<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> 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: *********************************************************** 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