How long?

Dear Zoegirl: Sorry to hear about your attack. If the attack was severe, it will take time for the airways to rid itself of the imflammation that occurs during an attack. It leaves you feeling weak because of the struggle your body goes through to breathe during an attack. When someone has an asthma attack, the faster they breathe, the more air trapping occurs in the lungs. Your body takes in a certain amount of air but it can only expel less than taken in, therefore, resulting in air trapping. There are exercises you can do to rid the lungs of excess air (the body uses the part of the air that it needs and the remaining simply takes up space & limits more air from entering the lungs). You can find this exercise through the ALA or call your local hospital and ask for the Respiratory Dept ... someone should be kind enough to show you or explain how you can get this info. I teach this to all my asthma pts (I'm a resp therapist), but it is difficult to explain it in a way you would be able to accurately use it. Breathing exercises are GREAT for conditioning the lungs.

Hope this has helped & Good luck!

This info in meant for educational purposes only & not as medical advise.

Hi zoegirl! Cheer up! Try to be as positive as possible, this will keep depression at bay so that you don't fuel anxiety and stay on a downer cycle! Take small steps as reasons to celebrate the road back to full activity, plan out your day on paper and try to accomplish as much as within reason you can, involve your 2 year old, (dust the coffee table, bring you a book, hand you your slippers, get the hair brush) so she feels helpfull and it really does help you too! I was in bed for 2 weeks after one attack, and taking all the steroids had me so anxious and when I was able to get back with my activities (work, kids, horses etc.) I was very weak too! I really had to discipline myself because you will be weak and short of breath, so then you get discouraged! Not to mention the weight gain :( all adds to a depressing state of mind--- shrug it off and get determined! Everyday I jogged with my inhaler in hand, (you tend to get scared to be without it after a bad bout) I increased from walking 2 houses away to 4 to more and more untill I could jog a mile. I was not a walker or jogger before, but I knew I needed to build strength and the only way is to work the muscles and lungs and build them up, if you sit around you will actually "decondition" to a worse state. So know you are not alone and that you can find ways to improve your life! You will get happy from meeting goals and it will fuel your determination! Good luck!