Peak Flow Meter.....

You may need a prescription for one but a home health company can probably help you. If you have breathing problems but have difficulty assessing the severity it would be helpful. Kind of like a thermometer does for fever.

We used one with my daughter, and when we used it properly, it was great!

The idea was to use it every day, and record her numbers. The allergist we went to said that when her numbers went below a certain point, we were to give her a certain medicine... if they went below a different point, (the 50% point) we were to start her on another medicine, and make an appointment to bring her in... this helped avoid the last minute trip to the emergency room kind of things.

This way, we could see trends where she was starting to have asthma problems before it became a critical issue......

The doctor wrote a prescription for it, and that is how we got ours.

I have always gotten mine through my doctor's office. IMHO asthma can be kind of sneaky. They did a study several years ago and asked asthma patients and "normal" patients to breathe through various sizes of tubes and to quit when they couldn't take it anymore. The "normal" breathers stopped LONG before the asthmatics. The asthmatics in the study kept on trying to breath through straws that were the size of coffee stirrers. The point of this study illustrates that asthmatics don't always notice how bad their breathing has become. Normal for an asthmatic is very different from that of someone who does not have breathing problems. The peak flow meter helps you keep track of where your "normal" is. If you think you might be having some breathing difficulty, check your peak flow meter and chances are it will show you that you are having trouble. Hope this helps you!

Our doctor gave our son one to use at home. He also had a breathing machine to use when the peak flow was too low. I think they are great to let you know when you need more medication or help. See if the doctor will write a prescription for one, or just give you one. Our son used his daily for awhile and charted his numbers.

My granddaughter used one at home when she was part of a study. She was given it by her allergist/asthma doctor. I think that you could get one from your doctor and it would be covered by your insurance.

It is very simple, unlike the computerized one they use in the office. A small tube in which one blows. A strip slides to indicate how much air she's been able to blow.

I found it helpful at the time but she doesn't use it anymore. She's 12 and opinionated about doing things herself. She says she can tell when she needs her inhaler and doesn't need the meter. The meter did show that she does know her own capacity or lack thereof.

I bought one at the local medical supply store for about $20. it can be useful if you use it. you need to track your peak flow daily for a while to see what is normal for you.. so when your asthma acts up.. you can tell by the numbers how bad it really is..

I think the drs would be interested to hear.. that on an average day my peak flow is 500 but today it is only 200.. so they could tell that you were pretty sick...

Our pediatrician gave us one when my oldest child was young and suffering with asthma. It couldn't have cost very much...a piece of plastic, really...but it worked. Ask your doctor or your pharmacist for a recommendation.

Really, they're only beneficial if you use them daily to keep track of airflow and act accordingly when you see that numbers take a dip (meaning an episode might be coming.)

We have one and it's great. Helps us know if my son is in need of his rescue medicine or not, since sometimes he wheezes slightly but not too bad. We usually do it twice a day, per doctor's recommendations. His asthma is very mild and is brought on more by illness than exercise/activity. We give him a preventative medicine twice a day, so we just do the peak flow then. Our doctor wrote us a prescription for it and, with insurance, it wasn't much money at all.