The Case of Ventolin & The Panicky Ideas of the Newly Diagnosed.

I'm trying to get away from the panicky ideas of the newly diagnosed asthmatic.

eg. 'I'm-a-bit-puffed-out-after-putting-away-all-the-shopping-so-rather-than-sit-down-with-a-nice-cuppa-and-get-my-breath-back-as-I'd-have-done-pre-asthma-diagnosis,-I'll-take-two-blue-puffs-just-in-case.'

and instead change that thought process to something like -

'Only-if-something-sets-off-that--irritating-cough-that-I-can't control,-and-I-can't-carry-on-a-conversation-just-by-clearing-my-throat-plus-if-I'm-starting-to-feel-really-out-of-breath-and-knackered-on-climbing-the-stairs.-Then-and-only-then-maybe-its-time-to-have-some-blue-inhaler.-and-if-so-I-will-but-not-make-a-big-song-and-dance-about-it.'

8)

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Hands up the newly diagnosed

That makes me laugh. Puff.

You sound a bit like me actually -newly diagnosed and

possibly in denial. Instead of resting, insisting on walking same distance

and speed as before. The thing is I'm bored silly with resting. This whole thing is just a bother. The point is if you need it you need it.

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Hi GrannyMo,

I don't totally relate to what you're saying, but I do understand. I recently started writing down how much ventolin I was using, which totally shocked me - it was far more than I realised, and led me to wonder if I was taking it out of habit or unnecessarily. I've decided (for various of reasons) that I'm not using it out of habit, and rarely unnecessarily, but it took a while for me to be sure about that.

Obviously I don't want to say anything that may discourage you from taking V when you need it, so I guess I have to word this carefully.

Maybe think about what asthma symptoms you get, how quickly they appear, how quickly they usually disappear and how much they bother you.

For example, I don't get too worried about mild breathlessness if I'm doing something that would make an average person slightly breathless - and I know very clearly that for me (and it might not be for you) there is a massive difference between mild breathlessness and the feelings before imminent sudden attack for me. I believe I'm unlikely to have a very severe exercise-induced attack (which could include unpacking shopping) because I hope I would have realised I was getting into problems, and stopped or slowed down, but I might be a bit breathless afterwards which will subside. The one recent bad-ish exercise induced attack I've had started with a noticeably tight chest (which I never get in the same way if I'm just breathless from jogging or something), felt like I was trying to gulp air, and I knew I wasn't exhaling properly - my chest was over inflated - and then after that happened, I got 'asthma breathless'. It could have been avoided - I was given the warning signs, and I didn't stop in time. Although, I suppose in all fairness, the time between me feeling a little bit bad, and then nose diving is so small, that I'd spend half my life walking on eggshells 'just in case'.

What I've said above though may well not apply to you - if breathlessness is your most irritating symptom and if it is the symptom that indicates you are starting to go downhill the clearest, my advice wouldn't work. I've had asthma long enough to be able to distinguish with reasonable accuracy what's going on with my symptoms - I'm sure you'll figure it all out soon. For me, there's a huge difference between true 'asthma breathlessness' and being naturally out of breath.

I do however sometimes use V in circumstances which aren't imminently serious, but which are clearly asthma, so is not going to go away on its own. Constantly clearing my throat, coughing an asthma cough etc - because I know this won't get better on its own, but non-asthma related breathlessness will.

I guess you have to remember how breathless or not you were before you think you had asthma. I'm reasonably active, so I expect to be breathless in some activities.

Maybe this is something you could discuss with your GP/nurse. Please dont let anything I've said make you not use V if you need to! Good luck.

PS so sorry this is SO long!

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GrannyMo, I remember what it's like being diagnosed, and when you work out how much ventolin you take, it seems like you are living off it. I now have learnt to know when I need it, and when not. Just think, am I doing something that use to make me breathless, pre asthma, and still does, then no problem, but if walking up the stairs is a struggle when it never use to be, then take the ventolin, but and this is the important one, if normal dailly activities require you to take the ventolin several times every day of the week, then you need to go back and have your medication changed, as this should not be the case. nothing wrong with sitting down with cuppa tea, we builders make a living out of doing that.

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C, I didn't mind your post being long and thanks woody-som and Kit for your input.

Made perfect sense.

I think sometimes we Newbies get a little scared and read the worst into everything.

Today, I walked around a local mall, walked up the stairs in Starbucks. Then home again, sat and cleared out some stuff into keeping and not keeping piles. I can report that apart from sneezing my head off - reason being, they were cutting the grass in the park over the back - I wasn't out of breath in the slightest.

On the other hand, a bowl of Baxter's chicken casserole soup later on had me reaching for the Ventolin as something in the soup started my asthma cough. Three puffs and I was ok again.

Appt this week with Asthma Nurse resulted in the suggestion I go back to the two puffs of Clynil Modulite twice a day to see if that stops the elephant sitting on chest feeling that wakes me around 4 am most mornings. Mentioned the soup episode. Read out the ingredients which I'd noted down. Aha! Malt extract! Apparently that can often be a trigger.

And so its reading the labels time again.

When my younger daughter was little she was allergic to wheat and dairy and eventually turned vegetarian. So I've had years of reading labels.

Thought that was all bye, now she's grown up and living on her own.

Hah! Famous last words!

This time I'm reading labels for me.