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Yes: Side Effects involving heart rate/rhythm18% (2)
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Yes: Side Effects involving heart rate/rhythm18% (2)
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No82% (9)

I don't use my albuterol every day either, but I have flareups that tend to last for days. So, I could go months with little symptoms and could have a flareup for days like I'm having now. I've actually never heard of Combivent or Xopenex. I think I may have seen the name Atrovent once or twice. I've only ever tried Singulair, Advair, and Asmanex. Otherwise albuterol has been the go to meds forever. And honestly I didn't get to Advair until high school when my asthma divebombed for whatever reason, then I got switched to a Singulair, Asmanex combo when I switched doctors and complained of Advair side effects.
I can't say that I ever felt fully controlled on any of those three meds, but I'm also a little paranoid about it. I still had asthma troubles despite the meds, where I was using my inhaler about once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.View Thread

It can seem like we are when we're constantly worried about colds, which most people take for granted because they have healthy lungs. Right now I live with a smoker and work with little kids, so I'm definitely on the lookout for colds. Not only because, as I have felt in my chest this week, my lungs are currently inflamed and oversensitive but because I don't want to catch a cold from the kids or spread one to them. Not to mention I lose money because I don't have sick days if I have to be absent.
You are making me feel better though, thank you
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Yes: Side Effects involving heart rate/rhythm18% (2)
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Yes: Side Effects involving asthma control0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving lung health0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving other body systems0% (0)
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No82% (9)

I do worry about colds a lot. I've been to the ER plenty of times and I never want to experience the level of illness I got in high school again. I was really sick then, having frequent flareups. The one and only time I got a flu shot I got the flu and walking pneumonia and ended up missing three weeks of school. It still took me a month to completely recover. But I do appreciate you telling me I'm not a hypochondriac to worry about that
I've always been a bit of a germaphobe, but that makes sense since I've been an asthmatic my whole life.My eczema was really bad last year. I get it mainly on my hands and face, and my hands get so dry that the skin cracks and bleeds in winter. Nothing I did really helped and it was frustrating. My facial eczema flaring is a sure sign my asthma is flaring too, like no joke. I can't swim because I'm afraid of drowning, too much like feeling the pain and anxiety of a bad asthma attack.
I couldn't move to the desert, being overheated flares my asthma, drains my energy and just makes me feel generally ill. I hate extreme temps period, but I will much prefer being cold to being hot.
They tell me to exercise because I'm overweight and it's good for strengthening the lungs. They also tell me because they've all got athletic asthmatics and think all asthmatics have that potential if they just "do it right". The "use your inhaler about 15 min before you start exercising" thing seems to be pretty common. It's supposed to preempt an attack so you can exercise with less concern. I've even found that advice on the internet. Of course, I've found it's counterintuitive for me.
I found the hardest thing is dealing with people who know me well, like my mom and boyfriend. My boyfriend's brother has asthma and said brother is an athlete, however after careful explaining he sort of gets it that I can't be that way. He still has a little of the attitude that I can get fit, but really the hard part is keeping him balanced between healthy concern and consideration and panic. He had to take me to the ER once and it really frightened him. I kept telling him I'd be fine but it was all he could do to keep himself under raps. I wasn't even having a super bad attack, I just had an empty inhaler and no alternative.
But then my mom, well she is a walking contradiction with my health and her opinions. She thinks all my problems can be easily solved with lifestyle changes and exercise (she recently hopped on the natural health bandwagon. I know all the info she knows and such but it's really just not that simple or that easy and she thinks it is.) But, I also know I really want to minimize medicine. I'm tired of medicine....
Anyway, you did help me feel better. And I feel you on the hand washing thing, I'm often teased by my family for washing my hands like I'm about to perform surgery
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Poll Results
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Yes: Side Effects involving heart rate/rhythm18% (2)
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Yes: Side Effects involving asthma control0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving lung health0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving other body systems0% (0)
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No82% (9)

I don't really know what to do about it, because the only thing I see ahead is more and different medications. I see posts from people my mom's age talking about having it for twenty or thirty years and struggling to control it. I struggle to control it and I've had it for twenty years too, but the problem is I've never had a year without it!
My asthma control suffered a lot in high school and I never got it back. I don't know what it was, but I have a lot of indoor and outdoor allergies and my school was an old building. A bad case of the flu (and walking pneumonia) kept me down and out for three weeks. I'm tired all the time, I'm quite the insomniac (nevermind that severe insomnia runs in the family) and that's related to asthma too. It's not foreign to me to wake up middle of the night wheezing and coughing.
Trying to figure out how to tame it, especially since I made an emergency room visit last winter, is hard. I have low stamina, especially during summer and winter when the environment is extreme, and after being on albuterol my whole life have a sensitivity to it everywhere but my lungs. I'm in the middle of a mild asthma flareup and notice my nebulizer not helping as much as I want, nevermind making my nose runny and such. It calms the wheezing for the night and then if I cough for any reason I hear myself wheeze. I look at the skin on my face and see that my eczema is flaring. That is such a reliable sign that my asthma is on the fritz that my mother often takes a glance at me and asks me if my asthma's been flaring.
It's scary. I don't know what to do, and at this point I'm thinking some of my problems are related to that very long term use of albuterol and lack of asthma control. Like the fact my heart rate jumps too much when I walk up a couple flights of stairs. I feel my chest tighten, but not necessarily from wheezing by walking fast up the street or jogging up steps. I'm tired and fatigued easily, my muscles get sore fast. True that may just be that I'm out of shape and can barely exercise without a flare up, but still.
The fact I'll have to start over with a new doctor soon isn't helping me. Honestly I'm tired of always being told to exercise. I do a lot of physical activity because I work with kids, but if that tires me out, if I can't breathe or get dizzy or a headache, then how am I supposed to exercise? Using my inhaler before exercise only shoots what little stamina I have in the foot as my heart rate jumps and limbs tremble from it being used when I'm not actually flaring.
I'm really upset thinking about this. I'm actually a hypochondriac, because I'm always worried about my health. I have had to do so for my whole life. Colds are special, better watch out for the flu, etc etc. I'm tired already....chronic illness sucks ass...View Thread
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Poll Results
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Yes: Side Effects involving heart rate/rhythm18% (2)
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Yes: Side Effects involving asthma control0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving lung health0% (0)
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Yes: Side Effects involving other body systems0% (0)
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No82% (9)

Anyway, my asthma doesn't like the world. Exercise-induced, bothered by very cold, very hot, and/or very humid/rainy weather as well as my known allergies (ragweed, hay fever, grass, dust, mold, sometimes dogs and cats, usually only after being exposed after long term absence of an animal). Fun right? As far as I know I don't have any food allergies, though I'm starting to think I'm developing one. After a problem with bedbugs I seem to now have a mysterious case of chronic hives. The bugs are gone, so the welts should be too, but alas they're not and I can't figure out what's causing them.
I do live with my grandmother, she has a dog and, as I mentioned above, smokes. I've been on Albuterol my entire life, inhaler, liquid, nebulizer. Now, my asthma has actually been quite well behaved this year (thankfully), and only recently have I been experiencing wheezing and coughing. I had it earlier in the year, but it would act up a little and then behave and be "gone" for several weeks to months. Now, to be fair to my lungs, the weather has been quite funky where I live with rain and fluxing temperatures and I gave blood a couple weeks ago. Nonetheless it's irritating.
My main concerns are this, how to control my asthma without using my nebulizer so much (I don't have an inhaler, and yes I know that's a massive omgbad!). As well, I have been looking into what the effects of using Albuterol for such a long time can do and I'm curious about other people experiencing effects from using it long term. I've always had a slightly elevated heart rate, and honestly I'm starting to think that sometimes my shortness of breath or chest tightness after mild exercise isn't my asthma but my heart overreacting to the exertion. I'm about to go to a new doctor as well and this makes this a bit hard for me.
I do have very healthy blood pressure and eat mostly decently, but I'll admit I'm a sugar fiend and overweight. Speaking of which, can asthma medicines affect your eyes? Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration run in my family as well and I've found my eyesight has been getting worse since high school, right around when my asthma also got really bad. I have used Advair and Asmanex in the past, didn't like the Advair, it didn't help as much as I wanted and had side effects I didn't like. Honestly I don't think Asmanex worked very well for me either, it started out fine but I was still having symptoms. Of course, I never used a controller until high school either.
So, similar experiences/life stories? Any information on long term effects of Albuterol use? Advice on speaking to my new doctor about this stuff? Suggestions for controlling asthma besides exercise? I know exercise is important, but I constantly get harped at on that point and I will not take a puff of inhaler before exercising. It jumps my heart rate and kills my already low stamina, not to mention the shaking it causes. If you have some advice on exercise (I can't swim btw) other than that I'd like to hear it.
View Thread

I catch colds rather easily and four years ago had a bad case of the flu as well as walking pneumonia. Cold air very quickly triggers my asthma, the colder it is the more my lungs feel like they're burning and hurting. Because i'm also exercise-induced I can work up an asthma attack just by walking two or three blocks, sometimes less if it's really cold, if i'm sick, or if I'm just having a bad asthma day. Occasionally I even feel like i taste a little blood while i'm wheezing and struggling to breathe. That may just be paranoia since I never cough blood or unusual colored mucus. I can't even wear down coats because I'm allergic to feathers.
This winter I'm not doing so hot with my asthma. Like I said earlier I was in the ER for an attack last week. It took four nebulizer treatments in the ER to completely open my lungs so they didn't hear any reduction with the stethoscope. Since then I've had wheezing and trouble breathing about every four hours. I also don't feel fully opened up after using my inhaler. I have a distinct feeling of chest congestion, but I don't feel sick. Mild sinus congestion and feeling congested in my chest, that's it. I have some fatigue, but that isn't really unusual for me because I have irregular sleep patterns because of irregular work schedules. I have a cough, but it's mild and mainly triggered by deep breaths. Any ideas what might be aggravating my asthma? Also, have a doctor's appointment soon, to alleviate any worry about that.View Thread

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