12th September 2007
Ok, so I went to the asthma specialist today, and WOW, I never had a doctor who seemed to care so much!! He even gave me his number if I had any asthma questions, I can call and ask. It was so nice, because with a doctor you book an appointment, and if you ask to many questions, they have always gotten frustrated saying how busy they are. Lol but he made it clean taht this was not an issue, I guess I explained to him, even though I have had asthma for 19 years no one ever really sat down with me and looked at everything. They just told me not to smoke and to take 2 puffs of this med twice a day.
He wants me to continue taking QVAR rather then advair because I ran out of advair and went back to quvar and my test was fairly good as he said. And I have only been on it for a week. So and he mentioned all the different drugs and which ones he would try if I continue to be out of control. Many of them I have already tried, but he also talked about putting different ones together and how the work for different types of asthma. And I asked about how safe that was and he explaind that too. As well as side effects. I really don’t feel like these drugs are that bad for you, which is another good thing, I would feel better and stop taking my quvar or advair, because I was scare of them. So this was really good for me to feel good about them so I can worry more about how good I feel and how important it is to continue these meds so I can always feel good. And he said we can lower the amount in the future. Or make gradual changes.
He asked many questions about triggers, and being sick, and he informed me about each of them, like he asked me “do you get sick often” and I said yes, and it seems to always go to my lungs, like bronchitis. And he explained how the cilia is damaged by the tar, from smoking, so it can’t move the germs out of the lungs like it should, so they stay in the lungs trapped. And how its the same with my qvar, it can also get trapped in the lungs and not work properly. And how quitting smoking is really good for that and I can get it back under control. It was very good and very informative. And he wasn’t liek “STOP SMOKING its stupid” but understood how hard it is, (because I keep cheating) and gave me new ideas on how to quit.
They way he helped me to get my asthma back undercontrol seemed to make sence, and he gave me a diary to keep track of my peak flow how I’m feeling, how much I cough (if its waking me up at night) how much ventolin I’m taking. What other meds I have to take some days because of bad allergies. What kind of allergy symptoms, And by seeing if my peak flow is going up and down, and not steady straight line. We can find out what the cause is, and fix it.. I guess...
So I spent an hour and a half talking about how to control asthma, when to know an emergency, getting out of situations that are bad for my asthma, how to remember to continue taking my qvar even when I’m feeling better. He asked me what other things I am doing to help asthma, (other then drugs) and I told him I’m detoxing and exercising, and he encouraged me to continue. But made sure that my exercising wasn’t to hard on my lungs.
So I feel really good about this. And I will continue to keep track of everything.. I kind of have to obsessive about it so I don’t forget any days to write in my diary. And I have an appointment with him next month. And then again after 6 months. I kindof hope he will keep making check up appointments, just to make sure I don’t lose control again. I mean I don’t always have to do my peak flow, but it will be nice if I’m forced to for one month every 6 months, just so I can show my doctor how I’m doing. Or even pass this on to my GP to take over once his job is done. Because the way I got so bad was gradual, so I didn’t even notice that I was getting worse until it was really bad.
He wants me to continue taking QVAR rather then advair because I ran out of advair and went back to quvar and my test was fairly good as he said. And I have only been on it for a week. So and he mentioned all the different drugs and which ones he would try if I continue to be out of control. Many of them I have already tried, but he also talked about putting different ones together and how the work for different types of asthma. And I asked about how safe that was and he explaind that too. As well as side effects. I really don’t feel like these drugs are that bad for you, which is another good thing, I would feel better and stop taking my quvar or advair, because I was scare of them. So this was really good for me to feel good about them so I can worry more about how good I feel and how important it is to continue these meds so I can always feel good. And he said we can lower the amount in the future. Or make gradual changes.
He asked many questions about triggers, and being sick, and he informed me about each of them, like he asked me “do you get sick often” and I said yes, and it seems to always go to my lungs, like bronchitis. And he explained how the cilia is damaged by the tar, from smoking, so it can’t move the germs out of the lungs like it should, so they stay in the lungs trapped. And how its the same with my qvar, it can also get trapped in the lungs and not work properly. And how quitting smoking is really good for that and I can get it back under control. It was very good and very informative. And he wasn’t liek “STOP SMOKING its stupid” but understood how hard it is, (because I keep cheating) and gave me new ideas on how to quit.
They way he helped me to get my asthma back undercontrol seemed to make sence, and he gave me a diary to keep track of my peak flow how I’m feeling, how much I cough (if its waking me up at night) how much ventolin I’m taking. What other meds I have to take some days because of bad allergies. What kind of allergy symptoms, And by seeing if my peak flow is going up and down, and not steady straight line. We can find out what the cause is, and fix it.. I guess...
So I spent an hour and a half talking about how to control asthma, when to know an emergency, getting out of situations that are bad for my asthma, how to remember to continue taking my qvar even when I’m feeling better. He asked me what other things I am doing to help asthma, (other then drugs) and I told him I’m detoxing and exercising, and he encouraged me to continue. But made sure that my exercising wasn’t to hard on my lungs.
So I feel really good about this. And I will continue to keep track of everything.. I kind of have to obsessive about it so I don’t forget any days to write in my diary. And I have an appointment with him next month. And then again after 6 months. I kindof hope he will keep making check up appointments, just to make sure I don’t lose control again. I mean I don’t always have to do my peak flow, but it will be nice if I’m forced to for one month every 6 months, just so I can show my doctor how I’m doing. Or even pass this on to my GP to take over once his job is done. Because the way I got so bad was gradual, so I didn’t even notice that I was getting worse until it was really bad.