Hi, my name is Lauren. I’m 23 years old and I’ve lived in Annapolis, Maryland for most of my life. When I was five, I had my first asthma attack. It led to a short stint in the hospital that I remember more for the donuts and soda I indulged in rather than the breathing troubles.
For most of my childhood, I had asthma. It didn’t mean much except for the occasional use of my inhaler after running or when my allergies were acting up. By the time I reached high school my symptoms were totally gone. I told people that I “used to” have asthma. I played tournament softball and went on long runs with not a single wheeze to speak of.
When I went to college for the first time, my health took a dramatic turn for the worse. I could no longer say I “used to” have asthma, and the symptoms began to rule my life. Over the course of two years, my asthma got progressively worse. Eventually, I could no longer sleep through the night without using my inhaler. It became normal for me to wake up 2-3 times a night for a puff or two (at this point I was using well above the prescribed dose of albuterol).
Even though I was generally a very fit person who would go to the gym daily, I could barely walk 10 minutes to my classes without being doubled over and puffing my inhaler for relief that would barely come. My college was huge, and my schedule necessitated walking at least 3 miles a day. It got to the point where I would skip classes to avoid the respiratory distress that the trip would cause me. I could barely laugh with friends or sneeze without my breathing falling apart. The severity of my symptoms so affected my life that I started looking to Prednisone as a quick fix when things got really bad. So, I entered a desperate cycle of medicating myself with Prednisone, getting better, getting a lot worse, and then returning to Prednisone.
Today, I know how harsh these pills can be on your body and the mistake I made by using them so frequently; however, at the time a round of oral steroids was the only opportunity I ever had for relief from my unrelenting asthma. I continued with my new normal of wheezing all of the time, sleeping very little, and limiting my activities until I was hospitalized in June 2018.
That morning, I woke up having extraordinary trouble breathing. It wasn’t unlike symptoms that I had just waited to go away in the past, though, so I was dismissive. However, my boyfriend convinced me to go the hospital in the end. They told me I should have come in much sooner and I was probably on a continuous nebulizer for two days. This hospitalization was the wake-up call I needed to start a sustainable treatment plan to understand and eventually manage my asthma.
The doctors there told me that what had become my normal threshold of asthmatic symptoms was not normal at all, and basically they told me that I did not have to live like this. After blood testing, I was diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma, indicated by levels of eosinophils in my blood nearly eight times higher than normal. Working with my pulmonary doctor and allergist, we found several treatments that worked for me.
First, I started a routine of daily maintenance medicines to help my asthma. Specifically, taking Symbicort has changed my life for the better. Next, we needed to decrease my eosinophil levels both to help my asthma and to prevent any long-term damage from such high levels of inflammation. For this, I was prescribed Fasenra. Fasenra successfully lowered my eosinophil levels from 44% to 0%, taking many of my terrible symptoms away with it. For a time, I was much better. Unfortunately, the Fasenra did not work for me as it should have, and I developed chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis that led to nasal surgery in December after months of being incapable of breathing through my nose. Luckily, the surgery worked wonders.
I have recently switched to Dupixent, which is meant to lower my eosinophils and is FDA approved to treat my nasal issues. After five years of struggling with various asthma-related health issues, I feel that the stars have finally aligned! I am happy and healthy. Now that my health has improved, I feel that I have nothing holding me back.
I encourage anyone reading this to seek help from licensed professionals if you’re struggling. Be real with yourself and willing to accept when a health issue has gotten out of your control. Also, be open to trying multiple options for treatment. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Eventually, you’ll find the treatment that works best for you!
