Basically, if you're wheezing and have trouble breathing, you need it. But you should find out what your doctor means by it!

beth, you have bronchitis, right? And asthma? Because that sounds exactly like the directions my doc. gives me with that combo. And it means (for my doc) exactly what Betsy said.

Of course, with me, it also means take a Zyrtec before using the albuterol because it makes me itch from the inside out.

thanks for answering so quickly Betsy. I was calling my wheezing "intermitent" - I just took some - the soul sucking pain in chest is gone

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BWAH!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everybody. It's been a nice day.

I am supposed to take 2 puffs every 4 as needed

I use it. The best thing to do is clear your throat *really well* before you puff -- almost like a exhaling wheeze -- to get some of that stuff out beforehand. It might take some getting used to. And by "every 4" you mean every 4 *hours*, right?

You should also try to hold it in (almost like you're smoking a joint) when you've puffed, for both puffs. It helps the medicine work, or so I've been told.

You should also try to hold it in

That's what the Dr. told my daughter when she had to use it.

For y'all with questions--yes, I am in fact going around the world--DC to New Zealand (Auckland, and possibly Christchurch), to Sydney, Australia, to Vietnam, to Cairo, to Frankfurt (just overnight), and home. I'm starting to freak out about all the things I need to do between now and then--get two visas (Egypt and Vietnam), buy a backpack, buy things to put in the backpack, make a doctor's appointment and get some vaccinations and an ambien scrip...bunch of other stuff...

My strategy for long plane flights is basically to sleep through them

Yeah, I'm not good at that at ALL, even if I've been up all night packing (no good at sleeping sitting up). Thus the hope that an ambien scrip will help.

I feel a little silly giving you travel advice, since I think you've traveled nearly as much as I have

Heh. Yeah, but I mostly do within-the-US travel. Business. It's different--I'm good with "carry medication and have travel-size lotion" but not so much with "pack it all in a backpack and wear it all again and again".

Eaglecreek and Travelsmith. Got it, Trudy--thanks!!!

I spent last night making donuts

YUM--I wish you could share them too!

The area where my tattoo is was all puffy and itchy - the inked part, not the surrounding skin

I know sometimes when you get allergic-y, tats react too, even if you've had them awhile.

My insurance won't cover Ambien

Dude. That's crazy talk.

All you people and your scary talk of parasites and fungi and stuff, now I feel all paranoid and itchy and gross.

Nova, my son wears it whenever he's in the mood to (though in social settings, not at work). If the girls think it's weird, maybe you're talking to the wrong girls.

Albuterol is magic. It's easier if they give you the AeroChamber thingy. Otherwise you have to inhale just as you squeeze the inhaler or it gets on the back of your throat and makes you cough. Try to time it so that you inhale it just before you go to bed and you'll sleep better. My doctor told me that if you're getting in too little oxygen, your body tries to keep you awake as a survival mechanism.

Okay Bitches, especially Susan....

My roommate and I are watching Master and Commander, and he's mystified as to why the ship keep trying to get behind each other, instead of charging broadside. He's to the point of calling it an inaccuracy (which is typical of him, he likes to talk out of his hind quarters).

Can someone offer me the tactical soundness of coming up behind your prey, and not just charging it broadside?