Ive only been out of the hospital for 4 days now , and despite being still quite sick, I’m actually starting to feel more and more normal again (thats a scary thought huh). Though very limited, today I was able to resume my daily walks.

I don’t think healthy people realize just how much of an impact a single severe asthma exacerbation can have on the rest the body…It takes a lot out of you and sometimes the treatment is as bad as the disease. All the IVs and tubes they insert in you, and all the drugs they pump through them , effect not only your lungs, but the all the other body systems as well. I always come out of the hospital majorly bruised and beat up. This time in particular, it did a number on my arm and leg muscles. In just 10 days I went from having moderate upper body strength, to having absolutely none at all. Just 3 days prior to this last hospitalization, I was lifting weights in the 80-120 lb range on the weight training machines at the gym. Today, I can barely lift my arms over my head with NO weight.

The one thing I’m really good at, has been effected as well. Before I was incarcerated , I could easily walk 10 miles without batting an eye. Today , it took all the lung power I could muster just to limp my way through 3.5 miles. I’m having serious doubts now, as to whether I’ll still be able to do the SF half marathon next month. I may have to forgo that one, and set my sights on the ET marathon as my next race.

I’m very strong willed and I always seem to recover quickly after a bad one…but never fully. Each severe flare-up that I survive, takes just a little bit more out of me that I can never replace. It’s a constant uphill battle in just maintaining what little I have. It’s been a full week now since I came off the ventilator, but my throat is still sore from the tube and my dyspnea level has been at times, off the charts.

OK, enough of the whining and self pity routine. I’m going to put this latest chapter behind me , so I can start focusing on the things I really love doing …. namely racewalking, concert going, and avoiding hospitals.

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…..Well, not exactly. I’m still getting my fix through steroid inhalers, but as far as the prednisone goes…..I’m totally off it ! ( at least for the time being.) I was on a low dose of it continuously for 14 months, but decided to stop, as it didn’t seem to prevent the more severe flare-ups.

It’s now been a full 2 weeks since I tapered off that poison, and so far, so good .My adrenals seems to be working fine, doing what they’re supposed to do. My peak flow readings, though a little lower overall, seem to be less wobbly (variable) and have been consistently in the green zone. My dyspnea level has been for the most part…mild. About the only negative thing I can think of, is that my neck and back and shoulder pain have increased 10 fold , but that was to be expected . Too me though, pain is the lesser of the two evils and I can deal with that.

I guess only time will tell how this is all going to effect me. One things for sure, from now on I’m only taking the drug when I get really really sick, and then, just long enough to recover.

Again with the disclaimer…This is a personal choice I made after discussing it with my doctors.

Funny how many parallels you can draw between the endurance sports and severe asthma exacerbations. Though I never actually walked one until I was 52 years old, in many respects I’ve been training for marathons my whole life.

These are the thoughts that were running through my head while I was suffocating in the hospital last week;
A severe asthma attack is like the “ultimate” ultra endurance event, only this race starts in the Emergency room, you cant quit or stop to rest during the race, and you never know at what point the finish line will come. Could be 20 miles… could be 200. Once you start, you’re in it, till it’s over….If you just can’t go anymore, they knock you out and put you on auto-pilot with the help of a ventilator. Regardless, you never cross the finish line until after your lungs finally open up. Sometimes this race can last for several days. Oh..and you’re not allowed to walk this event..You have to run as fast as you can or you’re disqualified…. …PERMANENTLY !

Assuming you finish the race, as most people do, you get a beautiful medal , but it ends up costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

Then there’s the excruciatingly slow recovery period… Speaking of which….

I’ve been out of prison now for 5 days, and I’ve been able to taper down to 40 mg ( prednisone). I also took my first post-prison walk today ( a little over 3 miles) , but boy ….it was difficult! My legs are mush , and my endurance is not existent.
I can see now, that this is going to be one of those long slow recovery’s .

Thanks everyone for checking up on me. I’m fine! ( well,… almost)

I’ve been out of the hospital for 5 days now, and while I’m finally breathing pretty good, the party has just begun. Thankfully, I’m already well into my steroid taper ( the worse part) and hope to be off it completely by next week. This is one subject I know a lot about because I been there and done it! …. over and over and over again.
You see, there are two parts to a severe asthma episode. There’s the acute phase ( the emergency part) and then there’s the steroid taper phase . Let me tell you…. the latter is no picnic.

Although prednisone( the evil candy) can save your life , you pay a hefty price in the form of nasty side effects.
For those of you who’ve ever had the pleasure of taking high-dose prednisone for any length of time , Im sure I don’t have to tell you how fun it can be. In my case it’s the insomnia, the bloating , the skin bruising, the muscle cramps, the rapid weight gain ( 6lbs in three days ) , the wild mood swings and the general sense that you’re going crazy, that bothers me the most. There are steps you can take to minimize these side effects, but you’ll never eliminate them completely.

The steroid tapering experience is different for everyone . As a severe brittle asthmatic, if you wean off too slowly , you run the risk of of developing secondary infections and dependency. If you wean too fast, you run the risk of relapse or rebounding (meaning your symptoms come back twice as fierce) . For me, weaning off those last few milligrams, is always the most difficult. It’s at that point where my symptoms tend to reemerge with a vengeance. I can usually taper from 100 mg/day down to 10 mgs/day in just a few days without problems, but going from 10 mgs to zero, can take me weeks. Some asthmatics have such severe disease that they are never able to completely wean off the drug. To survive they have to take 20-40 mgs every single day. It breaks my heart that people have to live like that. I’m lucky in that I’m only on the drug about 50% of the time which gives my body time to at least, partially heal before the next bout.

Oh..and another common side effect of prednisone withdrawal, is the constant need to whine about it.

If I can pull this one off, I will truly be amazed at my own tenacity or my own stupidity.
The past few days my lower back has really been acting up and making it very difficult for me to get any sleep. (You see, one of the side effects of chronic steroid use is Osteoporosis, ie bone deterioration.) On top of that, my legs have been unusually sore and yesterday I somehow tweaked my right ankle. What I really need now, is a nice strenuous 13.1 uphill walk at the crack of dawn, in a really cold, damp and windy environment. …Yeah..That will make me feel better.