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For some reason this evening has not been a fun breathing time. I had one of those asthma attacks that seem to come out of the blue and hit you hard. I really hate those, and when I have a few in a row I start to lose my confidence, you know? Anywho I am out of trouble now obviously and am contently sitting propped up in my bed surrounded by study notes.
The only reason I can think of for this flare is that I might have been slightly chilled. I know when I sit still for a long time I can start to get chilly if I’m not wearing slippers and a sweater. All this to say that as I was feeling my chest lock up today, I remembered a very special item that was under my bed: an electric heating pad. I grabbed it and sat myself in my chair with my ventolin and spacer. I stuck the heating pad on my upper back and waited it to heat up, and I daresay it helped tremendously. The heat relaxes the tight and sore muscles in my upper back that I use to breathe, and I wouldn’t doubt it if it had a similar effect on the smooth muscles in my lungs (don’t quote me on this, I’m just speculating).
As you can probably gather from my two posts today, I’m learning that heat (or removal from cold at the very least) can actually play a rather large part in relieving my asthma symptoms and making me feel better : )
So maaaaaybe I’m just trying to justify my tea addiction, but I find that some ventolin along with a hot cup of tea works wonders to relax my tight airways after coming in from the cold. I think the two work together nicely 
Thing is, it’s not even that cold out yet! Can’t wait to see what kind of spasm my bronchioles will get up to in 3 weeks.
Just a note: clear tea is usually better than milky tea for us asthmatics.
Yikes! I’m headed into my fifth exam period of my university career! I’ve dealt with asthma exacerbations in one form or another at pretty much every exam period so far. If you are fanatic student like I am, you’re going to want to maximize your time studying, minimize your time spent dealing with your asthma, and NOT miss any exams. Here are some things that have helped me:
1. Study away, but don’t compromise your sleep. The less you sleep, the more susceptible you are to colds and infections, which can create big asthma problems. Sleep is a priority, I mean it.
2. Become a germophobe, especially during this H1N1 outbreak. Avoid your sick friends, wash your hands and use your head. It’s worth it if you can avoid getting sick.
3. Make a study schedule, and arrange it so that you are pretty much prepared for your exam the day before you actually need to be. This way, if you are suddenly flaring the day before your exam, you won’t be in trouble. Less stress for you. I bet it’ll improve your mark too.
4. Know your school’s policy on absenteeism from final examinations. Know what kind of documentation you need if you are to miss an exam.
5. If, 24 hours before your exam you are flaring and are unsure whether or not you’ll be able to write the exam, contact your professor to let them know what the situation is. They appreciate this.
6. Don’t be afraid to step up your meds as per your care plan if you think it’s what you need to get you through.
7. Be aware of potential triggers in the exam hall. For example, every year I seem to have at least one exam scheduled on the rink of the hockey arena. Arenas really set me off due to a mix of cold temperature and fumes from the zamboni. Therefore, I pre-medicate for these exams. Another thing to look out for might be a really old or dusty building.
8. If you think you’ll need it, and even if you don’t, have your ventolin out on your desk. In most cases, you’re not allowed to do so much as reach into your pocket during an exam so have it in plain sight. If a proctor gives you a hard time, be firm and tell him/her that it’s absolutely necessary (I’ve only ever gotten one comment about this).
Does this make me sound neurotic?? If it does, it’s only because I really care about school and because I’ve run into a lot of problems in the past. I know a lot of you are students so tell me: how do you deal with the asthma beast during exam period?
EDIT: I just checked my exam schedule and I have no exams scheduled in the hockey arena. Score!!
Actually, I don’t know the answer, but I can speculate. Does anybody else feel like when they are really, really tired for any reason that they get more asthma symptoms? I do. When I was younger, my mom would always hate to let me go on sleepovers because the next day would invariably be rough. She noticed this pattern way before I did
I don’t know that being tired actually causes asthma symptoms, maybe it’s just that my body and mind are less strong and can’t cope with the asthma that’s always there anyway? There’s really nothing about fatigue that should be an asthma trigger in and of itself. I don’t know, but it always feels like more work to breathe when I’m tired.
Anyway, all this to say that I myself am very very tired. A funeral followed by a few very late family party nights, followed by late nights trying to catch up in school and studying my butt off during the day means that I’m nearly burnt-out. I finally got the message yesterday when I tried to go running but couldn’t keep going, came home, crashed and fell asleep on my bed in my running clothes. I slept for 2 and a half hours. Asthma-wise, I’ve been “feeling it” much more this week. Although, this morning my mind, body and lungs feel refreshed. 
I guess I just needed a long nap!
So, I’m interested. Do you struggle with your asthma as much as I do when you are fatigued? What are your hypotheses on this phenomenon?
We are getting a new roommate today!! We could not be more excited.
To celebrate our slob roomie moving out, we are having a cleaning party. Like MAJOR cleaning. We even emptied all our kitchen drawers to wipe them dowm. Everything looks great. Only thing is, I feel worse now than I did right after my run… now THAT is saying something. It is worth it and necessary though!
The new roommate has a Wii. Hurrah!
Many many thanks to Kerri, who designed and created this header for me. I never would have been able to do something like that myself :p. It suits me perfectly, don’t you think?? I specifically asked to have a runner on there, because for the past month, and hopefully for many months (years) to come, running and my breathing have become sort of one integrated factor. I do one so that I can do the other, you know? Run to hopefully breathe better. Breathe better so that I can go running! Expect to hear a lot more about it
Yesterday, I probably had one of my best runs yet. I decided that I would extend my route by a few kilometers. I’ve been building up to 5 km, and I’d estimate yesterday I did about 7 km. I took it at a very slow and controlled pace, of course, and I was able to get into that “zone” fairly quickly. In the zone, I don’t even think, I just breathe. What made the run extra special is that the SUN was shining, something we have not seen in weeks. The fall colours are at their peak so the side of the river where I run is just on fire. I happened to run past a football game, everything just felt SO Thanksgiving-y. Glorious!!
When I got home, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and do some serious cleaning. I dust my room frequently, but this time I decided to go over every square inch of the place. I moved all my furniture and dusted away and i was surprised at the number of dust bunnies I found. Of course this little activity produced an audible wheeze and inspired some pretty violent coughing fits which weren’t so nice but it really had do be done. I think I clean more than any university student I know, I must have a touch of the Monica Gellar in me.
I didn’t get such a great sleep last night because I was pretty breathless. I guess I could have predicted that one, with the extended run AND the mega cleaning. It’s funny how I’ll often pay for things I’ve done during the day at nighttime. Well, funny and weird and annoying. The asthma beast is like most other monsters, it prefers the dark!
I’ve almost digested my breakfast and my lungs have loosened up considerably so…. it’s time to go running again! I’m trying to decide if I’ll do the long route again or try a different route altogether. We shall see!
My roommate has some sort of agreement with the landlord that he paints to subsidize his rent or something. What I didn’t know is that he is painting OUR APPARTMENT, TODAY. Thanks, I’m gone to the library. Also, this said roommate also inexplicably sprayed himself with Axe last night and then went to bed (?) I opened the door to my study cave only to be hit with this wall of disgustingness which wasted no time in tightening up my airways in a big way. So, I had to tame that beast before I could go to bed, meaning I got to bed pretty late.
But, in less complaining news, the microbio exam is done!! I was kind of nervous but when I was handed my exam I was like “oh yeah, I’m a science student, midterms are what I *do*” And I just did it and it was no problem. So in that regard, I think I have re-found my groove.
After class I will go back to my place just long enough to get changed into my running stuff and go for an easy jog. Happy Tuesday!
PS, my other roomie (the girl) and I still get along really well. The living situation is still all good, despite these 2 recent blips.
Gah – will this stifling humidity be the end of my good streak? If this morning is any indication, then yes. I think we’re in for a few more days of this stuff.
In the mountains, when it rains, the rain is light and cold. Miserable, yes, but it lets me breathe. Here, thanks to ye mighty Great Lakes, it’s so darned humid all the time. The air doesn’t glide into your lungs, it sits in them and you’ve gotta heave if you want to get it to move in or out. Blaaaaa, sorry about another rant. I know you already know how I feel about this blasted eastern humidity.
My aunt is taking me out for Ethiopian food tonight. I have dutifully remembered not to let anyone at my table order coffee, lest I have this happen again. Still, yummy!!
I am pretty diligent in checking the weather site seeing as my lungs are so finicky. Not that it helps, because the site changes its mind pretty much every hour. EC didn’t decide on rain for today until this morning, but my lungs knew it was coming before I sat down to my computer.
I just polished off a mighty flare. I’m medicated and feel good to go but I promise I’ll do something about it if it comes back tonight.
I just don’t understand why I can’t even handle a bit of rain anymore, this is getting ridiculous!
On a more humourous note, has anybody ever seen “Mean Girls”? I’m totally like Karen in this movie, except I forecast rain by what is IN my ribcage!!
