John

Age at interview: 23

Age at diagnosis: 10

Brief Outline: John, age 23, was diagnosed with asthma at age 10. He is white British, a professional rugby player and currently lives with his parents. John was finding himself feeling breathless when playing sports and as there is asthma in his close family it was easy to recognise the symptoms. He uses inhalers mainly during winter months, but he feels it’s important not to let asthma rule your life, and he has been able to continue to play rugby at the highest professional level by ensuring that he manages his asthma correctly.

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John was diagnosed with Asthma when he was 10 years old when he found himself feeling breathless playing sports. He didn’t feel that he was any less fit than his friends, but his symptoms were recognisable as asthma as both his father and grandfather have asthma. He has been able to control and manage his asthma successfully since he was diagnosed by using the prescribed inhalers regularly, particularly during winter when he is more susceptible to the cold weather. During summer he finds that he rarely needs to use his inhalers. John says that although asthma is a part of his life, it hasn’t felt like too much of a hindrance. John had a strong incentive to get to grips with and learn to manage his asthma as he has played rugby since he was a teenager and is now a professional player. John describes his asthma as mild to medium and feels that it is not something that should dominate one’s life, and that as long as you understand the condition, the triggers, and the correct way to use the medication that there is no reason for it to restrict life. He uses a preventer and reliever inhaler twice a day during times when his asthma is more prevalent, and will take an extra dose of the reliever inhaler prior to training or playing to ensure that his airways do not become restricted during those times.

John talked about the perceived stigma of using inhalers and that when he was younger he was conscious that it might be seen as a sign of weakness or ‘not cool’ and would tend to use inhalers privately rather than in front of people, but as he has become older he doesn’t see it as an issue, and the most important thing is to take it seriously and be consistent in using the medication.

John is aware that there are certain things like smoking or being around smokers that can trigger asthma. When he was at university it could be more difficult to avoid such triggers and to live a healthy lifestyle but as a professional sportsman he feels most people respect and understand his need to avoid such environments.

John has recently attended his local asthma clinic and finds it helpful to have an asthma nurse monitoring his condition and ensuring that he is on the correct dose of medication. John’s advice to anyone experiencing asthma is to try not to panic, as this can lead to hyperventilation and make things feel worse.

John was diagnosed with mild asthma when he was 10 (13 years ago) and says it’s become second nature to him as he’s grown up with it. It has not really restricted his life and he is a professional rugby player. [Text only]

It was round when I was about ten, I was playing sport. I used to play a lot of sport when I was younger. I still do now. And mainly I found I was getting out of breath really easily. And I didn’t feel as if I was any less fit, than other kids and I did as much as them, so it didn’t really add up …..And my Dad had asthma, my granddad had asthma. So it’s more. There’s a family link, so it’s quite an obvious answer to the problem that I had.

And so I got it checked out, found out I had asthma. This was when I was pretty young, so I don’t remember too much about it. But I found, I found when I had a break from sport or whatever I was doing for a specific period and went back to it, I was struggling a lot more than everyone else. So the….. Initially when I was to go back to it, I found it hard to breathe, hard to breathe, and just, just wasn’t able to keep up really. And then after that I think once you get into it, and once your body does adjust even with the inhaler, you get used to it and you find yourself being able to sort of compete with everyone else, being as fit as everyone else. So in a sense asthma hasn’t restricted me that much. It’s only the initial stages, and knowing how to take care of it.

John considers his asthma to be fairly mild and uses his medication mostly in the winter months. His asthma doesn’t prevent him from playing rugby at a professional level.

I find mainly with my asthma that during winter periods, especially when there’s colds flying around, I’ve got one right now, especially when there’s colds flying around, you find that its more prevalent. And it comes about more quickly. So I think, I mainly use my inhalers during the winter months, and during the summer it’s not that much of a necessity, especially if I’m at a stage where I’m doing lots of sport and just maintaining myself. I don’t find I need it as much. Its only when you come to the winter times when you get, you’ve got a cold. It, it depends. It really becomes more dominant then, than at any other time.

But having said that, I’ve found, it hasn’t been that restrictive in sport I play rugby for a profession through schooldays, I played for England under18s, and all the way through [name of team] and things like that, and I didn’t find it much of a hindrance.

So do you have a preventer and a reliever, preventer is the brown one isn’t it?

Yes. I’ve actually got them with me. Do you want to have a look?

Yes please.

This is God I don’t know, I mean you take the blue initially so it opens the airways and the brown is the preventer. So that stops.

So how often do you take each of those then?

At the minute twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

The brown one yes?

The blue and the brown. And then say for instance, I’m not at the moment, but if I have a condition session or a fitness session should I need to take the blue, I always have it with me just in case, but if I do need it during that, which I haven’t for the last couple of months. So, touch wood. But yes, yes, I always have the blue with me during sport but yes, I try and take them twice a day during winter.

John thinks generally speaking people understand if they see someone using an inhaler. It might be seen as a bit ‘geeky’ or ‘not cool’ by some people, but once people know you they don’t judge you.

Sure you have to take your inhalers from time to time, and sometimes, I guess when you go to a new place for instance you join a new club or you’re with a new group of people there is a factor where you don’t want them to see you blowing on the inhaler, because it looks quite geeky. It looks, it doesn’t look too, too cool. But there’s not too much stigma about it, I think so. I haven’t found it too much of an issue. And I have been able to cope with it and excel with it, so, yes I guess it’s part of my life, but it hasn’t been too much of a hindrance.

I don’t think many people who don’t have it know a lot about it. I think they know people have to take inhalers before they do sport or if they’re struggling to breathe, but no, I don’t think people know a lot about it to be honest. But then again, I don’t think people in day to day life, know about many diseases or stuff like that. So I guess no, not a lot is, known about it. Especially from people who don’t have all this stuff come into their lives. But yes, if they did there’d be a lot more understanding and you might get away with a lot more stuff. So, yes…

I don’t know. I like to think people in general would know what was going on if someone was breathing in an inhaler. I don’t think they were doing drugs or something like that. So I think people know always associate inhalers with asthma. It is, so they know what’s going on, but no it’s not seen a lot in public.

John’s asthma doesn’t stop him from being a professional rugby player. ‘I like to think I’m one of the fittest players on the team’.

So what impact would you say it has on your life, mainly having asthma? It doesn’t sound like it stops you doing anything?

I don’t think it stops, it shouldn’t stop you doing anything. I think it’s huh I don’t think unless, I can only speak for myself. But I think my grandad who has it a lot, a lot more severely than me. He still swims, he’s still very active. I think you can only, it would be mental thing if it stops you from doing anything, because now you’ve got the inhalers, you’ve got technology to stop it. To make you be able to cope in life with it. So I think, it can be used as an excuse, but you shouldn’t be.

I only think that if, as I say if you’ve got inhalers, if you push yourself then I don’t think it is an issue and I like to think I’m one of the fittest players on the team, cardiovascularly and aerobically. So I just don’t think that it can be made as an excuse and yes, I do have it mild to medium, I wouldn’t say I’ve got a severe case of asthma, but for some of course it may be different. Not everybody’s fit. But I do know people who do have it worse and who are still extremely active so…

Because actually exercise does improve the lung capacity doesn’t it?

Yes, it does. So I think if you exercise and you lead a healthy life then things like sport, they shouldn’t be a no- no for people who have asthma because I feel yes, I pretty much feel that if you do have asthma yes. It just shouldn’t be an excuse really.