Hanging on Again...

I woke up this morning feeling a bit lethargic and generally off colour. I guess I knew this was coming and I shouldn't have felt anything other than expectant. I mean for me it isn't usually a case of IF things plan to go off, more like WHEN. I woke up at about 10 when my alarm went off. Checking my Peak Flow, it was below the dreaded 200 l/min mark. It was 190 l/min, I was breathless and I didn't understand why I was struggling again. Instead of dwelling on that, I decided that the first thing to do would be a Salbutamol 5mg and Ipratropium 500mcg nebuliser.

My protocol states that if my starting Peak Flow is rubbish and I feel rubbish then I would up my steroids and neb every 4 hours. I added in inbetween doses of 2.5mg Salbutamol and extra Symbicort, just to keep things on an even keel. This can help keep me out of hospital, BUT sometimes, it is just stalling the inevitable. I need to take this careful or I could just end up in the thick of something interesting.

To keep my mind off things, I took on the housework, bleaching the kitchen down, vacuuming the carpets and wiping down the floors. As hard as that can be on my body, it needed to be done, and I needed to keep my mind off worrying about the fact I am very breathless and my chest feels like I am being beaten around with a sledgehammer. It's not the most comfortable of things and I am trying to keep on top of things rather than avoid them. Face the problems head on, then let things progress and go one way or the other on their own. If you wait for the reaper, you forget to live. That was one thing I never ever wanted to be or ever do. It's better to just live and do what I have to inbetween, that or sink in to self pity, another thing that really REALLY gets my back up.

But I think one thing I may do is keep a record of what I have been taking, when and why, so that when the time comes, we know exactly what the score is, which could save valuable minutes when it comes to it. Call me overly officious but I think if I can help myself in anyway, I will. No matter what it takes or what the price of it is. It is a lesson I have had to learn the hard way.

Loves
Wendy xx