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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 19:41:54
So I have asthma. Generally it is pretty much okay-- the occasional flare up which one or two puffs on the Albuterol inhalor quickly helps.
When I have an attack, it generally feels like I am laboring to breathe, my chest tightens, and I have a slight wheezing. The inhaler stops that.
WELL, I just got back from Alabama- I spent 11 days there during the Hurricane. The humidity was pretty much unbearable and I had the worst asthma attacks ever. I LITERALLY felt as if I was breathing through a straw. I would wake up in the night gasping and wheezing. My inhaler was not helping.
My dad smokes and they have two dogs that are in the house so I imagine it was a combination of all the above.
They put me on a new inhaler called Combivelent or something but it still doesn't alleviate that labored breathing thing.
Tomorrow they are doing tests (I am pretty much a lab rat at this point, ROFL).
BUT, is there ANYTHING I can do (naturally?) to help this? I am drinking tons of water and that helps some.
This is driving me crazy. Asthma plus anxiety are not a good mix. ROFL
Posted by Ezmoney on July 20, 2005, at 21:02:18
In reply to ASTHMA help..............., posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 19:41:54
You know that alergic reactions can cause anxiety by activating the sympathic nervous system.Adrenalin is released to counteract the alergic reaction.I belive that the parasympathtic nervous system activation leads to shock.An air filter may help.Really need to clean house of all things that you are alergic to.
Posted by Damos on July 20, 2005, at 22:10:39
In reply to ASTHMA help..............., posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 19:41:54
Hey Spriggy,
Humidity really plays havoc with mine. My dog is not an issue though. Just wanted to say that I saw somthing on TV a while back about some breathing exercised that they were having great success with in adults particularly. I'll see if I can find a link anywhere and post it here.
Posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 22:42:17
In reply to Re: ASTHMA help............... » Spriggy, posted by Damos on July 20, 2005, at 22:10:39
Thanks, I'd love to read about that. Anything I can do naturally would be wonderful to help this.
My allergy test is tomorrow so hopefully I can figure out what triggers this.
Posted by LOOPS on July 22, 2005, at 10:42:33
In reply to Re: ASTHMA help............... » Damos, posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 22:42:17
Hi -
I also suffer from mild asthma at night, and I smoke about 4 a day(I know...I know). When I went low-fat vegan my asthma got really bad. When I tried an Atkins-like diet my asthma totally disappeared. I think it's the pesticides on fruit/grains that gets me but I'm not sure.
Anyway, I didn't feel great on low-carb and my depression got worse so I had to reinstate a more balanced diet, but then my asthma came back.
Just if that gives you any ideas.
I think cod liver oil is helpful to me a bit - sometimes I never have to use my inhaler these days, but it hasn't eliminated it.
Loops
Posted by Declan on July 25, 2005, at 15:26:22
In reply to Re: ASTHMA help..............., posted by LOOPS on July 22, 2005, at 10:42:33
Hi Loops and Spriggy
Interesting, Loops that when you went on a low fat diet your asthma got worse, naturally I'm thinking of something to do with EFA balance. Anyway Spriggy might be interested in this. In Australia and NZ, and for all I know everywhere, there is a product marketed called Lyprinol, put out by Blackmores, (no connection with them at all). It is an extract from the green lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus), and is mainly used for arthritis and athsma, but is also a general antinflammatory, quite a bit stronger than fish oil. The EFAs in it are OTA, ETA, EPA and DHA, maybe other marine lipids. (There's some acronyms for you Spriggy.) The names are rather long and my typing is not good. But you could look it up on Blackmore's website or google it. I've taken it for arthritis only, and it was fine and undramatic, you have to take it for quite a while.
Declan
Posted by JLx on August 11, 2005, at 12:32:48
In reply to ASTHMA help..............., posted by Spriggy on July 20, 2005, at 19:41:54
I don't have asthma, but my mother does so I read up on this for her sometimes. Magnesium, Vit C (especially as ascorbic acid), bioflavonoids (especially quercetin) seem to be most recommended. Other possibilities for supplementation include Vit B6, Vit B 12, essential fatty acids, selenium, licorice root, cayenne pepper, Vit E, among others.
This Canadian site is soliciting participants in a nutritional study and they have a lot of info there. Their power point presentation (link at the top) is worth reading. They make an important point, I think, in that these things work synergistically.
http://www.asthmaworld.org/table_of_contents.htm
More info from WholeHealthMD:
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/hc/asthma/diet_life/1,2260,,00.html
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/hk/remedies/disp/1,1459,433,00.html
Other links:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:27tVwTnm3_YJ:www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C118126.html+diagnose+me+asthma&hl=en
(If that link doesn't work, just type in "diagnose me asthma" to Google and click on the "cache" link. This is a pay-for-this-info site otherwise.)Interesting comment here:
"Children with asthma have been shown to have a metabolic defect in tryptophan metabolism. Tryptophan is converted to serotonin, a known bronchoconstricting agent in asthmatics. Studies have shown that patients benefit from either a tryptophan-restricted diet or B6 supplementation to correct the blocked tryptophan metabolism. Pyridoxine may also be of direct benefit to asthmatic patients, since it is a key cofactor in the synthesis of all the major neurotransmitters."
http://www.vitaminevi.com/Concern/Asthma.htm
JL
> So I have asthma. Generally it is pretty much okay-- the occasional flare up which one or two puffs on the Albuterol inhalor quickly helps.
>
> When I have an attack, it generally feels like I am laboring to breathe, my chest tightens, and I have a slight wheezing. The inhaler stops that.
>
> WELL, I just got back from Alabama- I spent 11 days there during the Hurricane. The humidity was pretty much unbearable and I had the worst asthma attacks ever. I LITERALLY felt as if I was breathing through a straw. I would wake up in the night gasping and wheezing. My inhaler was not helping.
>
> My dad smokes and they have two dogs that are in the house so I imagine it was a combination of all the above.
>
> They put me on a new inhaler called Combivelent or something but it still doesn't alleviate that labored breathing thing.
>
> Tomorrow they are doing tests (I am pretty much a lab rat at this point, ROFL).
>
> BUT, is there ANYTHING I can do (naturally?) to help this? I am drinking tons of water and that helps some.
>
> This is driving me crazy. Asthma plus anxiety are not a good mix. ROFL
This is the end of the thread.
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