Tag Archives: copd

Could Oxygen Be the Solution To Your Extreme Fatigue?

Do You Know Which Heart Disease Symptom Could Kill You?

Have you ever solved a HUGE problem with a really simple solution?

Didn’t you feel silly?

When that HUGE problem results in lost quality family time,

and even the loss of your quality of life …

it’s more than silly it’s tragic.

Let me tell you a story about an aging loved one who was effected by extreme fatigue that was much more serious than her family suspected!

(If this isn’t a concern in your life, skip to the bottom of the post and see how this might be effecting you even if you are young and active!)
[jbox width=”550″ color=”yellow” border=”10″]Yolanda just hated using oxygen.

She had been hospitalized many times but just couldn’t bring herself to use it on a consistent basis.

When I advised Yolanda that her oxygen levels were so low that they were life threatening, she would become very agitated with me.

“Be serious”, she’d say. “I can’t possibly drag that oxygen tank all over town with me!”

Each time I saw her it was the same story, and each time I saw her she had a recent hospitalization or trip to emergency to tell me about.

It was just ongoing. Yolanda had no quality of life, and neither did her family, because they spent so much time making emergency trips to the hospital.

When I saw Yolanda after a particularly lengthy hospitalization, she was looking defeated and depressed. She said if she had to spend her life at the end of a leash, she may as well just lie down and die.

I challenged her on that!

I got her up out of bed, switched her to portable oxygen and carried the tank to her garden. She was protesting, but I wasn’t having it.

It was a beautiful morning, and the cardinals were socializing, so we were in for a treat. The two of us sat there and lost track of time.

We chatted about her flowers and Yolanda told me hilarious stories about her grand-son. (Don’t worry Kai, your secret is safe with me.)

When Yolanda’s daughter showed up, I figured that was the best possible time to bring up the dreaded subject she had been avoiding all day.

“You know Yolanda, you might be able to enjoy more days like today with the people you care about if you just stop shoving your oxygen in the closet pretending you don’t need it.”

Yolanda was a long time smoker and had very low oxygen levels. I had been advising her that she needed to use supplemental oxygen to meet her oxygen needs, or she was going to lose her eye sight, her short-term memory, and her strength.

I just hadn’t been able to say that in front of her daughter. Her daughter was usually at work, and when I told Yolanda, I’m sure she forgot about it.

(After all, low oxygen levels DO cause short-term-memory loss!)

Of course, memory loss or no, Yolanda WANTED to forget about it, because she felt it was an unreasonable, inconvenience, AND it messed up her make-up!

I hugged Yolanda and apologized for telling on her before I left, but she looked too worn out to protest.

Yolanda did manage to stay out of the hospital for long stretches that following year, but living in denial had really taken its toll. Her heart muscle had been significantly weakened while she was starving herself of oxygen.

Her daughter, Kai’s mom, was happy to be able to care for her mother without turning her life upside down.

“I wish she would have taken better care of herself, but I’m really glad to know that there is a simple way to keep her out of the hospital more of the time”, she said.

Then she pointed at her mom, as a parent would a child and said, “you should be ashamed of yourself. If you can’t take care of yourself for you, could you at least do it for us?”

I have to give Yolanda credit. She really did take the message to heart, at long last, and make an effort to take better care of herself. Her daughter bought a pulse oximeter, so that there was no more arguing about whether or not Yolanda needed oxygen.

It made her nose run, so she was forever putting the prongs in her mouth, or pulling it down below her nose, but hey, she worked with it.

If Yolanda had taken the many years of simple advice, she could have saved herself a lot of suffering. Continue reading Could Oxygen Be the Solution To Your Extreme Fatigue?

Are You Mourning the Loss Of Your Loved One Before Their Death?

Death is a part of life.  When someone you love dies, your life  goes on without them.

Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia can effectively take your loved one from you.  Though your lives go on, the person you loved is gone.  They are no longer who they were.  Someone else is living with you.

Grieving for the loss of a loved one that is not dead is a heart wrenching kind of pain.

Do you feel angry and sad? Continue reading Are You Mourning the Loss Of Your Loved One Before Their Death?

Why Is Physical Fitness So Important? Is Exercise About Sweating?

Why Is Physical Fitness So Important?

Do you believe in the no pain, no gain” approach to exercise?

Recently I noticed that a couple of my neighbors have taken to the road in clothing that resembles a garbage bag.  I am assuming that this attire is about causing increased sweating and increased weight loss.

It amazes me that the ladies are so willing to put themselves through such torture in the name of fitness.

Is exercise about sweating?

Is shedding fat and toning muscle all about sweat?

Why is physical fitness so important anyway?

Sedentary Death Syndrome (dying because you don’t move your body) will rob you of your quality of life and kill you prematurely.

When you choose inactivity, you choose to suffer.

Do YOU have to sweat to feel better?

There are three sides to the fitness triangle.  Not all of them involve sweat.

In fact, you can achieve fitness without any significant sweating.

Life is really worth living when you have a spring in your step and a twinkle in your eye!

 

What 3 areas need attention in order to achieve fitness? Continue reading Why Is Physical Fitness So Important? Is Exercise About Sweating?

stiff neck

Stiff Neck?

 

Do you literally have a pain in the neck most of the time?

Are you often tense?

You are in good company.

It seems to be going around.

stiff neck

If you have had head, neck, shoulder, or back pain lately answer the following questions:

  1. Have you had any water to drink today?
  2. Do you get activity regularly?
  3. How much sugar do you eat?
  4. Are you a habitual user of stimulants?
  5. Do you understand how your breathing can make you sick?

Sick of that stiff neck? Continue reading Stiff Neck?

Will Community Resources Make Your Life Happier?

Are you feeling isolated and alone?

Would you like to feel connected to the world outside your door?

It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, building a support system can be challenging.

If you have reached the point of feeling isolated, you need to take quick action to plug yourself in and get the support you need.

Community Resources may be the answer.

Online communities like this one, can offer great resources and contacts that will enrich your life.

The inter-net has the amazing ability to connect you with people all over the world.  There is, however, no substitute for real, flesh and blood, people in your life.

 

 

Surround yourself with people who are living an active lifestyle!

Find someone who is full of life, and you have found a role model.

Find someone wanting to make the changes you want to make and you’ve found an accountability partner!

People who are actively participating in community organizations are positive people taking positive action.

 

Will community resources make your life happier?

The potential is there.  It is up to you.

You definitely can’t make your life better in isolation.

Get out of your comfort zone:

  • Ask about programs at your neighborhood community center.
  • Many churches offer support to the community, even if you are not a member of the church.
  • Volunteer your time in a way that gets you doing what you love.
  • Reach out to like minded individuals and build healthy relationships.
  • Remember, you get what you give.  Smile at everyone you meet.

Join The Life Breath Club and Laugh With Us Every Monday Noon US Pacific.

Join Now

This is a private membership site to protect your medical privacy.

It’s FREE!

 

Many blessings,

 

Carrie Tucker, RCP

The Life Breath Coach

Heart Failure Solutions

 

PS– Remember everyday:

  • Relax and Release tension
  • Exhale Slowly
  • Be active in a way that adds Joy to your life

Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter

If You wheeze do you have asthma

If You Wheeze, Do You Have Asthma?

If You wheeze do you have asthma

Does wheezing mean that you have asthma? 

Good question.

Your doctor will diagnose you with asthma when you have wheezing that reoccurs over an extended period of time.

You just have “reactive airways” when you wheeze with a cold, and it goes away.  When you return to your doctor complaining of ongoing wheezing, you are eventually considered “asthmatic”.

 

Asthma is considered to be a disease that “inflames and narrows the airways”.

 

It is commonly accepted that asthma is not curable, and it lies dormant waiting to flare up at anytime.

The treatment for asthma is a combination of oral and inhaled medication to make your airways less inflamed.

Recently advisers to the FDA recommended that the drugs, salmeterol (Serevent) and formoterol (Foradil), not be used for young children and there is concern for young adults.

They want the drugs used for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but not asthma.

 

These drugs are considered to carry too high a risk for asthma-related complications and death!

These drugs have been used routinely to TREAT asthma and COPD for years.

Now they are saying that they are just too dangerous when used without steroids!

 

Steroids are used to reduce inflammation

Does any of that make sense to you?

Heck, doesn’t make any sense to me, and I have been taking care of asthma patients for well over 20 years.

 

So if you wheeze, DO you have asthma?

Do you have a disease you will have to medicate the rest of your life?

Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t.

 

You certainly DO have the power to reduce inflammation, and you can do it without dangerous drugs!

Less inflammation is always a good thing.

However, there is a bigger issue here that we need to talk about.

 

Wheezing can also be caused by fluid in the lungs.

  1. There are a variety of reasons that you might have fluid in your lungs.
  2. Fluid in your lungs is a cause for major concern. 
  3. The cause of your fluid imbalance should be identified as soon as possible!

Heart Failure is often MIS-diagnosed as asthma!

 

If you are actually dealing with heart failure, low oxygen levels are a huge concern!

Oxygen and other essential nutrients can not be transported where they need to go when you have excess fluid interfering with the process!

Tight wheezy lungs can compound a fluid retention situation quickly for a heart failure patient.

Shortness of breath can become a scarey trip to the hospital, QUICK!

 

Even if you don’t have heart failure, fluid retention robs your health.

The excess fluid you retain over works your heart.

Low oxygen level will cause quick distress to a failing heart.

 

If you are wheezing, you are definitely experiencing inflammation and narrowing of your airways.

Whether you actually have asthma or not, how do you reduce the inflammation in your breathing passages that causes your wheezing?

You just read that the FDA has issued warning about the safety of asthma drugs.  They don’t do that often.  In fact, there are many drugs available today that science is proving to be harmful without any warning being issued to the user.

Your doctor gets to decide if what you are drugging is worse than the side effects of the drug you are about to swallow?

Or do YOU want to decide if you are willing to take the risk of developing deadly side effects?

 

To Reduce Inflammation:

  • Remember that only fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh fruit and vegetable juices become alkaline in your body.  Everything else is acid forming.
  • Sip water all day.
  • Avoid prepared fruit juice and soda.  (If you drink your fruit you are better off using a blender than a juicer.)
  • Eat nuts raw, not roasted.

 

  • Sit for a few minutes in quiet stillness daily.
  • Keep your meat and dairy consumption to a minimum.
  • Focus on slow exhale all day.  (Lift your chin and explore your slow exhale followed by a short pause if you can.)
  • Get plenty of sustained activity.
  • Choose peace and happiness.

If you reduce inflammation, you will reduce the incidence and severity of your wheezing and shortness of breath.

Your joint pain will diminish.

You will sleep better.

Your mental irritability will decrease, and your attitude will improve.

If you wheeze, do you have asthma?

Reduce your inflammation and find out if your wheezing goes away.

Need Help?

Join the Life Breath Club

 

Many blessings,

Carrie Tucker, RCP

The Life Breath Coach

Heart Failure Solutions

 

PS-  If you have severe swelling at your ankles, and you have just been diagnosed with asthma, get a second opinion!

PPS– Remember everyday:

  • Relax and Release tension

  • Exhale Slowly

  • Be active in a way that adds joy to your life

Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter.

 

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