Acute Asthma - & PE

Chest and lungs
1

I have recently been diagnosed with a PE - muliple clots on the lungs where I have been hospitlised for three weeks over two separate occassions.

I had a chest infection in early February that was treated with antibiotics and steriods didn't get any better so another course of steriods and antibiotics at the same time due to my asthma I was having to sit up at night time in bed. After over two and half weeks and not getting better and my asthma going from being managed to acute I was taken into hospital with exacerbated asthma which I was treated for over two weeks and then discharged. However on returning home I still was not getting better and was still having to sit up at night time due to my asthma. So after nine days at home I was readmitted to hospital again with excaterbated asthma and a few days later after a CT scan was found to have multiple clots.

After another 10 days in hospital I was discharged.

I am still having problems with my asthma and on nebuliser daily

I still am unable to lay down flat due to feeling like I am drowning, and unable to breath due to asthma.

I also suffer from severe ME and also have a chronic pain, I do consider myself lucky as if I hadn't had the asthma problems due to my other conditions giving so many symptoms that I would have ignored any odd pains and not gone to the GP and therefore not found the PE  

However I am wondering if anyone else who has had a PE suffers from asthma and if so has it changed in its severity.

My peak flow is around 100-140 and only increases after I have done a nebuliser treatment and then will drop back down again again later.

I have been on steriods for about 10 weeks now but am just about to stop after a long reducing dose withdrawl period. So will be interested to know how I cope when I stop taking them.

I know they say you can get breathless with a PE but breathless and asthma are very different.

I feel that I amonly working on a very small capacity of my lungs and wonder if this may do long term damage to my lungs.

I also wonder why I got a PE in the first place.

Did the chest infection cause it ? Did the asthma cause it as I have found that there has been a link between severe asthma and PE ?

I know my recovery will be slow because of my other medical problems and I am just taking one day at a time. I am on warfarin so now that I can't do anymore other than ride it out, for the forseeable future. I would though love to be able to snuggle up in bed under the duvet instead of sitting up on the sofa sleeping!! I long for that.

Any comments from anyone on this forum would be greatly welcomed.

 

2

hi tracey1408,

your body is under strain due to recovery/repair..... and limited energy is allocated to normal bodily functions, breathing/respiration, circulation, digestion, mental activity, gradually level/taper mood cycles and so on...

I would personally be tempted to conserve energy by simplifying diet, - slow release carbs (avoid sugar spikes) high fiber,,, increase water intake,  and supplement with multivitamins & minerals and fish oil,  (maybe be mindful on Vitamin K and allergies). try and change body from inside to out slowly and steadily

also conserve energy as much as possible and strike a balance with moving around as best you can ie. walking to toilet, washing and very light stretching - regular/light tension to extremities, fingers & toes movement of joints - knees, elbows, shoulders, neck and so on...

Have plenty of rest, and more rest, enjoy music, silence, tv, books...i've just thought of a song by the Beetles- "The Long and Winding Road"  and its on YouTube

have faith in positive considered efforts...

take care all the best, btw - I feeling a lot better after a year of rest...and in someways my body feels 5years younger than before...

3

Thanks very much for your response,

I am glad you are feeling better after your year of rest. I am pretty good at conserving energy as I also suffer from severe ME and with that you have no choise but to find ways to conserve imited energy. Although having the PE has had a massive effect on my ME.  

 

4

thx and hi,

I try and empathise with a your situation, as conservation of your 'energy' may mean to expel less of and or concentrate ones energy to basic functions of body.

Maybe an Idea to visuals/circulate one's energy throughout the body through being calm and in slience...feel/identify where there maybe blockages and relax to your fingertips and toes. You may feel some aches and pains, numbness, pins and needles....just go with it let what energy you have flow...

tracey, more needs to be said about your ME, what do YOU think is a contributing factor to your ME? however bizarre it may be.

 

5

I have asthma and PEs and just spent last night in the ER sue to the fun with them. I also have 5 bulging disks in my lower lumbar region. My doctors said that those of us tha6are less mobile are at a much higher risk of developing them.

Having the pes also had a severe impact on all my health problems as well, no surprise that it would interfere with your ME.

Hang in there with riding it out, I had 50% of my lungs covered in clots. It is a process, a frustrating one. But we got to keep pushing through.