Oh, Jo, I wish I could help. This has been weather like none
anywhere as far as I can tell. Feel better fast.

Joan

Are you here in Oklahoma???lol.. Where you live sounds like Oklahoma. Will
Rogers said it best, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, stick
around a while and it will change." lol.. Your post made me think of this
famous line.
I know what you are talking about.. I wished the darn weather would make up
its mind. Raining one day windy the next.. kind of like a wash and blow dry
for the earth.

Summer is right around the corner ..just think of warmer days with clearer
air. The trees will soon stop pollinating.
Think of the warm sun warming those sore joints.. I just love that, and that
warm air feel good on your lungs too.

Now the prednisone cramps..those things really hurt and makes you feel like
you have the flu. I take my anti immflammatory meds and eat a BIG bowl of
ice cream and watch TV. That's my way of coping with the prednisone side
effects. I would get LOTS of movies and watch them since you are having
trouble concentrating with books.

Bronchitis is really a pain in the you know where. With you having asthma it
makes it worse and is so much harder for you to get over.  You know
that..duh...sorry I just get my maternal nurturing instincts kicking in
..have to help.

Keep posting and tell us how you are doing.. oh and watch AMC on soapnet...
I know you like to keep up with that show..even though its getting kind of
boring.

(((((((((((((((((((Lots of gentle hugs))))))))))))))))

Sounds like you need more than modern science right now.
Perhaps a shaman or rain dancer ?
Waiting (and hoping) for your medication to start bringing relief is
one of the most frustrating and aggravating activities we know.

You're sort of left without a life until something positive happens.

Hope by now some of your drugs are earning their keep, and that you
can get some rest at least.

Dorothy

Jo, I pray alll those things you mentioned will happen so you can feel good
instead of miserable.  Does holding a pillow over your rib cage to cough
help any?
Gwen

I've been struggling since Easter with breathing problems.  First a cold
that didn't want to get bad but didn't want to leave either.  Then spring
allergies.  Again not that bad.  But the wind won't stop for more than a
day or two.  And it hasn't rained since Easter and before.  And the
temperature keeps going up and down like crazy.  We've had a very warm
spring, but then had a freak frost Sunday  morning that wiped out about 80%
of the peach crop.

Anyway, my asthma started playing up.  I started prednisone, but then had
to up the dose.  Finally early Saturday I had a full blown asthma attack.
And a full blown case of bronchitis.  And maybe pneumonia.  (Waiting on
x-ray
result)  My Sunday night MTX shot helped with the asthma but probably not
with the bronchitis.  I'm getting muscle cramps, probably from the
prednisone.  And my rib cage hurts like heck.  Especially if I try to
cough.  I really need to cough, but it hurts and starts all sorts of other
spasms.

So I got in to the doctor late yesterday and am on a boat load of meds.  A
few of you know the feeling.  Wired for sound but no energy and any
exertion makes me wheeze anyway.

So I'm on and off the computer.  Trying to watch TV and can't stay still.
Can't concentrate on a book.  The usual.

I need the meds to kick in, or to calm down, or for the wind to stop. Or
for the rain to wash the air clean.  Take your pick.

Jo

Damn Jo, it is the med and weather merry go round and hard as heck to get
off.  Who ever thought those things were fun - all they do is make you
dizzy, tired and sick to your stomache.

If you weren't on all those meds I would suggest hot rum in great
quantities, good novels, a trip out of town to somewhere with incredible
weather that is stable (huh - what did I say - where would that be???  We
had hail, snow and sleet in Oregon on the weekend and came back to it in
Cowichan too - what is with this.).

time for the wishing game - if you could go anywhere, be anyone and be
healthy where would you go and what would you do??  If only those fairy
godmothers or godfathers would listen.

Gentle hugs, lots of empathy but as you can see my ideas are not worth much.
Nothing that can help.  If that is muscle weakness and not  just cramping
though make sure they test your potassium levels with that darn prednisone
jump.

Kelly in BC

Hang in there. I'm fighting the allergies as well. It's hard to breathe.
Sigh. We love you and you are in our prayers.

DeeTee

I'll say a prayer for all of the above :)  Take care of yourself.

BIG HUGS,
Carole

So sorry, Jo.  Sounds like a real bummer of a deal!  Hoping you soon get
some rain to wash some of those allergins away.  Nanny

Here's hoping the meds kick in soon so you can kick back and relax. Also
that the weather cooperates.

(((((((Jo)))))))

Nell

I've been struggling since Easter with breathing problems.  First a cold
that didn't want to get bad but didn't want to leave either.  Then spring
allergies.  Again not that bad.  But the wind won't stop for more than a
day or two.  And it hasn't rained since Easter and before.  And the
temperature keeps going up and down like crazy.  We've had a very warm
spring, but then had a freak frost Sunday  morning that wiped out about 80%
of the peach crop.

Anyway, my asthma started playing up.  I started prednisone, but then had
to up the dose.  Finally early Saturday I had a full blown asthma attack.
And a full blown case of bronchitis.  And maybe pneumonia.  (Waiting on
x-ray
result)  My Sunday night MTX shot helped with the asthma but probably not
with the bronchitis.  I'm getting muscle cramps, probably from the
prednisone.  And my rib cage hurts like heck.  Especially if I try to
cough.  I really need to cough, but it hurts and starts all sorts of other
spasms.

So I got in to the doctor late yesterday and am on a boat load of meds.  A
few of you know the feeling.  Wired for sound but no energy and any
exertion makes me wheeze anyway.

So I'm on and off the computer.  Trying to watch TV and can't stay still.
Can't concentrate on a book.  The usual.

I need the meds to kick in, or to calm down, or for the wind to stop. Or
for the rain to wash the air clean.  Take your pick.

Jo

((((((((((((((((((((((((jo)))))))))))))))))))))   as my friend/neighbor once
said, "even a car needs air to function."

i so wish i could give you a real hug, to just gently hold you and help you
focus on breathing comfortably while we wait together for your meds to kick
in.  (asthma seems to create a vicious cycle--the awareness of lack of air,
the physical struggle for breath, the anxiety and panicky feelings about not
getting enough air, which loops back on itself over and over again.  such a
difficult loop of the physical and emotional to deal with, while waiting for
meds to work.)

i hope your meds have kicked in and breathing has improved and normalized
for you by now, jo.  that you are breathing easier, feeling relaxed and
comfortable.

kate

(((((((((((((((((((Jo))))))))))))))))  I'm sending you thoughts of a
hermetically-sealed, climate controlled house to let you breathe easily
again.  I've dealt with allergies most of my life, but boy howdy am I glad
not to have asthma.  Feel better soon.

Oh Jo, I am sorry to hear this. I know how it goes and I don't wish anyone
and especially not  you to have to deal with this.

I think it is the flu/virus doing the muscle cramping, I had that too with
it. I feel for you with the chest stuff.

I hope we soon get some rain or something that will help clear up the pollen
count and such too. For the sake of us all.

You take care and keep us posted to how you are doing.