I've had asthma since I was four and I'm 29 now. The articles you have written are the best I've ever read on asthma. I was in the ER today and last Sunday with asthma. Thank you thank you thank you for posting. You just don't know how many people you've helped. I'm going to pass this along to my friends and family that are suffering from asthma
Last September, I had the mother-of-all-asthma-attacks; however being a "gallant asthmatic", I was too embarrassed to call 911 (I was home alone), so I just used my combivent (which didn't work) and hoped to improve. After this point, I remember nothing...I'm just going on what I've been told as well as EMS and hospital documentation. Someone came home and called 911 (fortunately). The paramedics treated me and transported me to the ER. My blood oxygen saturation level was 52%. One of the chief pulmonologists (who doesn't normally do ER duty) was awaiting my arrival. I was I was dx'd with "status asthmaticus" and was in respiratory failure. I was intubated, put on a respirator and in a drug-induced coma. I was also given massive doses of steroids via I.V. I spent one week in ICU, before I was extubated and then spent another week in a "regular room" where I continued to be given steroids and rec'd oxygen via other methods. The dr. concluded that my asthma attack was triggered by "RSV", a respiratory virus babies and children usually get. (?) Anyway, I've never been that sick in my life. The moral of this story is.....don't be embarrassed to call an ambulance or have someone take you to the hospital. Had I gone sooner, it may have been easier to treat.
Great article ... I have suffered from Asthma and I'd like to share this advice.
It took me years to figure this out.
1- Make sure you have a high-quality home air-purifier, ANION is best (not Ozone). The cost ranges from $250 for a room air-purifier, that you can easily move from room-to-room or a whole-house one for about triple that price. Ask about the filters. Some are expensive while some are inexpensive but they don't last very long. If you don't have a home air-purifier, then your lungs are the purifier. Also, for low humidity (under 50%) use a good humidifier at night.
2- Eat fresh Wild-Caught ALASKAN Salmon (baked or broiled) twice per-week, or every 4-days. You really only need 6-ounces of fish per-serving (a little less for kids) to get the full benefits. If the Salmon is farm-raised OR if it isn't Alaskan Wild-Caught it will not work to calm your Asthma. NOTE: Fresh Wild-Caught Alaskan is only in season from late-April to late-Sept. ... otherwise frozen Wild-Caught Alaskan will be your only choice. Try it for 2-weeks and you'll notice a big difference. It works.
3- I have a shower filter that is specific to my water supply. It's custom tailored by zip-code. Since my water upply comes from American Water Supply company, it has Chloramine in it, which is chlorine+ammonia. So, my water filter has also has a Vitamin C attachment that removes the ammonia, since even minute ammomia mist will trigger an attack for me. Not all water supplies have ammonia in it, but mine sure does. Chlorine mist from the shower isn't good for Asthmatics either.
4- Change your pillows every 4-months if they cannot be washed in hot water. Only buy Hypo-allergenic pillows/bedding. Keep the house, especially bedrooms and bedding dust-free. Clothes, books, knick-knacks, stuffed animals, old carpeting and other dust collectors could easily trigger an attack. Keep in mind, that most fans just blow dust around. Also, make sure the house is mold-free. Mold is known to cause asthma attacks.
5- Every six months I use an herbal Lung-Cleanse that I purchase on-line. It's not sold in stores. It's just a powder (containing 5 or 6 herbs) and you mix a spoonful in a glass of distilled or purified water (not tap water) and drink once a day, for a week. It works best if taken once a day for 7 consecutive days ... every six months. It's not a new product, it's been around for years and no one has ever had an allergic reaction to these herbs.
Hope all of this helps reduce your ER visits. It worked for me and others as well.
Hi Mary -- I do the cleanse 2x per year ... early Spring and also again in the early Fall, as I was informed that those are the best times of the year for a Lung Cleanse.
Unfortunately, a few months ago, the company I used was bought out by another company. I have no way of knowing if they made any changes to the product, so I am not using them anymore. It's just too risky for me.
I'll soon be in the process of looking for a new Lung Cleanse, but since I don't need to take it again until October, I have some time on my side to research other companies/cleanses. I do not buy cleanses based on their marketing and advertising. I select the product based on other criteria -- such as, the combination of herbs, and I also determine how long they've been in business. There's no shortage of fly-by-night companies who have jumped on the herbal-cleansing bandwagon, but who sell inferior products that are ineffective ... and a big waste of $$$.
So, I am sorry I do not have a specific company I could recommend at this time. You could google Lung Cleanse and look for established companies that have been around for a long time and then google the company adding this to the search ... /reviews OR /forums.
I'll be looking into this next month as I don't really have the time right now with vacations coming up, and so on.
In the meantime, try the other suggestions, and definitely the any Alaskan Wild-Caught Salmon (COHO or SOCKEYE, etc) 2x per week, for at least 2-weeks, and you'll notice a difference. If it's farm-raised OR if it's not from Alaska (Pacific Northwest) it will not be effective in calming and reducing severity of Asthma.
Also, eliminating sugar, white-flour, wheat products and gluten in the diet has also been very helpful for some asthmatics.
Good luck to you and I hope this helps.
I'm an asthmatic and have been since I was 17 years old. The last time I went to our local ER, I was told that because my chest was "clear" my attack was in my head. So, as I am reading your article, and struggling to breathe, I keep thinking of that incident and am hesitant to go. Also the last time I went, I was told that I couldn't be allergic to Prednisone and my regular doc told the ER to go ahead and give it to me. I barely tolerate Medrol dose packs. Luckily with the Prednisone, the nurse decided not to give it to me. I keep monitoring my pulse ox (93% right now) and keep hoping it will get better. What is the best way to address the ER with how they make me feel? I take Xopenex, and have a neb I can't use because I don't tolerate Albuterol very well and insurance won't pay for Xopenex for the neb, I have to chose, one or the other.....any suggestions?
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My daughter ( 21 yr old) has tightness in her chest that can not be explained by her peak flow meter test. The nurse told me that the peak flow meter ONLY measures the large airways and my daughters problem probably is the smaller airways. Also, I am thinking couldn't it be more of an inflammation issue than a dialation issue. Also , back at the first part of Dec. her pulmonary Dr. said that he is does not know what to say when patients ask about this situation. We are very frustrated. Then my daughter after having the flu shot weeks and weeks later got the flu but I have nursed her through worse. I think the shot helped. She gets the shot every year. An asthmatic from our experience always has "clean up " to do after any infection but especially the flu. Well, I took her in to this same Dr. and she was seen by the Dr. assisstant. She did not get prescribed anything-----no antibiotic for the secondary infection-----no pregnisone. A couple days later after my daughter was worse I called in and told them that i would be getting an antibiotic with or without them that day. They called one in. A week after this ( last night) my daughter drove herself ( 5 min away ) to the ER because she was starting to have an asthma attack. There she got the much needed pregnisone which she should have already been prescribed at least a week ( ish ) ago. Do you have any advise. The Dr. office was all about wanting to help this morning but then again I did talk to the nicest one in there. I am going to leave that practice with my daughter but can't during this critical time. Any advise???? By the way her asthma is usually well controlled with the lowest dose of advair 100/50 twice a day and rarely has to call on her albuterol. From experience though if she is going to have problems it is during the winter. We live in Charleston SC and the weather is back and forth in the winter from unseasonably warm to unseasonably ( for Charleston ) cold. Also, I am dying to know if the Jupiter study is promising for the use of statins for asthma?