What I've realized recently is that most people don't think of asthma as a chronic illness or condition.
The idea of asthma nonsufferers have is generally from media, which only depicts it as an illness that only exists in minor emergencies that the sufferer can solve with a rescue inhaler. It appears as if as long as the person isn't actively having a full blown asthma attack, there are no symptoms.
In fact, asthma symptoms can be acute and constant, and if someone is properly medicated, they should almost never have to use their rescue inhaler. It's called a rescue inhaler, or an emergency inhaler, because it is only to treat sudden & severe onset of asthma symptoms (wheezing, inability to breathe).
It's not a daily medication, nor should it be used as one.
Daily medication for asthma generally includes something like montelukast (generic singulair) and a daily inhaler like symbicort, advair, breo, etc. which usually contains a steroid or an anti-inflammatory medication (or both).
Without daily medication, many asthma sufferers spend most of our time wheezing, short of breath, weak, in pain, and just generally "sickly."
The problem is, without access to a doctor who can then recommend you to a specialist, and without access to information about these medications many asthma sufferers don't even know this themselves!
Until recently, I was using my rescue inhaler every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. It's because I was wheezing all day every day and through the night. I was often in the emergency room doing breathing treatments as well. I had to quit most of my active hobbies. It was hard for me to get around the house.
When I finally got to see a doctor about it, he told me his goal was for me to need to use my rescue inhaler no more than twice a month. I actually laughed out loud.
Now, while I have access to my medication, that's my reality. I don't wake up in pain, having wheezed all night. I've started to get my life back.
The same as me, I believe many many asthma sufferers are just doing their best to make it through every day, thinking that the way they feel is the way they have to feel.
I even know asthma sufferers who not only don't have access to daily medication, but they don't have access to rescue inhalers.
That's non optional. That's life or death. And without daily medication, even a rescue inhaler won't necessarily save you from a bad attack.
When people think of asthma medication, they tend to think of rescue inhalers only. A periodic expense that you can save for a long time.
Instead, I would like people to start thinking of asthma medication the same way we think of insulin. Absolutely critical. Daily.
I don't know. I feel as though asthma is common enough, and it's even possible to have it as a child and grow out of it, that we tend to dismiss it. But it's deadly serious. And most people don't have the access to the treatment required to manage it.
Thanks for everyone making the additions about the way asthma complicates other medical problems! Absolutely, I've had to have doctors write letters to my professors to explain to them why a cold for me is never just a cold. Why a sinus infection might end up with a hospitalization.
Allergies to go from mild to life-threatening if you also have asthma. It's a lot to handle!
