There are so many things that can bring on an asthma attack making it hard to breath. Some examples are:

• Perfume
• Smoke
• Dust
• Weeds
• Pollen
• Foods
• Pets
• Exercise
• Cool, damp air

People with asthma can go from feeling fine to struggling for breath in just a few minutes.

The same thing can happen to some people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema or chronic bronchitis). Not all people with COPD have an asthma-like component, but some do.

There are medications that can help PREVENT these sudden attacks.   There are also medications that can reopen the airways to TREAT these attacks.

The medications used most often are given by inhalers. This allows the medication to go to the lungs where it is needed without having such a big impact on the rest of the body. This cuts down on side effects.

If you are prescribed inhalers, it is important to take them regularly and as prescribed, especially the ones taken one to times per day.   They are intended to PREVENT these attacks. They will not be helpful if only taken once in awhile during attacks. They need to be taken every single day.

The ones you take as needed should be taken with careful technique. They won’t work if they aren’t used properly. This is harder than it sounds. Be sure your doctor or your pharmacist has shown you step by step how to use your inhalers. Then, show them how you use them to be sure your technique is correct.

One more thing, be sure to always rinse out your mouth and spit out the water after using a steroid inhaler. These inhalers are very effective at preventing attacks, but they can also make it easy to get an infection in your mouth that is painful. Rinsing your mouth after EACH use cuts way down on the risk of this mouth infection.

Inhalers save lives. But they must be taken at the right times and with the right technique.

For more information, contact us at www.medsmash.com.

BIBLICAL APPLICATION

Not only are there triggers for asthma attacks, we often have triggers that get us off track on our day and in our spiritual walk. These can be things that distract us, things that confuse us, and often things that make us angry.

What are those topics that you feel so strongly about you just have to chime in to conversations about them? Maybe you can ignore some things and let them slide on by. But, what are the things that you just have to participate in the discussion?

What are the things that make you really angry? What are your hot button triggers that send you into a rage?

We all have them. It’s the way we are ‘wired’. Just as there are medications that can prevent the sudden reaction to asthma triggers, there are steps we can take to reduce our reaction to our life triggers.

First, throughout the Bible we are reminded that anger should be contained.

Ephesians 4:26-27

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

James 1:19-20 ESV

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Proverbs 29:11 ESV

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

Proverbs 19:11 ESV

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:18 ESV

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

There are at least 60 verses in the Bible dealing with anger management. James sums up the instruction well:

James 4:1-2 NIV

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

Take time to consider and identify your triggers. Again, we all have them. Then, take them to God to help you avoid them or handle them with grace rather than anger.

Blessings,

Michelle

Image credit: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services