The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Asthma, Crohn’s, Myasthenia Gravis & Perimenopause—OH MY!

Dear Diary,

I understand we have a lot going on.

But did everybody have to clock in for the same shift?

Because apparently asthma, Crohn’s Disease, Myasthenia Gravis, AND perimenopause looked at the weather forecast and collectively said:

“You know what? Today seems like a great day to act up.”

Ma’am. 😑

One at a time, please.

🌧️ When the Weather Joins the Group Chat

With Hurricane Marie/Tropical Storm Marie stirring things up along the Southern California coast, the Los Angeles area has been dealing with something my body absolutely did not request:

Extreme humidity.

And humidity and I are not friends.

Actually, humidity and my roommates aren’t friends either.

So now everybody is involved.

My asthma is paying attention.

Crohn’s has opinions.

MG is reminding me that heat and humidity are absolutely none of her business—and yet somehow she has made them her business.

And then there’s perimenopause.

Because apparently spontaneous internal combustion needed to be added to the equation.

🔥 Hot flash: “SURPRISE!”

💨 Asthma: “Breathing was getting a little too easy anyway.”

💜 MG: “Oh, you’re hot? Let me make your muscles tired too.”

🚽 Crohn’s: “Since everybody else is here…”

ME: “WHO INVITED ALL OF YOU?!”

💨 Asthma or MG? Today’s Million-Dollar Question

This is where having multiple conditions gets particularly frustrating.

When the breathing trouble started, I couldn’t immediately tell who was responsible.

Was this asthma?

Was this MG?

Was the humidity aggravating one of them?

Or had asthma and MG finally decided that collaboration was the key to success?

Because apparently my ailments have discovered teamwork. 🙄

Since asthma was a possibility, I took an albuterol nebulizer treatment.

And thankfully, it helped.

My breathing eased.

So it certainly seemed like the extreme humidity had given asthma the invitation she needed to show her face and remind everybody:

“Excuse me. I still live here too.”

Message received.

Except the nebulizer only answered part of the question.

While that feeling of difficulty breathing improved, the shortness of breath I was experiencing when walking or trying to do simple tasks didn’t.

Walk across the room?

Short of breath.

Try to get something done?

Short of breath.

Do something that normally shouldn’t require a strategic respiratory plan?

Short. Of. Breath.

So now I knew asthma was at least participating in today’s festivities.

But apparently she wasn’t partying alone.

And because my body believes every answer should come with a bonus question, then came the familiar albuterol aftermath.

The jitters.

That shaky, wired, can’t-quite-get-yourself-together feeling.

Yeah.

That.

Now I could breathe a little easier while sitting there shaking like I’d consumed approximately seventeen espressos.

Perfect.

😂

I was already tired and struggling to function and focus. The jitters made concentrating even harder.

So I was grateful the nebulizer helped.

But I also had to pay attention to what it didn’t help.

The shortness of breath with activity was still there.

Which brought me right back to my other suspect.

💜 MG…Is This You, or Are You Just Standing There Looking Suspicious?

Heat has never exactly been MG’s love language.

When my body gets overheated, muscle weakness and fatigue can become much more noticeable. Add oppressive humidity, and simply existing can feel like I’ve accidentally signed up for an endurance event.

Walking shouldn’t feel like exercise.

Simple tasks shouldn’t leave me feeling like I just completed cardio.

Yet here we are.

And because MG can affect the muscles involved in breathing, I can’t simply assume every breathing problem belongs to asthma—especially when the nebulizer improved one part of what I was experiencing while another part remained.

Does that automatically mean MG is responsible for the shortness of breath with activity?

No.

But is she standing in the corner looking mighty suspicious?

Absolutely.

👀

And that’s one of the realities of living with multiple chronic conditions.

Symptoms overlap.

Sometimes figuring out which condition is responsible feels like conducting an investigation while simultaneously being the crime scene.

💜 Plot Twist: It Was Also Rystiggo Day

And wouldn’t you know it?

Today was already my scheduled Rystiggo treatment day.

Talk about timing.

After the nebulizer helped one part of the breathing problem but didn’t touch the shortness of breath with activity, part of me couldn’t help thinking:

Perfect. Maybe today’s treatment will help settle MG down too.

Maybe I’d start feeling some relief.

Maybe MG would get the memo that asthma had already taken her turn and we were not accepting additional applications for today’s symptom roster.

In my head, the plan was pretty straightforward:

Nebulizer helps asthma → Rystiggo handles MG → Kia returns to regularly scheduled programming.

A perfectly reasonable plan.

My body apparently did not receive the itinerary.

I got my treatment.

I waited.

I hoped.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I wanted Rystiggo to swoop in wearing a tiny purple superhero cape and announce:

“Don’t worry, Kia. I got this.”

But the shortness of breath with activity remained.

And that’s the part that isn’t particularly funny.

Not because I expected one treatment to magically erase everything immediately, but because I was hoping my body would give me some indication that we were moving in the right direction.

Instead, today’s experience left me with something chronic illness hands us far too often:

another unanswered question.

🚽 Meanwhile, Crohn’s Heard There Was a Party

Then there’s my original autoimmune roommate.

Crohn’s.

She’s been suspiciously quiet?

Great.

Apparently that’s her cue to remind me that she still lives here.

When my body is already dealing with heat, humidity, fatigue, medications, stress, and everything else, gastrointestinal symptoms certainly don’t make the day any easier.

And nothing says living my best life quite like trying to determine whether you’re sweating because it’s humid, having a hot flash, experiencing MG weakness, dealing with asthma, shaking from albuterol, or about to make an emergency bathroom run.

Sometimes the answer is:

Yes.

😂

🔥 And Perimenopause Said, “Hold My Fan”

As though temperature regulation wasn’t already complicated enough, enter:

Perimenopause.

Hot flashes.

Night sweats.

Sleep disruption.

Hormonal fluctuations.

Random moments when my body decides the appropriate internal temperature is apparently surface of the sun.

MG already dislikes heat.

Now my own hormones are creating it from inside the house.

The betrayal.

I can escape Southern California humidity by going inside.

How exactly am I supposed to escape my ovaries?

I’ll wait.

🧩 When Symptoms Refuse to Wear Name Tags

This may be one of the most frustrating parts of living with several chronic conditions.

I would really appreciate it if my symptoms would arrive wearing little name tags.

Hello, my name is ASTHMA.

Hello, my name is MG.

Hello, my name is CROHN’S.

Hello, my name is PERIMENOPAUSE.

Then I could respond accordingly.

Instead, they arrive together wearing matching outfits.

Fatigue?

Could be MG.

Could be Crohn’s.

Could be poor sleep.

Could be hormones.

Feeling overheated?

Could be Southern California humidity.

Could be perimenopause.

Could be both.

Breathing difficulty?

Today, the nebulizer helped me recognize that asthma was at least participating.

But the shortness of breath with simple activity?

That remained.

And Crohn’s?

She’s somewhere in the background waiting for her opportunity to make the entire situation about her.

Because apparently nobody in this household understands the concept of taking turns.

🌻 What Today Reminded Me

Today reminded me of something important about living with multiple diagnoses:

Relief is information. But so is what remains.

The nebulizer helped.

That mattered.

My breathing improved.

That mattered.

But the shortness of breath with walking and simple activities remained.

That matters too.

It’s easy when you live with multiple chronic conditions to find an explanation for almost everything.

That’s probably asthma.

That’s probably MG.

That’s probably Crohn’s.

That’s probably hormones.

It’s probably the weather.

And sometimes one of those explanations may be right.

Sometimes several of them may be right at the same time.

But I don’t want to become so accustomed to having symptoms that I stop noticing when something is different.

I don’t have to perfectly identify which roommate is responsible before I’m allowed to listen to what my body is telling me.

So I adjust.

I stay cool whenever possible.

I hydrate.

I rest when my body starts waving the white flag.

I pay attention to changes in my breathing and muscle strength.

I advocate for myself.

And, naturally, I make jokes.

Because humor remains one of the ways I cope when my body decides to turn an ordinary Tuesday into an episode of:

Everybody Hates Kia.

😂

The weather will eventually change.

The humidity will eventually break.

My hormones will…

Well…

We’re still negotiating that contract.

Crohn’s and MG?

Those roommates aren’t moving out.

And asthma has been around long enough to have seniority at this point.

So I’ll keep doing what I’ve learned to do:

Adjust.

Advocate.

Pay attention.

Laugh when I can.

Rest when I need to.

And recognize when something deserves more than another attempt at pushing through.

Sometimes the goal isn’t figuring everything out today.

Sometimes the goal is simply:

Get through today.

Preferably somewhere air-conditioned.

With a fan.

Near a bathroom.

With my inhaler and nebulizer nearby.

And with absolutely nobody touching the thermostat.

😂💜

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🎵 Music Playing…

“Hot in Herre” — Nelly

Because honestly?

Between Southern California humidity, MG heat sensitivity, asthma, Crohn’s, and perimenopause…

the soundtrack chose itself. 😂🔥

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💭 Reflection Corner

Living with multiple conditions means symptoms don’t always arrive neatly labeled.

Sometimes they overlap.

Sometimes one problem seems to aggravate another.

And sometimes treating one symptom answers one question while revealing another.

That’s what today reminded me.

The nebulizer helped. That was information.

The shortness of breath with activity remained. That was information too.

Partial relief doesn’t mean I should ignore what remains.

And I don’t have to perfectly identify every symptom before I’m allowed to respond to what my body is telling me.

I can listen first and investigate second.

Because when several conditions share symptoms, sometimes the most important question isn’t:

“Which one is doing this?”

Sometimes it’s simply:

“What is my body trying to tell me?”

💜 Have weather, heat, humidity, hormones, or overlapping chronic conditions ever made it difficult for you to figure out exactly what your body was reacting to? How do you navigate the days when everything seems to show up at once?

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Until next time, remember: partial relief is still information. Pay attention not only to what gets better, but also to what remains. Your symptoms deserve to be heard, understood, and taken seriously—even when they refuse to wear name tags.

💜 The Dual Diagnosis Diaries
Where chronic illness gets honesty, advocacy, education—and occasionally a strongly worded complaint to Mother Nature.

Kia Lorice
Founder • Author • Advocate • Future Wellness Coach
The Dual Diagnosis Diaries