When I saw the doctor this week, I told him that my chest has been feeling tight for the past several weeks. He took a listen and said I was wheezing. Rather than another dose of steroids, we decided to try theophylline.
I took the first dose Friday afternoon, and was up until 5 a.m. Saturday. So I skipped Saturday's dose, and started up today, making sure to take it with breakfast. I'm not sure yet whether it's helping, but I spent a lot of the afternoon shaking, probably from the combination of it and the Xopenex from the nebulizer. On the bright side, I was able to hack up a bunch of crap and get it out of the way.
I'm going to give it some time while I do a little research to see how long it takes to achieve optimum results. For right now, I'm not real happy. The shaking is very annoying, and complicates existing problems with grip. Plus, it seems to be making me more paranoid that usual, similar to how I get with too many antihistamines.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Air conditioning
I don't know what folks with breathing problems did before air conditioning.
It's been great weather here as long as you're healthy. Sunny, no rain, humid. As the pollutants build up and the humidity climbs, it's like trying to breathe through a wet wool blanket.
So we've been indoor folk with the air conditioners on since Friday. We'll be staying that way until it rains enough to wash some of the crap from the air, which looks, from the weather forecast, like the foreseeable future.
It's been great weather here as long as you're healthy. Sunny, no rain, humid. As the pollutants build up and the humidity climbs, it's like trying to breathe through a wet wool blanket.
So we've been indoor folk with the air conditioners on since Friday. We'll be staying that way until it rains enough to wash some of the crap from the air, which looks, from the weather forecast, like the foreseeable future.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Hospital cooties
We went to the local hospital outpatient department for routine blood work on Tuesday morning. They're in their shiny, new location, with bells and whistles and full HIPPA compliance.
It was crazy crowded, which we didn't discover until it was too late to leave. The intake and registration areas are carefully separated from the service area, which was so full that we had to stand for a while until seats became available. It was the first time in ages I'd left the house without any of my toys, because our past visits have been quite speedy.
In addition to agonizing boredom, we were constantly annoyed by the droning television set. It was on some talk show, with a self-important old white guy going on and on about nothing of cosequence. Then the real assaults began.
Why do people wear perfume to the hospital? Does it really not occur to them that there are sick people there who don't need to have their respiratory systems overloaded?
There was no escape from these people, either. Their personal aroma clouds extended ten feet in all directions. We couldn't leave the area we were in, and every time one of them drifted by, we started hacking. Several times, I forced myself to breathe slowly and shallowly. Between that and the coughing, I'm surprised I didn't pass out.
Since the, my nebulizer and I have been the best of friends. Three shots of Xopenex a day, plus cough syrup. We're scheduled for our three-month checkup in two weeks, so I'm trying to hold out until then. Unfortunately, I see me leaving the doctor's office with another round of prednisone.
It was crazy crowded, which we didn't discover until it was too late to leave. The intake and registration areas are carefully separated from the service area, which was so full that we had to stand for a while until seats became available. It was the first time in ages I'd left the house without any of my toys, because our past visits have been quite speedy.
In addition to agonizing boredom, we were constantly annoyed by the droning television set. It was on some talk show, with a self-important old white guy going on and on about nothing of cosequence. Then the real assaults began.
Why do people wear perfume to the hospital? Does it really not occur to them that there are sick people there who don't need to have their respiratory systems overloaded?
There was no escape from these people, either. Their personal aroma clouds extended ten feet in all directions. We couldn't leave the area we were in, and every time one of them drifted by, we started hacking. Several times, I forced myself to breathe slowly and shallowly. Between that and the coughing, I'm surprised I didn't pass out.
Since the, my nebulizer and I have been the best of friends. Three shots of Xopenex a day, plus cough syrup. We're scheduled for our three-month checkup in two weeks, so I'm trying to hold out until then. Unfortunately, I see me leaving the doctor's office with another round of prednisone.
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