My dad took away my inhaler and my other meds because I didn't want to go on a trip
So, I dont really know where to start so ill just start talking.
For context, im a 15 year old with chronic asthma, dust allergies, and a chronically 70-100% blocked nose.
Yesterday at night, my asthma started flaring up again so i had to take my inhaler. Because im recovering from strep throat and had a runny nose, my throat felt insanely dry so I had to take medication for it.
Later when I woke up, I had to tell my dad that I can't come to the trip because we're going to a desert environment which has low humidity and can make my symptoms worse. I wasnt expecting the barrage of symptoms to start getting worse, so I had to make the decision to not go.
So just a quick biology lesson, having a runny nose creates post-nasal drip which causes mucosa to be in the throat, which makes irritation worse. Strep throat makes the cells in the throat inflamed as well, even if the infection has passed, which also aids in irritation. My corticosteroid inhaler also leaves medical residue in the back of the throat as well which also contributed to it. Antihistamines dry out the throat but also makes your throat feel very sore. Also, for my blocked nose, if youre wondering how it is for me i want you to fully close one sinus, and then close the other sinus halfway. Thats how open it is for me all the time. So yeah, im forced to breathe through my mouth most of the time which creates a bunch of other problems regarding my asthma.
Theres also some more things but i dont want to bore you all so ill just get to the point. Based on all of these circumstances, i realized that an unhumid environment (the humidity there is 8%, well below the normal threshold) would make my symptoms (including my asthma) even worse and I could be hospitalized. Im not gonna dig deep into why that can make asthma symptoms worse, so ill just need you guys to trust what im saying.
ANYWAYS. I told my dad that I'm not gonna come and I tried to stay calm and explain it to him but he just started to explode and yell at me. Ive had previous health scares because of my asthma which led to me needing to be hospitalized as well. In those previous times, I had to beg my parents to take me to the hospital because I felt like i was physically suffocating. But in both of those times that I needed to go to the hospital he took me and he used that fact to emotionally manipulate me because "I took you to the hospital so you should be grateful" which.. what? I had to argue (as little that I could) and cry just for them to take me to the hospital. But I digress. I was trying to remain civil yet he wouldnt even let me talk. After that, i had a talk with my mother about why I couldnt come and she did say that i was "exaggerating" and that i was "okay" but she gave me a pass. My dad started to get insanely angry and started taking my medicine. (Antihistamines, inhaler, and my nasal spray, which i physically need.) If it wasnt clear, my asthma is life threatening. I could literally die without my inhaler. Thankfully, i was able to take one of my inhalers before he could take it, but he took everything else (that i physically need). It just felt like really psychotic behavior and I really just felt alone. Not to mention that im also a recovering addict (7 months sober) and tbh im just flabbergasted at how ive been able to remain sober when ive litterally been going through all these things. (I dont mean to minimize other people's experience with recovery, im sorry if i came across that way.) But yeah. Reading what ive been writing right now makes me feel like maybe i was overexaggerating a little bit.. i dunno. It just feels like i am when everyone around me tells me that im just exaggerating all the time. Sigh. What do you guys think? Was it justified for my father to be angry? Am i exaggerating? Im curious to see how you guys see the situation.
EDIT: After making this post I realized that I WAS overexaggerating a little. a very specific set of circumstances would have to happen for me to die without my inhaler. Though, I still do NEED it, since I have trouble breathing in my daily life. Which 100% doesnt excuse my father from taking my meds, but I felt like it was really important for me to say that itd be very unlikely for me to die without an inhaler. I wanted to thank everyone for giving me advice and just being genuinely really kind. I really appreciate it. Again, I'm really sorry if I made it look like I would 100% die without my meds, since like i said earlier would be heavily unlikely. As for my hospitalizations, in those times I just had shortness of breath and felt like i was suffocating and didnt know what to do since i didnt have an inhaler at the time. But along with my chronically blocked nose and other symptoms it definitely pushes my shortness of breath to overdrive. Sorry if you got the wrong idea based on that. But I will say it is 100% abuse to take medication (even if they wont die) from your own child. such behavior is 100% unnaceptable. As for people telling me to call the cops or CPS, thank you for giving me advice, but I dont know if that would be my best option right now. And it would probably be a bad idea to make that decision right now.
EDIT 2: After further research i found out that it is illegal to withhold essential prescribed medicine from your child as parents are expected to act in a child's best interest. I realize that the best option would be to either call the police or CPS, but I.. I cant really. I dont know how to. I once had an asthma attack and had no inhaler and I begged my parents to take me to the hospital, but they wouldnt budge. I was just so scared that I called EMS to bring an ambulance to my house. The person on the other line told me that they needed to speak to my parents so I tried to tell them that they arent willing to take me but they said they need a parent's permission.. for some reason.. i went over to my parents and they apologized to the dispatcher and started yelling at me. After that situation i cant really bring myself to call anyone else. I just always feel like im overreacting, even if i know thats not the case. BUT, i am going to talk about it with an adult, and they are legally required to report abusive behavior and will know what to do from there. Thank you everyone for giving me advice and just being insanely kind to me. I really appreciate it so much.