Asthma - stories and advice.

[strmrdr]

I saw in another thread someone mention they had it so I thought id start a thread on it so we could share stories. and advice

Adult onset after a bout of pneumonia.
Triggers are garlic, peppermint, artificial flower room freshener, wet weather/mold, and strong perfumes.
Last time I was in the ER the nurse had on perfume that every time she would walk in it would trigger it.
They were starting to freak after the 5th one in an hour after repeat treatments until I figured it out and told them what it was, the nurse was so upset but once she stopped coming in the asthma attacks stopped.

Am on spiriva when it gets bad but not all the time because I have a bad reaction to advair and serevent (get hyperactive).
Most of the time just take albuterol once a day preventively and maybe once a week because of a triggered attack.

Have some signs of copd but don''t fit the classic case but because I cant take the others they tried spiriva and it helps in wet weather.


What are your triggers and experiences?

 

[Kaleigh]

Storm,
As you know my son has a severe case of it. Singulair tablets help. He is on two nebs a day, albuterol and Intal. He does well so far with Advair. He uses a Max Air Auto Inhaler for rescue. He is allergic to almost everything. The pollen this year was insane. He doesn''t do well around molds, so how he will do in Nantucket, we''ll have to see. He is growing out of it. Sometimes excersise can exacerbate it. If he''s playing tennis or squash he''ll get a neb before hand. Funny the one place he never has asthma is in FLA. But when he was really little it was 4-6 nebs a day and Prelone (a heavy steroid.) He was bouncing off the walls and was a handful.

I''m glad those days are behind us. Have you tried Singulair?? Ashley takes it also. Her asthma isn''t as bad as Rob''s. But she still has to manage hers. Great thread, I look forward to what other people''s experiences are.

 

[strmrdr]

something I wanted to mention is that cottonwood trees in the late summer early fall are almost deady to anyone with asthma.
I dont know anyone with it that isnt affected by them.
They are by far my worst trigger and why I was in the ER in the story above.

 

[diamondfan]

I also have heard singulair is good...something to do with leukotrines (spelling) and a lot of people have success.

My son has terrible seasonal allergies, had tons of croup as a baby. I think we tend to have a weak spot. Whenever my oldest or youngest get sick, the chest is their danger spot.

I do not travel without nebulizers, pulmocort, xopenex,patanol (rx eye drops) advair, zyrtec or allegra, rhinocort(rx nasal spray) and orapred (oral steroid). The steroids make the kids rammy, but it does work. Keeps their airways open and dries up the goo.

Spent many a night in the ER or up with the hot steam to open airways, and doing nebs...my oldest even was very low on the pulse oxcimeter and had to have injected steroids in the hospital. He is almost 14 and has outgrown some of it, but it was soooo bad this season he wheezed all the month of May and could not do track, which he loves. I am thinking of doing shots for him. This will address the allergies and hopefully stop the wheezing and other dreadfu symptoms. My little one is likelly at risk of asthma since he had RSV at a few weeks old...

 

[strmrdr]

Singulair conflicts with my other meds cant take it.

 

[gingerBcookie]

had sever asthma as a child and ave mostly grown out of it. sever colds or upper respiratory infections still trigger it though. triggers were pollen, dust, and exercise. came close to being hospitalized once, but managed to squeeze through before the doctor forced me to the ER. had allergy shots , two shots, every week, for 3-4 years. very happy to have that part of my life shrunken to a non-daily thing.

strmdr - just fyi, albuterol is not a preventative med per se. it''s a rescue medicine. it''s preventative only on a short term basis (a few hours) so you can use it before something you know will trigger an attack (i.e. for me it was before I engaged in any kind of sports). asthma is due to an overreactive airway that gets inflammed, swollen, and mucus plugged when in contact with a trigger. albuterol is a beta agonist and it opens up the airways quickly (which is why its a rescue) but that''s all it does. to "prevent" and attack, you need to stop the inflammation from occuring. this is what steroids, leukotriene inhibitors, etc.. do. they blunt the hyperactive reaction that your body has to triggers. These, on a long term, will decrease the number of acute attacks.

just want to say i''m not trying to give you medical advice, just letting you know what i learned and am taught in the hospital and to definately talk to your doctor about this. we have always been told it is a big NO-NO to use albuterol preventively, because it doesn;t prevent. however again, i don''t know your medical history and everyone is different, so only you and your doctor can figure out the best regimen for you.

i hated my asthma, it''s an awful feeling to feel like you are suffocating, no way to describe it. it very much affected the person i am, to the point where i thought seriously about going into allergy and immunology or pulmonology. sadly, i found out that seeing mucous makes me physically sick so pulmonology was ruled out

. A&I is still in the running though, so who knows. i may end up helping other sick kiddoes like me.

 

[strmrdr]

albuterol preventively:
caution kinda gross:
Part of my condition is borderline copd using it once per day opens up the airways enough to cough it up before it becomes a problem.
Same reasons its given to people with pneumonia from what I understand.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Storm, did the borderline copd come from the asthma?

I know that asthma can be scary stuff!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/17/2006 7:52:33 AM
Author: MissGotRocks
Storm, did the borderline copd come from the asthma?


I know that asthma can be scary stuff!

dunno
had pneumonia and asthma kicked in very bad.
Ended up in the ER a lot for a while there.
have some scars from the pnuemonia that may be part of the problem because that lung is worse than the other.
At times it will just be that lung that gets constricted.
I have a very crappy doctor but until i get insurance its the best i can do.

 

[msdarlinjoy]

CRAPPY DR''S ... >>>

I got some left over rope, tar & feathers from Hubby''s

old crappy dr ...

I hope you get a nice non-crappy dr. soon

 

[MissGotRocks]

Well, I''m sorry for your troubles. I know a couple of really bad asthmatics but it seems that when they get the right combo of meds they really start to do much better. Hope this kind of help is right around the corner for you!

 

[bar01]

Had it since my mom stopped breast feeding me as a baby. Was bad during childhood, then went away (mostly) in late adolescence - only to return with a vengence as an adult after a battle with another serious disease. I need daily meds to keep in under control these days.

Theo 24 (an old asthma med – but it works great for me)
Advair

Triggers which make it worse - animal dander, dust, mold, tree pollens, stress, colds/flu, some food allergies. During these worse episodes I sometimes need predisone as well.

My wife also has asthma and takes Adair. She can’t handle theo as she gets too hyper. Her triggers are animals, foods - and any kind of strong chemical or plant smells.

 

[JCJD]

Adult onset following a bad cold 2 years ago that was complicated by allergies. Adult-onset allergies as well - dust mites and mealworms (we feed the worms to our birds at work). I also have a slight allergy to cats and think I''m getting a bird dander allergy as well, but I take precautions at work. Basically, I had a "cold" that lasted 2 months, got diagnosed with respiratory allergies, and I responded positively to asthma medication (Advair), so I have asthma. Had my first few minor attacks this spring due to bicycling outdoors when the pollens were bad (just some coughing for a few minutes), although I tested negative to all seasonal allergens. I didn''t know what they were until well after they''d stopped occurring though... Advair worked really well, but it''s so expensive!