My Life as an Asthma Mom

Tissues are my best friend right now. We have LOTS of boxes of tissues and travel sized tissue packs around the house, in the car, in the teenager's back packs and in my purse. Spring is here! And with it comes hay fever. Some people may say "what's the big deal?" The problem is that having allergies is like having a cold-FOR MONTHS AT A TIME! A cold is here and gone in a week. With allergies, it can be MONTHS later and we are STILL sneezing, having runny noses, itchy throats and rubbing our eyes until they are red. Day after day, after day, after day. There are things that can help. There are a lot of options when dealing with allergies, the Mayo Clinic has a whole list on their website. You can use nasal sprays, pills, liquids, eye drops, inhalers, skin cream and allergy shots. Our family has tried them all. Hubby and I and all three teenagers have allergies. Year round. And we have all used different things to treat our allergies. Your doctor can actual...

                      I had Spring Fever last week. I wore sundresses (with a cardigan sweater of course.) And I was sporting sandals. Never mind that my toes were numb by the time I got to work. I was excited for Spring! Then it snowed. In fact, we were on the highway and there was just enough snow to make it slippery. We passed 4 accidents in an hour. I couldn't wear sandals because of the snow, and I had to switch back to my winter coat, hat and gloves. For some parts of the country, this is typical weather. It warms up, then rains or snows. Then warms up, then rains or snows. Annoying, yes. But it can also cause problems with asthma. For some people, changes in the weather can cause problems. They can have problems with temperatures changing (warm to cold or cold to warm) or with humidity levels changing (dry to misty weather or misty to dry weather.) It's good to know about different triggers (or causes) of asthma attac...

There was a student at a school in Eastern Pennsylvania who was rushed to the hospital with a life-threatening allergic reaction to Axe Body spray. The CBS news article   said that the student had his throat close up three different times in nine days after smelling the spray. The school nurse had to inject the student with an Epi Pen the last time before he was transported to the hospital to be treated. That student was lucky that the school nurse was there. Our school nurse covers between 5-8 schools. The chances that she would be there if my son had anaphylaxis is zero. My son is allergic to tree nuts. Not to be confused with peanuts. A peanut is actually from the legume family. My son is allergic to nuts that come from trees (walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc.) I wonder if the student was carrying an Epi Pen or if the school had a "stock" Epi Pen on hand for emergencies. Our county health department works with our three local school districts to make sure every s...

    I just read an article called "Non Respiratory Signs of Worsening Asthma" by the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology.  It sounds like a mouthful, but the idea of the article is simple. They asked parents in the research study to watch for OTHER signs of asthma getting worse in their child. Most of us focus on wheezing and coughing-the usual "cold like" symptoms. But they asked parents to watch for changes in the way their child is acting or looks. They found that in the days before an uncontrolled asthma flare up, there were some things that parents noticed about their children. The "non respiratory symptoms" are: tension anxiety sleeping problems tiredness paleness The one upper respiratory symptom that seemed to increase dramatically was an itchy throat. (That's one things I always have before an asthma attack is a "twitchy" throat.) The study showed that the non respiratory symptoms were actually more ...

   I know I have talked about this before, but did you know that there are companies that will help pay for your medicine? I was talking to a neighbor about it last night. If you go to the website for Needymeds.org , you can find help. When I did a Google search, here's what it said about Needymeds:  "NeedyMeds is the best source of information on patient assistance programs. All our information is free and updated regularly." Needymeds doesn't sell medicine, it helps you find a company that will help you pay for your medicine. The website is free and easy to use. Just go to the website and you will see a green stripe across the front page of the website. You can choose from: Brand Name Drugs Generic Name Drugs Coupons Rebates & More Free Clinics Clinical Trials My neighbor takes name brand drugs, so we clicked on " Brand Name Drugs. " That takes you to a page with the alphabetical letters in blue print. Click on the letter of the alp...

We've been on several vacations with our three teenagers (all of whom have asthma) and you can never be too prepared. Our nebulizer has been to Disneyland and the Grand Canyon, among other places! We pack everything, peak flow meters, nebulizer, Epi pens and all of our maintenance medication. The problem with traveling is that you never know what trigger you may come across. Or, there may be something new that bothers you. I had an asthma attack in Disneyland, and to this day have no idea what caused it. There can be a lot of triggers for asthma-plants, animals, changes in weather, smoking, mold, etc. You need to be prepare to treat allergies and asthma and make sure you have all your medication and equipment with you. I always check to see where the closest hospital or Urgent Care is located (you never know if you might need it!) I also a special out-of-state insurance card. It's helpful to check with your insurance company to see what they cover for out of state eme...

I just noticed a counter on my inhaler the other day, I knew they were putting counters on rescue inhalers, but didn't realize they were using them on maintenance inhalers.  Some people get a little confused by the different types of inhalers. I take one EVERY DAY, whether I feel symptoms or not. You can't "feel" swelling in your lungs, but that's what can happen if you don't take an anti-inflammatory inhaler every day to control the swelling.  When those of us with asthma get a simple cold (on top of the swelling that is already in the lungs), it can lead to trouble.  My kids and I all have allergies and asthma, which means that if we're not careful, our lungs can swell because they are constantly being annoyed by the allergens we are breathing in.  It also means that we are a lot more likely to get pneumonia or bronchitis if we have a cold. Pneumonia has caused 12 hospitalizations for Son #2 and daughter Kitty.  A simple cold isn't so simple when ...