EMERGENCY!

I really don't want to become too obsessive about this asthma thing, but there are probably enough of us out there who are experiencing the late-in-life onset of this disease, nuisance, pain-in-the-ass, that maybe a continued discussion might be helpful.

I woke up several times Saturday morning wheezing like a geezer with emphysema and took several hits of Albuterol so I could get a little sleep. Well, the wheezing continued after I finally got up and, about noon, I thought I'd try to catch up on some lost sleep and take a nap.

The nap didn't work. The wheezing just got worse. And, the tightness in my chest and throat was not assuaged at all by continued hits of Albuterol. (Can you overdose on that stuff?)

I got out of bed at about 2:30 P.M., shaved and took a shower because I anticipated what my fate was going to be in the next hour or two. I called Kaiser, told them I was having severe breathing problems and they advised me to head for the emergency room.

David drove me to St. Joe's where, indeed, the doc and the nurse confirmed my lungs sounded "terrible" and the normal protocol (I guess) for this kind of thing was commenced:

1) Two Albuterol sulfate nebulizer cocktails;
2) Three tabs of Prednisone;
3) A script for Zithromax (sinusitis);
4) A script for another round of Prednisone (starting with 6 tabs once, and working down to 5, 4, 3,2, 1 tab(s) a day.

So, I didn't run Saturday. I used the treadmill Sunday (uphill for a mile and a half, while using the isometric pull/push bars) with little exacerbation of breathing difficulties. And, today, I had to wait until about noon before the wheezing got to a point where I could run my 2.25 miles. Wheezing a little right now, but nothing serious.

So, that's my EMERGENCY tale. I really, really want to get this stuff under control. So, any suggestions or, indeed, discussion might help. The Drunken Lagomorph (see my links) who is in the medical field has very kindly offered some input, which I appreciate.