Finding Hidden Asthma Triggers: Don’t Get Stuck (in a Sweater)

I am a sucker for a good, super-soft, thick, chunky knit sweater. This is especially true when it is chilly outside, and I can bundle up, making the sweater feel like a nice warm hug. I get really excited when I can treat myself to a day out shopping for the perfect sweater to add to my wardrobe. Living in the Midwest, one can never have too many fun sweaters because, as they say, "if you don’t like the weather, just wait 15 minutes because it will change!"

A routine shopping day took a turn for the worse

Being the planner that I am, I made a list of stores that I would be going to that morning and mapped them out in order from farthest to closest to home, and got on my way. I arrived a short while later at the first store, wandered around for a while, and loaded up my arms with a few sweaters to try on. I slowly meandered my way back towards the dressing rooms, making sure I wasn’t missing any other potential goldmine, cozy sweaters on my way.

Once in the dressing room, I tried on the first sweater. It was a super-soft, oversized, denim-blue sweater with a slightly tall-ish neckline (which I didn’t really notice when I grabbed it off the table) and roomy balloon sleeves that were gathered at the wrists. I got the sweater on and immediately wasn’t a fan because of the neckline. Tall necklines just aren’t my style. No big deal, on to the next.

Or so I thought.

Dressing room panic led to a surprise asthma flare-up

It only took me about 3 seconds to realize I was not getting out of this sweater without a fight. I was suddenly questioning how I even got into this thing! Between the head hole not wanting to budge and the elastics feeling like they had a vice grip around my wrists, I felt like I was being held captive, and I was going into fight-or-flight mode. Which meant one thing for this gal: cue an asthma attack.

For the average person, having difficulty getting out of clothes in a dressing room might not seem like that big of a deal. But for an asthmatic, especially a severe asthmatic such as myself, it can be a very big issue. Physical exertion and sudden panic can act as major, unexpected asthma catalysts. I had to force myself to slow down and methodically, one arm at a time, get them out of the sweater, and then work on freeing my head from the rest until I was completely out of it.

By this point, I had worked myself into a pretty decent flare-up. Thankfully, I had my inhaler with me, and I was able to sit down on the little bench in the dressing room. After I used it, I rested for a while until I felt better. I was so wiped out after this incident that my sweater shopping was over for the day, and I decided to go home.

Uncovering hidden asthma triggers

I was so embarrassed that something like this happened from trying on a sweater, but it made me stop and think that there are hidden asthma triggers literally anywhere—things that I just don’t think about. I always have my rescue inhaler with me, but I never even considered that trying on clothes could make me so short of breath and become a pretty significant asthma irritant. I have lived with asthma since I was eight years old, and developed severe asthma when I was 25, and this was a first.

It is definitely something I will be more cautious of in the future because, as an asthmatic, there are so many little, concealed environmental stressors I need to watch out for and always be prepared to face. You never know when you might get stuck in a sweater in a dressing room and end up in a full-blown asthma flare-up.