anyone got any tips on dealing with admissions? *rant*

getting really fed up with trips to A&E & admissions & everything else.

asthma used to be dealable, now its just a joke..

apparently im on highest doses of inhalers GP can prescribe, same goes for oral meds

got feeling GP fed up with me with it, last time i saw him, he was making snarky comments about amount of steroids ive been on recently, [& before anyone asks, i wasnt been touchy, mum said he was been off with it as well].

last week, got admitted to ward about 2am on tuesday morning, was on IV antibiotics from then til thursday afternoon & stuck on oral antibiotics again, things seemed to slip back downhill once i got taken off IV, got discharged on saturday.

got admitted again last night, back on IV, got told infection has developed into a bad case of pneumonia, & ive got mild blood infection. on & off fluids as BP keeps dropping

feel completely wrecked, on paracetamol, codeine & tramadol & still in a crap load of pain

back on 40mg pred, feel like im never gonna come off them, had 3 days off since 18th of may. something always comes up & bounces back once im near end of the course, had dropped down to 5mg yesterday morning.

got about 8 nebuliser things on bed side table thing, from about 6pm.

tired, feel crap, really drowsy, cant sleep, in pain, fed up.

does anyone have any tips on dealing with sh*tty times with health?

its starting to take affect on other stuff..

[yaf_user681_32991]

hugs sweetie.

your GP sounds in need of some people skills! and if he can't cope with your ashtma then he needs to refer you on to the person that *can*

chin up honey

Geina x

[Hidden]

Ive got an appointment on 19th with asthma clinic, just feels like a billion miles away at the minute. Saw a chest consultant on friday(?) & he said that my medication is probably gonna need fiddling with, he just couldn't do it then & have to wait till appointment.

Apparently salbutamol, seretide 250 & singulair is most my gp can prescribe, which I don't fully believe but heyho. :/

Probably shouldn't be complaining, people have got it worse than me & have hell trying to get referred elsewhere.

[Hidden]

Sounds a bit mad having to wait for appt to fiddle with meds but maybe they have reasons!

Even though you've been referred I'd see if you can switch to a different GP in the practice - you don't want one with that attitude, it's not going to make it any easier! Hope this isn't easier said than done but I do find when I need to see my GP in between appts for random stuff it helps having one who is sympathetic and trying to do her best for me even though I've gone beyond what she can deal with.

[Hidden]

erm, tend to stick to gp ive got, he's the only one who'll change any medication, everyone else seems to think brown & blue inhalers do. have got a consultant, havent seen him yet though, app on 19th.

i have a female doctor as well who i see for ... female.. issues, may try her out for asthma stuff, she seems to be alright for everything else.

[Hidden]

It sounds to me as though there are lots of things that can be done to optimise your asthma treatment. It's horrid that things have been so bad recently, but keep your chin up - you haven't reached the end of the treatment options by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully your asthma consultant will be helpful. If not, do ask for a referral to one of the specialist centres for difficult asthma, as they may be able to get things back on track for you quickly so that you can get on with your life.

I spent huge chunks of my teens in hospital, being treated at a small-ish district general hospital, where they weren't really equipped to deal with difficult asthma, and I wish that I'd asked for a referral to the Brompton before we totally ran out of options, many years later!

Being in hospital is really hard, and I find that I have at least one day in every admission where I just have to have a bit of a cry and a pity party, but try to pick myself up as quickly as I can. Having a hospital bag packed all the time helps, as it means that I never have to be in hospital for any length of time without all my creature comforts. I have the usual stuff (clothes, washbag, cleansing wipes, scented body lotion, pyjamas) and then my Nintendo DS and usually a couple of other things to keep me busy and distracted.

I'm so sorry that things are hard for you at the moment, but don't lose hope, and feel free to rant on here as much as you need! And you can always PM me if you want someone to listen and make sympathetic noises!

Jo

[Hidden]

oh emma

u defo need to see your female gp to see if she can sort out ur asthma side of things as well as your other gp seems a bit clueless - if i can be truthful and brutally honest. there are lots of other meds u can try out... dont be disheartened.. dont give up hope just yet, PLEASE. surely they can bring cons appt forward even by a week?? cos of number of admissions or change ur meds in meantime?

as i know myself from having 22 admissions in past 20 weeks :S being in/out of hospital with your asthma is horrid but having your own home comforts around you and plenty of visitors makes life easier for you

feel free to rant and rave, and you know u can text me as well as u have been

come home soon fit and well though - no SELF DISCHARGING MADAM!!

x x x

[Hidden]

Keep having flashbacks from first severe attack/first hospitalisation & they're starting to scare me as I blocked a lot of what happened out :((

As for why they won't change meds - apparently they want to do a lot of tests beforehand..

[Hidden]

Hang in there, sweetheart. I'm sorry to hear that you've been having flashbacks. I've had that before, particularly when things have been particularly bad (I had nightmares for weeks after one particularly bad attack, and all the stuff that it involved).

Perhaps you could ask your doctors about some counselling? I think that people often underestimate how frightening it can be to have severe asthma, and how much of an effect it can have on every aspect of your life, and having someone trained to help you work through some of those feelings can be really good.

Sending lots and lots of hugs to you and your family.

Jo

[Hidden]

if you are in and out of hospital so much and on max meds a gp is willing to prescribe you should be thinking about seeing a resp consultant to get things under control as they will often prescribe higher doses of inhaler and try different things to get asthma under control.

[Hidden]

Severe asthams

HI hunny... i am so sorry you are going through all this crap at the moment... I have severe BRITTLE asthama and i am in and out of hospital nearly every 3 weeks... but i also pick up alot of infections in my lungs and pheumonia... i have been in ITU quite a few times with the space hud over me and i do keep getting flashbacks and it terifys me everytime i am having a attack... Doctors and specialists dont realise how hard it is and sometimes i also feel they dont listen and make sarcastic comments which does not help with our condition... I am seeing a counseller to talk about my condition etc.. I am under a Resp consultant and dont get me wrong he is very good and i have open access to the ward but now and then i get the looks and comments and it is so dishartening... I also have had 4 pulmanry embulisms in my lungs and my god i have been through the mill... All that matters hunny is u know what is best and i would suggest to complain and take it further as i had to do that as originally they were not listening to me and kept sending me home now it is been sorted. even though i am still in and out of hospital

keep ya chin up....

xx

[Hidden]

aww emma its awful isnt it-people on here know what you are going through and can sympathise so much. try to take each day as it comes and make sure your voice is heard by the docs..chin up pet xxx