Experience with asthma?
I got the shock of my life yesterday. My allergist, who I saw because of questions about increasingly bad seasonal allergies and other things, told me that (after some breathing tests) I have ASTHMA! And, he wants to put me on daily medications to improve my breathing.
The reason this shocks me is because I dont' have any trouble breathing, dont' have any pain in my chest, and have never had any problems EXCEPT when I'm around cats and horses. But honestly, since those 2 things are pretty easy to avoid, I haven't even needed an inhaler for the past 15 years. and i was only prescribed one before for my asthmatic reaction to cats.
But the allergist I saw yesterday is a very good one. I took test that measured forced expired volume (FEV) . My forced vital capacity is excellent (100%). But my FEV is only 71%. They gave me a bronchodilator and after awhile I took the test again. My FEV this time was 82% with a disproportionately low forced expiratory flow during the middle half of my exhalation. Apparently the results of the tests showed that I would benefit from continued bronchodilator therapy. Which means I should start using an inhaler daily.
Honestly, I hated using an inhaler and avoid cats and horses like the plague so that I didn't need to use one. The shakiness, the lightheadedness, the feeling like i needed to munch were all annoying. I'm tempted not to do this. But the allergist has warned me that if I don't my condition could grow worse so that I'll need serious steroids later on to only slightly improve my condition. He explained that if I start now on mild steroids I might be able to avoid serious breathing problems and strong steroids later on.
Oh, and while I was at his office, my skin tests showed I was allergic to every pollen type Minnesota has to offer and I also am allergic to 3 foods. Oh, and I have Oral Allergy Syndrome to boot.
He asked me to try taking Advair and Nasonex 2xdaily for a week and to come in to repeat the breathing tests to see if I've shown any improvement. He asked me to just trying taking the inhaler for a week and promised that the annoying side effects would probably go away. I'm not looking forward to this at all and just feel COMPLETELY FREAKIN BLINDSIDED! Oh, and I want to go find all my gradeschool teachers and yell at them that IT WASN'T MY FAULT I COULDN'T RUN VERY FAST!!!!
Anyone have any experience with mild asthma? Are you on daily treatments?
" I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi
"This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.