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Who else has a ton of asthma problems?
- Thread starter Raina
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GoldenDelicious
New member
didnt you build a new home in the past year? do you have an athma management plan? when is the last time you looked through your home and life for potential trigger factors?Raina said:
sure asthma severity can change with time, but usually, its a change in the environment taht does it...any new plants? changed perfume? rugs? pillows? carpts? pets? moved home? new drugs?
take a good hard look at whats going on around you raina, hopefully you can find whatever it is without having to resort to corticosteroids to keep your asthma under control
good luck
and, um...nice av
We remodeled our house last year but we didn't live here during any of that. And now the projects that are going on downstairs are polyed off and he has a dust collection system going.
It's just progressed a lot over the last 6-7 years. I've lived in various places, even different states. Maybe I should wear a mask all the time. Or live in a bubble!
It's just progressed a lot over the last 6-7 years. I've lived in various places, even different states. Maybe I should wear a mask all the time. Or live in a bubble!
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BrothaBill
Guest
Ewww, having asthma is sooo not sexy, what a turnoff.
No asthma here, but I've been having mystery allergy problems lately. I never used to have allergies, but over the last month or two, something changed.
I can't figure out what the trigger factor would be, I've lived in the same place for almost fifteen years, and have had the same cat for ten. My stupid doctor just wants to treat the symptoms, he gave me the bum's rush exam and a scrip for Allegra-D (and Xanax to deal with the anxiety when I can't breathe...). I gotta go back and INSIST on a full allergy screening.
I've been stable as long as I take the Allegra prophylactically, but if I miss a dose it takes a day or more to get back to normal. And last Thursday night we had a rain storm and it brought something along with it that made me much worse, I started having sneezing fits and my eyes and nose were running like a faucet, then by Saturday it just stopped.
This shit is all new to me, and I hate it. The neighborhood pharmacist says that this spring and summer he's seen a lot of of new complaints just like mine, older patients who have never had allergy problems in their lives, suddenly coming down with symptoms.
I can't figure out what the trigger factor would be, I've lived in the same place for almost fifteen years, and have had the same cat for ten. My stupid doctor just wants to treat the symptoms, he gave me the bum's rush exam and a scrip for Allegra-D (and Xanax to deal with the anxiety when I can't breathe...). I gotta go back and INSIST on a full allergy screening.
I've been stable as long as I take the Allegra prophylactically, but if I miss a dose it takes a day or more to get back to normal. And last Thursday night we had a rain storm and it brought something along with it that made me much worse, I started having sneezing fits and my eyes and nose were running like a faucet, then by Saturday it just stopped.
This shit is all new to me, and I hate it. The neighborhood pharmacist says that this spring and summer he's seen a lot of of new complaints just like mine, older patients who have never had allergy problems in their lives, suddenly coming down with symptoms.
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BrothaBill
Guest
Mr. dB said:
THe problem with saying someone has asthma as a doctor is that its a catch-all term, it doesnt mean anything. The truth is a doctor says that b/c they dont know what it is, not in every case b/c there are many causes to it and there is no easy test to determine what the actual cause is. Its like in my world of cardiac medicine and people tell me they have heart failure or a doctor orders sends a patient to me and says rule out chf or congestive heart failure. Thats a symptom, chf is a symptom its not the cause or a diagnosis. It could be that the heart muscle is too stiff and it doesnt filll properly even though the heart has enough squeeze and the ejection fraction is normal does not mean they dont have heart failure. It simply means, heart failure that is, is that the heart is not keeping up with demand. So how do we treat it, it depends on what the cause of the symptoms is, if its stiff heart muscle, we prescribe a betablocker to relax the heart muscle and a diuretic. That way we reduce preload, the filling pressures of the left ventricle and then a diuretic to reduce fluid in the system that the heart needs to pump against and reduce afterload and bingo weve cured it right. No we havent, they still have heart failure we just treated the symptoms, heart failure another symptom is swollen ankles like in lil old ladies but that can because by varicose veins, thats the cause so you say its 80% caused by heartfailure and 20% incompetent leg veins etc... Heart failure is this, in just one case out of many is this, the blood cant fill in the heart because of increased left ventricular pressure and it backs up into the lungs, high pulmonary pressure and they have trouble breathing and get rawls and such it backs up into the venous system, the right heart has increased pressure and then the ankles swell, see its all a system and on the way what if they have liver cirrhosis and the swelling cuts of blood flow in the inferior vena cava, you see all the pieces of the puzzle have to be looked at, all things need to be ruled out to find the diagnosis, the true diagnosis, that is what a specialist of medicine does, they specialize in a particular system of the body to treat it. The same thing as asthma in some sense, but heart failure is not the cause of asthma, at least not in all of medicine. But a leaky heart valve can cause the same problem with the lungs, same thing with a histamine reaction can cause asthma from allergies or heart failure can be caused b/c they had a heart attack the heart can squeeze normally anymore, completely different cause from each other but still falls under the umbrella term of heart failure and lead to asthma like symptoms or promblems with the lungs so that the lungs cant keep up with oxygenation requirements, this can also be caused by hyperventilation but its not the same as asthma or is it, see the conundrum with practicing medicine, you practice it medicine. So in medicine you need to not describe the symptoms, ie heart failure or asthma, but make a diagnosis. When a doctor cannot make a diagnosis they say you have asthma or they say you have heart failure, it simply isnt good medicine to do that but thats all they can do without doing a battery of tests. So you treat the symptoms with medications until one day you go to a pulmonary specialist and get the real diagnosis, thats why you go to a cardiologist when you have heart failure. So what is my suggestion to those who have asthma, go to a pulmonologist and get the proper diagnosis. Its like trying to find out the cause of a fever. There is a huge list of things that cause a fever, I mean absolutely huge, so you take a history, you take in as many variables as possible and start eliminating things from the list until that which remains, however improbable is the true diagnosis as Sherlock Holmes would advocate using deductive logic. So if you want to eliminate the source you must first find out what it is and that is done not by going to a general practicioner, you shouldnt go to them for a mental health reason, you should go to a psychiatrist same for asthma. Go to a pulmonary specialist, its worth the time so that you dont continue to have problems, its your best chance of helping yourself and your health. There are many causes to these symptoms, just find out what is causing it in your individual case. Thats my two cents on this issue.
vansmack2000
New member
Had it my whole life, hospitalized once too. I hear ya about inhalers all over the place. I try to use stock up when i got extra scripts.
I read that of you have an asthma issues and no inhaler, drinking coffee helps. MacGyver ha!
I read that of you have an asthma issues and no inhaler, drinking coffee helps. MacGyver ha!
IvanOffelitch
Well-known member
I had asthma uber-bad when I was a lil' torker. I can vividly remember one particularly nasty episode when I was playing next door with some friends, then suddenly I couldn't breathe at all. 
I remember gasping for air, and running inside the house to get my mom. By then I was able to just squeak some air in & out, and she rushed me to the doctors.
Obviously I survived.
(lol)
Strange thing is, for whatever reason, I just seemed to outgrow my asthma attacks. I came down with the occasional case of bronchitis, but never had anymore full-fledged asthma attacks once I was into my teens.
To add insult to injury, you can add ~20 years of smoking (off and on) to the mix. (yes, I quit a while back)
Still, no asthma attacks, just the occasional bout of bronchitis.
I remember gasping for air, and running inside the house to get my mom. By then I was able to just squeak some air in & out, and she rushed me to the doctors.
Obviously I survived.
(lol)Strange thing is, for whatever reason, I just seemed to outgrow my asthma attacks. I came down with the occasional case of bronchitis, but never had anymore full-fledged asthma attacks once I was into my teens.
To add insult to injury, you can add ~20 years of smoking (off and on) to the mix. (yes, I quit a while back)
Still, no asthma attacks, just the occasional bout of bronchitis.
GoldenDelicious
New member
translation for the normal people in the audience: asthma is a difficult diagnosis, so stop breaking your doctors balls about itluciasbrown said:
brothabill, your communication skills could use some work, youre a doctor not a hypnotist
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BrothaBill
Guest
Mr. dB said:
Yes, it is simply a description of the symptom that has many causes. It is not upper respiratory although its part of the upper respiratory symptom since its an immflamation of the lining of the nose. Thats what the suffix ~itis means. An imflammation of. You just and the prefix to describe. IE... Tonsilitis, imflammation of the tonsils, appendicitis, imflammation of the appendix, etc...'
You see thats how medical terminology works. Now you know what ~itis means, now look up with rhin~ means and put it all together. It is not the cause, it is a description of the symptom of the actual diagnosis. Your GP doesnt know the cause so he writes down rhinitis.
So what is rhinitis~
Rhinitis means inflammation of the lining of the nose. The moist tissue (mucous membrane) that lines the nose becomes inflamed, causing swelling and blocking the airflow. Rhinitis also causes overactivity of the glands in the mucous membrane, causing excessive mucus production and a watery discharge.
Rhinitis is a symptom of the common cold and of hay fever (allergic rhinitis). Hay fever is an allergy to grass, weed and tree pollens, moulds, hair, feathers, skin scales (dander), house mites, house dust or other airborne substances. It causes sneezing, stuffiness and a watery discharge from the nose.
There are several varieties of rhinitus:
* Vasomotor rhinitis happens when the nerves that control the blood vessels supplying the mucous membrane are disturbed. The membrane becomes over-sensitive to hormonal, climate or psychological changes, and causes sneezing and a watery discharge. Vasomotor rhinitis is an intermittent condition, meaning that it can come and go.
* Hypertrophic rhinitis happens when there has been repeated or long-term inflammation of the mucous membrane. The lining of the nose thickens, causing a feeling of stuffiness that doesn’t go away.
* Atrophic rhinitis happens when the mucous membrane shrinks, usually as a result of sarcoidosis, tuberculosis or nose surgery (rhinoplasty). The symptoms are dryness, crusting and loss of the sense of smell.
You see this imflammation can have several causes, several things that can be the actual diagnosis. But its not serious and doesnt warrant the cost and expense of ordering all of the medical tests to determine what the cause is. So he treats the symptom of rhinitis with the medication that works best and relieves the symptoms.
Its a catch-all term like most medical terms are, unless it is really important then the cost doesnt justify any further medical treatment unless the patient deems it necessary and goes to a specialist for it. Its most likely allergies in most cases so they it sounds like you have allergies but really it can be a symptom of many things, from allergies to a cold virus. Time heals all wounds so that is the most likely course of treatment, give it time and make the patient comfortable until it passes, hence the famous phrase~ take two aspirin and call me in the morning. Why? B/c he has a whole clinic full of people he has to treat and its conservation of time so that he can go treat the more serious patient that has cancer and is dying in the next room and comfort and care for him and his family so he doesnt spend more of his valuable time trying to treat something thatll prolly go away by itself, its called triaging.
Thats just the way the medical system works, so people get frustrated and pissed and dont appreciate what a doctor does, but if they had to go into the next room and look into the eyes of a dying patient and their family why they beg him to fix them, save my life, then they wouldnt be so pissed at the doctor who is just doing the best job that he can being only a human.
So thats why they write down the symptom, not the disease. It goes on and on forever, but I dont want to write a book on it.
Simply put, you have an imflammation of the lining of your nose and no one knows why, at least it hasnt been established to current medical certainty which isnt necessary.
lol@GD, Ive just been in the mood to argue and debate the last few days, doesnt matter what side I choose to be on that particular day, just having some fun. And I forgot to mention about the heart failure that the stiffened left ventricle, the muscle or myocardium of the heart may not be the diagnosis is either, sure it can be twisted actin and myosin cardiac tissue make it tough or just a byproduct of old age. But what if its hypothyroidism causing that, since it messes up the metabolism of the entire animal it messes up the metabolism of the heart making it stiff and unable to relax etc.... So you treat the disease, that is the poor thyroid function and then bingo, no more heart failure, but conversely, hyperthyroidism can cause an irregular heart atrial fibrillation. The heart loses the atrial kick about 25% and it goes into heart failure too b/c it cant keep up with demand, so you give medication for that too and you convert them into a normal sinus heart rhythm and bingo, no more heart failure. So the list goes on and on as to what it may be, thats why they run a battery of tests to figure the shit out and you get the blood draws and labworks etc.... Then they send them to GD and he hooks them up with what he does as a profession to ensure that they get the medication and they dont mix medications that may kill them etc... Everyone doing their part in chain of medical care, from the nurse who meets you all the way to the pharmacist who gives you lifesaving medications. The circle is then complete!!
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WONDERBUNN
New member
I've had allergic asthma since childhood. Since moving to vegas it has been getting worse with all the pollution and pollen.
I underwent 2 years of immuntherapy, which has helped with my allergies tremenously.
Couple of treatments that are new are : http://www.xolair.com/index.jsp
Its supposedly a miracle worker, when all else fails.
another that has worked for me is an OTC supplement called Rosmarinic Acid Extract. It can be purchased at www.lef.org
If u don't have a specialist, i highly recommend one.
I was seeing an allergist-for allergies and asthma
Ear nose throat - to rule out issues with sinuses (dam can't spell it)
Respirtory specialist- for possible treatment with XOLAIR and rule out respiratory infections.
I still feel like shit sometimes, I think the only real soultion for me is a change in climate. My asthma and allergies do great in a tropical enviornment.
I underwent 2 years of immuntherapy, which has helped with my allergies tremenously.
Couple of treatments that are new are : http://www.xolair.com/index.jsp
Its supposedly a miracle worker, when all else fails.
another that has worked for me is an OTC supplement called Rosmarinic Acid Extract. It can be purchased at www.lef.org
If u don't have a specialist, i highly recommend one.
I was seeing an allergist-for allergies and asthma
Ear nose throat - to rule out issues with sinuses (dam can't spell it)
Respirtory specialist- for possible treatment with XOLAIR and rule out respiratory infections.
I still feel like shit sometimes, I think the only real soultion for me is a change in climate. My asthma and allergies do great in a tropical enviornment.
B
BrothaBill
Guest
Mr. dB said:
LOL, no thats not my point, Im simply explaining why a GP writes it down on your chart and doesnt do much else, just an explanation of how the system works. What Im saying is that if its important enough to you then you have to be your own advocate for your health and see a specialist to actually get treated for it. That means you ask for a referral to a specialist to treat it. Its about being a partner with you doctor for you to get the care you deserve and that means educating yourself as to what it is before and after you go to a physician, afterall its your health, no one elses. Work with your doctor and tell him what you want to do in regards to your illness and he will oblige you and itll save everyone time. The problem of course is your insurance, will it cover being a time-wasting gomer, its based on usual and customary care. What is the usual and customary care that is reasonable in regards to rhinitis and is accepted medical treatments. They arent going to pay for if you ask to go see a naturopath b/c that is not usual and customary care. Its about working within the system and if you want care above and beyond what is usual and customary then you have to pay for it.
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