36 Comments

• 1. K. Laureen  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:01 pm

  Um, are people up there actually required to go to med school before they set up shop? I mean, I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but based on your experiences so far, I thought it was maybe a fair question.

  Just asking.

• 2. Mandy  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:11 pm

  My asthma always gets worse at night; I read somewhere it has to do with your body’s hormone levels, which are cyclical throughout the day. Or something like that. Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. The Prednisone will work wonders, but be prepared to feel a bit “off”–off like a crazed bear. But it’s worth it! hope you are feeling better soon.

• 3. Mandy  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:14 pm

  Here’s what I found on the Asthma Society of Canada site:
  Why is my asthma worse at night?
  There are several factors that may contribute to your experiencing more asthma symptoms at night:

  The circadian rhythm causes certain natural hormones (similar to those in certain asthma medications) to be at lower levels at night. These lower hormone levels reduce the diameter of the airways slightly and may make it more likely that you experience asthma symptoms at night.
  You could be inhaling dust mite allergens from your pillows, blankets and mattress while you sleep.
  When you lie down, the distribution of gravity on your chest can put extra pressure on your lungs.

• 4. mom on a wire  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:24 pm

  Jenn!! Get better now! I demand it! You’re not allowed to be sick, didn’t you know that?

• 5. geogirl  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:30 pm

  Jesus year???

  Well, why doesn’t he just heal you then?

  Seriously though, I am sorry you are feeling bad. I suffered through a month long respitory infection, pneumonia type thing earlier in the year and I know what it’s like to sit in bed at night crying because you want to sleep so bad but if you lay down you will cough until your lungs bleed.

  Warm tea works wonders…..so does a slug of whisky!!

  Feel better soon!!

• 6. Barb  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:39 pm

  I will send Neal over with a hot toddy.

• 7. nolamom  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:45 pm

  My grandmother had asthma, and my mother has it also. Nighttime is a hard time, because your body is not active like it is during the day, and like most people you lay down to go to sleep, and that also makes breathing even harder. The Prednisone will help, and maybe get a inhaler also.
  Prednisone can make you retain fluid also, and we women already have trouble with that anyway, right? Oh the joys of womanhood! Hope you begin to feel better really soon.

• 8. anon  |  May 17th, 2006 at 5:59 pm

  I’ve had pneumonia 7 times, you get used to it after a while.

  “Jesus year???

  Well, why doesn’t he just heal you then?” - very funny stuff.

  I’d go with the Whisky or Bourbon, it won’t heal you, but it’s a hell of way to go if you have to.

• 9. Bethany  |  May 17th, 2006 at 6:00 pm

  I don’t want to imply that I am smarter than your doctor or anything, but asthma gets worse at night because it’s when your cortisol levels start to drop. That’s why you feel pretty good mid-morning, because that’s when they are at their highest.

  I’m just saying.

  (I’m just saying..get back to your regular doctor already!)

  My sympathies are with you, as a fellow asthma sufferer. When you can’t breathe, you can’t think of much else. Hope the prednisone helps.

  Happy Birthday David!

• 10. candace  |  May 17th, 2006 at 8:03 pm

  No! Zithromax is BAD! Well, okay, it’s bad for *me*, because it never works and then I have to get ten days of the Big Boys. And Prednisone? I love that stuff. If I could figure out how to be on the ‘roids long-term and suffer no liver damage, boy howdy would I! I’m *so* productive when I’m on a course of steroids. Like crazy productive.

  Enough about me. Hope you’re feeling well soon!

  (oh, btw, as Someone Who Knows, that doctor is a freaking idiot. I’ve had asthma for most of my life and it’s ALWAYS worse at night, especially after I’ve been lying down for a while. A couple things that help me when I’m feeling poorly with the pluerisy: lying on my stomach to sleep and having my long suffering husband do drum fills on my back with karate-chop hands. I know, weird. But I swear it breaks stuff up and makes it easier for me to breathe.)

• 11. Dawn  |  May 17th, 2006 at 8:10 pm

  Sadly, I know what you speak of when you say the Jesus Year, since my mother greeted me on the day of My Jesus Year with “Wasn’t Jesus this age when he was crucified?”

  And the nebulizer hurts more at first, then it gets better. I promise.

• 12. kris  |  May 17th, 2006 at 8:11 pm

  Jenn, forgive me if anyone has suggested this already but, can you sleep sitting up, or at least propped up on some pillows? It’s considerably easier to breathe when your torso is angled, upward.

  Also, if it won’t keep you awake, consider brewing a strong cup of black or green tea. It has a bit of caffeine and theophylline in it. The chemical, theophylline was actually used for several years to prevent asthma attacks. (I know because I took it for most of my teens) And, if you decide to try this, avoid red wine for the night, as the tannins it can impede the absorption of the theophylline.

  I hope you find the origins of this mysterious lung thing soon, and that you feel better right away.

• 13. heather  |  May 17th, 2006 at 8:12 pm

  Any chance it’s allergies? My husband the extra-asthmatic has been absolutely miserable of late. He pretty much coughs non-stop and sounds like he might die at any moment. Makes me plenty nervous and uptight to be around, so I can only imagine how horrible it is to live it.

  Anyway, we in the flyover states are going through a beast of an allergy season, purportedly due to a very warm winter. Many people I know are unhappy wheezers right now. But I don’t know what things are like out in the happenin’ east coast. Other than wet.

• 14. Susan  |  May 17th, 2006 at 9:01 pm

  Mmmmm, Prednisone . . . I went three days without sleeping the last time I had to take that. And I felt great! Although for some reason my husband kept saying, “But do you really NEED the coffee?” and I was all “YES! YES I DO! STEP AWAY FROM THE COFFEE POT! OR ELSE!”

  Did someone say you would feel like a crazed bear? Because yes! That’s it. A crazed bear who has had one too many espressos.

  Good luck with that.

• 15. samantha  |  May 17th, 2006 at 9:13 pm

  When I had mono I was on Pred for 3 weeks and let me tell you, by the end of it I could move the refrigerator with my toe. I was crazy productive with all this energy. I felt like She-Rah. Then I had to stop and went back to my woosie self, who is unable to move the coffee table without strain much less the refrigerator.

  And don’t take it too long or you’ll grow crazy man-hair on your face.

• 16. Contrary  |  May 17th, 2006 at 9:46 pm

  Crazed bears? Man hair on your face? Good googly moogly!

  I hope you feel better quickly. And not just because I want to hear the rest of LET’S JUST SAY, either.

  Happy Birthday David! Welcome to infirmity, it’s a lovely place.

• 17. ChristyD  |  May 17th, 2006 at 10:13 pm

  Oh gosh! Hang in there and get well. Maybe you need a good break after the play. My older son has asthma that gets pretty bad at night. I have friends who’ve had great success treating their kids’ asthma with acupressure (I think they do accupuncture on adults). I’m thinking of trying it, and I’ll let you know how it goes. I hope you feel much better very very very soon (sending good vibes your way). Happy birthday David!

• 18. Spot the Wonder Dog  |  May 17th, 2006 at 10:20 pm

  Time to cut back on the stogies.

  Wait a minute… Wait a minute… I’m channeling something here. Voices… images from beyond… a message… a warning!

  Not asthma… toxic mold in the walls of your house.

  Your house killed off its previous owners, and their souls remain trapped within its walls. Now it wants you. Beware!

  Voices fading… fading… gone.

  Wow, that was pretty intense.

  Meh, probably better not to worry about it. No good can come from thinking about the spores. The microscopic airborne spores, floating in the air in your bedroom and nestling into the warm, moist walls of your lungs.

  Sleep well. Breathe deeply.

• 19. Tori  |  May 17th, 2006 at 11:01 pm

  Hello Jenn
  These viruses ALWAYS get worse at night. Can’t believe Dr Dumb doesn’t know that.
  Have you tried standing in a steam room - or turning on the shower to hot and just standing there. The shit they put in the nebulizers makes you all jittery. Heads Up
  Poor You!How about something with codeine in it or a LARGE whisky - heated with lemon. That’ll blow whatever it is right out of there… and you will of course sleep too!
  Get better.

• 20. Huma  |  May 17th, 2006 at 11:21 pm

  Okay, not to give credit to Spot the Wonder Dog, but the other day when I read about the reading at your house, I got really creeped out. (I’m easily scared).. anyway, when I read about the asthma, the first thing I thought of was that breathing aparatus you found.. kinda spooky.. otherwise, if its a spring thing, it could be allergy related.

• 21. KTP  |  May 17th, 2006 at 11:48 pm

  I just went through the same thing. Zythromax didn’t work…the chest x-ray was negative though. Levaquim killed the little buggers, finally, and MY wheezing gets worse at night. Weird.

• 22. geogirl  |  May 18th, 2006 at 5:52 am

  Jeeze Spot! Why don’t you just scare the poor girl!

  Thank goodness you didn’t mention bird flu or the sudden resurgence of whooping cough….

  Oh, uh…oops! Well, don’t worry I won’t mention the drug resistant tuberculosis

• 23. the Mater  |  May 18th, 2006 at 6:36 am

  Here I sit (barely) after “the germs” finally found me too! This is my second day home sick BUT I am really worried about you, Jenn! The girls were so sick and I knew you had already gotten it by last week and now this :>( Call me when you get home from hospital, ‘kay?!

  I so wish I could be there doling out the chicken soup but now I’m feeling so punky that I need chicken soup at my end too!

  Wish your bro could be your primary-care physician :>)

  Positive thought: you’re gonna feel like a bear and jump right back into writing the never-ending saga of LET’S JUST SAY!

  Spot, you are so irreverent and funny! But the breathing apparatus in the bathroom is starting to sound a little freaky, isn’t it?! Okay, let me go pop a pill.

• 24. Tree  |  May 18th, 2006 at 7:24 am

  Oh my. We’re just starting to feel better…Liam and Aidan have lingering coughs, but no more fevers, at least! But the runny noses are threatening to take up permanent residence.
  Jenn, feel better.
  I mean it!
  :)

• 25. Simon  |  May 18th, 2006 at 8:44 am

  Jesus year? I thought David was rekindling his Jewish roots?

  I mean, technically, Jesus was Jewish…

  Or does he mean Hey-Zeus, and is discovering a heretofore dormant penchant for Mexican cuisine?

  Ole!!

  (Oh yeah… get better Jenn. Please.)

• 26. kt flynnie  |  May 18th, 2006 at 8:48 am

  black berry brandy perhaps might help?

• 27. Sheri  |  May 18th, 2006 at 9:19 am

  Get better, Jenn! Happy Birthday, David!

• 28. the Mater  |  May 18th, 2006 at 9:48 am

  ROTFLOL at #25! Oh Simon I wish you saw Jenn’s play. There’s a character named “Jose” without the accent.

  Yeah, I really was surprised to hear Jenn talk about David’s 33rd as his “Jesus year”. Methinks she may have to buy some kosher to re-balance.

• 29. The Homosexuals  |  May 18th, 2006 at 10:07 am

  I hate doctors. Really. Hate them. No offense to Joe.

  I once had a doctor tell me, “Coughs get worse at night. No one really knows why.” So that’s no help, but at least this phenonmenon was acknowledged by a gentleman in a white coat who gave every indication of being of the medical profession persuasion.

  Best wishes and love. We are thinking of all of you…

• 30. Jane  |  May 18th, 2006 at 10:11 am

  I hope you feel better Jenn! Flattery always makes me feel better when I am sick, so: your blog is my favorite blog because it is so funny.

• 31. Lisa  |  May 18th, 2006 at 1:50 pm

  geeezzz…..I also though of that breathing apparatus that you found in the wall of your home…how strange is that? Okay….coughing ALWAYS gets worse at night…what kind of a doctor is this person?

  My husband is on prednisone right now for a herniated disk in his back and if you end up like he is…well….goodness me oh my you’ll be a total spazz in no time. I’ve taken that stuff and I turned into a total freak…(I got better) but man I was all over the place hyper and my emotions were changing faster than Paris Hilton’s outfits. Poor you. I hope you get some relief soon.

  David…happy happy birthday! I hope it was a wonderful Jesus Year. With many more. Now go fix your wife a hot toddy!

• 32. Mom101  |  May 18th, 2006 at 4:35 pm

  I’d settle for a doctor who’s yours yours yours through thick and thin and employer insurance provider switches. Someone who knows you, gets you, loves and nurtures you, tea or not. Until that day, I hope you find at least one who can diagnose something. Oy.

• 33. TreeBob  |  May 18th, 2006 at 6:21 pm

  What Tree said! WE LOVE YOU JENNNNNN!!!!!!

• 34. JustLinda  |  May 18th, 2006 at 10:00 pm

  OK, I hope you feel better and everything BUT–

  Did you SEE it? Did you see the previews for Meryl Streep’s new movie? It’s called The Devil Wears Prada. How divine is that name? And her character looks like a wonderful very-hate-able but the kind of hate-able person you just love to hate character!!!

  I couldn’t think of who else to tell, so I came to tell YOU. You understand, right???

• 35. margalit  |  May 18th, 2006 at 10:10 pm

  It ALWAYS get worse at night. ALWAYS. If the doctor didn’t know that, um… that would bother me a lot.

  Hope you’re better soon.

• 36. the Mater  |  May 19th, 2006 at 5:52 am

  Hey Linda, I saw the trailer on TV last night and was LOL. Of course, I pictured Jenn as the hapless assistant. It’s a shame Meryl didn’t ask for Jenn as her co-star while she was signing her contract. BTW, hubby’s “rock” is still hanging tough in Jenn’s little town.

  Let’s hope Jenn is hanging tough too.

  Jenn roll over (and sleep). Jenn heal, Jenn heal!

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