(no subject)
Dec. 19th, 2008 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rck::snarls at the world::
Okay, pieces of today so far haven't been awful. Most of the day in fact. The weather's awful, and school's closed, but my doctor called me to take care of my concerns over the phone so that I wouldn't have to try to get downtown. It's one of those things that has made me stay with her for so long even with the other issues I have with her.
I'm even feeling a little better. My doctor strongly suspects, given the timing, that I had the bug that Scott did. She says that antibiotic side effect usually take a couple of days to get started. Given that my issues started no more than twelve hours after my first dose, she thinks it was the bug. I didn't get as sick with it as either Scott or Cordelia. I'm not sure if that's because my immune system was already up in arms fighting the strep or if the bug wasn't as viral as Scott was told when he went to the doctor.
The thing making me snarl is that my doctor called back to say that the pharmacy has informed her that they can't fill my rescue inhaler prescription because nobody's making that medication any more. I use alupent. I've tried albuterol several times in the last twenty years, and it's never been pretty. The side effects aren't as bad as ceasing to breathe, but they are worse than spending an hour or two coughing after being out in the cold or having to walk out of restaurants at the first whiff of smoke or incense.
I'm very frightened of what happens the next time I get asthmatic bronchitis or anything else that sets off a prolonged problem. It's only happened three or four times in my life, but those occasions are all in the last ten years, three of them in the last five. When that happens, I end up using my rescue inhaler fairly constantly for weeks. During those bouts, I use inhaled steroids, too. I need both.
This isn't going to mean big changes in my everyday life. I use my rescue inhaler maybe once a month under normal circumstances. It's just going to mean that there are chances I can't take. For example, my brother-in-law and his family want to try to fly us out to Seattle to visit. They've been telling me that they've kept their cats out of the downstairs of the house and that that area should be 'cat-free' and safe for me to stay in. With a safe rescue inhaler I might consider trying it. (I'm still dubious that space that shares the same heating/cooling ducts and general air circulation is going to be free of an air-born allergen, and I'm allergic enough for it to be a big risk with a good inhaler, even if it's just the risk of having to pay for a hotel room for the whole of the stay.)
Admittedly, I've only tried albuterol a few times. I used it for two days in the 80s. I was given it for a reaction to an allergy shot in the 90s (without being told what it was). I was given it in the ER for asthmatic bronchitis about three years ago. The first two reactions were clearly bad due primarily to the medication. The third...I was sufficiently sick at the time that it's hard to tell what was the medication and what was the illness. It helped me breathe a little better, I think, but the side effects left me feeling quite as bad as I had when I'd come in. They held me overnight in hopes that they could get me to sleep, but they kept putting more albuterol into me (I'd specifically told them not to, too. I only found out after the fact that, after the first treatment which was something else, they went back to albuterol).
Does anybody else out there have problems using albuterol? Do you have advice for alternatives? For decreasing the side effects? (I get a racing heart that feels like it's trying to escape my chest. I shake to the point that talking is hard, 'tremors' in my back and chest basically. My anxiety goes up which is hard to do when the normal level is somewhere in the stratosphere.)
::sighs:: My doctor's referring me to a pulmonologist in hopes that there's a solution. As long as I take Singulair every day, my asthma is mild 99% of the time. I've got time to look for options.
Okay, pieces of today so far haven't been awful. Most of the day in fact. The weather's awful, and school's closed, but my doctor called me to take care of my concerns over the phone so that I wouldn't have to try to get downtown. It's one of those things that has made me stay with her for so long even with the other issues I have with her.
I'm even feeling a little better. My doctor strongly suspects, given the timing, that I had the bug that Scott did. She says that antibiotic side effect usually take a couple of days to get started. Given that my issues started no more than twelve hours after my first dose, she thinks it was the bug. I didn't get as sick with it as either Scott or Cordelia. I'm not sure if that's because my immune system was already up in arms fighting the strep or if the bug wasn't as viral as Scott was told when he went to the doctor.
The thing making me snarl is that my doctor called back to say that the pharmacy has informed her that they can't fill my rescue inhaler prescription because nobody's making that medication any more. I use alupent. I've tried albuterol several times in the last twenty years, and it's never been pretty. The side effects aren't as bad as ceasing to breathe, but they are worse than spending an hour or two coughing after being out in the cold or having to walk out of restaurants at the first whiff of smoke or incense.
I'm very frightened of what happens the next time I get asthmatic bronchitis or anything else that sets off a prolonged problem. It's only happened three or four times in my life, but those occasions are all in the last ten years, three of them in the last five. When that happens, I end up using my rescue inhaler fairly constantly for weeks. During those bouts, I use inhaled steroids, too. I need both.
This isn't going to mean big changes in my everyday life. I use my rescue inhaler maybe once a month under normal circumstances. It's just going to mean that there are chances I can't take. For example, my brother-in-law and his family want to try to fly us out to Seattle to visit. They've been telling me that they've kept their cats out of the downstairs of the house and that that area should be 'cat-free' and safe for me to stay in. With a safe rescue inhaler I might consider trying it. (I'm still dubious that space that shares the same heating/cooling ducts and general air circulation is going to be free of an air-born allergen, and I'm allergic enough for it to be a big risk with a good inhaler, even if it's just the risk of having to pay for a hotel room for the whole of the stay.)
Admittedly, I've only tried albuterol a few times. I used it for two days in the 80s. I was given it for a reaction to an allergy shot in the 90s (without being told what it was). I was given it in the ER for asthmatic bronchitis about three years ago. The first two reactions were clearly bad due primarily to the medication. The third...I was sufficiently sick at the time that it's hard to tell what was the medication and what was the illness. It helped me breathe a little better, I think, but the side effects left me feeling quite as bad as I had when I'd come in. They held me overnight in hopes that they could get me to sleep, but they kept putting more albuterol into me (I'd specifically told them not to, too. I only found out after the fact that, after the first treatment which was something else, they went back to albuterol).
Does anybody else out there have problems using albuterol? Do you have advice for alternatives? For decreasing the side effects? (I get a racing heart that feels like it's trying to escape my chest. I shake to the point that talking is hard, 'tremors' in my back and chest basically. My anxiety goes up which is hard to do when the normal level is somewhere in the stratosphere.)
::sighs:: My doctor's referring me to a pulmonologist in hopes that there's a solution. As long as I take Singulair every day, my asthma is mild 99% of the time. I've got time to look for options.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 06:05 pm (UTC)Thanks for doing the research, though.
Right now, I'm hoping that the pulmonologist will know of something that's actually available. I'd expect him/her to have more ideas. Then again, the last time I talked to a pulmonologist, I got the impression that my issues were (in his opinion) too minor to be worth his time.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 07:19 pm (UTC)FWIW, there's a Chinese herb mixture made by Seven Forests, which is run by a man who is an acquaitance of mine. 7 Forests are the highest quality Chinese herbal mixtures, or "teas", you can find on the market, so I feel very confident in recommending the brand. The specific "tea" is called Blue Earth Dragon, and runs about $15 for a month's supply.
Cautions about Blue Earth Dragon: it contains ma huang, a/k/a ephedrine, which can be rather speedy, and should be taken long-term under supervision. It is, however, an important and time-honored ingredient in this formula. In my experience, as long as the patient is having asthmatic symptoms, it's okay to use, but then again, I keep an eye on the people I recommend it to that way.
If you have an acupuncturist or TCM practitioner, go to them and get this herb. One of its more amazing qualities is the transformation of phlegm: you don't have to cough up a bunch of mucus all the time, much of it just "disappears", dissolved by the herbal formula.
The BF has bad asthma and smokes besides, plus he takes advair and a rescue inhaler. Blue Earth Dragon helps him a lot. I highly recommend you check it out.
Good luck! ^_^
no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 02:41 am (UTC)