hey, Jeanna...
sorry you're dealing with this. i'm on iv meds right now and noticed last time i blew (to land me on abx), there was a new RT. he had me blow out all my air before that "big breath in". this was the first time anyone has ever instructed me to blow all my air out first before that big breath and then strong blow. i actually felt WORSE doing this. my FEV1 was the lowest its ever been (i know i'm sick, but didn't feel THAT sick). it may be the "correct" way to do it, but since it was different than what i usually do, it seemed to throw me off and made me more anxious to begin with. usually, i do nice relaxed breaths the whole time until the big breath and it helps me be less anxious (if that makes any sense), so i feel i blow better.
i notice you said your RT didn't have you blow all your air out this time and you usually do, so this could deff. have something to do with it... maybe not account for the entire drop, but i know from experience that when we do something the same exact way for 20+ years and then get a new RT who has us changing it up (and in this case was watching me VERY closely to see that i was doing it his way), it can mess things up.
i do agree with others though, you should get to the bottom of it asap. i just wanted to add my two cents since you did mention that it was a different technique than what you were used to.
all my best....
sorry you're dealing with this. i'm on iv meds right now and noticed last time i blew (to land me on abx), there was a new RT. he had me blow out all my air before that "big breath in". this was the first time anyone has ever instructed me to blow all my air out first before that big breath and then strong blow. i actually felt WORSE doing this. my FEV1 was the lowest its ever been (i know i'm sick, but didn't feel THAT sick). it may be the "correct" way to do it, but since it was different than what i usually do, it seemed to throw me off and made me more anxious to begin with. usually, i do nice relaxed breaths the whole time until the big breath and it helps me be less anxious (if that makes any sense), so i feel i blow better.
i notice you said your RT didn't have you blow all your air out this time and you usually do, so this could deff. have something to do with it... maybe not account for the entire drop, but i know from experience that when we do something the same exact way for 20+ years and then get a new RT who has us changing it up (and in this case was watching me VERY closely to see that i was doing it his way), it can mess things up.
i do agree with others though, you should get to the bottom of it asap. i just wanted to add my two cents since you did mention that it was a different technique than what you were used to.
all my best....