Well, hell

[curgoth]

Having an asthma attack intense enough that even after 2 puffs on the inhaler I could breathe, coughing hard enough to drop me to my knees. Grabbed my coat and ran outside - if it's allergies from HVAC mold clean air will help.

ETA: definitely allergies. Went back inside to get my stuff, was wheezing before I got to my desk. A coworker carried my stuff out for me. Breathing got better once I got outside. Now sitting in my car letting breathing get back to normal before driving home. I hate when the air tries to kill me.

Comments

[corbet.livejournal.com]

Eek! Normally I'd suggest something caffeinated -- always helps with my asthma, but maybe not in your case. Hot beverage to help open up your lungs? Or allergy drugs, in case that's the trigger?

[curgoth]

Oddly enough, the one thing I have never tried for this? Benedryl, or any other allergy med. I should try that next time and see if it helps...

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

Benadryl is one of the old-school, drowsiness-inducing antihistamines. It's very effective, but will make you seriously groggy, especially in large doses - I got a mega injection of it once in a hospital ER when I first discovered my aspirin allergy the hard way, and I could barely sit upright in a chair afterwards. In normal over-the-counter doses it's not that bad, but it's still probably not the best choice if you're at work or otherwise need to be alert and attentive. I find Allegra better for that.

[curgoth]

Yeah - I take claritin daily, and keep allegra at home for back up. Neither are really strong enough for this sort of thing - they'll handle hay fever/ragweed more or less, the dust mold thing needs something stronger.

That said, I wouldn't want to take benadryl at work, since I can't drive myself home afterwards.

Maybe I should just take to carrying around my respirator mask. It'll also prevent swine flu!

[funos.livejournal.com]

FWIW, "Aerius" works really well. No apparent side-effects (it's only 5mg of *mumblemumble*).

[curgoth]

I'll make a note to add that to the portable pharmacy...

[pez-minotaur.livejournal.com]

So you ran outside to keep from passing out, but stopped to post to lj?

Awesome \m/

[curgoth]

Lj from my phone while freezing my nads off outside. :)

[pez-minotaur.livejournal.com]

I figured it was something like that. It just reminded me of a list of funny ICR chats, on of which was "g2g, Tornado"

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

Pfft aren't your nads superfluous anyway?

[curgoth]

No - they produce testosterone, which I still need. Otherwise, my beard will fall out!

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

You WOULD look pretty silly without a beard...
BEARDS ROCK!!!

[dairymilk.livejournal.com]

That sucks!
/hugs

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

Dude don't die or else!

[jvankirk.livejournal.com]

I hate having Asthma. My empathies!

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

*Bleah* I'm sorry! Boy's asthma is pretty well controlled, but every now and then something sets it off, like spending the night in one hotel in MD and he became wheezy after less than 15 in the room. Since he didn't have a rescue inhaler, he had to make due with multiple cans of Coke, and fortunately no ER visit. Was it cleaning chemicals? Something weird in the carpet or drapes? Who knows?

I think just living is toxic...

[curgoth]

In my case I know exactly what it was - there's a mold that grows on dust - not the dust itself. But when dust sits long enough, this mold grows on it, and tries to kill me. I assume they turned the heating ducts on for the first time today. I also have issues with old mattresses and chairs.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

Ugh, mold can be so dangerous for many folks.

[curgoth]

Gasmask fashion is the way to go.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

Fabulous! But now I want to start saying "Are you my mummy?"

[mycrazyhair.livejournal.com]

Oh, hon, I'm so sorry to hear that! How much is this going to continue to affect you at work go-forward? (((hugs)))

[curgoth]

Well, when I've hit this in the past, it usually clears out of the air after a day or so. I'm still feeling crappy this morning, though, so I'm working from home. Odds are good that I'll be able to breathe at work Monday.

[tamago23.livejournal.com]

I feel for you. :( I just developed asthma within this past year, and I still haven't figured out what triggers me. That feeling of OMG-can't-breathe-don't-panic is truly awful.