It's not all doom and gloom! - Asthma Community ...

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It's not all doom and gloom!

16 Replies

(With apologies to Russell Howard for stealing his title!)

I decided we need a thread to counteract the (understandable) asthma 'negatives' of many posts. So a much harder thread - what's positive about having asthma?

My one from tonight - squeezing into a tightly fitted corsety type dress that was designed to be really tight round the chest so there wasn't much room for my chest to expand and hence to breath - I realised I could cope with not being able to take a full lung full of air and breath normally because I was used to this from when my asthma's bad!!! So I could probably cope with the dress better than someone who doesn't have asthma :D

Any more positives?

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16 Replies

Well done Ratty.

Asthma - At last I had the answer to why I coughed endlessly and choked over a simple cuppa. Having tea with me, is a much happier affair now. Plus having it myself, means better understanding of others with 'hidden' illness than ever had before. Previous knowledge being nil.

Best point - meeting all you wonderful guys on here. It's the AUK equivalent of Toy Story.

angievere profile image
angievere

I think having asthma as a child and not being able to go to school made me quite self sufficient. It also led to me escaping into the world of books, which helped my literacy skills when I eventually went to school (always bad at maths tho!).

Another thing - it's made me much more sympathetic to the suffering of others. I can relate to people who have long term illness and other problems.

having a parent come up to me at parents' evening and say ""thank you for showing my son that it's okay to be an asthmatic.""

:o)

guess there's even a plus side to having a mini attack in a year 9 lesson!!

I learnt to knit to keep me occupied it is a hobbie that i love now! I have also met some great people online and in the real world, I got to fly home business class instead of cattle class... that was great and due to needing to neb on a 10 hour flight upgraded for nothing.

Skee-skee profile image
Skee-skee

What a nice idea for a thread Ratty! Was the dress for a special occasion?

I agree with others that having asthma has enabled me to travel business class for free (not worth it though!!) and to appreciate what others go through with their ill health.

I also think that when I do feel good I really do appreciate now. Most people take it for granted that they can walk around easily but when you have had long times when you couldn't you really appreciate being able to walk to the shop or take the dog to the park.

Bryony

was completely oblivious to what it is REALLY like for my bested friend to have diabetes type A (insulin dependent). i mean i tried very hard to understand what he was going through and i thought i did. i really did think i knew how he felt.

then i was diagnosed with asthma at 21 and realized i didnt have a clue what it feels like to take daily medication.to DEPEND on a drug and know that if you go somewhere without your blue inhaler (or your insulin for him) you could loose your life. having to think things through alot when it comes to a simple over night stay at someones house, or an adventure trip up a mountain or somewhere derelict.

however the best thing is that it finally made me stop smoking! i had only been smoking on and off for 2 years and hardly as much as a full time smoker however i did not listen to others when they told me to stop until i was diagnosed.

so in a weird way, asthma saved my life? :)

p.s. why did asthma let you fly business class? just curious! :D

Skee-skee profile image
Skee-skee

I got to fly in business class when I was Medevacced back from holiday. I guess it is business class because you need room for the oxygen and plus the accompanying doctor has a big medical bag with him. Also the power is helpful to charge your neb in. Most definitely not recommended though- business class is lovely though so much nicer.

Well done on giving up smoking by the way!

Bryony

Asthma-girl profile image
Asthma-girl

Since living with asthma all my life I have learnt over the years' to try and be more sympathic towards people and also to count my blessings, yes, I have asthma but there are a lot more people out there who are worse off than me.

similarly to flying business class, i get to board the plane first, likewise, extra leg room etc...

x x

im a bit down at the minute but i can think of one positive of having asthma and wheezing like a steam train is that you are nealy always guaranteed to get a seat on the bus lol

I had mild exercise-induced asthma as a kid. I hated PE.

Guess what was usually a great excuse for getting out of PE?

I was such a lazy child... loved swimming though but fortunately that never set anything off. Did have some arguments with the PE teacher though who was asthmatic but didn't quite get that different people have different triggers so figured I could do anything she could do.

I have to say back then I had no idea what some people go through with asthma - I imagine if I'd been keen on sports I might have found it harder but didn't realise then how hard it could have been if I'd been more severe. Apologies to all the kids who actually wanted to be really active but couldn't!

Shuffling around like a zombie right now though - used to charge around everywhere at high speed.

Now unable to work I'm Planning on spending the summer at the caravan.... Plus one of my Meds allegedly has photosensitivity so hopefully a sum tan for once !!!!!!

If you're on Pred, you can eat chocolate and use the Pred as an excuse :D

you can have pj days just as you dont feel well

ratty this post and the replies have really cheered me up - thanks x

me too...as someone famous said always look on the bright side of life!

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