This isn’t going to be easy for me to write, because I’m going to try and relate to you exactly what happened to me as the Laryngospasm happened. I’ve got to be honest, I’m not looking forward to reliving this horrendous episode. For the sake of passing on information that may just help someone else, I know I must try. So here goes. I was on my own in our home on a summers evening about 15 years ago, when I decided to get my self a bit of pomegranate. This was not something I was used to eating and I wasn’t quite sure how to approach the process. After getting it out of the fridge, I stood with it over the kitchen sink, in case it was very juicy and made a mess. I didn’t stop to think as I lifted my head back to let the juice run into my mouth. Seconds after a ‘drop’ of juice caught the back of my throat, I gulped and breathed...but I couldn’t. I tried and tried again, but there was NO air getting past my throat. Obviously at the time I didn’t understand that my throat had actually completely closed, stopping any air from allowing me to breath. Within seconds I was panicking, and that’s when I ran for our front door. MS or no MS ...I ran! I opened the door and knelt down on the door step. I was on my hands and knees trying desperately to get some air, but I couldn’t. I WAS TERRIFiED! Me running for the door - apparently my flight fight response kicking in. I wanted air and the obvious place in my terrified state was the air outside. Perhaps my brain thought there was no air inside our house? Now if you haven’t read my first book your not going to know that I’m clairaudient. In other words I hear Spirit voices and no, I’m not crazy. (Read my story). I may have been all alone, but my father was a by my side within seconds, trying to calm me down. His voice was very loud and very clear. “Calm down Isabella, calm down. You must calm down.” And he kept repeating those words to me in a very loud voice. He also kept telling me that I would alright. But I couldn’t calm down. I was desperately trying to force air into my throat and it wasn’t working. I honestly thought I was going to die. Please remember, I had no idea what was happening to me. As I was desperately trying to breath, I could hear the most horrendous noise. It sounded as if a wild animal was being skinned alive. I even looked around into the garden trying to see if I could see anything that was being hurt through the darkness. A high pitched screaching noise....and then I realise it was ME making the noise. This apparently is what is called a Strider. Dad must have somehow worked his magic for the umpteenth time, because somehow I did begin to calm down and I started to be able to breath again. I was shaking like a leaf when the episode was over, I felt like a wet rag. I was absolutely exhausted and very weepy. This is without doubt the most frightening thing that has ever happened to me. We instinctively breath in air without thinking, it’s second nature to us. So when that supply is cut off...Trust me....it is frightening beyond words. I hope and pray it never happens to you. Ok! I’ve managed to tell you my storey. Has it happened to me again. Yes...but not quite as bad. It happens without a doubt when I’m stressed or very tired. I have had a lot of near misses over the past fifteen years. The fact I now know what is happening is a great help. And, knowing what to do when it starts, is also a great help. For give me, I’m exhausted now. I’ll give you all the tips I know to try and stop a full blown episode from occurring, another day. Blessings always.
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As my last two blogs were about Laryngospasms I thought it might be a good idea to try and explain to you what they are, and not from a text book or the web. From someone who suffers from them, me.
So here’s a birds eye view on a very terrifying problem. But lets have a bit of background first. It first began for me way back in the 1970’s. I would be just about to fall asleep when suddenly I would realise I was not breathing, no air was getting in, I found myself gulping, trying to get air into my mouth. I would sit bolt upright in bed and try to force a breath. It would only last for a few seconds but it was very frightening when it occurred. Every time I mentioned it to my doctor I was told it was just ‘gerd’ - acid reflux, in other words food coming back up. And it didn’t matter how many times I told my doctor it had nothing to do with me having reflux of any kind, - that was that. When I was eventually diagnosed with MS in 1980 one of the first things Professor Branson asked me was did I ever experience a chocking sensation at night before I went to sleep. I think you will be able to understand how I thought this man was my saviour. He knew all my symptoms without me telling him, he knew what was wrong with me when no other doctor could be bothered with all my random symptoms. Anyway, back to my Laryngospasms. Fast forward a few years. I had one or two nasty frights with not being able to breath for a few seconds, but this next episode terrified me. And I’ll tell you all about it, next time. Blessings always. And unfortunately the answer was Yes. This is one of many times over the years that I have not liked the fact I was right. Let's face it ‘when you have the tee shirt on something’ you kind of know. The first question she asked me when she found out was had I heard of the word Laryngospasm before I was diagnosed, and the honest answer was no, I hadn’t. It’s not the sort of word that had ever come up in a conversation and she said until she heard me use the word a couple of years earlier, she’d never heard it before either. So how common did I think Laryngospasms are? She said her husband was asking because he wanted to know how come she managed to get the most obscure problem imaginable. (Well certainly one of the most frightening). I have a feeling there are far more people out there so to speak, that are suffering from them and perhaps don’t know what is happening to them at the time, or what it’s called. Until I spoke to the special nurse that came out to see me I hadn’t a clue. I’m going to ask a question here - If you think you have had a Laryngospasm please get in touch? If you want to talk about anything to do with Laryngospasms, please just get in touch. I did mention to the specialists nurse who came to see me ( I rang her) after she had been to me, that I had searched the web looking for a site for information and help from people who had experience a Laryngospasm but there was nothing. And at the time she agreed with me and suggested I start a help page. If the interest is there, I might do just that. At least now my friend has her answer - yes she does indeed have Laryngospasms and she has the diagnosis from the specialist nurse, who will in-turn pass it onto her doctor. All we need now is for her to somehow be given an MRI scan of her brain. Love and Blessings always. I really thought my last blog post would have got a few responses, but no, not one.
I had thought that only being able to discuss one problem with a doctor at a time would be an issue for quite a few people, but apparently not. Not one retweet or comment, so it must just be me. But having said that... Over the last thirty years that I have been helping people, the most common grievance I hear is. “My doctor doesn’t listen to me. He talks over me. I wish he would just stop and hear the words I’m trying to say.” When a patient of mine told me last week that when she sits down in the doctors surgery he puts a clock timer on as she starts to speak. I’ve got to be honest, if a doctor did that to me no matter how badly I needed to speak to him or her, I would get up and walk out. I used to feel sorry for doctors, I know their time is limited. But please, where’s common decency gone to? What do you think? Blessings always. |
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