(Untitled)

[ashfae]

Right...let's catch up

Comments

[emperor]

Meep indeed, that sounds very un-fun. I hope you're properly better soon!

[forest_rose]

*hugs tight* I've had that, with accompanying ongoing ick afterwards - rather embarrassingly, collapsed in my own emergency department and ended up on a trolley on oxygen with my boss taking my scrub top off to listen to my chest. It sucks and is horrible, but I promise it does get better. Two things that really helped me: 1) steroids (a 5 day course of 40mg Prednisolone), but obviously consult your own doctor before trying this, especially considering baby. 2) much nicer - a trip to the seaside! I know it sounds totally Victorian, but sea air really does fix my lungs - I've had this a few times now because my lungs are made of fail, and we've had two nights by the sea each time which made an enormous difference. Failing that, you can get salt inhalers that might help, but I've never tried them.

[willow_red]

Um, Prednisone is no longer recommended for pregnant women. (If your doctor wants to put you on Prednisone, Ash, you and I need to have a private conversation. There are both positive and negative effects, which I know very well, being a Prednisone baby myself.)

As for the icky crud, yikes, that sounds awful. The closest I can relate was when I was living in Houston, and the pollution made my lungs contract so badly that a brisk walk caused me to gray out. The exercise I would recommend is called chi gong (sometimes spelled qi gong). It's related to tai chi and is specifically for boosting your energy level. There are even some chi gong exercises that can be done while sitting down.

I hope this nastiness clears up soon. *hugs and love*

[forest_rose]

Hmm, interesting - guidance varies by country, I imagine, but certainly in the British National Formulary it's not contraindicated for a short course. But I'm an emergency doctor, not an obstetrician, hence the 'talk to your doctor first' disclaimer above.
Seconding the chi gong recommendation - I've never done it, but my neighbour did it a lot after his hip replacement and he said it really helped his recovery.

[willow_red]

There was a time in the 1970s (at least in the US) when Prednisone was being prescribed for all sorts of things it doesn't actually work on. I did some research in my twenties, and by then there were studies done of that cohort of babies. A few years later, I could no longer find those studies, only a statement that Prednisone was schedule C (effects on pregnancy unknown, better not try it). But as those studies explained a lot of what both my mom and I experienced, it rather stuck in my memory.

[darkcloudnymph]

That sucks :-( For me, ballet floor and bar exercises work well to not trigger my asthma, you can do them a few here and there throughout the day, and since you are either already on the floor or holding a chair/counter you don't have to worry about losing your balance. The other advantage is the exercises tend to help sculpte your muscles to support you so that your balance tends to improve. If you try ballet just remember it's about moving to the point of tension and holding for a second or two not about forcing anything.

[the_lady_lily]

*big hug* No advice from here, as I have no asthma, but that link I pointed you to on FB should be a good place to find some friendly prenatal yoga stretches that won't kill you. Any of the antenatal yoga DVDs would probably be a good thing as well - judging by Amazon, there seem to be some quite cheap ones out there. Many hugs to you.

[ursule]

Eek. This sucks. My own asthma is much less limiting even when it's bad, but just a teensy bit of difficulty breathing weighs down one's motivation like nothing else. (I take a daily inhaled steroid, which is not as intense as Prednisone but still likely iffy during pregnancy.)

[ursule]

I just looked this up: there is at least one inhaled steroid that is US Pregnancy Category B, and thus probably safe during pregnancy. (Mine is Category C.)