Bad attack....seems like a good place to find people who understand

Hi there,

I've been hanging around this message board for a while. I'm actually from the states, but haven't found such a nice sight around where I'm from. I had a bad asthma attack last week, where I had to go to the ER. I needed pred. My doctor told me to have someone drive me or to call an ambulance. Has anyone here ever called an ambulance?

I'm also supposed to go to camp with the kids I work with, but now I can't go. It makes me sad that I can't do certain things because of asthma, despite taking so many meds.

Right now I'm on advair 230/21, alvesco 160, and singulair, plus a handfull of allergy meds. I also take xopenex.

How do you guys deal with the uncertainty of when you might have an attack, or in another way...the certainty that you WILL have an attack. I find it kind of depressing sometimes.

Bee

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Hi Bee,

I'm sure someone will come along who can answer your questions.

Agree with you there's a real friendly feel to this site compared to many others. So much doom and gloom out there, you wonder how we all get on with our lives.

I think you will find there are many people here who have called an ambulance.

Sometimes you just need someone to drive you to ER, but sometimes you need the help of the paramedics too.

I'm a newbie and first in my family to have astham, first out of my frineds too. Have found the unknown/whats around the corner, a bit frightening but I'm so glad I found this site though. Answered so many fears and questions plus Off-Topic is good for cheering up.

Bad luck on the camp with the kids. Maybe next time.

Do hope you feel better soon.

Keep smiling,

Moira xx

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Hi

It is not nice to have an attack but it is quite common to need the help of the ambulance or the ER.

These boards are a good place to make friends with understanding people. You also learn a lot from other asthmatics.

You just kind of learn to live with the fact you could have an attack at anytime i guess. Hope someone comes along and answers your questions soon

plumie

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Hi Moira and Plumie,

Thanks for writing back :).

""You just kind of learn to live with the fact you could have an attack at anytime i guess. ""

Yes, I think this is where I'm at. I used to think that if I just took my meds, and did my best to avoid triggers, that maybe I could avoid taking pred. the next time. The only thing is I'm sure it helps, but I still take pred. every three months or so. I don't know how people take it all the time. It makes me so moody I can hardly stand it.

Of course I tried it the other way too (or at least I had a pulmonologist who refused to believe I had asthma because two standard tests contradicted each other). Yep that was a mess. So I had the unfortunate experience of being terrified because my breathing was so bad for three months. So in a way going to the ER is kind of a pain, but feels so much more manageable.

It is nice to know I'm not the only one though. I feel like there's this myth that if I just did what I was supposed to, then I wouldn't get flares.

Thanks for the welcome :).

Bee

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Hi Bee There

This is the best place to talk about your asthma and will find people like yourself.I have found that no questioin is seen as silly or not seen a relevant.For me the poem about asthma really helped me as it was the first time i had been on the site.If you go to search and type in A Poem you will find it.

Just dont be to hard on yourself and take the time to get better.

Denise

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bad attack due to this heat

Hi Bee,

I recently found this forum and it help me handle potential depression as i was at home recovery from another asthma attack and felt bewildered and alone. Despite taking all my meds and doing what i should i am stuck at home or visiting A + E.

Yesterdays heat wave awoke me and continued throughout the day to affect me. I had recently returned from out of hospital on saturday and didn't want to go back after just 4 days and felt pangs of depression as i struggle with the asthma.

So i rang the ambulance service. When they arrived I explained to them whilst panting, why i feel bad calling them, I am sure they have so many other things to do. They explained that's what they are there for and i made them laugh so much that they when way above duty to help me, their prompt action saved me from a very, very bad attack yesterday.

I was taken straight to into resus and was admitted overnight. My consultant this morning said you made it just in time. So I agree these attacks are so inconvient and spoil your fun at times. I try to see the funny side of these 'adventures' because i survived them. I have had 2-3 asthma attacks a month since October last year. The last 3 years i've seen aside of asthma i never knew existed it's amazing, but everyones messages on this site is inspirational. Thanks Gill

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ringing for a emegency help

I don't know what or if there are any costs for you if you ring for help but here in the UK I am told by the doctor and others not to try to get to hospital by any other mean than an ambulance.

I don't know if this is due to the amount of medication i am taking as i use a nebuliser up to 6 times a day and i have usually taken this before ringing, at the times when i need this i can not usually move from where i am or struggle to walk and talking on the phone is hard. as i self treat most of the time I think they worry about heart attack. I do end up in resus and end up on a magnesium drip for a day and yet other times i can be out within 3.5 hours after been treated with salabulamol and oxygen

All i can say to you is if you think you need help get it and get it fast

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My daughter is 10, she has life threatening brittle asthma and is always in and out of hospital and spends much of the time in HDU.

I always get an ambulance out to take her to hospital. This has taken me a long, long time to get my head around. At first, i felt like I was wasting their time, like there were others who needed the ambulance more than her as it was 'only' asthma. The hospital and her consultant have made me realise that there is no such thing as 'only' asthma, I think that the reaction that I used to get from people about Aysheas asthma is what made me feel that I was wasting their time. I soon came to realise just how close my daughter had come to losing her life and it made me realise that if she became ill suddenly, there really WASN'T time to waste in getting her to hospital myself or worrying about calling an ambulance.

It does get you down, I look at other kids who can just go about their day to day lives and not have to worry about how their illness will impact on them but then I realise that I have a beautiful daughter and I treasure every moment I have with her, we cross whatever bridge we come across as and when and I try not to dwell on the maybes. It would be very easy to spend my life worrying about her all the time but what good would that do? It doesn't make the asthma any better so I may as well just get on with it. She does get down about it all at times. She gets fed up with feeling like a pin cushion, especially now that she is on omalizumab as well as this means injections every two weeks but she just accepts that this is a part of her life and she just has to enjoy the life that she has.

I know that you may get down with it all but don't worry about calling for an ambulance, you are much safer with people who can treat you if you deteriorate and just think that you will not always feel like this, though you may feel bad a the moment there will be times when you are feeling better than now.

Keep your chin up.

Mel

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So lets see....I went and read the poem, which it was so nice to know I'm not the only one who dreads and lives with asthma. What a pain it is sometimes!

Thanks all for your responses. They all made me feel so much better. It is taking me a bit to get my head around the asthma thing. The last time I started to really think about it I started getting kind of depressed, because it's like this thing in my life that I didn't invite, yet it's always been there. One good thing is like Mel said, I can remind myself that I won't always feel like this, and I already feel better actually. Sometimes I feel like the old out of sight, out of mind works well with chronic health conditions....if it isn't bothering me RIGHT now I just won't think about it :).

About the ambulance service. Here in the US, I think cost is a factor. If I go to the ER I know it will be a small copay, but if I call an ambulance it could be expensive. I suppose I should call and check my insurence. So I think people are more hesitant to call an ambulance here. But then again talking to people who have asthma here made me feel better about it, because I think sometimes people in general don't respect asthma. And it can be very bad. So in thinking about it now I will run the ""should I call an ambulance"" script through my head as an option. It's also an option that I probably should have taken at least a few times.

Also someone made a good point that if I get help early, that it's better because it keeps it from getting worse (which is why having help getting to the hospital is good).

Right now I'm kind of upset because I had to tell a friend I couldn't go out with her tonight to watch fire works. It's the mold in the evening that makes my breathing worse, and I still don't feel normal after last week. I also can't go to camp with the kids I work with. It feels odd. Like somehow I'm faking being sick and getting out of my job, but I really can't help it. I don't want to get more sick.

But at least this week it got better...

Bee