Living with asthma isn’t easy, and if you have severe asthma, your problems will be compounded. How do you live a normal life when it is so easy for your asthma to be set off? How can you function normally when your asthma attacks are so serious that you could be hospitalized if you don’t respond to them properly?
Your doctor can help you manage your symptoms and keep your asthma under control, but we want to offer some advice that can help you feel more in control of your life and your asthma. There is hope for a level of normalcy even for severe asthma sufferers.
Identify What Triggers Your Asthma
If you are going to live as normal a life as possible with asthma, then you need to know what causes your asthma to act up. What are the triggers that set it off?
These may be very similar for most people, but in your situation, you may have different levels of triggers. For instance, most people with asthma will have a hard time after they physically exert themselves over a period of time. If they go play some football, they may have to bow out quickly and run to use their asthma inhaler. Depending on the severity of your asthma and your physical build, you may have a much lower tolerance for physical exertion than someone else.
There are all sorts of environmental factors that can trigger asthma, like dust or allergens. These could cause coughing or sneezing fits that set off your asthma. Identifying triggers like these is important, and you need to find a way to prevent or sidestep those triggers as often as possible. In the case of dust in the home, you can hire quality floor cleaning to come often and keep the place looking spotless.
Once you know what your triggers are for you and how serious each of these triggers is, then you can take steps to avoid them. You can be more careful in some activities than others and take proper precautions so that your asthma is not set off.
Use an Inhaler
Not everyone who has asthma will want to use an inhaler or will need to use one very often. If your asthma is severe, though, then it is wise to at least have an inhaler handy. Your doctor can tell you which inhaler to use in each situation, and you want to pay attention to that advice. There are different kinds of inhalers that can help you with different problems with your asthma.
Use the inhaler your doctor prescribed for you rather than buying one on your own, and use the inhaler in the situations where you feel you need one. Only use the inhaler after you start to feel asthma symptoms. It won’t do much for you if you try to use it preventatively. Also, try not to be too self-conscious about using the inhaler. If you are bothered by what people think when they see you using the inhaler, you might try to avoid using it at times when you need it but there are people around. That could be dangerous to your health, and you need to get over your self-conscious feelings about the inhaler.
Know the Symptoms
It is easy to mistake asthma symptoms for symptoms of a cold or an allergy attack. You have to know the signs that your body is suffering from the effects of asthma that is getting out of control. That may be as simple as a cough or wheezing or some minor difficulty in breathing.
When those symptoms start, don’t expect them to just go away on their own. Their presence is an indication that your asthma is out of control and needs some help getting back to normal. You can do that by using a spacer to assist in widening your airways or an inhaler to stop the wheezing and breathing difficulties. Using these tools as quickly as possible whenever necessary is vital in keeping your asthma under control and helping regulate a severe case of asthma.
You cannot take your asthma lightly. Once you notice that there are symptoms, at the very least, you should stop what you are doing and focus on your breathing and how you feel. Self-assess and try to determine if it might be necessary to use your inhaler or other tool to get your body back to feeling great again.
Talk to Your Doctor
Do you feel like your asthma is difficult to control and that the medication you are taking is not working? Do you feel like your inhaler or spacer are only somewhat effective and are not really doing the job you think they ought to do?
You should consult with your doctor and ask about alternatives to the medicine you are taking. There may be more powerful inhalers that you could use, or you may need to change how often you use inhalers. There may be a cortical stimulant that you can use first thing in the morning to help get your asthma under control at the start of the day. If you help your doctor to have a good understanding of what you are going through and how you feel, then you can get more targeted help with your severe asthma.
If you are having any issues with the medicine you are taking or your asthma attacks are becoming worse and more frequent, then you should consult with your doctor. Get advice about these kinds of things so that you can get the help you need. There may be a solution that is not obvious to you but that your doctor will be well aware of. Don’t be afraid to take your problems to your doctor when it comes to your asthma and your health.
Even with severe asthma, there are methods you can use to live a mostly normal life and not be too inconvenienced by it.
