A disease that ''sounds like nothing'' can seriously affect your life, Dunedin woman Haley Duffy says.
''I hate it,'' the 32-year-hairdresser says of her asthma.
Mrs Duffy says she struggled with her asthma during 2014, and she is not sure why.
It can sometimes be embarrassing at work, at the St Kilda salon Moha.
''I quite often [start coughing] and I sound like an 80-year-old man that's smoked his whole life.
''It's horrible when you're working with clients.''
She explains the condition to clients, especially in the past year when it's been worse than usual.
''I have to tell them I'm not contagious. It's just my asthma.''
She said working with products used in the salon did not seem to make the condition worse.
Her employer was very supportive.
She loves her job, and said her colleagues were a ''bunch of friends''.
Becoming ill with a cold or influenza can cause serious complications for an asthmatic.
About five years ago, she got swine flu, and was admitted to Dunedin Hospital.
It took her months to recover from the ''scary'' illness.
As a hairdresser, she was exposed to many bugs circulating in the community.
Taking time off as a hairdresser was not easy, because of appointments.
''Hairdressers don't have days off work unless they are really sick.
''You just can't cancel unless you are really sick.''
It took a long time to get back to normal after a bout of illness.
''Asthma sounds like nothing, but it can really affect your life and change it.
''I think people don't think that it affects lives as much as it does.''
Every year, she gets a free influenza vaccine, which is funded because of her vulnerability to illness.
She tries to keep fit, and people were often surprised that she regularly works out at the gym.
She struggles in her workouts, and that made her feel unfit, which she found frustrating.
''I constantly feel unfit because I can't get to that top breath.
''You always feel like you're battling it.''
In her case, the disease was hereditary, but she was diagnosed relatively late, aged 18.
Her son was diagnosed aged 12 months, but grew out of it.
Now 12, he had not touched an inhaler for a decade.
She was diagnosed when she went to the doctor with flu, and it was possible she had the disease longer and did not know.
''I was 18 - nothing was a shock.''
People still occasionally died young from the disease, which was a reminder that it remained a serious condition, despite treatment advances.
''Reading [media reports], you are kind of like, '... that could be me'.''
In times of ill health, she has been given steroids to regain her strength. While they were ''awesome'' for their fast action, the effects soon wore off.
They could only be taken for a short time.
''I just do stuff, I try not to let it affect me.''
Her philosophy for dealing with the illness was to ''keep going'', and realise you can't change it.
''Try to make it as little as possible.''
