I’ve had asthma since I was a kid. I was taken to the hospital at least once every month. I got admitted most of the time and there were times when I had severe attacks that my parents told me that I was already turning blue. I can’t remember much about what happened to the early attacks I had when I was around 3, but it is still fresh from my memory when I had major attacks when I was 5-7 years old. It was so difficult to breathe and I would really cry if it’s really difficult to inhale. Good thing is that my asthma went dormant before my 8th birthday. It went on until one fateful day, when I was 20, my asthma came back again. I already knew that it may come back eventually. I just didn’t expect that it would be much more difficult. Breathing in takes a lot of effort and I had to support my breathing with my back muscles. It was then that I had my worst attack.
It was a sunny day and I was doing my usual vacation activities at home such as playing video and computer games. But as minutes went by after I woke up, I suddenly felt that I started to breathe heavily. It was evident that I was having an asthma attack. After an hour or so after it started, I was literally grasping for air. I was stubborn and I said to myself that I’ll manage to get over it and continue with what I was doing. But it went from bad to worse. I found myself hanging on to the stairwell and I just don’t want to move as it’s extremely uncomfortable. It didn’t help that much and I continued to try and fight it. One bad thing about that day was that I was all alone at home. My mom and my sister were out that day and I had no one else to go to and I could not walk easily. I looked immediately if there were any asthma medicine lying around. Unfortunately, there was none.
I had to endure the severe asthma attack for 2 hours. I was already feeling nauseous and I felt that I was about to faint. I took up all my strength and ran to a pharmacy 2 blocks away. The people gave consideration and allowed me to go first at the cashier so I could take the medicine immediately. I took it there and I rested for a bit. Fortunately, the medicine worked and after around 15 to 30 minutes, I was starting to breathe easier. If I didn’t run to the pharmacy, I could have been dead as I was almost inhaling nothing since the attack was so severe.
It was official that my asthma was back with a vengeance. After a few years, when I started working, I continued having asthma attacks and another severe asthma attack occurred. I already used the nebulizer 4 times and it didn’t work so I was told to go the emergency room at a nearby hospital. I went there and was given 2 more nebulizer treatments but I still had difficulties in breathing. I was injected with steroids and it helped. I was prescribed to take steroids every day for 2 months and then, I have it handy just in case I need it.
Asthma is a fatal disease. As most doctors and nurses would say, oxygen is one of the most important things that we need. That’s the same reason why breathing is always checked first. If you were prescribed medicines that you need to take for your asthma, please do not take it for granted. Asthma attacks can occur anytime and could be triggered by allergens such as dust, feathers, smoke, and a lot more. If you feel that you are having a severe asthma attack, do not hesitate to go to your nearest hospital for treatment. Consult your doctor for medications that you could take to control asthma.
