Can’t you hear the whistle blowing?

I can and it turned out it was me. I was awakened early this morning by the sound of a distant but persistent whistle blowing. This was odd because I was wearing ear plugs because my husband snores loudly and often. I lay there quietly listening to the sound and then I realized it was not just persistent it was rhythmic. Then it hit me, it was me making that noise or more specifically it was my lungs.

I have asthma and have for a long time .It is now under control; and generally I do very well when I am taking my daily drugs. I have found that Singulair and Claritin work wonders for my asthma. When I am taking my medication as I should my lungs work great, no wheezing whistling or coughing. That is not true when I run out of my Singulair.

Oddly enough despite the fact that I know how I feel when I am off my Singulair I am very bad about getting it refilled when I run out. It can take me days to call Walgreens and get a new prescription and in the mean time my lungs rebel and start whistling at me. I don’t do this when my daughter’s medicine gets low; no I call right away and get them refilled. I am very careful that she always has her medicine. She is takes it to control her seizures and to help her focus in school. I was reluctant to give her anything for focusing because I had heard so many horror stories about Ritalin and the like but her neurologist prescribe a non stimulant to help her focus and it has helped her a great deal. In fact her teacher told me during her last progress report that she is making significant progress in her school work.

So why don’t I take as care of my lungs as well as I take care of everyone else? I don’t know maybe it’s because like so many other people I don’t consider asthma that serious. The only one who seems concerned about it is my sister in-law who when I tell her I have bronchitis yet again tells me I need to be careful my lungs and immune system are compromised. Then when I complain that I am so tired and even getting dressed wipes me out and I don’t understand why I feel like crap she reminds me that my oxygen level is low and that is why I am so tired.

It finally started coming together a few months ago when my son stayed home for a few days with a bad cold. About three days later I started to feel really really tired and my chest felt like a hippo was sitting on it. At that same time my peak flow meter turned up while searching the closet for a pair of shoes to wear to a party and I tried it out. I blew a whopping 300. That’s not good. On a good day I can hit 450 to 500 on a bad day 250 to 350 and I know it’s a bad day because even the littlest activity leaves me needing to sit down. I now make the connection between how I feel and dhow well my lungs are working that day. I may feel as though I am breathing normally but the peak flow meter tells the truth. If it is low I have found it helps to take a puff of my inhaler, that improves my lung function and I feel better and can go about my day more normally.

But I am one of the lucky ones, my asthma is easily controlled when I take my medication and I get my allergy shots on a regular basis. There are those who have it much worse then I do me. So today I will call the pharmacist get my singulair refilled and find my peak flow meter again, my son and his friends were playing with it to see who had the manliest lungs, and use it to monitor my lungs in an effort to keep feeling good and berthing well. I like breathing.