My Life as an Asthma Mom

There are lots of controller inhalers/discs available.     Controller medication is what you take EVERY day for your asthma to keep the swelling down in your lungs. It's important that you take it every day - whether you feel sick or not. There are four in my family with asthma (myself and my 3 kids). All of us have different struggles with trying to control our asthma over the years. We have tried almost every asthma inhaler that is on the market. In fact, when we saw a TV commercial for an asthma inhaler I asked my daughter, "Hey - you had that one once, didn't you?"    She didn't even look up from her homework, but said dryly "Yep, if they make it, I've tried it." I always like to keep my eye open for anything new, so I follow the Allergy & Asthma Network Facebook page. Last week, they posted an article from Medscape that said "FDA Ok's Symbicort for Uncontrolled Asthma in Kids 6 to 12." New controller/maint...

With 25 years of parenting under my belt, you would think that I would have learned by now how to take care of myself AND my kids, but nope. I'm in the hospital again, having some tests run. Apparently years of chronic stress have taken a toll on my poor little body. As mom to 3 kids with asthma, we have had a LOT of stress over the years. My two youngest kids were hospitalized 12 times for asthma (2 were ICU.) When my kids were little, it seemed like they were ALWAYS sick! If they would come home from school with a runny nose, I would start to panic. For us, it would just be a matter of time before all the other cold symptoms would start (sneezing, coughing and wheezing).  We knew where to find all the after hours pediatrician offices! But wait, there's more! When you have asthma, a cold or the flu can easily turn into pneumonia. And for us, that would mean a 3 day hospital stay. But we also had two other kids at home, so how do we juggle...

Experts have said there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating asthma. My 3 kids and I all have asthma, and all have different inhalers that we feel work best for us. But with asthma medicines - what works best?    Do you prefer an inhaler or a nebulizer?  There are researchers who have shown that an asthma inhaler works just as well as a nebulizer for treating asthma. Do I think they are right?  Nope. I know they are researchers and they have their professional opinions and the science to back it up. But did they include people with different types of asthma? Mild, moderate and severe?    Did they include people who have been hospitalized for asthma, or just someone who uses their inhaler once a year?    Asthma is different for everyone, and what may work for one person may not work for another.   I know what's best for me and my body  There are times when I am so sick that I can only breathing sh...