Asthma and Me

By Amirul Mannan

I have been suffering from Asthma since I was very young. The first real attack that I could remember was when I was only 8 or 9 years old. I remember not being able to breath and feeling very uncomfortable. My parents had to take me to the local hospital to get me the gas treatment. That’s what I call it. I would be rushed to the emergency department and the nurses would tend to me and than I would be put on the gas for 20 to 25 minutes. After that I would be ok. The doctors would check to see if my lungs were clear and prescribed me with some ventolin to take home. I have been suffering from Asthma for 25 years and today I would like to share a few tips on how you can manage your asthma.

This went on until I got myself an inhaler. I would take now and then and would never leave home without it. It was my partner but still on certain occasions the inhaler was not enough and I still had to go to the hospital. This is true until today. Looking back until today, I have been suffering from asthma for 25 years and still having to battle it everyday.

I still remember when I was younger, every time whenever I had to take gas at the hospital I felt really cool. I thought that I was like a fighter pilot with the Oxygen mask and everything. Back than even when I was having an asthma attack I could still dream of being a pilot. Ahh… the joy of being a child!

Anyways since my attacks were quite frequent, my parents and grandparents set out to find possible cures for me. I can remember going everywhere all over the country and following leads on all possible solutions. I have tried a lot of stuff during my childhood days. Things such as honey and pigeon meat. There were also some other herbal and traditional medicines that were given to me.

After finishing secondary school I furthered my studies in Canada, and going there I was quite worried of suffering attacks as I would be very far from my family. To my surprise for 5 years studying there I did not suffer any attacks! Amazing! But every time I come home I will get an attack! Maybe I need to move to Canada. I spoke this with some doctor friends and they told me probably because of the air quality and the humidity over there which is better for me.

Staying in Canada was not an option so I had to return to my country. Ever since coming back I have had attacks on and off until today. Now that I am married I am quite concern that my kids might have it. Apparently I got it due to my genes. Asthma is hereditary. My parents have it. In fact my mum had it when she was younger but now only my father still suffers from mild attacks. Some of my siblings have it as well.

The one thing that I would like to share with regard to Asthma is that you need to manage it. After 25 years and still suffering from it, what I can share are the following tips.

Tip#1 – Acceptance
Accept that you have asthma and chances are you will need to live with is for the rest of your live. Do not blame others as there is no one to blame. Take it as a blessing in disguise. Plus there are a lot of people who are successful today have asthma including sports figures. One of them is a Manchester United Football Club player named Paul Scholes. He has asthma and he shares how he has to take the inhaler in between games and yet he is a world class player who has played at the highest level in his sport. The important thing is acceptance and dealing with it. Today I run my own business and I know that I can be successful even with asthma and I believe that you can do it too!

Tip#2 – Know Your Triggers
Everybody is different and unique. Hence everybody with asthma is unique. If you are suffering from asthma you need to identify what can cause you to suffer attacks. It could be anything from dust, flower pollens, change of weather, certain chemicals, carpet dust, food and etc. You need to know so that you can take the necessary steps. It took me a while but my triggers are dust, flower pollens and animal furs such cats and hamsters. If I am nearby dust and flower pollens, I will start to sneeze and it will trigger my asthma. That’s why if you come to my house I don’t have any carpets or live flowers inside the house. Thank God my wife and kids understand this. That’s why when I go to my family or friends house if they are fully carpeted I know that I might get an attack. So I will have my inhaler standing by.

Tip#3 – Live a Healthy Lifestyle
This is very important. You need to balance your life. For some people high stress and eating disorders can also trigger asthma attacks. It’s important that you can control your stress level. Given the living conditions today it is so easy to get stressed out. Everything is a concern for people now days. For myself, I have made the effort to eat healthily and of course exercise. You must make it a point to take care of yourself. Life is too short to be lived on the bed or limiting yourself to what you can or cannot do. Invest in your body and it repays you in kind.

I hope that the above sharing will help you out in your day to day life with asthma. Please feel free to contact me at amirulmannan@ymail.com .

I would also like to recommend the following ebook which is a fantastic resource on asthma. It is called All About Asthma ~ What You Need To Know. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/AsthmaVideo