My New Asthma Bong (or, alternately, Pneumonia Part II: The Reckoning)
So I have pneumonia again. That's two times in less than a year. Time to go back to the asthma/allergy specialist of my childhood.
Moving to college last year apparently got my asthma restarted. It had been almost completely under control for years. They never mentioned to me then, however, that 1 in 3 people with "childhood" asthma have a complete relapse due to change in living environment. Oops.
I'm on three inhalers, and I have a spacer for my albuterol. It looks like a bong. No kidding. Also it sounds like a harmonica when you use it incorrectly. It's pretty much my favorite thing ever. Though I do enjoy a good nebulizer treatment. I got one of those last week...it brought back memories. (Mostly memories of young Annabelle trying to hear cartoons over the deafening roar of her breathing machine, but not caring cause it made her feel kinda high).
I'm on antibiotics and everything, and hopefully this will clear up by friday, or my doctor's putting me on prednisone. Now, I love prednisone and all....it really does work wonders....but I'd rather not experience the ridiculous multitude of side effects that go with it. Especially the rapid and considerable weight gain, most of which for some reason occurs entirely on your face. What the hell is with that.
So anyway...I found out some important news for any asthmatics out there. We all love our albuterol, right? I mean, it keeps us from landing in an ER, and just knowing that it's nearby is so very comforting.
I got a new albuterol inhaler a few days ago. Not the familiar and comforting big white inhaler. It was small and bright red. At first I thought it was pretty cool looking. It made my asthma bong look even more striking. Then I used it during an attack. It tasted very strange, and hardly did a thing to calm my attack. I started to wonder if it was somehow the wrong medication.
When CFC's were banned way back when to protect the ozone, an exemption was made for medical necessities, such as CFC Albuterol MDI's. Apparently the FDA is now phasing these inhalers out. They cannot be sold after Dec 31, 2008, and are already difficult to come by.
The thing is....the new HFA inhalers they're putting out there are incredibly expensive and much less effective. Which is pretty bad, considering asthma affects a LOT of low income patients, and effectiveness is really something you look for in a rescue inhaler meant to save your life.
What the hell.
I'm all for protecting the environment. But before we give drug companies an excuse to peddle ineffective costly drugs on patients under the guise of environmental consciousness, I think we should perhaps impose restrictions on sources of pollution which are not, like albuterol inhalers, negligible. For instance....the cars we all drive, or hey....maybe the meat industry...which is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation industry, as well as incredible degradation of land and water resources. Maybe let's regulate that, instead of making life saving medicines less effective in the name of profit...oh, I'm sorry. I meant in the name of environmental progress.
If you want to phase out CFC inhalers, fine. Just have an affordable and effective alternative ready before you take them off the market. Or ER visits will skyrocket and people will die.
I obviously have no scientific evidence that my new HFA inhaler is not as effective as my old one. I, and a lot of angry asthmatics consoling one another on the internet have only anecdotal evidence. So I can't say with complete certainty where I stand on this. But it does seem to me that a lot of poor decision making has been going on with regard to this. Even if the drug itself is made less effective, it'd still be nice if people could afford it. Just sayin'.
And let's not even get started on my recent gastroenterologist visit and the choice I have to make about the only two gastroparesis meds out there: one which might cause permanent brain damage, or one which I'd have to get illegally from Canada. Those are great options, huh?
Moving to college last year apparently got my asthma restarted. It had been almost completely under control for years. They never mentioned to me then, however, that 1 in 3 people with "childhood" asthma have a complete relapse due to change in living environment. Oops.
I'm on three inhalers, and I have a spacer for my albuterol. It looks like a bong. No kidding. Also it sounds like a harmonica when you use it incorrectly. It's pretty much my favorite thing ever. Though I do enjoy a good nebulizer treatment. I got one of those last week...it brought back memories. (Mostly memories of young Annabelle trying to hear cartoons over the deafening roar of her breathing machine, but not caring cause it made her feel kinda high).
I'm on antibiotics and everything, and hopefully this will clear up by friday, or my doctor's putting me on prednisone. Now, I love prednisone and all....it really does work wonders....but I'd rather not experience the ridiculous multitude of side effects that go with it. Especially the rapid and considerable weight gain, most of which for some reason occurs entirely on your face. What the hell is with that.
So anyway...I found out some important news for any asthmatics out there. We all love our albuterol, right? I mean, it keeps us from landing in an ER, and just knowing that it's nearby is so very comforting.
I got a new albuterol inhaler a few days ago. Not the familiar and comforting big white inhaler. It was small and bright red. At first I thought it was pretty cool looking. It made my asthma bong look even more striking. Then I used it during an attack. It tasted very strange, and hardly did a thing to calm my attack. I started to wonder if it was somehow the wrong medication.
When CFC's were banned way back when to protect the ozone, an exemption was made for medical necessities, such as CFC Albuterol MDI's. Apparently the FDA is now phasing these inhalers out. They cannot be sold after Dec 31, 2008, and are already difficult to come by.
The thing is....the new HFA inhalers they're putting out there are incredibly expensive and much less effective. Which is pretty bad, considering asthma affects a LOT of low income patients, and effectiveness is really something you look for in a rescue inhaler meant to save your life.
What the hell.
I'm all for protecting the environment. But before we give drug companies an excuse to peddle ineffective costly drugs on patients under the guise of environmental consciousness, I think we should perhaps impose restrictions on sources of pollution which are not, like albuterol inhalers, negligible. For instance....the cars we all drive, or hey....maybe the meat industry...which is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation industry, as well as incredible degradation of land and water resources. Maybe let's regulate that, instead of making life saving medicines less effective in the name of profit...oh, I'm sorry. I meant in the name of environmental progress.
If you want to phase out CFC inhalers, fine. Just have an affordable and effective alternative ready before you take them off the market. Or ER visits will skyrocket and people will die.
I obviously have no scientific evidence that my new HFA inhaler is not as effective as my old one. I, and a lot of angry asthmatics consoling one another on the internet have only anecdotal evidence. So I can't say with complete certainty where I stand on this. But it does seem to me that a lot of poor decision making has been going on with regard to this. Even if the drug itself is made less effective, it'd still be nice if people could afford it. Just sayin'.
And let's not even get started on my recent gastroenterologist visit and the choice I have to make about the only two gastroparesis meds out there: one which might cause permanent brain damage, or one which I'd have to get illegally from Canada. Those are great options, huh?