Battling with Breathing in August

i’m not completely sure why but august seems to be the worst month for my breathing. just yesterday walking to the shop less than a fifteen minute walk i was struggling to get a breath and i had to stop 3/4 of the way back and sit on a bench. there is nothing worse in my life than not being able to take a breath with the awful wheezing sound - i had forgotten to take my blue inhaler (i really need to go to the docs to get a brown one, the steroid one) which gives me an instant relief and opens up my chest, instantly taking away the wheezing.

if not stated some of my photos are from unsplash a free site for images, also you can grab some cool images from nomad.pictures a site i run with @dayleeo to get pictures out of the camera roll and onto the web

it worries me a lot, especially in the evening when the air get’s thin. it also worries me about access to the inhalers, i don’t have panics or anything like that but it’s hard to centre yourself and regulate your breathing when it’s bad, when i don’t have an inhaler i can have days where my breathing is so bad i have to prop myself up in bed to be able to breath properly. like i said i have good months and bad but i think it comes down to a number of factors but i’m guessing with climate change it will only get worse.

it’s really the only thing that i feel unhealthy about, that effects my health, my engaging in life performance if you will but i when i get more wheezy i try and go the other way, i start exercising more, taking more walks, even if it’s for thirty minutes each day then that’s better than nothing and it just gets the blood pumping, i might feel ok when i’m just sitting at the computer but sitting is actually the worse thing i can be doing. i’ve also noticed that if i cut out the coffee then the usual faster blood pumping hit is effected too - guess it’s just the routines we get into.

when @dayleeo was here we made a point of going swimming at least once a week in the local pool, she doesn’t have a public pool where she is and she loves that swim and swim sleeps as much as me. nothing like exercising, feeling refreshed, having a bite to eat and crashing out for a few hours, we did a lot of that and my breathing got a lot better while we did it. it can be hard to exercise when you struggling with breathing so you have to be careful and take it day by day — everyday i’ve forced it, i’ve ended up using the inhaler more so pacing yourself is important.

i’m not sure why august is worse around where i am more than most, maybe it’s something to do with what the farmers put on the crops, maybe it’s the weather temperature, i’m not sure. what i do know is the mountains of europe are calling to me, i’ve seen some friends who live there on facebook show off their air quality meters and it looks like cooling, rich mountain treated air, i’m all up for a bit of that, i have no problem, wrapping up in winter and kinda enjoying the snow periods. i’m not into skiing or anything like that but i’m sure i could enjoy a big log fire in a cabin there.

because i know i’m going to need inhalers regularly the local doctors pretty much has me on prescription speed dial. my inhalers are not free, i pay for them around £8 each and from time to time i get them a little cheaper if i pay for the three month ticket which allows me to have as many prescriptions in that period. i’ll probably do that this time around because i need to get a steroid one and i’d like to ask if i can get an additional one added to the prescription so i have at least a backup especially if i’m travelling, it will be hard to get them ‘on the road’ i expect.

which leads me to the finally point i wanted to add to this today, could blockchain technology eventually impact the pharm industry, providing a decentralised way to fulfil prescriptions of drugs that people need? we are seeing a massive influx of 2d/3d printers that now can print metal, houses and even food. will we see a period of time where independent chemistry happens (will regulation, exams, code of conduct, quality control) on a hyperlocal level, tied to our digital id or blockchain open ledger identity where we can complement our daily lives with access to such things on a free market.

after all the actual ventolin inhaler component is plastic, that could be modelled and 3d printers, i only need the canister inside, those are interchangeable, i realise that the making, provision, etc of those bottles and the active ingredients inside are probably protected by patents but i’m sure the chemical mixing are potential not. obviously you need a machine to be able to produce the gas, compress the active ingredients inside and that’s a costly initial setup process but what if you could decentralised and crowdsource that for a local area for common health issues? is that coming?

i’d love to hear your thoughts and if you are a chemist and know anything about ventolin and alternatives i’d love to know!

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