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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 : )
Things have gone pear-shaped again, despite the 50 mg pred. I felt great after my run yesterday but started to get really out of breath while doing my grocery shopping, of all things. It got worse as the evening progressed and last night was pretty miserable to tell you the truth. This morning is somewhat better but I’m still short of breath. I added 10 mg to my prednisone dose today, hoping that will do the trick. Tomorrow I will call my doc because I admit this is a bit of a pickle I’m in.
I don’t want to think about whether it was wise to run yesterday, it just is what it is.
I love to run, even when breathing is pretty tough. I might even say I love it especially when breathing is tough. To start running is to make my lungs wake up. Suddenly I’m pushing air to the nether regions that never seem to see any action. My lungs feel alive, and real, like a part of me instead of some faulty auxiliaries.
When you see me doing my lowly 6 kilometre jog in the morning, huffing and pushing air with the intensity of an olympic rower, you might wonder what my problem is. Well I’m here to tell you that I don’t have one, I’m just out getting my daily high.
Yeaaahhhh. What makes you feel alive?
As fellow lungers and/or carers of lungers, I expect you all have above average knowledge of all things breathing. So, although you may not have been aware that tomorrow is world COPD day, I bet you can all tell me what COPD is, and I bet you all care something about it.
Janis Hass of the Canadian Lung Association approached me to help spread awareness, which I’m more than happy to do. Some facts about COPD, which I nabbed from the Canadian Lung Association website on COPD:
*It is most often caused by smoking (80-90% of the time). It can also be caused by the genetic lung disorder Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, or damage to the lungs from infections.
*1.5 million Canadians carry a diagnosis of COPD. That’s something like 4% of Canadians. In my books, that’s pretty significant and it’s on the rise.
*Associated symptoms are: shortness of breath, production of mucus, fatigue and frequent infections. I deal with some of these with my asthma, and I’m here to tell you that it’s not funny.
*Treatment includes medication (bronchodilators, inhaled or oral steroids, theophyllines) and supplemental oxygen.
*COPD patients take part in pulmonary rehab. This includes breathing techniques, exercise and COPD education. These kinds of programs are successful in relieving symptoms, and give more control for the patient. I’m all for that!
Canadian comedian Mary Walsh, best known for being on the cast of This Hour Has 22 Minutes (very high-larious, one of my favourite shows) has been getting involved. As part of TeamCOPD, she’s been spreading the word, and has a number of videos on YouTube. Here’s two of them, go here to see the rest.
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?
Phew, it was one of those long days!
This first bit may be too much information for you, if you don’t wanna know about what comes out of my lungs, do not read on. So I was standing around in the kitchen at breakfast, eating an orange while talking to my roommate, when suddenly I inhale some of the juice and start to choke. After the startling bit is over, I continue to cough a little bit. And then. Then I had this sudden massive rumbling cough, and I coughed up like a whole mouthful of thick but sort of fluffly white phlegm. Taken aback, it took me a moment to realize how freaking good that felt. So I encouraged the coughing for a few minutes and was able to clear some more. And for the next few hours I was on a cloud.
It’s a good thing I was on a cloud because I had a class, then a midterm. The cellular physiology midterm went super well. It was a bit on the easy side but whatever I could use a bit of easy amid my courses!! Next I had my massive Monday lab, which didn’t turn out to be too bad. By the end of it I was starting to feel tight and I could really feel it on my walk home. I was kind of grumpy about that because I thought I had fixed my lungy problem with this morning’s phlegm fiasco. I got home and made dinner and sucked on some ventolin.
I went back to school because there was an info session for next year’s honours projects. Even though I was feeling tight still, I brought my pool stuff for after because I had planned on a swim today. Of course the fact that I brought my swim stuff meant that I absolutely had to go to the pool, so I did. I love being in the pool, but I had to get out after 8 laps because I just wasn’t feeling it, I was too tight. Sooooo I came home, which is where I am now.
The lungs are being not very nice this evening, and I don’t know why. I wish they would get over themselves. Grr. It’s not a huge deal, and I’m not concerned about it, but it’s a little much for running or swimming.
The 5 km vs. 10 km debate is still not settled. People have not been very warm on the 10 km idea at all. And now I don’t feel so good so it’s harder to think a 10 km is realistic. I guess I really do have until Sunday to decide.
Monday is my worst day scedule-wise, so now the rest of the week is looking pretty peachy!
OK, so that is just an analogy for what is going on in my lungs today. I feel like something is a’brewing. I’ve got a little bit of painful breathing and definite gurgliness. All you seasoned survivors, do you have any tips on how to keep the infections at bay? Other than getting rest and fluids, I mean? I would really like to avoid the “something wicked this way comes” part.
PS I started wearing mitts.
It is really difficult to define and describe both the notions of asthma control and severity. I think it’s difficult for patients to articulate what their level of control is, and it’s also difficult for physicians to assess it in their office. In addition, people can be bothered to varying degrees by the symptoms they are experiencing. A new asthmatic will (appropriately) be distressed by mild bronchospasm whereas the most seasoned asthmatics can carry on with severe breathlessness.
There are several guidelines out there which aim to define asthma control in an objective way. Some measure by how many times a bronchodilator is used in a week, or how many ventolin puffers are used per year. Other measures include days of missed school/work, frequency of unscheduled doctor visits/ ER visits, etc. There are all good things to assess, but no one criterion will give the whole picture. Asthmatics are just too darned variable!
I think that most asthmatics have skewed perceptions of how they are doing. We see ourselves as less sick or more in control than we actually are. That’s human nature and that’s how it goes for most things, not just illness. As bad as the bad times are, they can be forgotten when considering the big picture. I’m trying to take an honest look at how my asthma has been recently, just for kicks.
When I saw my doctor last week, I said that things were good, that’s what I would say if I saw him today. When he was asking me his questions, I could tell that he was less than satisfied with my answers.
Despite feeling good overall, I still need my ventolin every day. On some days, I will need it frequently, and if I’m running, you can bet I’ll be using it a lot. Do I wake up at night with asthma symptoms? Yes, especially if I’ve exercised that day, but that doesn’t mean I’m having a “bad night” every night. And YES, my asthma did get out of control last week, to the point where my inhaled medications were not helping and I had to resort to prednisone. BUT the point is that I took the pred early-on-ish and I had my asthma back in control within 2 days (this is a good thing).
I’m not a short-sighted-silly, and I’m not stuck in denial. I know, when I think hard on it, that these are not signs of mild asthma, nor signs of asthma which is particularly well-controlled. I know that your average family doctor wouldn’t be too pleased when presented with the above. But the thing is, I feel like my asthma is good right now, I really do. I’m living a really normal life, doing everything I want to do, and I AM RUNNING. So I’m not fussed about it, I’m in control.
This brings me to my next point: the runnning. I feel great when I run, the adrenaline I get from it is beyond compare and my body is thanking me a thousand times over. But I still get tight, I still cough and I go through a lot of ventolin. As I said above, it also makes my nighttime symptoms a bit worse. The gist I get from people is that they assume that now that I can run, I must not have asthma symptoms any more. I have told a few people that I do in fact feel my asthma get worse in the hours after a run, and their response seems to be then why the heck do it???
Cause I can. Plain and simple. I told myself I could do it, tried it, and realized that I can do it. I seem to have asthma symptoms whether or not I’m physically active, so I might as well take the route that is actually good for my body.
So, all these convoluted ramblings to say that my personal perception of my asthma at this point in time is that it is actually quite good. Also, I love to run.
I did it!!!!! I ran a 5k race without stopping and it was the best feeling in the whole entire world!!!
So I guess prednisone and proper medications + adrenaline = Danielle the running beast
I will admit, I didn’t run this fast of my own accord. The thing was, I had my aunt’s car key in my bra (um, yeah) and she was my ride home and with thousands of people at the run there was no way we could get split up. I told her I was taking this at a slow jog and she said that was fine. Her idea of a slow jog is not the same as mine. She is 56 and probably the fittest person I know. We started off way faster that I have ever run and I remember thinking I was not going to last. But I’m stubborn and not the kind of person to ask others to slow down, so I kept up to her and before I knew it we were at the halfway point. About half a km later I could feel my breathing change, I was starting to trap air. I was using so much energy to blow out my air in quick sharp blasts, to the point of making my abs and ribs sore. I stayed very focused on breathing properly and keeping my upper body relaxed but was still running hard as ever. Pretty soon, I could see the finish line. After that, it was all over, I was just going for it. When I could finally see the numbers on the clock, I was absolutely in shock that there was we were still in the 20 minutes and not in the 40s. I was actually convinced they had set up the clock wrong. I finished strong and fast, and when I crossed the finish line, I walked it out, waiting for the grip on my lungs to tighten, waiting to start gasping.
BUT IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. For the first time in my life after a run I did not feel like my lungs were collapsing upon themselves. I felt just normal. I talked to my aunt all the way back to the car. Can you say adrenaline?? Now I’m showered, I’ve had a massive snack, and I still feel fine. IT’S WEIRD BUT TOTALLY AWESOME.
Is it even possible that yesterday morning I was out of breath from making my breakfast?? How does that even *happen*??????? I called my mom and she doesn’t even believe me, she told me to get out of town.
I know the asthma beast likes to be sneaky and strike hours later sometimes so I’ll take it easy and be vigilant.
The atmosphere at the pre-race was emotional and inspiring and very optimistic. As I said before this is a Canada-wide event raising money for breast cancer. Every time I looked at people’s “I’m running for…” bibs I almost cried. People were decked out in pink cowboy hats, feather boas, neon pink lycra tights, you name it. It was amazing.
GUYS, I am hooked. Can I call myself a runner yet?? I’ve got my eye on the next race…..
Admittedly, after my exercise extravaganza yesterday, the lungs were rough last night. It was worse than most nights and I didn’t get much sleep. Nighttime asthma symptoms are so much worse because a) they happen when you’re alone in the dark, usually disoriented from your half-sleep and b) you get so aggravated because you think you’ll never ever fall asleep.
I feel much better now that it’s morning but I know I’m tired because I boiled water for my tea this morning and then poured it over my cereal. Duuhhhhh.
Do I think it was a mistake though, to do a cardio workout yesterday? No, I’ll probably do it again next Wednesday. The endorphin high and the good I know I’m doing for my cardio-respiratory system were worth it.
Thursdays are my favourite day because I have genomics (my favourite class) and accordion lesson and highland dance! So yeah I may be dead on my feet but at least I have an enjoyable day ahead of me.
And did I mention my muscles hurt? Oooooww
