Albuterol is your friend if you can’t breathe very good, me being one of them.
For many years, I spent time on the circuit of having constant throat infections,
sinus infections, and the dreaded: can’t breathe worth a damn.
I’ve had one ____SLIIIIIIGHT____ infection in the 6 months since I stopped smoking,
and not a single throat infection since!!!!!!!!!
My problem is three fold, and I’m pretty much to blame completely for two of them.
#1. Smoking causes COPD
Whereas people with lung cancer contains 80% smokers, COPD encompasses even more.
#2. Allergies cause most asthma
Allergies that cause your nose to plug up can cause your lungs to plug up too.
#3. I was very premature
My lungs stuck together when I was born and parents told I probably wouldn’t live.
Two weeks in intensive care in 1977
I never understood why when I exercised, I coughed and gasped… oh it must just be me smoking, I’m sure it’ll go away. I never figured out that more often, when I smoked I coughed… must be temporary. About a year ago when my ENT doctor put me on an albuterol inhaler, I thought he must be crazy, I don’t have asthma… do I?
Turns out, asthma I did have, and I followed his advice to find out what triggered it.
#1. Wheezing.
I was told pretty much damn near any wheezing is a bad thing, anytime you have a long rasp that doesn’t clear up with a good cough.
#2. Tightness in chest
Exercising, or an attack hits people different ways. Some sufferers will not be able to breathe at all, have a tight chest, then have wheezing at the same time. I was a mixed sufferer… I sometimes had both, sometimes just the tightness.
#3. I have COPD and there is no real cure.
I’m living with this, staying calm, living my life with advice from medical professionals.
COPD is not a death sentence, but you must be careful as every attack you have puts your
lungs at risk for reduced function. With proper care, exercise and a good head, mortality is damn close to the norm. If you don’t pay attention to what your medical professional is saying, you will be a statistic much sooner than you should have.
So, when those things happen, I puff on my inhaler. Before I exercise, I puff on the inhaler.
If I fail to follow those instructions, I have really bad dizzy spells, I see black spots and feel like I”m going to pass out until I really concentrate to breathe.
I’ve found that there is two myths when it comes to albuterol. One is the common misconception about inhalers and the such, or any medicine for that matter.
1. You can get addicted to the inhalers.
There is no real reason to get addicted to inhalers, it’s purely a psychological addiction, one that I had cleared up with my doctor when I went back after being told this myth. I can find no evidence that Albuterol has lower effectiveness over time, nor is it habit forming beyond thinking the medicine is needed when it’s not.
Here’s one reaction to the myth of albuterol addiction.
Now, for the people who don’t quite know, or have found this by search engine lookup, I have a common myth about inhalers:
1. You must use a spacer, chamber, or a paper towel tube to get medicine in your lungs.
That’s just not true for most adult asthmatics, but for children or those that have different neck physiologies, then you need a spacer.
Here’s an excerpt from a site that I do trust:
If you have difficulty getting the medication into your lungs, a spacer (a special device that attaches to the inhaler) may help; ask your doctor, pharmacist, or respiratory therapist for more information.
Use only the adapter that comes with your canister. Do not use the adapter with any other product canister.
