Annual Flu Injection!

Image via WikipediaEveryone who has a long term condition like Pulmonary hypertension, COPD etc should have the annual flu injection.For normal healthy people flu can be nasty and make you feel really unwell but for those with long term health problems it can be far more serious.It can put you in hospital or worse. It is wise to bear in mind that thousands die each year because of the flu and many of them are people with long term health problems.
This year for the first time a vaccine for swine flu will be in the injection with two other flu virus`s. I have heard a lot of people say that they were considering not having the injection because of this because they were frightened of the fact that the injection contains swine flu.Don`t think twice about having it and there is nothing to be concerned about at all.The only reactions to the injection I have heard about is a slight sore arm for a couple of days and mild flu like symptoms for forty eight hours. Considering the risks you are taking not having it this is a small price to pay!
My advice as someone who has had the injection is get it now there is nothing to worry about!

Related articles

• Get Your Flu Vaccine: Stay Healthy This Flu Season! (nlm.nih.gov)
• Pregnant women added to flu jab list (guardian.co.uk)
• Adults 50 and over urged to get flu shots (theprovince.com)

Medical Research Studies.

Yesterday I read about a study into steroid inhalers which said that when you use them regularly you run the risk of increasing your chance of getting cancer by twenty to thirty per cent.At the bottom of the article it said that this study was done with a very small sample of patients and needed much more research before any conclussion could be made from the findings.
Several months ago I read of another study about another type of inhaler that said that could give you a increased chance of having an heart attack or stroke and that again said that the study was done with a small sample of patients and needed much more research.In fact a far larger study was released soon after which actually showed that these findings were totally wrong.
These sort of findings frighten people and could lead to people stopping taking medication that is vital to them and therefore could mean there conditions becoming worse. I understand there is a vital need for continous research into the medications we use but I think the researchers should not release there findings until sufficient research as been done to give conclussive findings one way or another about medications.To do otherwise is totally irresponsible.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Asthma inhalers 'linked to prostate cancer risk' (telegraph.co.uk)

Please Listen!

I am seriously ill with a number of things wrong with me that could kill me at anytime but I don`t look ill in fact at times I look quite well even when I am feeling awful which is basically most of the time.
It often drives me mad when people give advice about what you should be doing which usually involves lots of energy you haven`t got when they know you don`t feel well and the slightest excertion makes you exhausted.I even had someone tell me I should take up weight training! I have enough trouble carrying my own weight about let alone any extra!
Doctors are often the same. You can tell them how bad you have been feeling and all the different distressing symptoms you have been getting and you get no where as they just don`t seem to be listening.I told one doctor I was having chest pain and the next minute he was suggesting that I go on the exercise bike so they could see how far I could walk before I basically collapsed!!
So my plea to anyone who comes into contact with someone who has a serious illness please listen to them and try to understand how they feel and what they are going through.

Side Effects!

Image via Wikipedia

When you have Pulmonary Hypertension or any of the other long term condition that tends to go with it you tend to take a lot of medications.These medications often tend to have side effects.For example I take steroid inhalers that give me severe cramp and a Fusomeide tablet for the problems with fluid retention and this can make you itch and also give you gout as shown in the image!
Whenever I am having a moan about the medication when I get one of the side effects I always stop and try to remember the benefits these drugs give you. They make you feel less tired, help your breathing and help to stop the problems with your heart and lungs from getting worse.
Always remember the benefits of the drugs far outweigh the problems you get from taking them.

Depression!

Image via Wikipedia

Depression is common among people with long term health conditions.Its only natural when you feel unwell most of the time, you can`t do what you want to do and a lot of the time you are isolated because you can`t get out and about too much anymore.
How do you overcome it? I get depressed often and I have found that its best to keep yourself occupied. I read, go on the internet, watch television.You need things to stop yourself thinking about your illness, the new hospital or doctors appointment and worrying about the future. I also feel its important to get in touch with people who have the same conditions as yourself. Its often easy to think your the only one that has no energy, is finding it tough to breath etc which does make you feel isolated but once you get in touch with others you feel less alone and also they are a source of advice, encouragement and friendship which helps a lot.I also think its important not to look ahead to much. Just take one day at a time and  try to enjoy the here and now as best you can.
Above all never feel its wrong to feel depressed, its natural and you wouldn`t be normal if you didn`t feel down sometimes.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Anxiety and Depression (alpup.blogspot.com)
• 2 strategies to conquer depression (slideshare.net)

COPD.

Image via Wikipedia

One of the reasons I have Pulmonary Hypertension is because I have COPD which is basically severe lung disease namely Empathysema.Most people who have COPD are either smokers or ex-smokers in fact as high as ninety per cent but I am neither.The doctors don`t really understand why I have COPD being a non smoker but I think a lot of it is probably to do with the environment I grew up in.I lived very close to a chemical works and a coal powered power station as a child near to one of the busiest roads in the country.You would often sit in our garden and see smoke bellowing out of the chimneys of the power station and chemical works.I think it all really had an effect on my lungs and caused my present problems.
I believe we must do much more to make the air we breath cleaner and healthier. We need to cut back on car use, invest in public transport, make more of our town centres car free, punish companies that pollute, invest in better cleaner ways of producing energy and powering our cars.
We are clearly not doing enough at present. In London they have exceeded there pollution limit for the year in just six months which is outrageous.We need to do more for our children`s sake, for the generations to come so they can breath fresh clean air and do not end up struggling to breath like many of us do now.

Becoming Disabled!

When I become ill I become disabled as I can now not walk far and every day tasks are either hard or impossible. I am on oxygen for most of the day and my life is built around inhalers, drugs and visits to the hospital or doctors.
This is a dramatic lifestyle change and how do you cope with it.Firstly you should never be ashamed or afraid to say that you are disabled.This is what you are and none of us should be ashamed of what we are. Secondly you should not feel guilt about not doing things if you don`t feel good or you simply cannot manage it.You have to realise that now is the time to put yourself and your health first as if you don`t those around you who you love and who you have always put first will not have you around for much longer.