High Altitude and Asthma
Spent the weekend 1500+ feet higher than where I live and ended up in the ER the last morning. Anyone else affected by change in altitude?
Hi.
I see you are new here, having just signed up last night. Welcome to our asthma community. Thank you for bringing up this topic, as it is a good one. The higher up you go the lower the partial pressure of oxygen is. And this can make it hard for us asthmatics to breathe. This is a topic that comes up from time to time here. In fact, Two of my fellow contributors have written about their experiences with this here (https://asthma.net/uncategorized/asthma-altitude) and here (https://asthma.net/living/high-altitude-asthma). That said, sorry that you ended up in the ER. How are you feeling today? John. community moderator. Thank you for asking. I'm 85 and have had asthma, or croup as they used to call it, my entire life so you'd think I would have figured it out by now. National Jewish saw me a few years ago and put me on some sort of long term inhaler to which I had an allergic response so no help there. Other than allergies I am healthy and take no medications. An occasional dose of prednisone stops bad flare-ups. 
Thanks for following up Sharon. I'm glad to hear that at 85 your are otherwise healthy. Good for you! When you feel an asthma flare up coming on do you check in with your doctor immediately to obtain steroids? Thanks again for sharing. -Lauren (team member)
Hi
- I've lived at 6000 - 7000 feet in a mountain community for a few years and yes it was hard at first. I had my inhaler handy and did breathing exercises to help. I eventually became used to it. Less oxygen surely has a way of slowing you down. Glad you had access to an ER and got some help. Wishing you the best of health. Rebecca (team member)
