New member signing in....how are you?

Hi all,

My name is Dave - a late onset sufferer. I am new to asthma and am finding it very difficult to deal with. For the past six months I have felt like I am no longer in control of my life - in the respect that - I cannot tell if I will be well enough to go to work on a daily basis. I felt really sorry for myself. Then something changed. Yesterday I visited this site. After spending a couple of hours reading about the problems of others - I feel that my issues are small compared to the pain & anguish being suffered by many of you out there. Reading about - people who have put up with this problem their whole life & still remain positive & give great hope & advice to fellow sufferers - made me feel very humble. Reading about babies who don't know what's happening to them - teenagers who feel they can't keep up with their friends - elderly folks with other health issues - brought tears to my eyes. I did not realise this illness was so cruel.

Once I do a bit more browsing of the site - I will post my issues - requesting your advice....thanks for now ....Dave.

[yaf_user681_30003]

Welcome to AUK, Dave. Sorry to hear that you are having difficulty adjusting to your new diagnosis.

You've summed things up beautifully. The biggest thing of all on this site is how so very supportive they all are. The boat size varies from person to person, some are QE2-size sufferers, some are Lido-size, but you will see that everyone is in it together and everyone is there for each other - sharing experience, knowledge, burdens, shoulders and fun. Welcome to the family. We'll help you all we can.

For starters, like you, I'm late onset and have also gone through it a bit in the last year. If I can help you through the same by sharing some of my experience, I'd love to help. Please feel free to PM me at any time.

Alan

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Hi Dave,

Welcome to the AUK boards... I'm glad you've had a chance to have a quick look around, and feel that the site will be useful. As AlanJ described very well - the members have a huge variety in their asthma, and consequently provide a huge resource of advice and support for each other. There are even a number of medical-type people tucked away [yes... i mean the evil doctors!! - and i'm allowed to say that... as i'm one of them! ;-)] who can sometimes help by chipping in with more in-depth information, or attempting to interpret some of the gobbledegook or seemingly puzzling actions of the healthcare professionals that we meet in our 'adventures', whilst adding the more personal perspective from being a patient with asthma too.

You said that the site made you realise your problems are small compared to some on here... but please don't feel that this belittles your illness and that you have no right to moan.. The severity of disease for example, doesn't necessarily correspond with the impact on an individuals life... for example there are many severe / 'brittle' asthmatics on here, but because they are used to their condition, & what happens and consequently could be far less worried about a very bad, even life-threatening attack, than a new mild asthma sufferer, who experiences their first acute asthma attack (that would be considered a mild exacerbation by the medical professional), and in fact may have less severe symptoms during their attack than the severe asthma sufferers ever have, yet because of the uncertainty and lack of previous experience the person having the attack may feel terrified, and feel like they are in serious danger.

Please do post for information and advice, or simply to remind yourself that you're not alone out there. Is quite reassuring to log on in the middle of the night if you are struggling a little with your lungs, and find that there are other people logged in too (as otherwise it can feel like you are the only person awake in the world), helping the bad patches in the night pass more rapidly if you can 'chat' without needing to speak! is particularly useful source of communication with the outside world if stuck in 'Costa' - the boards favourite term for hospital (As in Costa Del NHS), and has kept me sane [though i suppose others might question that!!! ;-)] during many sessions of enforced captivity over the past 18 months, such as now! I've now been unable to work, and in fact spent the majority of the last 4 months as a patient in the very hospital i'm meant to be working in (lengthy stay due to a mix of asthma / itu associated complications) Keeping in touch with people, and helping provide advice and support to others through the boards and PMs is actually quite therapeutic under these circumstances, and helps a little with my desire to get back to the job i love so much.

One thing to remember though, is that the board shouldn't be used for obtaining medical advice in an emergency; Under these circumstances - it is necessary to contact a medical professional such as your GP or A&E department. There's no guarantee that anyone would be online, and it is impossible to be able to advise appropriately without knowing full medical details and seeing the clinical condition of a person - and because asthma should always treated with respect due to it potential consequences, this means seeking help at an appropriate stage.

Anyway - enough of my ramblings for now - but to sum up, hello...welcome...and look foward to your posts. Feel free to PM me at anytime if u want/need a chat about anything.

best wishes,

KSD