rivka | (no subject)

Okay, my doctor just scared the hell out of me.

My cough has gotten abruptly worse over the last couple of days. I'm feeling like I just can't catch my breath - it's scarily reminiscent of the beginning of the serious bout with reactive airway disease I had in 2003, the one that sent me to the ER and had me doing nebulizer treatments at home.

Yesterday at dinner I made noises about "if I'm not better by Monday...", and Michael just gave me a look. By bedtime, I could no longer argue with him about whether I was going to go to work today or stay home and see the doctor. By this afternoon, I had to ask him to drive me to the doctor, because I was feeling so lightheaded.

So we went to my doctor together. My peak flow (a measure of how well I can blow out air) is 275. Normal for my age and height looks like it's close to 500. She changed my antibiotic. She prescribed an albuterol inhaler and a course of steroids to open up my airway. And (this was the part that seriously alarmed me) she told us that if my breathing worsened at all over the weekend that I shouldn't play games - I should go straight to the hospital.

Yikes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yikes! Yes, breathing is not something to mess about with. Although the age/height norms need to be taken with a pretty large grain of salt, 275 is pretty low for anybody. My own norm is a fair bit higher than predicted for my age and height, and I've had to deal with a doctor saying that I seemed to be doing "pretty good" while I was having an asthma attack that dropped me to below 75% of normal. I was not feeling "pretty good."

Sometimes a little fear is a good thing. Take care of yourself, OK?

N.

Eek! Let's hope it's not that. Here's to the new antibiotic working.

-J

I hope you feel better soon.

my doctor just scared the hell out of me.

That makes two of us. Please do as she instructed.

*fingers crossed* I hope you feel better soon! There does seem to be a NASTY respiratory infection running around. We had it here in MN in November, and both LT and I got it. LT has cranky lungs anyways, and she ended up with a z-pack and prednisone to supplement her daily inhaled microsteroid. Also, instructions to take her albuterol inhaler every 4 hours for at least 3 days. Oooof those were long days, because LT becomes a cranky cranky person about 2 hours after the albuterol hit. To quote her, "I don't even like myself right now!" Don't mess around with it. They also gave her the pneumonia vaccine, which makes me very very happy.

Eeee! Take care of yourself!

erp. hello rivka's lungs. pls continue to work as i am fond of ms rivka. thank you. signed, me.

seconded. Our household is also fond of Ms. Rivka, and would like to hang out with her again.

Mind the doctor! My norm is 250, but I have an autoimmune lung disease. It's not fun having to stop in the middle of things to get your breath back.

Gyeeps! You made it sound like it wasn't a *real* scare.

Please keep breathing. Thank you.

I'm glad you're being well taken care of. I had a doctor threaten me with prednisone when I couldn't swallow because of a throat infection, once, and was dehydrated. I learned to get liquids down. (Half a gallon a day of jello, as I could actually swallow that, though it hurt.) I hope all the drugs help. I'm sure they will.

Your doctor is bleedin' well right and giving you excellent advice, says the chronic asthmatic of more than forty years' standing (and several years' lying down, too). I'm so compromised that I have barely more than one functional lung left, and *I* can blow a PFT of 350 (normal for height and age: around 625). Get me fully medicated on Advair, Singulair, and Nasonex, and I can blow near 500. If you're so compromised you're under 300 right now, that flat scares me.

I hope it doesn't come to that and that the new meds help. Good luck!

Yikes is right, says the (albeit mild) asthmatic who's been below 300 before. It ain't fun, and is not something to play with. You need the albuterol, and the steroids, and you need the rest. And if your breathing gets worse, you get your butt to the hospital pronto, like the doctor said....

Take good care, okay?

the american lung association has it right "if you can't breath, nothing else matters."

Take care of yourself!

Prayers and good thoughts on the way.

Yikes indeed.

Good luck.

B