New asthma sufferer

Can I do a little "plug" here in connection with Asthma uk?

A few weeks ago I was walking my dog on the dam at Stocksbridge when I got chatting with a runner who had stopped for a rest. His name is Nigel Swallow and he's in training for the Great North Run. The charity that he's running for is Asthma UK and all donations will be greatly appreciated.

I'd never met this person before but he was such a nice man that I immediately trusted him and kicked off his fund raising with a donation.

There's an article in last weeks "look local" which states that collection points are at the opticians on Johnson street, or the factory shop on the main precinct. No doubt any donations sent to the Look Local office would find their way as well. Dig deep if you can folks......it's a very worthwhile charity.

If you happen to read this Nigel..........good luck mate.

I have had asthma most of my life and have have lots of different inhalers over the years, the ones I use now are Serevent and Salbutamol. Although recently my asthma doesn't seem controlled enough so I went to see the nurse and did a spirometry test, I sounded so wheezy it was unreal. She did recommend me trying Symbicort as they have have good results with it so going to see the doc this week. Other things you can try food wise is avoiding dairy as it is mucus forming. Gentle exercise is also good for asthma and breathing exercises, steam inhalation too.

If you lose your inhaler, a safe way to help open your lungs is set your hot water tap to high, turn the shower on and breathe in the steam.

Aeroplanes always set me off - carry your ventolin with you when you fly...

Hayfever and/or exema (sp?) are linked to asthma, and you may already suffer one or the other and find that a flare up of one exasperates the other(s)...

Speak to your GP/Astma Clinc for more info relating to the severity of asthma you suffer from... Always keep your ventolin with you, people still die from astham attacks that aren't treat...

Thanks for this thread. - My wife's asthmatic and it appears to be worsening with age. (Her brother was asthmatic as a child, but he grew out of it in his early 20's, so it appears it doesn't always go the same way.)

There's a lot of good information in here.

Aeroplanes always set me off - carry your ventolin with you when you fly...

Passenger aircraft are usually pressurised to a pressure altitude of 6000ft. That's well below the level at which you would need additional oxygen, but it's still high enough to cause some changes. In daytime you shouldn't notice too much difference at pressure altitudes below 10,000 ft (At night your eyesight may not be quite as good. - You probably aren't going to notice it, but the rods (which see in B&W and handle low-light vision) need a little more oxygen to function properly than do the cones.)

The percentage of Oxygen in the air doesn't change with altitude, but the partial pressure does. At ground level, the air you breathe contains about 20.9% oxygen. At 6000ft it still contains 20.9% but because the atmospheric pressure at 6000ft is about 79% of that on the ground, the amount of oxygen you breathe is the equivalent of breathing air at ground level which contained only 16.6% Oxygen. That's not a problem for most people, but if you've got a respiratory problem, it may exacerbate it. The air you breathe in an aircraft tends to be rather dry. Most passenger aircraft do have systems which increase the humidity, but even so it's usually rather drier than you might find on the ground (especially in the UK.

I used to have asthma a lot worse than I do now. I'd get through a blue inhaler every month and never got a full night's sleep without having to wake up and reach for it. I was on the brown one as well but that seemed next to useless.

 

My breakthrough came about 10 years ago when I saw a programme about a Russian doctor who developed certain breathing techniques designed to open up the bronchial pathways and maximise the oxygen getting into the lungs. I tried the techniques whilst sat watching the programme and the effect was unbelievable. Within a few days I could control an attack using these breathing techniques and within a week or so I no longer got attacks every night. I went from using 1 inhaler a month to 1 inhaler every 6-7 months. I also ditched the brown inhaler. (My Dr was initially sceptical, especially about me giving up my brown inhaler but now says there is no reason for me to have it).

 

I still have my inhaler with me at all times, but on the odd occasion I do forget it for an evening I no longer have a panic attack about it.

 

The only time the breathing techniques fail me is when I have a cold and a bunged up nose.

 

Like Tess says though, all these things are personal. My friend who watched the programme with me didn't make such a dramatic improvement (but then she wasn't as bad as me to begin with)

I agree with this.

I have suffered from asthma since a very young age. I was always in and out of hospital due to it. As I grew up I learnt to control my breathing and my asthma became manageable.

I now dont use any form of inhaler. I may get flamed for this and yes everyones circumstances are different but I found asthma, in part, is caused by the sufferer. Whats the first thing you do when you have an attack... panic! this then keeps triggering it and so on. The breathing technique works extremely well (yes I know its case by case) but those that have had an attack around me, I did some breathing techniques with them and they regained control of their breathing and the attack stopped.

This is all in my experience and there will be someone that will comment it doesnt work for them...

Just a quick note - if you are on the Symbicort inhaler make sure you always get it on perscription. I had a bit of a "do" a few months ago and had to buy one from the chemist at the grand total of £58 for one! No wonder it's so good, if thats how much it costs.

You do, however, need to take your blue inhaler a few minutes before taking your brown inhaler, to open up the airways and help the medication in your brown inhaler get down to the bottom of your lungs.

I've never done that, and no-one has ever told me to.

I've never done that, and no-one has ever told me to.

Glad its not just me then, the blue inhaler and brown inhaler are completely different and designed to be taken separately, therefore you only need to take your ventolin inhaler when you feel you need to, to relieve your asthma symptoms and not all the time before the brown one.

Glad its not just me then, the blue inhaler and brown inhaler are completely different and designed to be taken separately, therefore you only need to take your ventolin inhaler when you feel you need to, to relieve your asthma symptoms and not all the time before the brown one.

Cool, thats what i thought.

I used to have asthma as a child and took my inhaler all the time and if

I didn't take it I felt breathless etc but after a while I got fed up of being dependant on the inhalors and stopped taking them..5 years later and I've not touched an inhaler and my lungs are very strong and healthy