This is one of those days when you wonder why the hell you even want to try to get better I woke up again this morning not being able to breathe worth a crap I ran for the steroids my nebulizer and the other meds I take for this copd and asthma I get so tired of being sick and tired I dont want to give up but when is enough enough? Medicare is taking away some of the meds I take and say that theyre bad for the ozone or they only let you recieve so much of my duo neb when I am sick like I am now I have to do it more often to be able to breathe Yet I end up short for the month and hope and pray that my combevent inhaler will last long enough Its a never ending fight for my rights to live a life somewhat comfortable I went to the doctor the other day and he is a dam good doctor but I was taken aback when his nurse said you were just here 3 weeks ago Even he himself said I am a servere asthma patient But do these people really think we go because we are lonely ? Dont they realize how hard it is to go to the doctor when you cant breathe after walking a few steps? Maybe I took it wrong but how many more ways can the fda mess with us and what about medicare? What are they trying to say to all of us who really need the meds they are taking away? What if we were their family would it make any difference?
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Copd and asthma
- By cabcat
- Posted November 4, 2007 at 6:05 pm · 6 replies
- In Allergies and asthma
- Shared with the public
6 replies
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- Newest first
- By JenTilley06
- Posted November 5, 2007 at 7:58 am
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my COPD is due to a condition known as systemic candida... but, regarding what i have to tell you... is really irrelevant... (save for the fact that a corticosteroid nasal spray contributed to it... and you mentioned that you take a steroid)
there have been studies done in the medical community, that i've recently learned about... and naturopaths/homeopaths/etc... have been talking about for some time; which have noted a common thread in many diseases... and that is "that they are all similar in that they all involve inflammation"... COPD and asthma are two of these...
what this means... fortunately for the both of us... is that our conditions can be improved simply by choosing the correct foods...
try doing a search on foods that cause inflammation... and then foods that fight or reduce inflammation...
studies have shown that cooked foods can be especially bad for increasing inflammation... thus, making it harder - in our cases - for us to breathe.... yet, increasing your intake of raw fruits and vegetables can have just the opposite effect.
a much cheaper way to improve your current state - as you already buy groceries anyways - and quite a bit more encouraging - and easier (especially if you have a juicer).
i sincerely hope this helps
- By JenTilley06
- Posted November 5, 2007 at 8:06 am
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this same article talks about CRPs which are C-reactive proteins... which seem to be higher in people with "dis-ease" than those who don't have one.
it also suggests only consuming olive oil or canola oil...as the other ones contribute to inflammation... and eating more "bing cherries", increasing the intake of milk (due to the fatty acids and vitamin D... which help to reduce inflammation); but, while i am not a doctor - yet have had noticeable improvement simply by following some of these guidelines... i still suggest that you take this information to your doctor/dietician to ensure that you are doing what is right for your situation.
take care...
- By cbDayton
- Posted November 6, 2007 at 6:41 am
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Inflammation is an underlying problem with many problems like asthma. There are not many prescription medications for asthm that have anti-inflammation activity. The steroid preparations and Singulair are the few examples. There are non-prescription alternatives to try. Pycnogenol(TM) has been shown in a study with children having asthma that it can "spare" the need for higher steroid doses and decrease symptomatic days. Quercetin is another over-the-counter preparation that has anti-inflammation activity. You can probably get both at GNC. I, as an allergic asthma sufferer, take Pycnogenol 100 mg and quercetin 500-1000 mg near bedtime to avoid the problems you are having. Check with your doctor about this if you can and he/she has an open mind about alternative medications. If your doctor has doubts, ask him/her to look up "pycnogenol" and "quercetin" in Pubmed (an on-line medical journal reference service from the National Library of Medicine)
Regarding access to care problems, this is due to a LACK of CITIZEN advocacy for networks of primary care doctors allowed to negotiate as a unit and develop overall patient support mechanisms (such as a Refional Teletriage system) that allows the practices to compete with the insurance companies for reasonable fees - that help allow reasonable access.
We are a country rapidly progressing toward a system of care whereby access to a well trained primary care physician who can continue to make a decent living will be a service only available to the rich to very rich. It is NOT the primary care doctor's fault. They are under massive assault from managed care, the government (decreasing Medicare fees for office visits), and hospital systems that only really care how many beds are being filled to make the big bucks. Plus, the medical education system continues to take dollars to do "new research" the findings of which go into the HUGE pile of unapplied information.
Your problem is the tip of the iceburg. The USA's health care system is headed for a collision with the big burg sooner rather than later.
Also, if you had read all the postings on Asthma at this site you could have been aware of the potential of taking pycnogenol and quercetin long before now. That is known as personal responsibility. There have been a number of comments about it, including several of mine, months ago.
- By JenTilley06
- Posted November 6, 2007 at 8:37 am
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while i do agree that we all have to take responsibility for ourselves (unless the condition is caused by an oversight on someone else's part... then THAT person should be held accontable for it - as was the case for myself and someone dear to me); consideration must also be given to the fact that - when someone is feeling fairly ill and having problems with even the slightest bit of mobility - doctors are SUPPOSED to help!!
they shouldn't allowed themselves to be cowed into only caring about the monetary gains from practicing medicine... that is NOT what it is supposed to be about... it is supposed to be about helping people... not greed.
and just as we should take responsibility for ourselves... they should take responsibility for what is occuring on their end of things... if they see that something is wrong with the system, they are in the perfect place to step up to the plate, state their views, and make changes... set an example so that the patients don't have to do it for them.
i, myself have been ill for over a year now... and still have had the responsibility of taking care of not only myself, but my family, our home, etc... i'm certain that the doctors have far better resources/time/money and know how to effectively make changes... also, they are in a better state of health to be able to do so....
these factors should be taken into consideration with someone who has not been given the answers that they have been seeking (and who have been sent away from various appointments while still suffering)... it wasn't a doctor that finally gave me the proper diagnosis... i had to find that out for myself. this is why i'm more for giving compassion and patience to the patient.
- By cbDayton
- Posted November 6, 2007 at 8:59 am
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We basically agree.
There will not be any REAL doctors on the frontline available to care for you if their needs are not tended to immediately in terms of earning more than you spend in seeing a patient. Sorry, their families have to be fed also. These ARE NOT greedy doctors I am referring to. They are primary care doctors being squeezed out of a viable community-focused practice. They are the ones making 3-4x less than the specialists who are doing infinitely less real work. Fact of life that unfortunately the American public and the politicians do not understand. By the time they do it will be too late!
I am pointing out YOUR personal responsibility in reading posts on this blog for a potential answer to your problem before you append to the blog a story whose outcome could have been helped by your reading. That is in YOUR benefit, nothing more.
Neither you or I will solve access problems unless the American public wakes up and smells the stench of our medical care system controlled by people who own the insurance companies, the hospital systems, the pharmaceutical houses and the government bureaucrats who cannot see beyond their set of rules to meet the needs of the people such as yourself.
I am an advocate for primary care physicians getting together so that the oppression of the insurance companies, hospital systems, pharmaceutical houses (Direct-to-Consumer advertising waste of money) and the government bureaucrats is modified or abolished so that primary care physicians have much more time to spend with patients while being able to know and respond to new information that is helpful for patient care rather than new regulations telling them whom to call for "permission" from a nurse to give needed care to a patient. You can disagree with this but it is like cutting off your nose to spite your face, in my opinion.
- By JenTilley06
- Posted November 6, 2007 at 9:18 am
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that does explain things better... and i beleive that my reaction was due in part to your initial writing seeming somewhat "curt" (not that i can say for sure whether it was intentional). i can only write from personal experience, and know that i have had a chip on my shoulder about what happened to myself and a family member... and all due to the oversight of someone in the medical community.
i have done the "taking responsibility" for myself/my son for more than a year, even on days when i was so dizzy i could barely stay upright in front of the computer; much less understand what i had just read about our condition.
that is where i think a little more understanding needs to come into play. often times, we don't know where to look... or there is TOO much information to be able to digest it all... and sometimes it is written in such a way that you have to be a doctor to be able to understand it.
perhaps all of the advocacy groups that are aiming for the same outcome should come together under one "umbrella" group... join together for a stronger voice!!
hope this helps.
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