Hey my Lovelies,

Welcome to my first post of, ‘The Breathless SpUnicorn’ (pronounced – Spoonie Corn).

This will be where I speak a little bit about what asthma is and how I’ve coped with my asthma.

In this post I’ll speak about:

• What is asthma?
• Asthma triggers
• My asthma attacks

 

Asthma

 

What is asthma?

 

Asthma is a long-term condition for many people, particularly if it first develops when you’re an adult.

In children, it sometimes disappears or improves during the teenage years, but it can come back later in life. The symptoms can usually be controlled with treatment. Most people will have normal, active lives, although some with more severe asthma may have ongoing problems.

 

Attack of the lungs

The triggers that are in bold are what affect me the most

Asthma Triggers:

• Tobacco Smoke. Tobacco smoke is unhealthy for everyone, especially people with asthma
• Dust Mites. Dust mites are tiny bugs that are in almost every home
• Outdoor Air Pollution
• Cockroach Allergen
• Smoke From Burning Wood or Grass
• Overexertion

 

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

Since my teen years, my trigger was always caused automatically by the colder months, as soon as the temperature dropped it would affect me and cause my airways to contract instantly. This year the summer heatwave triggered my asthma and actually got me a little worried because as I said before it had normally always been the colder months to really agitate me. I woke up plenty of times already breathless and really struggled in the night as it was so stuffy and humid causing a lot of restless nights.

On August 12th my asthma was triggered due to physical exertion. I was out at a Convention and ended up in First Aid after feeling dizzy, lightheaded and weak. My chronic pain was getting really bad by the second half of the day and I could feel my chest tightening but wasn’t even able to voice this to anyone as I was half-way out of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a wheelchair to be wheeled to the First aid department so I used my cane to hobble round there with someone helping to keep me balanced by my other side. Fortunately, I got to First Aid safely but extremely out of breath at this point and suffered a mini attack.

The scariest asthma attack of the year happened on Wednesday 31st October. I was already in the hospital for an appointment for my Fibromyalgia & CRPS and was trying to make my way around the hospital to get to physiotherapy. It’s actually a bit of a blur but I remember a lady asking if I was OK and then I got into a lift. As soon as I exited the lift I literally couldn’t take any air into my lungs, my vision got extremely blurry and I dropped to the floor. Thankfully there was one person in the lift with me, a Dr who had gotten out on the same floor so they saw and tried to help me up. This was probably the scariest asthmatic situation I’ve been in and I was actually very frustrated and upset with the care that I received (lack of care) whilst in hospital. When I eventually made it to hydrotherapy department there were staff members watching over me and making sure that I was ok. Urgent Care had been called within the hospital by staff members and they were told as I was still suffering the effects of an asthma attack that I would have to call the ambulance service and then wait 4/5 hours to be seen… in urgent care! Just typing it is making me annoyed all over again.

As we’re back to very cold and wet months it is the hardest time to cope for those with asthma but there are ways to get by as best as possible and minimise asthmatic irritation.

 

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

In the next post, I’ll speak about asthma alleviation and medication/methods I use that have helped me cope.

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

Twitter – Follow @LauraSpoonie

Pinterest – Follow @LauraSpoonie

If you enjoy my content –  Support Me on Ko-fi

Thanks for stopping by.

Laura,

XOXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

References:

medlineplus.gov

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/asthma