The idea for this post came to me during the middle a recent severe exacerbation. Actually, it was the same exacerbation that put me in the hospital for 12 days, for which I am still recovering.
Foremost on my mind during an asthma excerbation is the question….how bad will it get? Is this flare going to escalate to the point where I need hospital care? If I don’t go in, will I end up on a ventilator, will this be the one that kills me? After all, 4,000 people in this country alone still die of this stupid disease every year, most of them before they make it to a hospital.
Like most chronic asthmatics, I tend to downplay or even ignore the severity of my symptoms for as long as possible, because I know the unpleasantries in store for me if I end up in the slammer(ie blood gas sticks, IV insertions, bipap masks, etc.) But in procrastinating, am I playing asthma Russian roulette? Should I go in at the first sign of trouble, or should I try to tough it out and hope it gets better on it’s own? Should I call my doctor or an advise Nurse? Should I check the web to see what other people do?
On the flip side of that dilemma, there are those of us who are in and out of the hospital so often that we might be asked, what did they do for you in the hospital that helped your asthma, that you could not have done at home? In other words, is there something similar I could be doing at home to avoid having to go to the hospital in the first place? Some of my own doctors have asked me that very same question, and quite honestly it was difficult for me to come up with a quick response. It made me feel like I did something wrong.Im also more than aware of just how incredibly expensive it is to treat asthmatic in the hospital, which just adds to the stress of coping with this disease.
So when exactly does an asthma flare warrant an escalation in care? There are really no hard fast rules or standardized guidelines in determining when a flaring asthmatic should seek emergency medical care. It’s a total judgement call on your part. Obviously, if your symptoms come on suddenly and they’re severe and you’re gasping for air you should probably call 911 or have someone drive you to the hospital right away. Or, if you’ve been dealing with an exacerbation that’s lasted more than a few days, but doesn’t seem to be getting any better despite taking medication, you should seek help right away as well. But what if you’re not quite to that stage, what should you do? This can be a tough decision to make, especially at a time when you’re struggling to breath and basically feeling like crap.
Most of who have had this disease for a long time are more than capable of treating are bad flares at home, but even for us there has to a line in the sand that should never be crossed, and that line should be clearly spelled out in your asthma action plan. ( Hopefully you have one). Above all though, it really boils down to a matter of safety. If you’re exceeding the recommended doses of your asthma meds, then you’ve already crossed that line. Sure, you can give yourself a large bolus of steroids at home, which is what they would do in the hospital, but doses of prednisone pills exceeding 60mg have not shown to be anymore effective , and the oral route can take many hours to kick in. Same goes with high doses of nebulized bronchodilators. Although it’s pretty safe to take a few extra Albuterol neb treatments at home, sometimes that’s still not enough to open tight airways. Sometimes it requires Mega doses, or the equivalent of 4 to 8 neb treatments per hour, for several hours to have any affect. Because of potential cardiac issues associated with high dose bronchodilators, it’s simply not safe to do at home. You need to be monitored both visually and electronically with a heart monitor. There are treatments you simply can’t do at home, including IV steroids, magnesium, Bipap and mechanical ventilation, in case you tire out or stop breathing all together.
The bottom line here, is that you need to apply common sense and go with your gut feeling in determining whether you should seek medical care for an asthma attack. If your exacerbation is not getting better despite doing everything you’re supposed to, and/or it’s been brewing for more than a day or two or if you have a history of severe asthma and have been intubated and spent time in the ICU, or things just don’t feel right to you, then you should get yourself to the hospital pronto. Don’t try to second guess yourself or worry about what he doctors or nurses might think….err on the side of caution and just go! You might also want to discuss with your family and friends in advance, about what to do in the event of an asthma emergency. Here’s one of the best articles Ive come across regarding status asthmatic ( an asthma flare that doesn’t improve despite taking maximal amounts of medication) from the perspective of an EMT and paramedic. These particular medics really know their stuff.
As far as children go, they can’t speak for themselves. Learn to recognize the danger signs, which are often much different in children than adults. And by all means take them in right away if their symptoms don’t improve or if you’re not sure.
Now, on a semi related topic, how many of you frequent flyers have experienced the following scenario?……
You’ve had an exacerbation brewing for a couple days and you’re getting progressively tighter and tighter. You decide it’s finally time to head to the ER. They triage you to a room and suddenly, and almost miraculously, you don’t feel quite as tight as you did 15 minutes earlier. Then you start 2nd guessing yourself, thinking that perhaps you’re not as sick as you originally thought? Or maybe it’s anxiety that’s making you feel worse than you actually are? You feel a little embarrassed and are actually considering leaving, but it turns out that you are indeed sick and you made the right choice by going in?
To demonstrate just how distorted ones perception of ones own breathing can become during a bad flare, here’s an example of what happened to me a couple years back….
I had been feeling sick as a dog, tight as can be. I reluctantly headed to the ER as above, but the moment they wheeled me back to one of the treatment rooms I started to feel better. I was even telling the doctor that this was a relatively minor flare up that I probably should have waited a little longer to come in. Well, 2 hours later I went into full blown respiratory failure, had a respiratory arrest that required CPR and woke up on a ventilator 2 days later!
Again I can’t stress just how important it is to go with your gut instinct. If you’re an asthmatic and you feel like crap, blame your breathlessness on the asthma first, and then consider the possibility of anxiety, but always in that order. No doubt that anxiety can add fuel to the fire, but asthma can actually kill you all by itself, so don’t mess around.
So, what criteria do YOU use to determine if, or when, you should go to the hospital ? And how high do you set the proverbial ER bar? Do you wait until you’re at the brink of respiratory failure, or do you go in at the first sign of trouble? Studies have shown that the sooner you come in for treatment, the better chance you have of slowing or reversing an attack and preventing a possible hospitalization. Not to mention, possibly saving your life.
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You know, I was going to reply to this, then realized I'm getting more than enough for my own blog post (around when I started the third paragraph) and decided to make it a blog entry. XD Hopefully, I'll have it up and coherent tonight (spelling is no guarantee because my dominant eye's a bit messed up from the cellulitis and I can't see too well out of it at the moment – good news is I shouldn't lose sight permanently from this).
This line says it all: "After all, 5,000 people in this country die every year from asthma. Many of them die before they get to a hospital." If in doubt, get the the F***ing hospital!
That\’s what a \”normal\” person would do. We all know Im not normal.
For me, with my daughter, I have a pretty high "ER" tolerance level, for exactly the reasons you state…they give the same medications…just at higher concentrations…and I've worked it out with her pulmo…how many treatments piggy backed I can do before he wants me to bring her in. Sometimes, I bring her in before…if she looks really bad, if her O2 is particularly low, if SHE asks to go…it's definitely a "gut" sort of thing. I'm definitely of the believe…"when in doubt, check it out" better to go to the ER and not really need to go, than not go, and have a tragedy happen.
your comment: "Your asthma flare is going to break when its darn good and ready, and nothing the Doctors, Nurses or “Hospital” can do is going to make that happen any faster" – never thought of it this way, but completely true!, and would add that it is true even if you are fortunate to be able to monitor symptoms at home
It\’s true, a severe asthma exacerbation can last several weeks. Most asthmatics are in the hospital for 4-5 days.
this last exacerbation of mine ran a 5 -6 week stubborn course of being in the 60-70% with a few dips into the 50%. Then -bam!- I'm feeling great, in the high 70%s, hitting a few 82%. I know I still have to watch myself, but feeling like my f/u appt will be a good one for a change 🙂
Speaking personally, it's when I know I need iVs that I throw in the towel. Thankfully I haven't been in since July last year, and I have had a couple of biggie exacerbations with chest infection issues added in. I just seem to be playing Houdini for the time being and escaping ER by the skin of my teeth.
The second I arrive at ER I get IV steroids and IV mag sulf and those are the differences between staying home and going in, plus higher flow O2 and BiPap being on hand.
I've driven myself to the ER a couple of times and have gone in via ambulance 4 times in the last 5 years I think but usually J will take me as he has had enough!
I don't understand though when this was such a biggie for you that you a) contemplated driving yourself and b) ended up taking public transport? Baffles me. You were in such a bad way-surely somebody could have driven you or if not an ambulance?
I think a high proportion of the mortalities stem from people being caught out by their asthma en route to hospitals. Not to mention the danger to others when we drive ourselves, and the insecurity of leaving our car in the car park for days on end.
I'm just glad you went, you stubborn old thing you, and that you're feeling a little bit better each day now. xx
I know it\’s crazy to delay going in or to take public transportation to the hospital, but Ive been hospitalized so many times over the years, that it\’s just not big deal for me.
I guess I just don\’t care anymore. I have a huge tolerance for respiratory discomfort anyway, so unless I\’ was turning blue or stopped breathing all together, I would take my sweat time getting to the hospital.
I've actively been pushed out the hospital or only kept overnight despite now carrying the label of 'severe persistent' so it's kind of eye opening that other people get admitted!
I hate being in the hospital. The treatments jack you up and you can't sleep. It's exhausting. Like you said, you do all the recovering after you're discharged anyway. My last episode, they broke up the acute phase, but I still was nebulizing 24/7 for 2 weeks after going home. It took about 9 months for my lungs to recover completely.
I have begged for a better nebulizer treatment plan so I can stay out of the ER, but the docs won't give it me.
I tend to go to the ER when I feel that what I'm doing isn't working. So I may not be super sick yet, but the interventions I have at home aren't doing their job either. My philosophy has been that I would rather get help before it gets bad. It's not a philosophy that all ERs seem to enjoy.
This last episode, I waited too long and was stupid about it. Failed to realize that if 5 days of 60mg prednisone did nothing that I probably needed help. By that time I was too impaired to think clearly.
Making good choices about the ER is difficult!
M
What I wouldn\’t give to get kicked out in a day or two…. I hate hospitals! My last one was 12 days. But I understand where you\’re coming from. Most hospitals and doctors don\’t know how to properly treat severe asthmatics. If they\’re kicking you out after just a day, Id find another hospital. That\’s just plain crazy, unless you weren\’t that sick.
Hope you start to feel better soon:-)
Hi Stephen,
I had a severe asthma attack about 4 weeks ago, my parents didn't bring me to the hospital for it. It started when I was watching my last track meet I was depressed and mad when I was at the track meet my chest was a little tight and I had a cough I took my inhaler and it helped when I took it. Later on when I got home I was really sad that I had to quit track and I started to cry and my asthma kicked in I was breathing really heavy, my chest was extremely tight, wheezing, and it was very hard for me to answer the questions my stepmom was asking me about my asthma because I was very short of breath, I was also very dizzy when I walked. I don't think my parents realize how bad asthma can be. I'm going to a new doctor this month so hopefully he will put me on the right medication to control my asthma. I'm very limited to what I can do now I can't exercise much because it triggers an attack, I can't visit family right now because I can't be around cats for they trigger bad asthma attacks for me, parents still smoke so I try to limit my exposure to smoke.
Please write back.
I need your advice
If your breathing is as bad as you claim, you really need to be evaluated by a competent pulmonologist. Asthma Kills, don\’t mess around with and certainly don\’t exercise when you\’re in the middle of a flare. If your parents wont listen, seek help somewhere else. Talk to a counselor at School. Good luck!
I haven’t had a terribly bad asthma attack in two years, but now it’s coming back as bad as it was before, and I’m out of nebulizer medication. I’ve just been using my inhaler fairly often, and I’m coughing and wheezing a lot, and sometimes it gets hard to talk, and its been that way for the past few days. My mom would always know when I needed to go to the ER for stronger medication, butane I don’t know how she knew, but she passed away two years ago, and my dad never dealt with the asthma problem, and I don’t know what to do. Please help
You shouldn’t need someone else to tell how bad your asthma is getting or whether you should seek medical care. You’re the one with asthma, only you know how you are feeling. If you’re having a hard time breathing and your medications are working, call your doctors or go to the hospital. If someone wont take you, call 911.
I realize I’m responding to a blog that’s two years old, but I just saw this and have an odd answer. It’s really pretty simple for me: I work in physical medicine and rehabilitation and have treated people in nursing homes who had a severe attack, made it, but were neurologically devastated. I’ve also worked in hospitals and have seen them walk right through DNR/DNI orders, especially with young people. I made up my mind several years ago. I don’t want to risk being neurologically devastated and being in a nursing home for 40 years. Normally, the people I’ve seen are awake, but unable to communicate and it seems like no one’s home, though who really knows for sure. So, I don’t go. When they ask me, “how many times have you been intubated”, the answer is simple, “none, because I don’t go to the hospital as I would rather die at home. I have a medical power of attorney to enforce my wishes and I’m DNR/DNI.” (stands for do not resuscitate, do not intubate). Of course, the allergist still have to make recommendations of when to go to the hospital, and I understand that.
Stephen
First of all — thank you for taking time to create and educate on your site. I have learned a lot — for example, I didn’t know your SAT level could remain normal even in an asthma attack.
My guess is you know more about asthma that most ER doctors. You know your body and what works and does not work. When you go to the ER and run into ER doctors that (1) don’t take your symptoms seriously or (2) try to palm off treatment that you know will not work, how do you handle this?
I think I am probably like you a bit. I hold off going to the ER because I am not sure I am “really” sick. Recent example I was sick over XMAS and after two days of home treatment not working I felt I was wearing out and my doctor was out of town on vac. Since I have had previous serious attacks I decided it was finally time to head to emergency room (also hubby was out of town and I was home alone) — got to hospital. Started feeling better — quit wheezing but still pretty tight. Dr finally examined me four hours later and said “you are not wheezing, nothing wrong with you.” gave me a script for prednisone and cough medicine which I already had and sent me on my way.
Two days later I was ADMITTED to different hospital .
So — are there any recommendations you have for dealing with these people especially in situations where you know you are getting worse even if they don’t recognize it???
Thanks
Stephanie
(FEV1 60, QVAR, Theophylline, Singulair, Albuterol, Home nebulizer, Zyrtec.) Nothing else we have tried seems to work as I am allergic to HFA227 and Lactose.
I find this rather hard to answer … its not that I don’t know when to go and knowing when to held off too see if things are going to get worse or just pass on its own.
I have spent the last year of my life in and out of ER, I think at the last count I was hitting the 20 mark for ER visits in a 12 month period … most of these by ambulance. And the last admitted twice in December (1st at after 29years). This was just after 70days worth of prednisone. So now I find it very hard to determine how things are going to go.
The last time, I ended up in urgent care where they did an X-ray and said there is nothing wrong with you but bronchitis here some antibodies … wasn’t impressed!!! 2days later I was to the point of not being able to talk again. Had my vocal cords checked … its not that!!
So from last experience, I have determined a few things. Meds were “not” working, when I have 6-8puffs of ventolin, 4 puffs of symbicort … can’t stop coughing and so full of mucus, its probably time to go. However, sometimes this theory doesn’t always work … I have gotten in more ventolin and thought things were starting to work and the bottom falls out.
So basically, you really need to watch & understand what is happening. I have been told that nothings wrong but once the Doc saw me, had me on nebs within 5mins.
Sorry, I babbled some on this I am good at that!! 🙂
Kelly 🙂
Wow, 20 ER visits in a year? Maybe it’s different where you live, but you would think that someone (ie. a case manager) would notice your high ER utilization rate and try find out what the problem is, especially if you were only admitted one time out of those 20. Except for a couple times when I was a teenager, I can’t remember a time that I went to ER without being admitted to the hospital.
Some hospitals are better than others, but I totally agree with you that there has to be better education for ER staff in treating asthmatics. Also, I would never waste my time going to an “Urgent Care” center, they’re just not equipped to deal bad asthmatics.
Obviously your asthma is not controlled. Do you have a Respirologist?
Hi Stephen;
Yeah, its not as well controlled as it could be. Just about all of those 20 visits were ugly too. Yeah never go back to Urgent care, nurses were all wonderful, the doc could over taken a flying leap off a short bridge!!!
This all started in April of last year, within the first 5 visits I had a pulm/respiratologist. What the problem is, i think, they can’t determine exactly what is happening. I do my best to stay away from my triggers, including colds/flus. But when i get sick … I am sick!!
Yes, I have a pulmonlogist/respiratologist plus 2 asthma nurses that I can contract when ever I need to.
Referred to an Asthma specialist as well and still waiting.
Right now things are good, which I am hoping things will stay that way. Education has been one of the best things that I have gotten. And have been told that puffer techniques are all good and I am doing everything that I am suppose too. But when things go south, man there is no going back!!! I have tried to head to the docs before things get bad but doesn’t seem to make any difference.
Hey, Thanks for listening, I really appreciated 🙂 You have some great stuff and awesome information on your site!!!
Kelly 🙂
Hi I would like to know if anyone can help me with this question. I am in hospital for lung problems which was put on a nibulize with a mask. Next to me was an old lady who had been in hospital for a month who also used the nibulize with a mask . They moved her to another ward but did not take her mask. After I got my treatment and took mask off I relized that they had used her mask and not mine . What must I do now could I get anything she had. Hope someone can help me . Lu
I certainly would not use a dirty mask from another patient. You really should contact a nursing supervisor with your concern.
hi my peak flow does be around 110/112 at the min.was in hospital 4 weeks ago and they said to come back if things got worse.hate going in but what should your peak flow be…regards..margo..
It depends in the type of meter, but generally 250-350 is considered normal.
Hi I was hoping if you could advise me. I’m pretty newly diagnosed at 22 and I’ve never considered my asthma as severe. I was diagnosed by a university wellness center MD (who I’m thinking doesn’t see much asthma) and was given an albuterol inhaler to use as needed. When I went back a few months later to get a refill on my perscription I couldn’t get in to see the same doctor in a timely manner and the one I saw said I needed no further medication and refilled my inhaler. Now a few months more, I’m really struggling.
I don’t know what exactly to do. I’ve been having to use my inhaler back to back to back because I keep tightening up. I can breathe but it hurts so bad. It feels like my lungs have been lifting weights all day and I didn’t even know it. This has happened two nights in a row. During the day I don’t feel great but it’s not like this. I know I need to see a new doctor but I don’t know if this is something that I should go to the ER for. I mean I am getting air in but it’s just so painful with little to no help with my inhaler. I’ve never had my asthma be this painful so I’m not sure if it’s bad enough. I done have anything to test my lung function or anything like that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel super uneducated about my own condition despite googling. Thanks.
Plus I forgot to mention that my asthma usually presents itself as bad coughing, but tonight there’s little to no coughing, just the pain. That’s another thing that makes me feel out of my element.
Sorry to hear that you’re having breathing problems. I have to say that while asthma obviously causes chest tightness and shortness of breath, it rarely causes pain. Could it be that you have bronchitis instead of asthma? Both can make it hard to breath, but bronchitis can also cause a painful cough. In any case, if you’re having difficulty breathing , even if you dont perceive it as being that bad, I would see a doctor. An Urgent care center or pvt practice should be fine. Both can prescribe an inhaler if you need one.
Good luck!
It causes pain for me when it’s really really bad. You’ve got to remember that the bronchioles are muscles and asthma is spasm and inflammation of these muscles. When it’s particularly bad, surrounding muscles can also spasm up and cause pain. Also spasms can be caused by lack of oxygen to a muscle that is working hard. With asthma, muscles in our backs, chest and belly work really hard especially during severe attacks. But we aren’t taking in the oxygen levels required to feed those working muscles so spasm can result from that too.
I’m sitting here trying to put off going into the ER. Prednisolone was already started 3 days ago, my nebs are only giving me relief for an hour, then it gets bad enough to have another one, but I don’t, I hold off for 2 more hours because I know if I start regular 2 hourly nebs I need to be on hospital so I’m kind of in denial I guess. Just don’t want to go through this again. I lost count of how many times I’ve been in, by the time I was 7. I’m now 32. It would have to be in the thousands. It’s literally my second home, practically half of my life has been lived there.
I struggle with this a whole lot. I have asthma and Vocal Cord Dysfunction. I usually sat okay, but when they both flare up it’s really noisy and very uncomfortable. To make matters worse, the VCD makes it VERY hard to distinguish if my lungs or having trouble or if it’s just my throat closing up. The medicines usually lower my potassium critically, and I spend a lot of time in the Emergency Room. I started taking Singulair, and it’s helping a ton! Still…I always struggle with knowing when to go. Mostly because my dog ate my Peak Flow Meter (twice), and I haven’t gotten another one. I’m a teacher and am always really paranoid about being present at work. I left my full-time job at the public school and am teaching part-time now at a learning center. My biggest hindrance with going to the ER is, “Am I going to have to miss work?” I know that sounds superficial, but my job is very important to me. Even now, I’m currently having a flare and sound like an seal when I cough and wheeze both in and out, but I don’t want to miss work. (I just got this job a month ago). I’m sure that when I go in, they’ll hear how loud my wheezing is and send me home anyway. It’s not really fair. I think I’ll probably always have an internal war with myself on when to go to the E.R. It stinks. :S
Hi Crystal,
You bring up some very good points. To an untrained or inexperienced healthcare provider , VCD and various other respiratory and cardiac conditions can mimic asthma. Medications used to treat asthma can be very potent and carry side effects. That’s why it’s so important that people be diagnosed accurately.
Take care!
Yeah and different doctors have very different approaches and opinions. I have been sent home when I was rushed in by ambulance and no improvement in ER, ticking all the usual boxes for a high dependency admission, and other times been admitted in situations like going to the ER because I was on vacation and didn’t have my nebuliser and puffer wasn’t working so just wanted a neb and be sent on my way – but they admit me even though feeling 100% better, no wheeze after neb etc. it’s weird. They also judge me at triage because I’m a very calm asthmatic. They basically don’t believe me and triage me as a non priority a lot of the time and that is scary because I have to sit there for hours in the waiting room getting worse and worse because my neb is at home and if I stayed home I would be able to get relief, but it gets worse than it ever was at home and even if I go to the desk they still just tell me to take a seat. They literally are unaware that I’m so close to lung failure until they get me on the bed and hook me up to the monitors. If only they could do that stuff at triage!
I know thos is an old post as even newer comments are still over a year old but as someone who has suffered years with multiple chromic health conditions, I can say that it’s very hard to find truly caring drs and medical staff with enough weight to do anything about … anything! I struggle going to hospital because I am always dismissed and treated as a hypochondriac, even though follow ups to my specialsts have 99% of the time proven otherwise. So I understand how it is to go to hospital 30 times with out them flagging you as a “potential high risk” vs a “certain hypochondriac/attn seeker” despite other words from your other drs, prescription medications, that are too serious to just be “handed out to just anyone claiming to have problems” – examples other than my bresthing being blamed on panic attacks where I am comsidered a nut case rather than the asthmatic I am, which obviously, not being abke to breathe can and does put one in a panic, yet being experienced, knowing you must keep yourself calm or you won’t get the struggled short breaths you are barely able to, consistently being released from dr and hospital with continuously dangeous high blood pressure – far over 200/100 with that being best but written off as anxiety or pain from other conditions despite, bp and asthma meds, I was tokd to take a few aspirin and ice a knee that ended up needing 2 surgeries including full acl replacement, also sent home twice when I broke my neck in 2 places between c1 and 3, should have died from the accident itself, but was sent gome, again, not even with pain relief and after pleading for neck examination and at least a soft collar to alleviate the pressure/weight of my head, to end up from my ortho surgeon, placed in a hard collar 24/7 for 6 full months and insistence that hosputal was legally liabile with such neglect, no lawyer would touch my case, which I only persued because of all the otuer times going to hospital and being treated so poorly when it turned out I always had good reason to go, sometimes life threatening and other times not life threatening but serious all the same.
With technology and a lot of hosputals and drs being connected, this can be good and bad, both or one or the other, as well as calling 911, which in my case only done when I’ve been unconscious and so I am shipped to the same hopsitals with poor care.
I was weak and vomiting once to have a nurse slap me, pull me from my seat where i collapsed and stand over me yelling something about having security kick me out because I was “refusing to cooperate” as I couldn’t move or speak well enough to communicate. And this with my records of my conditions well established in their system,however regardless, such treatment in emergency is never an excuse, and no offense to triage nurses, but all her job is, is to take vitals so either she is not yet competent to do more or at tye very least not in a position to make such assumptions (unless she had seen me walking around prior, to which, yes, why would anyone want to go to emergrncy just for attn? It’s horrid even when they do care!)
Unfortunately it seems all about money in my perspective, that unless you get lucky, most of the time you are not given the adequately needed care. Which is also why 99% of the time I could slap myself for going and would rsther die at home than suffocate to death hearing last words being malicious, vicious, heartless and cold. It’s sad but true, and already confirmed by my last 2 emergency visits, maybe urgent care would have been more compassionate, caring and taken my situations more seriously, as the 2x I have gone, it seemed that was the case.
Umfortunately as well due to medical costs and insurance, this is not an option I am afforded for many years either so I am left trying to make immediate loved ones prepared to help me w medications, treatments, nebuliser imsteuctiin and al of the above placed and kept in known access to them, as wrll as trusted dr info, to try to help me survive until I can make it for them to get me to one of the few drs I have that know and care about my conditions. By then I am treated in clinic or sent to other places for further treatment and/or evaluation, which renders a normal hospital stay useless. When I am required to be sent to hsopital, even with their assistance, it has been many years since I was released under good terms. Though, as was stated, withvattacks, it doesn’t mean you’re better and breathing well upon release anyway, typically, I’ve been denied necessary medication for legitimate, diagnosed and more than well documented other conditions or especially ones that exacerbate whatever reason I am there, even when it has been for serious surgeries.
It is funny, I have heard of healthcare always being better in a country or region other than one’s own, sometimes others speaking of wishing to have my access, insurance, drs, hospitals, etc when I know it seems to be biased on dr/staff rather than actually treating each individual patient unbiasedly. And therefor, for many years has made me question healthcare throughout the world. It doesn’t seem to be a lack of technology but a lack of empathy towards those staff don’t asdume to be in more or less need. I have seen too many hypochondriacs get the full hospital treatment and care wasted on them while leaving true sufferers out to die treated maliciously anyway. Regardless of country, region, insurance, access… it would seem only the most wealthy or famous get the full attn needed consistently, unless you’ve been able to find a rare dr/hispital/medical community where you are taken seriously and records/history are actually taken into account. I wish I had better to say, but as one looking for “when to go” – this has only verified my experience. In some cases, there’s no point, in others, its pure chance, and in the worst yet most common, is the reason most all of us are asking … because we do not need to be ridiculed or have “hypochondriac” added to our fikes so that we are listened to less and less until we are ignored completely altogether. Best to all of you. May you find heathcare that is genuinely devoted to true healthcare and be treated as such, evwn if you are “overreacting.”
I have had a very bad cold since 23 rd Dec of which has now gone into asthma I have been put on antibiotics, and nebuliser 4 times a day and 8 a day steroid tablets .. I have not been sleeping. Very well but when I do full to sleep I wake up an hour later and cannot breath , I was rushed to hospital 2 days ago put on nebuliser and chest X-ray ,bloods and gas oxygen bloods were fine peak flow good ,got sent home and told to carry on at home with medicine and nebuliser, however still happening so struggling as so scared to sleep .. I have also had terrible pain in my right lung and when coughing it’s killing me has anyone else had this problem and can you advice me please just don’t know what to do or up my nebuliser .please help