Going camping when you have asthma
I have to admit I'm a little nervous to go camping. Hubby usually takes Son #1 and Son #2 (both scouts) but Kitty and I stay home (I love my nice, soft bed-not to mention air conditioning!)
Last summer, Hubby pitched the tent in the back yard so Kitty could "camp out." The s'mores were delicious (even if they were cooked in the microwave in the house.) But when I went to crawl into my sleeping bag, the dirt in the tent from the previous camp out was overwhelming. I instantly started coughing, and couldn't stop.
Why was I the only one that was having a problem with the tent? Kitty has asthma and is currently doing weekly allergy shots. She just looked at me with raised eyebrows as I was struggling to breathe. She was just fine and ended up spending the whole night in the tent. I went inside for a treatment, and stayed inside! Hellllooooo nice soft bed and clean air.
Asthma is so hard to understand, there's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to asthma. We all have different triggers, and our bodies react differently to triggers. It can be a mild reaction to down right dangerous. And you can encounter new triggers that have never bothered you before.
So, we'll see how it goes this weekend. Of course I am packing my peak flow meter, Advair, Zyrtec, Albuterol inhaler, nebulizer, albuterol vials and an adapter so we can use the nebulizer in the car. We may not need all of that, but you never know......
I should put travel stickers on the nebulizer, it's been to Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, Newport beach in California, and Cannon beach in Oregon. Sure, it may stay in the car the whole time, but I would never think of leaving it at home. It would be the one time that we would leave it at home that we would need it - Murphy's law you know!
So, we'll try to enjoy the camp out and relax knowing that I have all the medicine I need. And I am already anticipating s'mores. Mmmmm, melted chocolate dripping down my fingers. I can hardly wait!
How did the trip go? I'm camping in May and am worried about managing my asthma. The last trip triggered it in a big way -and I wound up with an official asthma diagnosis and an ER visit!
ReplyDeleteWe don't go camping anymore, it just doesn't work for our family. It's fine to go camping if you don't have allergies and asthma.
DeleteYou never know what kind of reaction you might have. You can be fine one camping trip, but have a reaction the next time.
When we used to go camping, we would make sure we weren't too far away from a hospital. We would always bring the nebulizer (it creates a fine mist of the medicine that you can easily breathe in) And we would make sure we packed the adapter so the nebulizer could plug in to the cigarette lighter.
You just never know what may happen. You may be just fine! Just pack all your allergy and asthma medicine and know where the nearest hospital is....just in case.
Make sure those going with you understand the symptoms of an asthma attack and what to watch for. If you get into trouble and can't breathe/talk/walk, your friends or family will need to jump in and help.
You may be just have a great trip with no asthma problems. Just prepare and have fun! :)