trip induced breathing problems

Dallas’ first overseas trip – and first time on a plane – was with her friend Claudette and her French parents, traveling home for a holiday, and it was marred from day one by breathing problems, something she had never experienced before.

"I didn't like being on a plane - it was the worst part of the trip," shudders Dallas. "I felt like I was suffocating, but I didn't dare say anything or use the oxygen mask because I didn't want to appear an idiot."

"I'd never had this sort of trouble before - no hay fever, no asthma, no breathing difficulties," says Dallas, "and I tried my best to ignore the symptoms because I didn't want to spoil the trip."

"Just about the best part of the trip – something that I really enjoyed – was participating in a flower festival because we don't have things like that back home," says Dallas. "But just as well we don’t have crazy flower throwing back home because I'd be ill all the time!"

"That night, after spending all day throwing flowers around, I had real trouble breathing and Claudette's parents said it must be the flowers – and got me some hay fever medication at the markets – but my chest still felt tight like a drum."

"Now that I’m home, my asthma is controllable and I’m trying to accept what my doctor told me – that it’s more psychological than physical," says Dallas, "but I won't be flying or going anywhere near flowers again."

Read more about Dallas:

Paris, full of foreigners!

a sensible taurus girl

my french friend

asthma on the rise?

Henny, 27, works in marketing and knows all the dirty tricks that are used to sell products and ideas, and she is very concerned about the alarming incidence of asthma in young people she knows and believes the government is failing in its health messages to young people who really need good advice before they start experimenting with drugs (which they all will).

"I think that far too many babies are being born prematurely these days without much thought being given to the development of their lungs," says Henny. "No wonder asthma is on the rise, and that being the case the government should warn asthmatics, specifically, not to try smoking.”

"Can you believe that I know several asthmatics who smoke?" sighs Henny. "They swear that they didn't have asthma before they smoked but I don't believe them."

"They must have shown signs of lung weakness in their childhoods -- lots of coughs and colds, that sort of thing -- and knowing this they shouldn't have started smoking at all, but since tobacco has been targeted by the government as the most forbidden drug, worse than heroin, it’s going to appeal to rebellious teenagers, isn’t it?”

"I appreciate that peer pressure causes a lot of young people to start smoking or drinking or generally taking drugs or indulging in risky behavior," says Henny, ''but surely someone with pre-existing asthma or chest disease --- or a family history of chest or heart disease -- would have more sense than to risk their lives with smoking."

"My sister tried smoking about the same time I did but it just wasn't for her," explains Henny. "She was coughing and spluttering so much with her first cigarette that she never smoked again. She had no medical complaint -- she just didn't take well to her first cigarette -- and that's also a very smart reason to quit trying to smoke."

"Why do people persevere with smoking when it made them sick to start off with?" asks Henny. "What right do they have in later life to blame tobacco for their ills? They have only themselves to blame and should grow up, get smart, and admit it."

"As for me, well, my first cigarette was very pleasant and it's been that way for ten years now and my heath is perfect," says Henny. "I've never had a cold or a cough in my life and I can run faster than I did when I was a teenager so my lungs must be in very good shape."

"I get very angry when I'm with smokers who are forever coughing or wheezing or looking ill," says Henny. "They just give smoking a bad rap and make life difficult for those of us who have no ill effects from smoking."

"Can't they see that they shouldn't be smoking, that it's not for them?"

"Can you believe that I know several asthmatics who smoke?" sighs Henny. "They swear that they didn't have asthma before they smoked but I don't believe them. They must have shown signs of lung weakness in their childhoods -- lots of coughs and colds, that sort of thing -- and knowing this they shouldn't have started smoking at all."

"It's as silly as someone with a known allergy insisting on eating or using the substance they are allergic to, isn't it?" asks Henny. "If something you like doing -- like smoking -- is causing you trouble then you should give it up immediately and take up some other drug. God knows there are hundreds of them and every one of them is now more socially acceptable than smoking thanks to sick smokers who've quit, or refuse to quit, and give smoking a bad rap."

"I believe smoking became unacceptable because far too many people with medical problems, or tendencies for them, took up smoking and worsened a health problem that was already there," explains Henny. "I think, too, that far too many babies are being born prematurely these days without much thought being given to the development of their lungs. No wonder asthma is on the rise."

"I used to be cool and rolled my own cigarettes from pure tobacco," says Henny, "but my life got too busy and I had to start smoking ready-made cigarettes with all the poisons that go into them. I don'tlike these cigarettes as much as my rollies, but at least I minimize the harm they may do me by using a tar-filter."

"If I ever developed a cough or felt unwell I would quit smoking immediately," confides Henny. "I am far too intelligent to carry on doing something that is harming me."

"Until then, I am adamant that smoking does more to enhance my life experience than anything else,"says Henny, "and this is how it is for the majority of smokers I know who are happier and healthier than the general population and genuinely nice people to know, too."

"The minority of smokers who are miserable, unwell or not nice people to know -- because of mental illness or criminal tendencies -- are, unfortunately, the ones that the media puts forward to represent all smokers," sighs Henny. "It is incredibly biased, and don't get me started about those awful anti-smoking advertisements. The one I hate most is the 'rotting teeth' and although it is not funny that our government would abuse smokers in this way, it is absolutely ridiculous that they picked up some alcoholic bum who had never seen a dentist in his life and used his mouth to depict what every smoker's mouth looks like -- or will end up looking like."

"How stupid does the government think its citizens are?" sighs Henny. "Anyone, smoker or not, would end up with a mouth full of rotten teeth if they never cleaned them or saw a dentist."

"I work in marketing myself and I know the dirty tricks that are used to sell products and ideas," confides Henny. "If the government was more concerned about our health and less about vilifying smokers, it might have used positive advertisements to get its message across to the young people who really need good advice before they start experimenting with drugs."

"Such as? Well, informing them that smoking is not for everyone and that if you have any chest complaint or family history of heart or lung disease you should not try it."

"Actually, I don't think the government should be poking its nose into our lifestyles but if it insists on doing so it should be fair and evenhanded," says Henny. "Some governments are so concerned about the spread of disease that they hand out free condoms to prostitutes and gays and even provide shooting galleries with free needles for drug addicts."

"With this sort of thing going on it beats me why governments are so down on smokers," sighs Henny."Isn't democracy supposed to give two sides to every argument? Sure, there are susceptible people who are going to get ill with smoking -- and shouldn't smoke -- but most smokers live pretty long and healthy lives."

"Why are governments hiding this obvious fact?"

"I'd like to start a campaign to present a healthier image of smokers and to this end I would like all the sick people to stop smoking right now, and all the young people about to experiment with drugs to keep away from smoking if they have pre-existing chest conditions or family tendencies that are incompatible with smoking."

exercise induced asthma

Charmian, 53, is an ex-smoker who quit cigarettes 8 years ago and admits to having been a bit of a harridan around smokers, but after a recent experience with an emergency room doctor who treated her for exercise induced asthma with the same disgust that’s normally shown to smokers she freaked out, had a bawl, and now has joined the growing ranks of ex-smokers who realize that there’s no kudos for quitting smoking as far as the medical profession is concerned and, as such, there really is no kudos in being a harridan around smokers any more.

“I was out jogging early one morning, it was bitterly cold, and suddenly I had trouble breathing,” explains Charmian. “Somehow I managed to get back home and when my husband saw the state I was in he took me immediately to the emergency room.”

“I was very proud to tell the doctor that I had quit cigarettes 8 years ago when he asked whether I smoked,” says Charmian, “but to my surprise and horror he didn’t pat me on the back and say ‘well done’ or ‘good for you’ or anything that like. Instead, he turned up his nose and started treating me like a waste of space.”

“In his opinion my bout of asthma was due entirely to the fact that I once smoked, and that was that, serves me right, my lungs are rubbish, go home and rest.”

“I was absolutely devastated to be treated in this manner after I had gone through hell and high water to quit my smoking habit and believed, without question, all the quit smoking so-called medical advice that within a short period of time my body will be as strong and healthy as a non-smoker’s. What a lie!”

“I’m glad I kicked the habit, but I’m angry that they lied to me about the medical benefits of becoming an ex-smoker.”

“I was so shocked by the way that doctor treated me that I went outside and bawled like a baby and after that I felt much better,” says Charmian. “And that was a blessing because if I had been really sick I doubt whether he would have bothered to save my life.”

“He really jolted me into reality,” sighs Charmian. “I don’t think he was a maverick in the system. I think he was doing exactly as he had been trained to do.”

“If this is the way they treat ex-smokers, then I shudder to think of the treatment that smokers get when they present at emergency for any complaint, smoking related or not.”

“I have heard that a lot of smokers claim to be non-smokers when they see a doctor and I always thought this was a stupid thing to do, until now,” says Charmian. “I don’t want to lie about my smoking history – and now that it’s on file, I can’t in any case – but frankly if being an ex-smoker gains you no more kudos than a persistent smoker then you may as well lie and get treated with respect.”

“That bout of asthma really scared me and I can see now that it was induced by exercising in cold weather and probably had nothing to do with my smoking history,” says Charmian. ”I won’t be going jogging from now on, and I won’t be pretending that I am any better than a smoker because obviously I’m not as far as the medical profession is concerned.”

“I hate to admit that I was a bit of a harridan around smokers before this incident,” admits Charmian. “I apologize for putting all you guys down and treating you like a waste of space just because you continued to smoke.”

“Now that I know what it feels like to be treated badly because of smoking – even though I haven’t touched a cigarette for 8 years – I can sympathize with your cause.”

“The so-called caring and compassionate medical profession has gone stark, raving mad in relation to smoking,” sighs Charmian. “They do their best to get you to stop smoking, and then down the line they blame every complaint you get on your smoking history and you just can't win in an environment like this.”