My Life as an Asthma Mom

  Do you feel like you have a chronically stuffy nose?  No matter how often I blow my nose, use an antihistamine, or use my corticosteroid nose spray, nothing helps.   I have been feeling like a stuffy little 2 year old toddler for a while, and set an appointment with my allergist.  I had heard about nasal polyps, and wondered if I had polyps in my nose that were making it hard to breathe. I noticed: I breathe through my mouth  My nose is always stuffed up I was snoring at night (so my husband says...)  What are nasal polyps?   Nasal polyps are painless growths in the sinuses or inside the nose. They aren't cancer, just harmless growths. But, they can block the nose and make it hard to breath.   You can use medicine to shrink the polyps or you may need surgery to remove them.  What did my allergist say?  As part of the exam, she looked in my nose with her nasal endoscope and said, "Oh wow! You have HUGE turbinates! Do you have...

  I was chatting with a friend, and she said coughs ALL the time. In fact, she said that her kids can find her in a building by listening for her cough. I asked her if she uses her reliever inhaler when that happens, and she said no.  I'm baffled by why people don't use their reliever/rescue inhaler when they are coughing (or having any other asthma symptoms). I once had a client who said she "only will only use her inhaler if she feels like she needs to go to the hospital".  I think she missed the point.....  Using a reliever/rescue inhaler can help you AVOID going to the hospital. Of course there are times when you may need more help than an inhaler.  My kids were in the hospital a LOT when they were little (thanks to RSV, pneumonia, and wildfire smoke).   The Asthma Respiratory Foundation in New Zealand says:   "Relievers are taken as needed to relieve asthma symptoms (cough, wheeze, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath), before exerci...

AI seems to be everywhere - and I can't get away from it!  A simple search on my computer will always have the first result from AI. I don't want to read an AI summary, because they are not always accurate.  I want to go to the actual medical website to get information.  Why?  Misinformation from AI Have you heard about the crazy things AI recommends for health? One example is a satirical website that published an article from a U.C. Berkley Geologist who jokingly said:  “In order to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle, Americans should be ingesting at least a single serving of pebbles, geodes, or gravel with breakfast, lunch, or dinner,”  But AI took this as true medical advice - and it came up in online searches!      You would think people wouldn't actually eat rocks...but stranger things have happened.  There are well documented cases of chat bots encouraging people to self harm of even take their life. One AI company is being...

  I was scrolling online and read a comment from someone who had just started using asthma inhalers, and she was complaining about having back pain. I had never heard of an inhaler causing back pain, but I'm not a doctor or pharmacist, so I could have missed it. The inserts that come with inhalers are very long - and I don't read the whole thing.   When I researched back pain with asthma, I found a couple of causes.   Causes of back pain when you have asthma   Since I always share reader friendly websites (instead of scientific articles), the first website,  GoodRX  , is what I use to look up various medicines, side effects - and find coupons!  GoodRX did list back pain as a possible side effect of one inhaler. Of course, there are many possible side effects for every medicine, and manufacturers have to list each one - just in case someone experiences a side effect.   Another user friendly website I share with patients is Healt...

  My youngest child just aged off our health insurance, and she can't find coverage she can afford. Is anyone else having the same problem? Especially since subsidies for the affordable care act ended? Can you keep insurance through your work?  My daughter wanted to use COBRA and stay on our insurance. What is COBRA? It: "....gives workers and their families who lose their health benefits the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan for limited periods of time under certain circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events. Qualified individuals may be required to pay the entire premium for coverage up to 102% of the cost to the plan." In simple words, you can keep your health insurance from your job - but will need to pay the entire cost (your work usually pays the majority of your premium).  My daughter would need to pa...

    Are you planning on watching the Opening Ceremony of the Milan Olympics on Friday night? I love watching them and already have Olympic decorations up. Now I just need to decide on a menu.  I have been watching some of the qualifying events, and those athletes are crazy. Did you know downhill skiers can reach speeds of 75 - 95 miles per hour?   Olympic Athletes with Asthma    Did you also know that asthma is the most common chronic condition among elite Olympic athletes? A study published in PubMed says:  "A recent study on more than 1,300 European athletes from the summer Olympics found that asthma prevalence was estimated to 16.5% across all types of sport and most often were found among endurance athletes (55.7%)"    For average Americans,  7.7% have asthma .  All sports are different, but endurance sports seem to have the highest number of athletes with asthma  (think cross country skiers and biathlon - an...