Today I took off early from work to visit my primary care physician. Last night was the 3rd night in a row of wheezing in bed. It got so bad the last 2 nights I ended up in the bathroom with the door shut hacking my lungs out at 3 a.m. I called the doctor’s office as soon as it opened this morning. She was able to squeeze me in just before lunch.
I’ve gone to the doctor’s at least 3 times in the past 5 years with these symptoms. I then get prescribed oral inhalers to last only for the duration of the illness. At least 2 times I remember she told me I had “bronchial spasms” but not asthma. The symptoms would end within 3-4 days.
Because I’ve been to the office 2 times in the past month, she now says I have asthma (like I didn’t already know?!?). It reared its ugly head when I caught the cold. Oh well. I suppose better now than showing up in the ER with an oxygen mask on my face later.
When I left the office, she prescribed me antibiotics (for the infection) and Advair, which is another oral inhaler to take regularly twice a day. I took puffs (sounds like smoking cigarettes) before I left the office and took one dose of the antibiotic when I got home. I check back in next month to see if she needs to adjust the dosage. I also got a peak flow meter to measure lung function to help me monitor my asthma.
Like my weight management, stay tuned.
photo courtesy of wikipedia.org
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