My Life as an Asthma Mom

In my last post, I talked about allergies vs colds. I also wanted to talk about how having allergies affects the body. If you don't have allergies - lucky you! For the those of us with allergies, life can be VERY miserable. I tell people that allergies are like a cold - THAT NEVER ENDS! At least with a cold, you know it's only going to last for about a week. (Unless you have asthma, and then you can develop pneumonia....but I'll save that for another post.) I get a runny nose - but unlike a cold - the runny nose can last all spring and into summer. We go through A LOT of tissues at our house. My favorite are Puffs with Lotion (that way we don't end up with a red nose!) I almost panicked when I was at the grocery store and they only had 3 boxes left. So I bought all of them. They're MINE - ALL MINE! (Insert crazy laugh....) To quote an allergy medicine commercial, "I store tissues like a squirrel stores nuts."  Sad, but true..... At o...

Yep, it's started already......sneezing and wheezing. Spring has already sprung here. In fact, the trees are in the "high" category for pollen right now. In some places in the U.S., they still have LOTS of snow.  In the West, Winter forgot about us. We are wearing sundresses, shorts and t-shirts.  And we are sneezing and wheezing. I was talking to a neighbor who started sneezing and then she said "allergies." I nodded, "Mmmmhmmm, we're all sneezing at our house." She asked if we took anything for allergies. "Um, yeah. Singulair, Zyrtec, Allegra and 5 years worth of allergy shots!" Mayo Clinic has some great information about Hay fever.     Do any of these symptoms that they list seem familiar?  Runny nose and nasal congestion Watery or itchy eyes Sneezing Cough Itchy nose, roof of mouth or throat Sinus pressure and facial pain Swollen, blue-colored skin under the eyes (allergic shiners) Decreased sense...

There is an allergy and asthma activity book available from Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA.) It's called "Ally and Andy's Awesome Asthma and Allergy Activities" . Here's how AAFA describes the activity book: "The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) created this coloring/activity book to provide children and their families with a basic understanding of asthma and food allergies. The activity booklet, appropriate for children of all ages, provides a fun way for children to learn how to recognize common triggers and to control their asthma and food allergy symptoms. In addition to the word finds, crossword puzzle, word scramble, maze and other activities, there is a story to read and color, plus a list of additional website resources for parents and kids on asthma and allergies." I scanned through the book. It's about a brother and sister who have allergies and asthma, and the other kids at school...

Sometimes, you can have an asthma attack, but may not be sure what trigger it.  This happened to me twice this week. As soon as I climbed in bed, I started that twitchy feeling I get in my throat. Followed a couple of minutes later by coughing. Argh! I had to get up and use my inhaler. But I couldn't figure out what was triggering it. I had just cleaned off the night stands and the top of the dresser, so everything should have been dust free.  All the bedding had been freshly washed.  So, what was it? Daughter Kitty is in charge of vacuuming the upstairs and the boys vacuum downstairs. Did she miss vacuuming under my bed this week? There was a decorative metal magazine holder on my wall that I had filled with silk flowers. Was that dusty? Did it trigger an asthma attack? The trees are blooming now and the pollen levels are in the "high category." Did I have pollen in my hair? Then when I laid down, did it get on my pillow, and then on my fa...

Status asthmaticus is another name for a severe asthma attack.  On TV shows or in movies, they may show someone having an asthma attack. The actress or actor  just take a puff of their inhaler and presto! They are just fine - just like that! For those of us that live with asthma, you may know that it isn't that easy.  It takes time for an inhaler to work and to help you breathe. In some cases, it doesn't seem to work AT ALL. All three of my kids have asthma (yes, they can blame me for that....) When Son #2 was younger, he had severe asthma. He didn't respond like most patients when it came time to treat his asthma. When he would get sick, I would panic! We would use a nebulizer and give him a breathing treatment, but it didn't seem to help. So we would call Asthma Doc. Asthma Doc would listen to his lungs and start him on prednisone (a steroid liquid/pill.) Asthma Doc would also give him a steroid shot (decadron.) It's a stronger...

Son #2 is in college, but still lives at home. (We cut him some slack - he has a scholarship and works part time, but still can't scrape up rent money.)   But living at home means you still have to obey the house rules - I don't care how old you are! And one of the rules is to keep your room clean. Son #2 is going to college full time and has some REALLY tough classes. He's usually up until the wee hours of the morning doing homework or writing a research paper.  So, the last thing he wants to do is clean his room. However, like all of my kids, he has allergies and asthma. And he's really allergic to dust. I could tell it was time to clean out his room because there was so much dust that he was waking us up in the middle of the night sneezing. Yes, he is on a different floor of the house. But when that guy sneezes - he really sneezes - loud! And it wakes me up. I can tell you that I'm not a happy person when I get woken up in the middle of the nigh...