Caffeine – I like!
I just read an article this morning about remedies for asthma. It mentioned that 2 cups of strong coffee can help if you need medication but you do not have your meds at the moment. Turns out caffeine has similar effects as that of the main ingredient in an asthma medication.
Hmmm.
Hello coffee, chocolates and cocoa! 
Breathe
We usually take things (or people) for granted, and we only realize how important they are when things are lost or damaged, or when relationships get broken, or when people fade away…
In this case, I learned how important my body is when I suddenly had this weird feeling. A week ago, it was my first time to have difficulty breathing. Since I was already having coughs for a week, I just brushed it off. But it got more uncomfortable to the point that I had to cough really hard (which is annoying and embarrassing at the same time). I felt my air passage constrict, more like how it feels when you have clogged nose. The next day, I decided to take the day off and rest. I still felt bad physically. The next day, I went to the doctor. She prescribed anti biotics and had an x-ray done to see whether its pneumonia. It wasn’t. She insisted that I take the medication for a week before I get another test done.
A week after, I still had the cough. Usually, the anti biotics would get rid of it, but not this time. So the doc requested for a test to see if I have asthma. Well, I have skin asthma (basically allergies), and my eldest brother had respiratory asthma as a kid. So the doc said I might have it too.
It turned out I do. Have asthma.
Well, a lot of people have it, but I kinda got scared. A colleague of mine has asthma and she can’t stand carpeted rooms. I even had to change a meeting venue because she couldn’t breathe in the training room. I got scared that I’d be hypersensitive like her that I can’t stay in hotels because of a carpeted floor.
Anyway, I’m given some medication (which reminds me, I need to take them now), and I’ll be having the next check up in a month’s time.
My mom comforted me and said no one dies of an asthma attack. I am glad. Then she said people don’t die of asthma, they die of heart complications. Thanks, Mama. That makes me feel a loooot better. 
I took five days off (that included the weekend and the election day), but as soon as I got back to work today, I had a difficult time breathing again. There is something in the office that triggers the asthma attack. I hate the feeling. But I need to go to work. Sigh.
I never realized how much I took breathing for granted. If you are able to breathe despite of the heat, the cold, carpeted floors, fluffy pets and fully bloomed flower gardens, then thank the Lord. Some people have to go to the bathroom just to be able to breathe deep because everywhere else is dusty. 