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Hi list members,

After I did my summary, I received more input on asthma. I would like to
share it with you. Also, I decided to take the medication that the doctor
prescribed me. The name of the medication is ADVAIR and I have to take
it for 6 to 8 weeks. I am feeling much better at the moment, and I sincerely
want to thank you all for being so generous with your comments and
encouragement.

Johanne
Montreal QC Canada

Here are the new messages:

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I read the summary of responses to your questions about asthma.  What I'm
going to say is what I've learned from my former doctor, who was an
expert on lung problems (now an embassy doctor), and from research I've
read.  According to them, about 85% of asthma is due to Gastroesophogeal
Reflux Disease (GERD).  That's a huge percentage, but I've seen it
repeated several times.  I had asthma, did not believe I had GERD when my
doctor first mentioned it--never thought I had heartburn--but I followed
his advice and took Prilosec for the GERD, and I no longer have asthma.

**********************************************************

Regardless of your feelings on meds (other than my asthma meds, I am
quite an "anti-pill" person), I would advise you to at least make sure
you have a quick acting inhaler with you, esp.  when you return to work.
Yes, taking albuterol can make you feel shaky and make your heart race a
bit, but it beats the hell out of being hospitalized for an asthma
attack!  Also, I gage how bad my asthma is by how much I feel the side
effects.  For some reason, the more I need the help breathing, the more I
feel the side effects...

Anyway, it is confusing and, I must say, a lot of meds do very little for
you.  Wheat free will help, but chemicals in the environment can't always
be controlled and sometimes cause the nastiest reactions (I ended up in
the hospital once - while I was pregnant - due to new carpet glue at
work, so I know how you feel!).  At least having the albuterol handy
will keep you from the most severe attacks if you listen to your body
cues.

***************************************

My husband (not celiac) had bad asthma from a baby.  He recently switched
to Seravent inhaler and he is virtually cured as long as he is careful.
My daughter is on Seratide - a combination of seravent and
beclomethazone, and this works very well.  Remember to take your
medication regularly.  We find the aerosol types better than the powder
form.

**************************************

I think GERD and CD do go together.  For me the only symptom of GERD was
the asthma, but when I propped the head of my bed up the way the doctor
told me to, my asthma went away.  Usually the symptom is heartburn.
There's a GERD diet to follow:  no chocolate, caffeine, carbonated
drinks, spices, tomatoes, citrus--can't remember them all.  Then you
aren't supposed to overload your stomach or eat within two hours of
bedtime.  I had some tests that showed I had a hiatal hernia and
reflux--the kind of test where you swallow barium and get an x-ray that
shows the reflux.

********************************

Use the meds- I have had asthma since age 20, and am now 41.  My
strategies:

1) Deep clean house, avoid carpet, drapes, wear a mask when cleaning,
and get a HEPA filter vacuum- or hire someone to do vacuuming and
dusting.

2) Avoid scented anything- detergent, perfumes, fabric softener - no
chemicals!!

Also watch out for pepper shaken wuildly!!

3) Wear a face mask when out in the cold

4) Exercise regularly if you can - if you increase your lung capacity
and stay in shape, you have more extra to play with when you have an
asthma attack.

5) It is not all in your head and you cannot work through it mentally, so
treat it.

6) whenever I get a cold I go on to the inhaled steroids immediately
for a couple of weeks, before I get into trouble.  If I wait, I end up
having to take oral prednisone pills, and I do it to stay alive, but I
do not care much for the side effects. - I have not had to do it for
several years now!! Treat the little asthma issues promptly, before
they become big.

7) get a peak flow meter and learn to use it

8) get an asthma specialist and have regular check ups

9) get a couple of books on asthma at the library.

10) always carry your albuteral inhaler everywhere- I attach mine to my key
chain,in a zipped eye glass case, so I cannot leave without it!

11) The albuteral is for emergency treatment- if you are using it more
than a few times a week, you should be on inhaled steroids, to get the
inflammation under control.  If you don't do this, you can DIE.

12) Hot black coffee can help during an attack. don't know why - as
caffeine in tea of coke does not help.  But it should NOT be used to
replace meds, just to enhance.  Cold liquids bother me immensely,
although I know one of your respondants finds relief with them. Ice
cream sometimes brings on an asthma attack for me.

13) Some asthmatics say to avoid dairy- note that opera singers will not
consume dairy the day or two before they perform, as it thickens the
mucous.

I do
eat dairy, but during a bad episode, I avoid dairy.

My final advice- I tried for years to avoid drugs, liking a natural
route.  I kept ending up in the hospital.  Now that I take very small
changes in symptoms seriously, and treat them promptly with meds, I get
over my episodes quickly, and in the past 7 years have been to the E.R.
only once, with asthma triggered by the flu., So do some reading, and
take your condition seriously, don't waste time like I did, and you
will find that you can lead a normal life.

**********************************************

I am a retired physician.  15 years ago I sat in a room in Niagara on the
Lake with 25 other American doctors at a seminar on lung diseases
sponsored by McMasters University medical faculty.  I shall never forget
finding out, with all the rest of us, that we Americans were 10 years
behind the Canadians in our understanding and treatment of this disease.
It was exactly 6 years later that the Harvard University Health Letter, a
leader in the field, published the first of two articles on what we all
learned that day in Canada.  It started with the first question from the
lecturer, who asked "What is the first symptom of bronchial asthma?"
None of us answered correctly.  The answer is "cough which is worse at
night."  He then went on to explain most of the things which you cover in
your summary.  Singulair and serevent were not available in those days.
The only things that I can see which are not covered are excercized
induced bronchospasm, post viral bronchospasm and the proper way to use
an inhaler.  You personally will find that you will not get so shaky if
you are careful to hold the inhaler 6 inches (13 cm) in front of your
wide open mouth as you start your inhalation.  More medicine gets into
your lungs that way than if you discharge it into your mouth with your
lips closed around the mouthpiece and I think that less gets into your
system.  Also, use only one puff instead of two- expecially since you
also use serevent which is albuterol in another, long acting, form.

I agree with those who say that they are helped by the celiac free
diet, and with those of you have benefitted from acupunture, magnets
etc.  They work- and the fact that they do indicates that most of us
have the ability to help ourselves if we only know how.

******************************************

I would highly recommend getting tested for delayed food allergies. I
was SEVERELY short of breath for over 2 years, and was on breathing
treatments four times a day, and hospitalized for IV steroids, and on
steroids by mouth. My breathing was so bad that we went to Disneyworld
in 1998, and I had to rent a wheelchair everyday we were there because
I couldn't even walk in the door. I was tested for food allergies, and
found that I have allergies to 23 different foods besides gluten. Going
off of these foods cured my breathing problem! We went to disney last
April, and I walked 12 hours a day with no shortness of breath! Their
web site is www.betterhealthusa.com.

Call1-800-684-2231 and ask for Lisa Durrow. She will send you free
information about the testing. And, get this: IF YOU DON'T GET BETTER
IN 3 MONTHS, THEY GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK!! I am a nurse, and have
never heard of that before!! They have a dietician work with you for a
year also, included in the lab fee. Food allergies are very common with
celiac.

**************************************

My tour of decline started with losing my job because on 'Chemical
Hyper-Sensitivity' It is a known fact (not all doctors like to believe in
chemical hyper- sensitivity) the fact that asthma attacks are brought on
by inhaling a substance that irritates the breathing equipment, which is
basically the body.

As in celiac all chemical reactions are unique in each individual.  So when
looking at those 'crazy weridos' there is no common complaint but a wide
variety of complaints.

I personally would not start the inhaler.  I'd stay away from that
carpeting.

My decline started in 1985, and then manifested itself not so nicely in
1989.

First it being tired all the time, then unable to have my sinus stay
painfree, then I got over hyper and then I could not sleep and I didn't
want to eat.  So, being way to hyper and spacey and getting no sleep
and having a constant headache and unable to make any of it stop I had
withdraw from the world.

Now years later I know all about the chemicals and I've learned that
with the wheat/gluten things were getting even worst.  It's a cruel
world out there and please do believe that smelling formaldehyde (which
is glue, industrial strenght) will make you ill, wheater it's a
headache, or asthma attack or cancer, inhaling chemicals, friendly or
not, will make getting better much harder.

*****************************

First thing, don't rush out and buy special asthmatic bedding.  It has a
substance called tributalin (I think that is the spelling) in it.  Lovely
stuff.  They use it in antifouling paint on the bottom of ships.  It is a
heavy metal that is so deadly it is being phased out worldwide.  It does
lovely stuff to sea creatures so I wouldn't even try to hazard a guess as
to what it does to humans who inhale it while they are sleeping.  There are
several environmental factors which aggravate asthma - any pyrethrum based
insecticide - so stay clear of that.

Then we have house dust and the house dust mite.  You won't get rid of this
little mite by washing.  In Australia we have a product called eucalyptus
oil - you might be able to buy it in a health food shop in America,
although we get it at our supermarket.  Marvellous stuff this.  Kills these
little blighters stone dead.  I just add two capfuls to the washing machine
when I wash the bedlinen.  I also sprinkle it on our pillows, so we inhale
it while we sleep.  My daughter and I are both gross asthmatics and we
don't take any medication or use any pumps.  We just rely on the good old
eucalyptus oil.  If you have carpets and can rip them out, all the better.
Hard flooring stops the dust.  If not, liberally sprinkle the eucalyptus
oil on your carpets after vacuuming to kill the mites living there too.  On
the dietary scene, your biggest aggravators are dairy and monosodium
glutamate (MSG).  There is a good website that lists all the obvious and
hidden sources of MSG.  Can't find the URL at the moment but if you just do
a general search you will come up with it.  I make everything from scratch
here, including our own stock instead of stock cubes, and we just sail
merrily along.

By the way I have been living with asthma for 54 years and have never taken
any medication for it in my life, I just follow these simple guidelines I
have given you