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Puzzled by a past asthma attack experience

LittleZebra profile image
3 Replies

Around about 2019 I was staying at Harewood near Leeds visiting my parents. I was with a friend and when we were there we enjoyed exploring the Harewood Estate. Tucked away in the woods there, there is the original Harewood Castle which looks like a freestanding keep and is quite awe inspiring. To access it you go down a path between houses and through a little tunnel which does collect leaves under it, then along a path, over a ditch and up a slope on the other side. I had only recently had much increased trouble with my asthma and hadn't really learned sense! As we were going up the little slope my chest started to tighten so I took a couple of puffs of ventolin but it didn't really work so I probably took another 4 but was determined to see the castle which we did and then pottered through the wood and back to where we were staying. The following day we were due to have a long taxi journey back up to the Lakes and I took a couple of puffs of Ventolin before we left, thinking that would keep me O.K. for the 2 and a half hour journey back.

Unfortunately once the taxi reached the open countryside I started to feel tight chested again and took some more ventolin which didn't work, took 10 puffs and no joy. Eventually, to my massive embarrassment (we had never used that company before) I had to tell the driver I needed to ring an ambulance. When it came the paramedic said that I had very little air entry in my right lung and gave me nebs on the way to a rural hospital. There I was given some prednisolone, told the same thing would probably happen again some time and then had to ring a local taxi to take us to the Lakes (he was delighted)!

I feel the moral of this tale is that I hadn't realised that taking puffs of Ventolin like smarties is not the answer, I needed to take my asthma more seriously, I should have left the wood straight away (never mind the castle) and probably sought some help before coming back home. What I have always wondered is what in that little local wood could have set off this chain of events (I had been there before at different times of year) I think it was in the summer?

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LittleZebra profile image
LittleZebra
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3 Replies
Chip_y2kuk profile image
Chip_y2kuk

Could have been anything from mold,changing weather, pollen, your friends fragrance or just bad luck (normally a cumulation of a number of things)

But yes luckily for most because they don't find out/it never happens to them and unlucky for us/some ventolin isn't always the answer but a "time buyer" ... so we can take more drastic/further measures

CallysMum profile image
CallysMum

Well, don't beat yourself up too much. We all try to live as normal a life as possible, and learning what triggers us can involve an unpleasant experience. Still, as you say, you will know next time.

PaulRosedene profile image
PaulRosedene

A runner from Eastern Europe posted the other day because he was getting asthma attacks running through a particular wood, nit much use for a distance runner. But he had incredibly accurate information on time of year etc.

I feel this may be a case for Sherlock Holmes, trying to figure what caused an attack four years ago. It could be something in then woods or gardens, i.e. the pollen of a particular tree. But equally it could be something different in your parents' house that triggered the attack.

I feel the gun may no longer be smoking.

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