u/anon-honeybee

Hi, idk if this kind of post is allowed here but I’d like some insight/comfort?/etc. from people who are asthmatic and/or use inhalers regularly.

I recently began having some unusual breathing symptoms including shortness of breath, mild chest congestion, easily getting winded, discomfort in chest when breathing, difficulty breathing when lying down, sleep disturbances, bloody nose, etc. and for the record, no one in my family has history of asthma or breathing issues. I have never experienced these symptoms before now.

I went to a doctor and, to my dismay, was completely asymptomatic at the visit so he couldn’t detect anything abnormal about my breathing. But he did prescribe me an inhaler to use if symptoms come back as sort of a diagnostic tool; he said if it’s some kind of asthma then the inhaler should work and we can look into that diagnosis. But if the inhaler doesn’t really work then we can pursue other diagnoses.

Since then I’ve only really had symptoms at night and in the morning after waking up. I haven’t had a decent uninterrupted 8-hour sleep in days. I’m not coughing myself awake, I’m just… uncomfortable? Anyways the plan tonight is to use my inhaler before bed to see if it helps with overnight symptoms.

But I’ve never used an albuterol inhaler before, and I’m nervous. It feels weird to take one before I’m feeling anything. I read that it’s a stimulant and might keep me awake, so I should take it 1 hour before bed.

Idk, does anyone have any advice for me? I don’t know what’s going on with my lungs or what to think about this whole situation. And I’m nervous to take a new med I’ve never tried before, especially an inhaled one.

It’s difficult when the health anxiety evolves beyond concern for the self and begins to fear the well-being of others.

I find myself experiencing a batch of new and confusing symptoms. Maybe I see a doctor, maybe I don’t, but either way, there’s not enough information yet to know for sure what’s ailing me. And so my mind wanders… inevitably to fixate on one particular question: what if it’s contagious?

Obviously I can’t put my entire life on hold until I find out. I have a job to clock in for, errands to run, social obligations to fulfill. But what if the diagnosis just happens to be one that can spread and infect all these people I care about?

This hypothetical situation leads to a spiral of guilt. Am I being irresponsible? Should I have sought answers sooner? Is it selfish to continue living as normal while the jury‘s still out on my diagnosis?

I dunno. I just felt like making a post that represented a different side of the health anxiety spectrum. Not anxiety for one’s own well-being, but for that of our colleagues and loved ones, and the ethical implications surrounding our personal choices. Even though it‘s all just hypothetical.

In the end I guess it all comes back to the same thing: learning to have peace in uncertainty.

What a corny way to end a post, lol.