The Cost of a Fresh Coat: My DIY Disaster with Asthma and Reactive Airways

I moved into my house almost 2 years ago and have been slowly working my way through each room—painting, decorating, and bringing my style into my forever home. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process. I love the creativity and self-expression I’m allowed to pour into my home. But let’s face it, decorating is expensive. I just did a quick Google search, and apparently, it can cost between $1,000 and $20,000 to redo a room, with $1,000–$3,000 being the “budget” range.

The bedroom makeover was at the bottom of my list. I had done some quick decorating when I first moved in, but now I was ready to commit. My budget was closer to $100–$300. Ha! I’m not delusional enough to think I could do all of it on $100, but with the help of Facebook Marketplace and offsetting costs by selling things I already had in my room, I easily kept it under $300.

A small oversight led to severe consequences

Facebook Marketplace was my best friend during the process. I spent hours every day looking for the right pieces. I even bought my paint off of Marketplace. But here’s where I went wrong.

My asthma is on the “severe” end of the spectrum, and my lungs are exceedingly sensitive to strong smells and chemical triggers. Because I live with asthma and reactive airways, low- or no-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints are the only kind I can work with. However, with my over-exuberance and go-get-it attitude, I was not paying attention to the kind of paint I was getting. I found the perfect cream shade I was looking for, and after some quick arrangements with the seller, I had the paint in hand and was excited to get it on my walls.

Unknowingly triggering my asthma and reactive airways

With eagerness, I popped the lid of the can. I caught a whiff of what was inside and immediately stepped back. Forget low VOCs; I had inadvertently picked up a can of oil-based lacquer paint! (It was clearly stated on the listing, so I have no one to blame but myself and a lack of patience.) I hurriedly put the lid back on, but the damage had already been done.

I spent the rest of the evening coughing and hacking, but after using my rescue inhaler, I felt pretty decent for the rest of the day. But the following morning…

I woke up, and my stomach felt cramped, and it was hard to breathe. I could feel and hear myself wheezing. My diaphragm was aching from working so hard overnight. My lungs were ANGRY. I couldn’t stop coughing, I felt incredibly short of breath, and my inhaler only took the edge off for a couple of hours.

The importance of an asthma action plan

My asthma has been pretty well controlled for the last couple of years. Most of my exacerbations are caused by viral infections, but this time it was something else entirely, and I was completely taken off guard. I knew the paint fumes might leave my reactive airways irritated for a little while, but I had no idea how bad it would get. Talk about a full-blown asthma attack!

I immediately pulled out my asthma action plan and got in touch with my pulmonologist. It wasn’t so much that I needed guidance from him at that moment, but because things were so bad, I wanted him in the loop in case things got worse. Asthma attacks can be terrifying, no matter how many you’ve had in the past. Feeling like you can’t breathe, struggling to catch your breath, or being unable to stop coughing can be disconcerting for the most experienced asthma patient.

Recovering from my DIY-induced asthma attack

It took about a week for everything to settle back to normal. The first 2 days were the worst, but I quickly improved over the next few days. I think the worst part was that the asthma attack was so unexpected (I mean, they all are) and severe that I was totally taken aback. It’s also been many years since I’ve had an episode of bronchial hyper-responsiveness out of the blue that was so bad.

I’m thankful to have a good asthma action plan ready to go, and that it works so well for me. I am also thankful to have a good doctor who can give me peace of mind when I’m freaking out.

When was the last time you had an asthma attack? Were you able to utilize your asthma action plan? Let me know in the comments!