Coughing my way home
A slightly strange stone today, nevertheless it was the observation of a possiblity of change for me. I have asthma. It was diagnosed around ten years ago, after many, many years of coughing! It isn’t severe, just irritating and must drive other people crazy. Sometimes in public places people will come up and offer me a glass of water, when I haven’t even registered that I’m coughing.
I have inhalers of course, but if I use them as prescribed I get a sore throat and oral thrush. So it’s a fine balance. There are quite a few things that trigger a coughing fit; aerosols, some perfumes, dust, things that have a bad smell, pollen, too much dairy etc, etc. I try to avoid exposure when I can.
A change in temperature, like leaving a warm place to go out in winter, is a real pain, especially when I rush to leave work each day. You know how it is, the freedom after a long day and you just want to go home as quickly as possible!
Recently I’ve tried a simple breathing exercise when I leave. It’s just inhaling through my nose and then exhaling through pursed lips – it’s supposed to slow breathing down. It works for about 200 metres and then I lose it. So today I invented my own version, breath in slowly through my nose (and very cold air hits me), then breath out through pursed lips – but in two stages – it slows me down more. I also walked a little slower than usual, so the walk took 20 minutes instead of fifteen.
Guess what? I made it home without a single cough. I’m hoping it isn’t a fluke, the next few days will tell.
Lucid Gypsy 
How observant of you to notice though, Gilly. I hope your new tactics continue to work 🙂
Hope you weren’t caught up in the flash flooding and horrible weather down there Marianne.
Managed to avoid all that – we are in the Abel Tasman National Park right now – heading to Nelson tomorrow 🙂
Glad to hear it…BTW I put a few more suggestions up on my post.
I agree with Marianne…and I hope it continues to help.
One of the triggers you didn’t mention specifically was a certain dishevelled VW Golf.
Considering the fits of coughing this car prompts you to have, it was very kind of you not to mention it! (-:
That’s okay you’re cleaning this weekend aren’t you?
Yes I am. Thoroughly. Boy is it overdue!
I hope it works too. Take care Gilly.
And I agree with Marianne and Jo and Madhu – hope this turns out to work well!
I’m praying that this is the beginning of a major change for good for you, Gilly.
I’ll keep you in my prayers, Gilly. My wife had asthma, but thank God, she has completely rcovered. Blessings.
It must be very debilitating for your Gilly. I’m so glad that you’ve found something that helps.
My second son has a mild form of it and we give him Ventolin syrup any time he gets coughy, which helps. I will let him try this out though. 🙂 I sincerely pray it works for both of you, more especially you 🙂
I’ve heard about the theory of breathing through the nose for asthma and allergies, like hayfever. Hope it helps, Gilly
yes, hope it helps long-term … how creative to find your own version 🙂
Christine you’ve just made my 10,000th comment, thanks so much for your loyalty and loveliness!
Get well soon… Btw, if you wish to visit…
I’ve been writing my small stones on my blogspot blog.
http://positivekismet.blogspot.com/2013/01/musings-trust.html
Eliz
Praying everything goes well.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
I have lung issues and that is the exercise the pulmonary doctor recommends. Also you should cover your nose and mouth when you are out in cold weather.
When I worked I use to take the bus and this young lady would get on and take the seat in front of me that was usually empty. She wore way too much perfume and I would have coughing fits. She would give me dirty looks over her shoulder. So I started opening the window no matter how cold it was outside. She then would look over her shoulder at me and I would stare waiting for her to say something. She never did, but had she I would of told her that her perfume was too strong and causes my coughing.
Nice to have the control to a certain extent through the breathing system you’ve discovered, without constant need of back up – the inhaler.