I'm a nineteen year old university student on the Canadian Prairies studying human development and kinesiology and applied health. I plan to enter the fields of occupational therapy and asthma education in the future.
I was diagnosed with asthma when I was seventeen, and have had my share of ups and downs living with crazy lungs.
KerriOnThePrairies submitted a way to: Live with asthma
way to be well created 12.09.10
multitask your neb treatments
Yup, multitasking. I try not to let asthma waste a single minute of my life [darn near impossible, but I can freaking try!]
Sometimes I have flares that get a bit stubborn and don't respond properly to the rescue inhaler. It's silly, because when that happens, i take a higher dose of the same drug in nebulizer form, and it works SO much better. There are no "proven" benefits to nebs vs. inhalers and spacers, but experience just has me feeling that nebs make me feel better faster [and my peak flows don't lie!].
That said, neb treatments take about five minutes at a time as opposed to taking a few hits on your inhaler [if you're doing it right, two hits on your inhaler should take about 10 seconds each, since you should be holding your breath after each puff, with 30 seconds to a minute between puffs]. Aside from them making you more jittery or tachy, the time is what's the biggest pain in the butt about nebbing.
But if it works, I mean, do it. Breathing's what matters. But getting something accomplished or not getting bored outta your skull is also important too. I am a hardcore multi-tasker.
So what kind of stuff do I do while I'm doing breathing treatments?
-twitter. because I am an addict.
-text
-blog
-surf the web, catch up on my Google Reader
-catch up on e-mail
-listen to music. I think I may have done all of one treatment in the last eight months without music on. It probably felt like it took eons, because music makes EVERYTHING faster and better and brings the rock.
Oh, and this morning, I stole <a href="http://www.wellthen.org/users/Breathinstephen/">Steve</a>'s back massager whilst nebbing idea [plus listening to music, plus typing with the other hand. He has got me trained]. The back massager on days/mornings like today, is a fabulous investment. Sore shoulders from messed up breathing messing them up? Massage time right in your very own house [but minus potentially attractive male (in my case) masseuse and those people who bring you lemon water to cleanse your system or whatever].
Those are the standard ones. I think the <i>strangest</i> thing I've done [so far] while doing a treatment is probably the time that I spent the first four minutes of a treatment playing guitar until my hands got too shaky from the medicine to accurately play any chords.
So, what do you or your kids do to make breathing treatments go faster?
Sometimes I have flares that get a bit stubborn and don't respond properly to the rescue inhaler. It's silly, because when that happens, i take a higher dose of the same drug in nebulizer form, and it works SO much better. There are no "proven" benefits to nebs vs. inhalers and spacers, but experience just has me feeling that nebs make me feel better faster [and my peak flows don't lie!].
That said, neb treatments take about five minutes at a time as opposed to taking a few hits on your inhaler [if you're doing it right, two hits on your inhaler should take about 10 seconds each, since you should be holding your breath after each puff, with 30 seconds to a minute between puffs]. Aside from them making you more jittery or tachy, the time is what's the biggest pain in the butt about nebbing.
But if it works, I mean, do it. Breathing's what matters. But getting something accomplished or not getting bored outta your skull is also important too. I am a hardcore multi-tasker.
So what kind of stuff do I do while I'm doing breathing treatments?
-twitter. because I am an addict.
-text
-blog
-surf the web, catch up on my Google Reader
-catch up on e-mail
-listen to music. I think I may have done all of one treatment in the last eight months without music on. It probably felt like it took eons, because music makes EVERYTHING faster and better and brings the rock.
Oh, and this morning, I stole <a href="http://www.wellthen.org/users/Breathinstephen/">Steve</a>'s back massager whilst nebbing idea [plus listening to music, plus typing with the other hand. He has got me trained]. The back massager on days/mornings like today, is a fabulous investment. Sore shoulders from messed up breathing messing them up? Massage time right in your very own house [but minus potentially attractive male (in my case) masseuse and those people who bring you lemon water to cleanse your system or whatever].
Those are the standard ones. I think the <i>strangest</i> thing I've done [so far] while doing a treatment is probably the time that I spent the first four minutes of a treatment playing guitar until my hands got too shaky from the medicine to accurately play any chords.
So, what do you or your kids do to make breathing treatments go faster?
Comments
KerriOnThePrairies
1 year, 5 months ago
I totally agree--both excellent multitasking-options for younger kids :).
lsurpren
1 year, 5 months ago
Diversionary tactics are great while doing a neb treatment! It can really help with the axiety that happens with the inability to breath.
KerriOnThePrairies
1 year, 5 months ago
I think the music thing is my favourite stress-relief tactic all around.
Way to multitask! My 2 year old has asthma and often times we will read books together or have some cuddle time while we are doing a treatment. I definitely think it's multitasking :)
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