What are some good treatment options for asthma?
February 12th, 2005 by admin
xfightfair asked:
I’m 90% sure I have asthma, though I haven’t been to the doctor to confirm it yet (I have an appointment for later this week). I hate taking medicine of any kind, for any reason. I don’t take pills when I have a headache, and I don’t usually take antibiotics when I’m sick either, I like to let things work themselves out. (I’m not asking for a lecture on that subject, so don’t even bother.)
I’m 90% sure I have asthma, though I haven’t been to the doctor to confirm it yet (I have an appointment for later this week). I hate taking medicine of any kind, for any reason. I don’t take pills when I have a headache, and I don’t usually take antibiotics when I’m sick either, I like to let things work themselves out. (I’m not asking for a lecture on that subject, so don’t even bother.)
I’m sure I could discuss this with my doctor, but I’m thinking she’ll probably push some sort of generic medication, as doctors typically do, so that’s why I’m asking here. Other than pills, what are some good treatment options for asthma?
Oh, I forgot to mention that a friend of mine suggested that placing eucalyptus in my room might help a bit. Does anyone know if that’s true or not?
- Posted in Asthma
February 14th, 2005 at 4:30 pm
i have my doubts about that eucalyptus thing!!!
specific breathing exercises are excellent if followed religiously!!! they usually involve breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, search online for more info!!
good luck!
February 15th, 2005 at 10:38 pm
Advair, inhaler, breathing machine
February 18th, 2005 at 5:12 am
I like you dont like taking medicine-Un fortunatley sometimes you have to for your own sake-It dosent harm to get checked out get advice then its entirely up to yourself if you take the advice given at least you will know what you are dealing with
February 20th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
The best way to avoid medicine in your case is knowing yourself reactions. The point is that you may have an hyper reactive bronchus, which means that your bronchus react to an specific environment agents. If you could find out what environment agents make you bronchus react, you can avoid some medicines. Currently, doctors (pneumologists) are using some products to make bronchus less sensitive, cause sometimes is very tough to discover which is the. These work as an preventive medicine and have made a huge differences regarding to avoid asthma medicines. In a nut shell, prevention is the best way.
February 23rd, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Asthma won’t just ‘work itself out’. I’ve had times where I was not being medicated well enough for my asthma and I’m certain that I was having a severe asthma attack for about a week. I honestly thought that I was going to drop over on the steps one day. Asthma kills hundreds of people every year, so it’s in all asthma sufferer’s best interest to stay on top of it.
If you are able to wait for a doctor appointment, then there is a possibility that your asthma isn’t so bad. The ‘generic medication’ for asthma is the ubiquitous Albuterol inhaler. For someone with mild intermittent asthma, that might be all they need. Carrying an inhaler to rescue yourself and giving yourself a treatment maybe 4 or 5 times a month is minor, considering the scope of terrible, irreversible, and potentially fatal things that asthma can do. It you need long-acting controller medication, as would be prescribed for more frequent symptoms, it really is a good idea to take it.
The best non-medicinal solution for asthma is to learn what your triggers are and avoid them. For me, diesel exhaust, ozone, smog, extreme amounts of dust, stress, and higher temperatures/humidity make my asthma troublesome. Some can be avoided, some are inevitable, and others can be avoided but accidental exposure happens. There are all sorts of asthma triggers. Finding what yours are is the best way to avoid asthma attacks.
There is a standardized asthma treatment algorhythm called GINA. It helps medical professionals determine the severity of asthma and recommends specific treatments. Your doctor will be drawing from it, not pushing any certain medication upon you. The health community has made great advances in asthma control in the last two decades. According to a Pulmonologist I worked with, asthma as the main cause for hospital admission is now rare, where it was fairly common before Advair came out. When people with asthma accept their disease state, follow their doctor’s orders, and take care of themselves, they should be able to live long and productive lives with asthma.
If you decide that standard asthma treatments are not for you, you may miss school/work because of your symptoms, be unable to sleep due to having an uncontrollable cough at night, have reduced tolerance to physical activity, cough sputum out of your lungs when they are agitated, and you may also have ‘the big one’ that kills you. There is also the possibility that not taking medication when an asthma attack starts can lead to hospitalization. Do you think the people in the ER care about you not wanting pills, if you show-up blue, clamped-down, and barely breathing? The possible severe health problems are incredibly more devastating than you having to carry an inhaler, take a pill, or having to take medication twice a day.
February 25th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
If you are looking for a natural remedy, place a couple of drops of ONE of the following oils on a tissue and sniffing the aroma. Choose your favourite from Chamomile, Bergamont or Lavender.
February 27th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
Nothing really - your inhaler is the only way to prevent/treat an asthma attack - no quack home/herbal remedies have proved effective at all
March 3rd, 2005 at 8:32 am
You will probably need an albuterol inhaler even if you don’t think you need it now, it’s a good thing to have on hand.
If you don’t want to use the inhaler and have mild asthma, you can drink a few cups of strong coffee to ease the asthma attack.
Coffee helps Asthma
Researchers looked at all the published clinical trials studying the use of oral caffeine to treat asthma. They analysed only clinical trials that compared patients taking oral caffeine to those taking a placebo and evaluated the effect on lung function. Two studies used a ‘low’ caffeine dose of 5 mg per kg of body weight and four studies used a ‘high’ dose of 6-10 mg per kg of body weight. The average amount of caffeine per cup of coffee is between 30mg and 150 mg.
The results:
Six methodologically sound trials with a total of 55 patients were included in this review. All found that oral caffeine improved lung function measured by forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF). FEV1 showed a small improvement up to two hours after caffeine. Mid-expiratory flow rates also showed a small improvement with caffeine and this was sustained for up to four hours.