Asthma with no trigger...
I had an asthma attack last night, (started about 8pm and hit serious by 10pm), totally out of the blue. I'm not suffering from any illness. I hadn't been exposed to any known allergens (dust, fungal spores, perfume, fireworks). It was so bad that I didn't go to bed until 3am. At the lowest point this morning, my peak flow was down from 500 to 350 - effectively losing nearly a third of my lung capacity. (I think that's actually worse than when I had the flu) Taking ventolin wa making no difference at all.
Got a doctor's appointment this morning and decided to start well in advance and walk as much of the way as possible. (but made sure I had the number of a local taxi firm on my mobile before I set out, in case of emergencies). With the aid of two walking poles, I acutally made it all the way - as long as I walk steadily, it doesn't make the asthma any worse and walking tends to help some of the side effects that are inevitable with the amount of salmeterol and salbutamol I've taken in the last 14 hours. (It helps reduce the shakes)
Walked back as well. I decided to take the bus if it caught up with me, but it was running late and only met me when I reached the stop I'd have got off at!
Peak flow is now up to 460, but I feel totally wiped from lack of sleep and my lungs feel tired after struggling to breathe for so long.
The scary thing is that having no idea what triggered the attack, I don't know how long it will last. It makes it very difficult to plan my medication. Do I carry on with the steroid course I started last night (and accept the insomnia, inability to wear contact lenses, etc) that come with it? Or do I hope that the attack will vanish as suddenly as it came? The trouble is that I don't think I can afford not to take the steroids.
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comments.
Got a doctor's appointment this morning and decided to start well in advance and walk as much of the way as possible. (but made sure I had the number of a local taxi firm on my mobile before I set out, in case of emergencies). With the aid of two walking poles, I acutally made it all the way - as long as I walk steadily, it doesn't make the asthma any worse and walking tends to help some of the side effects that are inevitable with the amount of salmeterol and salbutamol I've taken in the last 14 hours. (It helps reduce the shakes)
Walked back as well. I decided to take the bus if it caught up with me, but it was running late and only met me when I reached the stop I'd have got off at!
Peak flow is now up to 460, but I feel totally wiped from lack of sleep and my lungs feel tired after struggling to breathe for so long.
The scary thing is that having no idea what triggered the attack, I don't know how long it will last. It makes it very difficult to plan my medication. Do I carry on with the steroid course I started last night (and accept the insomnia, inability to wear contact lenses, etc) that come with it? Or do I hope that the attack will vanish as suddenly as it came? The trouble is that I don't think I can afford not to take the steroids.
This entry was originally posted on Dreamwidth where it has
comments.