Respiratory specialist

[rainbow_goddess]

I was diagnosed with asthma around 1999 or 2000 following a methacholine challenge. Before that I'd had multiple lung function tests that came out completely clear, showing no signs of problems, even though I was constantly coughing and wheezing and gasping for air everywhere *except* where they did the lung function tests. If it hadn't been for

Comments

[dontcryforme]

I'm sure you do, but do you have a rescue inhaler? Do you pretreat with it before exercise? Do you have any possible allergies or reflux in check?

What sort of specialist did you see? Did you bring in your methacholine challenge results? The methacholine challenge is the gold standard for reactive airways diagnosis.

[rainbow_goddess]

I take my rescue inhaler before any planned exercise, but if I suddenly see that my bus is pulling up to the bus stop, I don't have time to stop and use it before running to catch the bus.

He is a "respiratory specialist." That's all I know. He had a thick folder full of all the tests I've ever taken since I moved to this city in 1991, including my half-dozen lung function tests and the methacholine challenge. I don't get copies of my own test results. They all go to whatever doctor ordered the tests.

I have been taking medication for acid reflux for the past 12 years. I take over-the-counter allergy pills. The specialist did suggest I take a prescription allergy medication, but it is very expensive and not covered by my health insurance so it's a matter of deciding whether it's worth the improvement in my asthma to spend this money on a pill, and I can't decide that until I have spent the money and taken the pill.

[taxishoes]

Okay, here's my totally random feedback/background because I'm asthmatic and have lots of opinions

[rainbow_goddess]

0) I was was prescribed Flovent soon after my initial diagnosis. I took it for a couple of years and then was prescribed Advair, which worked ten times better.

1) Unfortunately, the way things work where I live, once you see a specialist you can never, ever see another one. I was told that the medical community is so tight-knit that if a doctor refers you to one specialist and then tries to refer you to another one, the first one will get mad and will make things really difficult for the referring doctor.

3) You don't get copies of your test results. You just don't. I don't know the reason.

4) Alternative therapies are not covered by medical insurance. :-(

5) I have not done any meditation or anything like that.

[hitcherqqq]

I finally got my endocrinologist (diabetes doctor) to refer me to a respiratory specialist but the s