General Chat

hiya ann thanks , i have still not got a good peak flow (200) but i feel well x

Now that the weather has cooled and pollen count is down hope everyone is feeling better. Ann

hiya all thanks a lot x

Heather I can recall sometime during the seventies watching a programme testing the air around schools particularly those close to busy roads and motorways and then testing the children - the results even then were giving loud warnings. Then at some stage I noticed the buggies and the height of the car/bus/lorry exhausts and when a mother is pushing a baby in a buggy and waiting to cross the road - where is the buggy? Don't get me wrong I am not blaming the Mums - this as I have said earlier in the thread is my theory and been banging a drum about it for well over 20 years. I daren't go near large towns or cities during summer or I am in trouble fast and I mean fast - in minutes. Ann

My eldest boy has had asthma since he was about 2 years old. He also gets hay fever. He only has it very slightly now, just when he gets a bad cold or there is very stormy weather. He uses his inhaler in the morning and usually not at all the rest of the day (it used to be 2 inhalers 3 times plus a day). I know he tries to shrug it off but I made him promise ALWAYS to carry an inhaler just in case. I never thought about the buggy theory before. I have to say when I was at school there was just one kid in the whole year with asthma and we thought of him as disabled. Now its what 1 in 5 or something!

hiya val roxanne and caz, thanks a lot. val like i told you i went hugemogos on steriods for infirtility (did not want to go down that same road)val meant to tell you on sat. you are slimmer than when i last saw you x

Hi Sandra I got your email message Yes I have Ashma too!! have had since I met Roger my husband when I was 16!!! always tell him I'm allergic to him hehehehe!!!!I will be 57 in September so had it for a long time!! I take Serotide inhaler (Its a combination of seravent and Becloforte inhalers Steroid) These help to prevent an attack and Ventolin this helps when youre struggling to breathe) and Singulair (tablets) and Prednisalone (steroid tablets) have now been on these for 15 years and yes I do have a weight problem!! But an answer which should please you is that taking steroid by inhaler will not add weight!! Good luck Sandra love Val :~) forgot to say I also take an antihistamine!! shake me up and Ild rattle!!! my peak flow is best 300 and hospital 100!! Forgot to mention!!! I've never smoked!!??

hiya ann ,i must admit i was bad last nite, for me it was a one of i think ,take care ann x

Sandra - I have been in the spare room most of the time since this started - husband reckons each year I am getting worse but I am tired of pointing out that this is the first year the high count of pollen/pollution has gone on so long without a break. What do you think? Ann

hiya ann ,i was coughfing my head off last nite.kept my hubby awake. i told him 'dont let it worry you, its not the cough that carries you of. its the coffin they carry you of in ' lol x

Anyone feeling any better than the pollen count is down ever so slightly or like me still coughing and no energy fed up as this has been since early June with high counts. Ann

hiya everyone and thanks for you replies. well i have learnt a lot from this thread. all your tips etc .i did better on that machine were you blow every bit of air out of your lungs. and then its printed off. my peak flow was just over 300.my spray is fluticasone and i have got the mini trombone as well ( spacer) lol. many thanks again. god bless you all x

It is interesting to read all the experiences here. I forgot to mention in my tips list about keeping spares around in case you need them in a hurry. About peak flow meters – This is only my opinion but I think they are useless. I know when I am breathing OK and when I am not. I don’t need a gadget to tell me. If I go to the doc because I have a chest infection then what will they learn from the reading? Another tip is: If you are admitted to hospital (possibly for something unrelated) some nurses will try to take your medication away “It’s hospital rules”. Resist. Don’t let them take it. You manage for years at home with self medication and then some nurse treats you like an imbecile. This is from my own experience and it happened to my mother as well. Does anyone else have a bad reaction to Asprin? Bob

Two other things I keep in my handbag and have used when I have gone into bad spasm without warning (like getting car fumes in my face) are a paper bag and a hand held battery operated fan. I expect all of you know what the bag is for and both of these items help if you feel at all panicky which we all can do. My best reading is about 350 and worst 150 - GP said on Friday if it ever hits 100 get to hospital immediately. I was told a few years ago by Asthma Nurse that like so many of my generation who had asthma as a child - lung damage was done then as there was nothing but nothing to ease an asthma attack except lots of pillows and 'steamers'. Reading the advice and questions on this thread I think it would be a good idea to keep this running as has already been suggested. Ann

I am another of you I have had it all my life i'm almost 51 and nearly died when i was 3 so I thank my lucky stars and take my meds. my eldest son also has it took my 9 yrs to get him diegnosed hes now 31 keeping fingers crossed none of the gran kids get it. take care all Josie

Yes Sandra always use your steriod one it will be your prevenative. I don't have a spacer as I have the turbohaler, Oh and don't forget to rinse your mouth after using them especially with the turbo haler ones. It can cause oral thrush and though not a big prob isn't very nice. You can get off doctor something to clear this but also can buy Daktarin from the chemsit which is good. I have a peak flow thing. I was told I should be about..450. Best lately 250 worst 150. Had the doctors baffled last year couldn't sort me out. They think that this has come on so slow that my body has got used to being without oxygen so is coping with less. Had a course of steroids last week. Feeling good at the moment. Germaine x

I too have asthma - been diagnosed for around 4 or 5 years now but only gone onto the brown inhaler through the spacer, morning and night, since last year. It certainly helps as I was getting breathless just walking to the shop, or going upstairs. Am slightly overweight but that is in my genes and was helped along by HRT which I no longer take. I have turned into my mother physically, but she was never diagnosed with asthama although had rheumatism and arthritis which I have (arthritis and fibromyalgia.) She also had high blood pressure which I don't have and had angina, finally leaving us after her third heartattack. Maybe it would be useful to have a thread for us asthma sufferers as we have for fibromyalgia sufferers. You could adapt this one?

As to 'running out' or finding you do not have your inhaler with you. I argued years ago for my repeat presecriptions always to be for 2. I carry a ventolin and combivent in my car as in my husbands at all times ( but swop over regularly so they do not run out of date). I have a set in the house and in my medicien drawer when I begin to use the last inhaler I order new. Asthma Clinic praised the way in which I have all these back-ups and did say that if more people worked that way less emergencies at A & E. However although there is a Clinic at the surgery - one only sees the nurse - I think it would be of more benefit if there were a general chat one like this. I personally do not know another asthmatic and never have. Ann

Ann, I have used one but I don't anymore. I think my best was about 550, my worse about 290. M.

Morfyyd - peak flow meter - could not think what it was called - does anyone use one and which is your best and worst readings. Ann