Working mother of 3 asthmatic boys - two of whom are also on the autism spectrum - tries to make it all work, keep her monkeys healthy, and figure out the cause of (and solution to) the asthma and autism epidemics. Because being the working mother of 3 just wasn't ENOUGH work.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Coughing has just about stopped...
...just like the doctor said! He said Saturday, and it's Sunday, and I'm not coughing!!
Peak flow: Just over 400. Still lower than it should be.
Not necessarily lower than it should be: the charts are just guidelines. According to the chart, my PEF should be around 445. It's actually 580 - my yellow zone begins before the value on the chart. Your personal best peak flow will vary depending on your physical shape and genetics. If you're at 400 but you feel well, it could just be that your natural peak flow is a bit lower than the average. Try to compare yourself to where you have been in the past as opposed to comparing yourself to the number on the chart (also, a good idea would be to plot or record your peak flows in a spreadsheet program like Excel, so that you can see on the sheet if you're starting to go downhill).
That said, if you're concerned with your peak flow, you should definitely talk it over with an asthma educator or your doctor.
Get well soon! I know how exhausting having out of control asthma is. If you're on the right dose, you'll probably hit an "aha" moment in the next week or so where all of the sudden, you can breathe easily, and it's feels so wonderful. If you don't at least start to feel significantly better soon, you should go to your doctor - it could be that your dose of control med isn't high enough.
No offense to the non-asthmatics here, but healthy people (and even well-controlled asthmatics who've been well-controlled for years and years, like I was before last year) tend to take good breathing for granted. ^^'
2 comments:
Glad you're getting better. Isn't it almost fun to watch the numbers rise?
Not necessarily lower than it should be: the charts are just guidelines. According to the chart, my PEF should be around 445. It's actually 580 - my yellow zone begins before the value on the chart. Your personal best peak flow will vary depending on your physical shape and genetics. If you're at 400 but you feel well, it could just be that your natural peak flow is a bit lower than the average. Try to compare yourself to where you have been in the past as opposed to comparing yourself to the number on the chart (also, a good idea would be to plot or record your peak flows in a spreadsheet program like Excel, so that you can see on the sheet if you're starting to go downhill).
That said, if you're concerned with your peak flow, you should definitely talk it over with an asthma educator or your doctor.
Get well soon! I know how exhausting having out of control asthma is. If you're on the right dose, you'll probably hit an "aha" moment in the next week or so where all of the sudden, you can breathe easily, and it's feels so wonderful. If you don't at least start to feel significantly better soon, you should go to your doctor - it could be that your dose of control med isn't high enough.
No offense to the non-asthmatics here, but healthy people (and even well-controlled asthmatics who've been well-controlled for years and years, like I was before last year) tend to take good breathing for granted. ^^'
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