I have had an inhaler of some kind in my back pocket since I was a small child, having been diagnosed with asthma around age 5. If I find myself somewhere without it, panic ensues. (Ironically, the panic makes the breathing even harder.)
In 2022 at the urging of a new primary care physician, I went for a lung function test prior to seeing an allergy specialist. She required me to do these things before she was willing to continue my inhaler Rx.
Shortly thereafter I was diagnosed with COPD/Asthma Overlap Syndrome. To make a long story short, she theorized that a lifelong overuse of Albuterol for Asthma had worsened my lungs instead of assisting them.
I began a new inhaler that’s specific to COPD instead of asthma, and miraculously, I stopped relying so heavily on the asthma inhaler. In fact, I hardly used it all anymore. I stopped checking my purse or pockets before I left the house, or making sure there was a spare in whichever vehicle we were in, or in my office drawer.
Unfortunately I was still dosing myself with it before I began a workout or left for a walk. When I asked my Allergist about this, she said “You need to stop doing that, it’s not helping you”. Of course I had to test her. The next time I went for a walk on a chilly morning, I brought the Albuterol and took 2 puffs when I began to experience breathing challenges.
Nothing happened. That was the last time I took my inhaler on a walk with me. Instead, I focus on my breathing from the very first step. I remind myself that the inhaler isn’t going to help, my lungs just need time to adjust.
Walking is harder for this reason, I have to pace myself, I have to focus and sometimes I have to stop a few times…but I haven’t stopped walking!
The old Marie would have stopped walking. I would have stepped into victim mode. I would have churned out excuses about how I can’t be healthy or fit because I have a challenged respiratory system.
Asthma has always been my crutch and my excuse to sit out of gym class. It’s been my excuse for a lot of things.
I’ve traded in the crutch for a good old fashioned dose of discomfort, and I’m still alive.
In November I began walking and strength training regularly. After a year of being basically sedentary and depressed while moving through hurricane recovery, it was time to put my health first again. Two months in, I have officially broken up with the pre-dose of Albuterol, and I think my fitness will be the better for it.
All of this to say that when we work through discomfort we grow. We expand. We realize that we can do more than we give ourselves credit for, and that discomfort isn’t going to kill us.
We often hear people say, “I don’t know how you can do that” or “I could never survive that”. I challenge you instead to imagine that not only COULD you have that experience, but you could rise above and emerge stronger than before.