Do You Ever Experience Asthma Forgetfulness?
Asthma Forgetfulness. Definition: Experiencing a period where you feel so normal you forget you have asthma. This results in a) partaking in activities that may expose you to your asthma triggers b) Forgetting to take your medicines that prevent asthma attacks.
My recent experience of asthma forgetfulness
I joke about this at times, but it’s so true. I have had asthma all my life. So, if anyone should know better it’s me. And yet, I recently fell subject to this phenomenon. I had a box of old baseball cards that I bought it at a yard sale. The child in me so badly wanted to look through the cards inside it, but the more rational person within me said, “Nope! Better stay away.”
The reason I try to avoid it is that old baseball cards are handled gently by human hands, and little critters called dust mites feast off flakes of human cells on the cards. As I sift through the cards, dust mites and their feces are aerosolized, and of course, they make their way into my lungs.
About a half-hour into sorting through the cards my chest starts to feel tight, and I think, “Darn. I forgot I had asthma again!” Thus, I fell victim to the age-old phenomenon of asthma forgetfulness.
Why do we experience asthma forgetfulness?
I say "we" because I know I am not alone in this. Asthma is sort of a misnamed disease. Asthma, by its old definition, means short, panty breaths, so, that in effect means you are feeling short of breath.
In our modern world, we know that asthma is not a symptom, but rather a disease. It’s a disease where you have a predisposition to getting short of breath when exposed to your asthma triggers. So, asthma is periodic. You have periods of asthma followed by periods of feeling normal. And, the goal of good asthma control is to make these periods of normal last a long time.
When they last a long time, there’s this tendency to forget you have asthma. Hence, the term asthma forgetfulness. You feel so good for so long that you go on doing things that otherwise healthy people would do. You go out and shovel snow in 10-degree weather. You spend a night at your dad’s cabin that you full well know is filled with potential asthma triggers. Or, like me, you pull out an old box of baseball cards.
Forgetting to take my asthma medication
Another thing I have done in my asthma past is forgotten I have asthma to the point I forget to take my asthma medicine. I do not do this much anymore. I have learned the hard way that this form of asthma forgetfulness does not bode well for good asthma control.
What I've learned
An early warning sign for me of asthma forgetfulness is chest tightness. This usually precedes shortness of breath by quite a while. I have learned to heed this early warning sign of asthma. Sometimes I also experience sneezing, an itchy nose, headache, and anxiety. So, when I feel these early warning symptoms, I know my fun with baseball cards must end. It’s usually this chest tightness that reminds me I still have asthma.
I can guarantee you I will do this again. It is because of my ongoing effort to be normal. I want to go to the cabin. I want to play with my baseball cards. Not doing so does affect my quality of life. Going to the cabin is fun. Sorting through new-to-me baseball cards is fun. It’s my hobby. I don’t want to quit because of my asthma.
It is for this reason I have pondered stepping up my asthma treatment. My current asthma treatment regimen seems to work very well most of the time. So this is why I have discussed Xolair with my asthma doctor.
What about you? Do you ever experience asthma forgetfulness? Please let us know in the comments below.
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