English
As Erica Rimlinger tells it
I was 19 when my asthma symptoms first appeared, but I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought I just had a bad cold that wouldn’t go away. I had a cough that prevented me from laughing during the day and sleeping at night. I felt chest tightness, had difficulty breathing, and was panting.
I was healthy growing up, but my father and brother had asthma. When we were kids, it didn’t scare us because we didn’t know how dangerous asthma could be. As an adult, I knew what was going on and panicked because I couldn’t breathe. I went to the emergency room several times a year and was hospitalized at least once a year for these symptoms. Each time I was prescribed a corticosteroid called prednisone. I took it and thought it was wonderful. It allowed me to breathe. I would take it for a while and then stop as instructed.
The problem was that my symptoms didn’t go away for a long time. I found an allergist, but he also prescribed me prednisone. I’ve tried at least half a dozen inhalers and all the new treatments they recommend. She was willing to try anything that might be useful. Sometimes the medication relieved my symptoms for a short time, but I always ended up taking prednisone, which was only supposed to be used short-term. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would use prednisone almost continuously for almost 20 years.
Prednisone has many side effects and I have experienced several of them. I was constantly hungry, I gained weight, I was emotionally unstable, I became nervous, and there were many nights where I couldn’t sleep. And I was also scared because I knew that my medication wasn’t really controlling my disorder.
I knew my asthma could flare up again at any time, and it did. I love to laugh and was afraid to laugh too much because I might cough and have another asthma attack. I’m proud to be Puerto Rican and I love salsa, but I couldn’t dance it. I was just really worried about the asthma.
I even hated walking. I run a residency program and part of my job is giving new doctors tours of the hospital. I’m very sociable, but I was afraid to walk and talk. Since we are both asthmatics, I began to have a good relationship with a doctor at my workplace. She told me that she always knew when my asthma was severe by my voice and my energy.
Dennisse and her husband Simon
During one of my hospital stays, I met a well-known asthma specialist who worked at the hospital. I asked him if I could be his patient. This was the best relationship I have ever had with a doctor. He really listened to me.
We tried several new treatments. I was patient: I waited three to six months for the medication to take effect. My asthma specialist, with whom I consulted much more often than my primary care physician, was a doctor who trusted my experience and listened to me when I told him a medication wasn’t working. He never doubted what I told him or tried to convince me that it would work.
Some medications only worked for a short time but wore off after a few months, so I ended up taking higher doses of prednisone and was frustrated that nothing was working for me. Once, after a huge disappointment over a medication that didn’t work, I even asked if I could have a lung transplant.
Then, about seven years ago, I saw one of those commercials that asked you to “talk to your doctor” about a new drug that was given by injection. The next week I was in my specialist’s office, wheezing and coughing, asking if I could try it. I had to have blood tests done to see if I could tolerate it and when it turned out that yes, I got approval from the insurance company.
After the first two injections I knew it was working. I knew this because I could talk without coughing and walk without wheezing, and because I was gradually weaning myself off prednisone. After about five months, I felt better than I had in years. I didn’t want to get too excited. I had been using prednisone for so long that the mere thought of stopping using it was like a dream.
Even after seven years with the new medication, I am still symptom-free and enjoying my life to the fullest. I have stopped using prednisone since then.
I’m older now, but I feel like I did when I was younger. Now I’m dancing salsa again and I’m no longer afraid to go out, even without an inhaler. I enjoy walking and talking at work. I have a lot of happy family and friends and can now laugh without restrictions for fear of an asthma attack.
Asthma is a scary thing, I have uncles who have died from asthma attacks in recent years, but I know that having hope can also be scary sometimes. I want other women to know what happened to me so they aren’t afraid to hope that asthma treatment will work for them. I am living proof that people, even with severe asthma, can live a life free of pain and fear and can dance like they haven’t in years.
This educational resource was created with support from Sanofi and Regeneron.
Are you a woman with real stories you would like to share? Let us know.
Our stories are authentic experiences of real women. The views, opinions and experiences expressed in these stories are not endorsed by HealthyWomen and do not necessarily reflect HealthyWomen’s official policies or positions.
From your website articles
Related articles on the Internet