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newbie here - my asthma and me

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Hi everyone - I can not believe I haven't found this site and forums before, but I have now :)

I am 44 and was first diagnosed with asthma, after the birth of my son. I was 17.

As a child every winter I suffered from acute bronchitis. I actually do blame my parents along with many of my Aunty's and Uncle's as smoking was rife then so I spent my childhood passive smoking.

For most of the years after diagnosis I was on the good old brown and blue inhalers.

The last 3 or 4 years I started seeing the practice asthma nurse. What I usually found was the week before I was due to see the nurse I would get a chest infection and end up spending a few days in hospital.

That was until last February 2013.

My asthma suddenly went from manageable to unmanageable overnighy , literally.

In 15 months I have had at least 15 hospital admissions. I have only had, probably, 3 weeks in 1 go where I haven't been on steroids.

I have been in ICU , HDU, had a steroid infusion, been on a lot of different types of antibiotics, magnesium drips now being the norm, as well as being in respiratory arrest 3 times and obviously lots and lots of nebulisers.

I don't get any let up, as I now can not walk very far without bringing on a mild, sometimes more severe attacks.

My asthma has now been upgraded to severe asthma because of how seriously ill I can become so quickly.

I barely sleep at night and have recently had an oxometer for a couple of nights to see whether I now have sleep anapia.

I have gone from a size 14 to size 22/24 due to the amount of steroids and medications I have pumped in to me and that I take. My immune system is so poor I catch everything that is going around.

If this wasn't enough to contend with I am also disabled after an accident at work when I was nursing. This has left me with chronic back pain along with osteoarthritis in my hips and wrists/hands, I have bladder issues as well as suffering with debilitating back and leg spasms. I use crutches to get around as well as a wheelchair for distançes .

So as you can see having my asthma now being so serious it was the last thing I needed.

There is no real reason why my asthma has deteriorate so quickly. I did loose m Nan and Grandad last year. They were like parents to me, but my asthma had started deteriating before I lost them.

I don't know and probably will never know.

But I have 2 lovely children and the most amazing grandson to keep me going. Please don't feel pity for me as this is just my life and I just wanted to give you some insight to who I am and why I am here :) xx Just remember everything you do is another memory you can share if you choose. :) xx

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