Nope, we don't have a fire going. We don't have any good wood this year and can't afford any. Plus my asthma has been going insane, so I the smoke wouldn't be a good idea. And my bedroom is on the other side of the house, which means I wouldn't benefit from the fire at all anyways, and my room would be all that much colder.

Sorry for vanishing. I fell asleep. ^^;;

Aww, that sucks big time, Cricket... I just remember when I lived in Oregon we'd get super cold winters so we'd spend all summer cutting up red wood trees in the backyard... It was hard work. What do you do for your ashma?

Hmm, well, you could just put a sleeping bag in front of the fire and sleep outside of your room. Lol. I used to do that sometimes if it was really cold.

That's ok. If you're tired, than you should sleep. ^^

If I slept by the fire I'd get sick The air gets too dry, my skin would crack, and I wouldn't be able to breathe. Plus I can't sleep on the floor because of my arthritis. >.<

Well, right now I'm about to be treating my asthma more aggressively. I'm beginning a preventative inhaler, I'll be using a normal inhaler again (I had to stop them for a long time because they didn't help, they'd make me hyperventilate) and I use a nebulizer when I really can't breathe.

Finally a normal abuterol inhaler helps me without making me start hyperventilating. So I'll be carrying one of those around again with me again as soon as I can nab one from the pharmacy.

Ohhhh, right. I totally forgot about your arthritis...
You know, all of your symptoms make me think you have Celiac Disease...

Gah, thats a lot of inhalers. *is confused* x----x
Poor Cricket.

Thats a good idea... Its scary when you can't breath.
There's only been one time in my life when I had ashma, but I thought I was going to die, so I can't even imagine having to worry about that all day.

Hey Cricket, can I add you to my friend-list?

Actually, asthma isn't something you only get once. o.O;; I don't think I have Celiac. I have an autoimmune disorder, that's for sure. I have CVID. ^^;;

And it's only two inhalers, and a machine to breathe a larger dose of albuterol through. But I don't carry the nebulizer around.

Sure, you can add me to your friends. ^_^

Ashma is a reaction to an allergy usually. I got ashma once when I ate trout (right after puberty) and my body broke into hives and I couldn't breathe... I passed out.

Ohhh, well, CVID has a lot of the same symptoms as Celiac disease.
I have celiac disease so it sounded familiar.... I mean, with celiac you get rough skin, ashma, and it makes you have arthritis if you eat wheat...

Oh, I see. Its not as confusing as I thought than. XD Hahaha.
Yeah, that would suck, carrying around a big ole nebulizer...

Cool. ^^

Err, getting hives and not being able to breathe from an allergic reaction isn't asthma. It's this one kind of reaction when your throat swells up.

Asthma isn't just caused by allergies. Mine asthma is usually triggered by allergies and stress, perfume, humidity, and heat.

Hmm, my throat probably did swell up. *nod*
Yes, but wheat allergies cause ashma too, because it makes the mucus build up in the back of your throat...

I've heard about perfume causing ashma, but once again that is an allergen...
And same with pollen thats released into the atmosphere during a certain season.
Heat and humidity can only irritate ashma that's already there, not cause it.

Allergens don't cause asthma, they irritate it. There are many people without asthma at all. Asthma isn't something that you just wake up and have one day because of pollen in the air. It's a condition that lasts.

Now, if you're extremely stressed you can develop asthma, and then a while after your stress has been relieved all your symptoms could vanish.

Some kids outgrow asthma, some people don't develop asthma until after puberty or in their late teens.

Mmm, I think its the other way around.
Yes, but allergies are also something you do NOT usually have at birth...
With age, allergies develop and same with ashma.
I have a book about allergies and it says the main symptom is ashma.

I think stress only irritates ashma. How can stress create mucus?
That doesn't make sense...

Most allergies develop in puberty and late teens, like ashma. *nod*
Yes, but you can outgrow an allergy too... It all depends on how your proteins and enzymes react and evolve over time.

Hehe, I like debating! *is having fun* XD

-Sigh-

I've had asthma since I was a little kid. But no one believed me until I was fifteen when my boyfriend sat my gran down and told her I had asthma and needed treatment. I'd been trying to tell everyone since I was a little kid, "I can't breathe when I run. I can't breathe when it's hot. I can't breathe!"

My gran thought I was lying because I had a friend with asthma and so I was trying to get attention, so she told me then-doctor to ignore what I said about not being able to breathe and he did. Finally my boyfriend managed to make everyone realize that I had asthma. I wanted to kill my family for treating me like a liar all those years. If I'd had the proper treatment as a kid I probably would've outgrown it.

I believe you, Cricket. My sister has the same problem.
She has super bad ashma and her mom is still in denial about it.

Why did your gran think you were lying?
No offense, but she sounds very ignorant.
Aww, poor, Cricket. *hugs*
Good thing your bf stood up for you.

Well, my gran didn't know a damn thing about asthma and thought I wanted to be like my friend who had asthma. -Sigh- Yeah, I'm more pissed off at my doctor than my gran, because he listened to her and not me, even when I was struggling to breathe right there in front of him.

She is ignorant sometimes. It makes me wanna pull my hair out.

That makes me think about when I told my mom I couldn't see the board when I was in 5th grade. She didn't believe me. She thought I just wanted glasses because my one friend just got some "trendy" glasses.

Come 6th grade eye examination time, the nurse was like, "um... You really need glasses..."
Dae: Yeah, I know. Tell that to my mom. : /

It took my teacher telling my mom at back to school night that I squinted and the nurse that I needed to see the eye doctor.

I go to the optometrist and he says "she REALLY needs glasses... I'm surprised she can even see the board in school... Even if she is in the front of the room." Funny thing is that my mom works for my optometrist. -.-;

Sounds like your mom needs to be smacked. XD

Wow. I would be shocked if someone in my family treated me that way. O.o

Yeah, well after I was diagnosed with my immune disorder, I get treated like I'm made of glass. Then when Gran gets mad at me she treats me like I'm indestructible and there's no excuse for my lack of energy or my laziness.

And it usually happens right before my infusion, when I'm at my weakest, most uncomfortable state. >.<

It's something that I'm sure Dae and I are used to.

Well, that was really the only time in my life where it took forever to convince her to take me in. Overall, she really is a good mom and has a lot things to deal with sometimes... She takes it all in stride.

I just think it is amusing how now, I can barely function without my glasses/contacts... But that's my dad's fault... Stupid genetics.

This weird disorder runs in my father's family. It's called rods and cones disorder or something. It's when you get a fog or something in your eye like a cataract, only it can't be fixed. >.<

I'm hoping I didn't inherit it...

@Cricket: Yeah, that's what my friend is like before her infusions. I'll call her up and she'll sound so sick and tired. I don't know how she handles her three year old brother when she's in that state ><

@Dae: Both my parents have glasses, but I don't know how long they've had them for. I'll probably need glasses in the future, but I just don't know how far.

Oh, mine is nothing that serious. I have astigmatism. Basically, my eye is shaped kind of like a football, which in turn, distorts my vision. My condition is actually worse than my dad's... -.-; If I didn't have glasses/contacts, I probably wouldn't be able to function very well in society.

Uzura: only my dad has really needed glasses forever. My mom needs glasses for reading. I'm the only one out of my siblings who needed glasses at a young age.

@secretdae007: I have the same thing! Small world. My mom just recently got glasses too, and my dad only uses them for reading. Heh, that is strange.

xD I'm just nearsighted. And my right eye is weaker than my left... Lol Mom still won't let me get contacts, so I wear glasses, and I have since I was about... oh, I'd say about 10 years old, so for about 8 years now... *sweatdrop*

I've needed glasses since I was eleven. But the change in my eyesight was so gradual that I myself didn't even realize I was having trouble seeing until I was twelve. I'm pretty sure I got my first pair of glasses at age thirteen...

Got my second pair of glasses at fifteen or sixteen, and when I passed out in the high school someone stole them right off my face and a few months later they were found broken in half. Yes, those frames were rather girly, but I loved those glasses. Purple metal with a little flower on the earpiece on each side by my temples.

I liked them because I could get away with wearing them.

I didn't get another pair of glasses for over a year, I'm pretty sure, and then I finally got a new pair of glasses a couple months ago, when I've been in need of them for well over a year.

Oh, god... Poor Cricket! x3

Btw, I don't think I'll be voting in the poll, Cricket... I'm torn between the two options, and I can't decide! xD