Bronchitis - Hard to breathe laying down

January 21, 2008

Hi Everyone ~~~~

I have managed to come down with something - virus or bacteria -

that amazingly started in my chest and moved upward to throat, mouth,

and nasal passages. This is the opposite of the usual pattern which is

head first and then to lungs. The head part isn't so bad (not pleasant

but can deal with it) but the chest part is tough! I feel almost like

I'm going to suffocate when I lay down and can hear my lungs squeaking

away like letting air out of a balloon slowly for the fun of it!

On Fri. eve. I started an antibiotic which is good for me but my

albuterol for nebulizer (haven't used it in maybe 1-1/2 years) is a

couple years out of date as is the albuterol for the hand held inhaler.

My doc told me that if I have an emergency to go to the emergency room

but I wonder if I'm making too big a deal out of it. I noticed that a

big meal makes matters worse.

I've been on Xolair since March of 2007 and have noticed

improvement but now ... whew! Lungs are a wreck! Is there anything

else that can be done when I lay down to sleep? Does oxygen help any ?

(not that I have any). It's not my throat that's the big problem so a

pcap machine wouldn't help - I need something for my lungs which are

irritated and inflammed and have green mucous. My rib muscles are

getting sore from all the coughing. Wish I could relax but still

breathe. I'm taking Tranxene and was taking Allegra but think that

antihistamines can actually make lungs worse - at least in me.

The doc called in new albuterol so I'm hoping that up-to-date med

will help. I guess it's obvious that the Xolair was helping as I

haven't been buying Albuterol for a long time!

Hope all of you are breathing well during this winter-time bug

season!

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