how can i cope better with severe asthma?

Question

So I have really bad asthma. I’ve stopped breathing already and had to have CPR on me, i've been intubated as well for a week.

I’ve been on prednisone (steroids) for over eight years already.
I have developed a lot of the side effects already.

Osteoporosis, cataracts, weight gain, mood changes, sleeping trouble and I get sick almost every week and I get outbreaks of shingles as well.

I’m currently on prednisone, singulair, zyrtec d, protonix, advair, combivent, spiriva.
For the machine i’m on pulmicort, chromalyn and xopenex.

But what I have trouble with is dealing with it. I hate not being able to do anything. I used to walk 60 blocks a day (no lie) and now I can’t even walk two stairs without having a little attack. I’m getting depressed. I’m still managing to go to school full time, but I can’t get a job anywhere because i’m always sick.

One thing I’ve manage to never lose is my sense of humor. I’m afraid to let people know how i’m really doing. I’m the person wh

Anyways, if you were in the same situation, how would you deal with it? Would you try to go to a therapist or something?

i dont know how to respond to answers on here. i just joined today but my email is

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Answer 1

Wow I have been to the point where I was on a vent also. I have to admit I don't take care of my asthma the way I should. I should take advair and I don't. I give you all the credit in the world for keeping up with your medicine. I do know how you feel, no one knows how much stress and anxiety you go though when you can't breath if they don't have respiratory problems.

I don't know if you live in a large populated area, but do you think it may be your environment??? Might be too much pollution around you. Also keep a journal of what caused your attacks, write down what you were doing and where. Keep track of the time of day, what you were doing and maybe you can find a trend and avoid the situation in the future.

By all means if you are depressed over your asthma contact a counselor or your doctor. If you are stressed that can bring on another attack.

I too try to keep my sense of humor. Both of us are here to stay and it will take more than a bad lung or two to keep us down....lol

Good luck!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Asthma is an allergy and is triggered by something. The best non medication treatment for asthma is learning your triggers and avoiding them. Common triggers are smoke, dust, mold, mildew, plants, dust mites, pets and grass/weeds.

If you can not figure our your triggers, you may need to see an allergist and have allergy screening done. This may point out your triggers.

The National Asthma Prevention Program and the Expert Panel of Diagnosis and Management of Asthma both agree if you have to use a prescription inhaler such as albuterol more then two time per week, your asthma is NOT in control and you will need a prescription controller medication.

Controller medications are steroids (Asthmacort Asthmanex, Flovent, Pulmocort), Leukotriene modifier (Singulair, Aculade, Zyflo) or mast cell stabilizers (Cromolyn sodium, Intal, Tilade).

You may want to talk to your doctor about several strong controller medications and maybe Xolair shots.

If you want a proven, all-natural way to cure your asthma, without having to pay for useless medications with harmful side-effects, then this is the most important page you'll ever read.

Answer 4

I have severe asthma and COPD, my latest bout has been going on for 10 weeks, I am on nebs every 3 hours, with ventolin mucomyst, I also have Seretide Intal forte and Spiriva, Ciproxin and Dexamethasone,none of these are working so in the next few days I will be going to hospital foe I.V treatment and physio this is the only thing that will help, I do lots of reading and crossword puzzles, hope you get well soon, take care

Answer 5

I too suffer from terrible allergies & asthma, although not as severe as what you're going through. I'm always very skeptical when people throw out advice about new treatments, medications, etc so take that into consideration when I tell you this:
I have had unbelievable success using Yogi tea's product "breathe deep" 2-3 times a day. It's an organic tea that promotes lung & bronchial tissue health. I'm by far the least 'crunchy' kid on the block but was blown away by my success with this. Visit the link below for more info:

Answer 6

Sweetie, I feel for you. My 8 year old son has sever asthma also. You might want to check the American lung associations. web site to see if they have any links to support groups. They may help you feel a little bit better. Or at least help you understand you are not alone. I would like to make to quick suggestions if I might. The first is have your home environment gone over some of your problems may be in it. I know my son gets worse if I don't have our a/c ducts professionally clean on a regular basis. Also, use of things like washable hepa filters for you a/c and heat unit and and getting rid of carpeting in your home.Because carpet traps a lot of dust. And the other thing is if you haven't already had one get tested for cystic fibrosis? Don't know if I spelled that right. A lot of doctors will tell you that white people don't get it. That it is mainly African Americans that get it.But what a lot of people even doctors don't know is that people of Mediterranean descent can also have it. My son is lucky he has a very good doctor and she ran the test on him after she found out that I am Italian.Please take care of yourself.

Answer 7

My daughter and son are both asthmatic, but my daughter is more severe. For a three year span she was in and out of hospitals every three weeks, and she too was on continual prednisone, which made her immune system so weak she couldn't fight off anything. I decided to look into how to prevent her symptoms instead of treat them, and after much reading and research the one thing I found that I believe helped my daughter get better was ACIDOPHILUS, to treat candida. When your asthma is active then there isn't proper air flow and your lungs become a dark breeding ground for candida, which is intensified by the use of steroids among other things. Candida lowers your already low immune system and is a vicious non-ending cylce of more medicine, more doctors, and more emergency room visits. Candida is a fungus which occurs in the mouth and intestinal tract, but can spread if conditions are right.

Lactobacillus Acidophilus potential therapeutic uses. These include the following:
·Replacing the "friendly" intestinal bacteria destroyed by antibiotics.
·Aiding digestion and suppressing disease-causing bacteria.
·Enhancing the immune response. Studies .
·Enhancing the immune response. Studies have suggested that consumption of yogurt or milk that contains specific strains of Lactobacillus or supplements with Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium may improve the natural immune response. Further research is needed to confirm these early findings and to best understand how the improved immune function may or may not help in warding off infections.
·Aiding the treatment of respiratory infections such as sinusitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. More research is needed in this area.
·Lowering risk of allergies. Examples include asthma, hay fever, food allergies to milk, and skin reactions such as eczema.

I was very determined to help my daughter and I was very deligent. She still has asthma some 15 years later but she hasn't been in the hospital for asthma since I started giving her Acidophilus, which occurs naturally in yogurt. I get chewables and sometimes capsules though at our local health food store (GNC), because they are more potent. A big hug. I hope this helps you.

Answer 8

Bless your heart. It definitely would be hard to be upbeat all the time. I would find it helpful to talk to someone like a therapist. I have for other reasons. You are a strong woman even with with your illness. I am so glad you find it to keep your sense of humor. It is ok to have a day or so not to have to keep up that front too. You should have someone to confide in. You have a lot on your plate to deal with and have for a long time. I would see a counselor or a therapist. I have and do on occasion. I will still call her on occasion when I feel I need to hear her kind voice. I will pray for your health and send you hugs. Feel free to email me if you need to vent at anytime. I am all ears.

Answer 9

*Did you try breathing exercise? Take 5 minutes just deep breath, and when doing this, pull your stomach in, instead of leaning your head back. I saw this on TV, and a physician said its better breathing in using this then leaning back taking the deep breath. This will help you cope with your current situation much better. Do this for two weeks. try increasing this from 2 minutes at least (the first day) all the way through the rest of the week, but increase to 5 minutes, then 6 althe way to 10 minutes, try 11+ minutes but less then 15 minutes.

Answer 10

You are in a very tough situation. The best thing you can do is stay upbeat & try to deal with your difficult position. I can't begin to imagine what you are going through but you are definitely not alone. I hope the links I listed below can help you, they have resources for support groups for people with severe asthma like you. Please don't get discouraged. There are solutions out there. Good luck!