take the Becotide, which is probably why I rely on the Ventolin so much. Must try harder, Mrs Moomin.


The inhaler I rely on is the reliever – Ventolin. Each inhaler has 200 metered actuations. I used to have to take two puffs to relieve the symptoms, but over the years have weaned myself down to one puff at a time. Well – they cost £6.10 each at current prescription charges – you don’t think I’m gonna waste one puff, do you?? If I start to wheeze, I scrabble around for my inhaler (usually lurking in some deep dark recess of my handbag), take a deep breath and one puff in, and literally seconds later I start to feel better. It’s that simple.

The funny thing is, when I last saw my GP, she told me that Ventolin takes at least 15 minutes to work, and that the symptoms would not subside until a
fter that length of time. For me, it’s more like 15 seconds, if that. Which makes me wonder . . .

I wonder if I have convinced myself that if I have a puff of Ventolin I will feel better, and that it’s not the Ventolin itself that does it? It would be interesting to see the results of a placebo – by that I mean an inhaler with nothing in it but the taste of Ventolin – and if the inhalation had the same effect. After all, I get more nervous and agitated, causing an attack to be more intense, if I realise I’ve not got my inhaler to hand, or I don’t know where it is. If I have the inhaler with me, I’m less likely to suffer as badly. Could it be psychological? I don’t know . . .

I even get asthma in my sleep. I wake up in a panic, unable to breathe, and reach for my inhaler. Sometimes if I have a good cough my airways will clear, but mostly I have to use the inhaler anyway.
I never understand how I can get breathless in my sleep – it’s not as if I’m exerting myself in any way, is it? Maybe it’s the way I sleep, or the dust in the room – whatever it is it’s pretty annoying.

Strangely enough, it seems to get better in the cold weather. Maybe there are less airborne irritants around – certainly in Summer if it doesn’t rain for a while the pollen sets it off. Basically I can only predict so far when I’m going to start wheezing – sometimes I can get to work without taking a puff, at other times I have to take it as soon as I get out of the door. Weird.

Hence the inflatable cat I had as a present - there's no way I could suffer a real live fluffy thing in the house. Which is a shame because I really like cats. Ah well. I also can't go near a horse. I'm quite pleased about that because I fell off one once and it wasn't fun. Now I've got the perfect excuse to aviod them! But I digress . . .

So - the
blue Ventolin inhaler is my lifeline. Although I am forever leaving it in awkward places, or forgetting it entirely and having to beg borrow or steal someone else’s (it’s quite incredible how many people are affected by asthma these days), it is the one thing that I have to have with me wherever I go. Other people have their mobile, or their ciggies, or lipstick – Mrs Moomin’s ultimate accessory is her little blue inhaler. Hah.

So that’s my experience anyway. Hope it was useful!

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