TV Asthma

I've noticed that a lot of people think that asthma is what you see on tv. People think that asthma is basically hyper-ventilating and that if you just breathe slowly and deeply, the attacks will go away.

Well, here's the thing. The people having asthma attacks on TV are ACTORS. They're not having real asthma attacks. If they were, the camera man would come running and help them rather than continuing to film.

Next, there appear to be several different ways that real asthma presents. For me, it's a weird wheeze at the end of my exhales coupled with coughing fits, complete with choking.

As such, no amount of deep breathing is going to solve it, especially since I can't even build lung capacity right now. The baby is taking up too much space in the chest/abdominal cavity.

Oh and another thing... yesterday I asked for a recommendation for an asthma specialist. I received recommendations for a chiropractor and a homeopathic "healer." Additionally, someone called claiming that he could use hypnosis to cure my asthma. By the way, I don't generally discount claims that people make. In the case of homeopathy, however, the research and science is overwhelming. It just isn't real.

Remind me to specify that I want someone with an MD from a reputable medical school!

Lack of Anonymity

A lot of blogs are anonymous or close to it.
Mine isn't. Not only mine isn't, but people including my husband's manager, my mother, my neighbors, and my father-in-law read it.

Which is mostly really cool. It gives me an easy way to keep up with people, share experiences, etc.

On the other hand, when I really want to rag on someone, I can't. When I want to share some juicy gossip, I have to be aware that even if I don't share the person's name, someone will recognize the situation and know exactly who I'm talking about...

All of this is why I haven't shared a lot of the details of my pregnancy. In an anonymous blog, you can tell people all about the messy stuff - the internal exams, the kegels, the works. But here, I really don't want all my friends and neighbors to know that the Dr. did X or that I'm having Y problem... And it's kinda hard when all I want to do is whine!

That said, I'm now going to indulge in a little bit of whining. Those of you who don't know me very well can assume that I'm censoring myself somewhat because of my aforementioned audience. Aforementioned audience: feel free to skip this part...

I have asthma and I feel like it's killing me. I keep coughing and coughing and well, if you've been pregnant, you know that coughing can have yucky side effects. And I don't mean just the incredibly painful tearing sensation in my abdomen.

A few weeks ago, when the wheezing was very bad, my doctor gave me a prescription for a nebulizer and some medication that goes into it. The stuff pretty much works. Not perfect, but it helps a lot. I ran out, and asked him to prescribe more, and he didn't renew the prescription. (I have to ask him to call me tomorrow to tell him that I'm wheezing again). I went to the other dr in the clinic, and he said a regular inhaler is plenty. However, the regular inhaler seems to do zero. As in, I feel absolutely no difference at all.

So now, I'm coughing and coughing, and I'm out of medication that sorta works and all I have is stuff that doesn't work, but I'm still taking it in case maybe it has a cumulative effect or maybe I would actually be worse without it.

But I'm thinking jeez. I have another 9 weeks to go before the due date, and my mom and sister pretty much consistently went over, so I could have as much as 11 weeks to go. How am I supposed to live with coughing, difficulty breathing, wheezing, and that tearing sensation in my side for the next 9-11 weeks?!

And let's just say, for argument's sake, that I somehow live through this (not like I have much choice, unless I choke to death)... How am I supposed to get pregnant ever again, knowing that pretty much as soon as the nausea ends, the asthma begins?? I don't know if I could handle this again?! I'm just crying my eyes out with frustration and pain, and Yaakov asked if I wanted to go to the ER, but ... I can't go to the ER every time I have an asthma attack - I'd have to take up residence there. I just can't stay like this. I don't know what to do!

There, whine over... thanks for listening.

t.c.

Thought for the day...

Having diagnosed asthma is way better than having undiagnosed asthma...
few things feel better than the way that lungs clear up with an inhalation.