Asthma *sigh*

Since February my asthma has been out of control, don't know what's triggering it (and finding out it a long painful process), I have meds to use... but for example, in IL I had a steroid inhaler I used seasonal once a day, a rescue inhaler I used a few times a year, a pill I took seasonally, and a steroid nasal spray I used seasonally. Here in FL I'm using all of them every day, double doses, and the rescue inhaler several times a day and I'm still gasping. IT SUCKS!! It's exhausting and hard on my lungs and heart. I hate that the place I want to be seems to not want me... at least for Feb, March, April (so far).

We're looking at seasonal options like volunteering in National Parks that offer cabins, things like that so we can get me out of here some of the year once we retire (we're looking seriously at next April).

Oh that's awful. Have you confirmed that it's something seasonal vs. possibly something in the house or larger environment? For example I've had worse asthma problems due to pollution near my office -- concrete dust from parking lot renovations in one building, air pollution from a nearby asphalt plant at another.

I sympathize with the long painful process of figuring out the cause. I spend way too much time playing the "what am I allergic to now" game.

I went from being a very healthy kid/teen to someone who always had allergies/asthma when I moved to Florida. Humidity and mold did me in. I was even worse in AZ, but because I liked it there, I put up with it. It was the dust there.
I have been pretty much asthma free since i moved back to MA, so there is something very real about trying to figure out environmental causes.

It's worse when I'm home, unfortunately. There previous owner dealt with a leaking pipe that ruined the kitchen cabinets and a lot of the drywall, it was professionally cleaned and repaired, but I'm guessing there's some mold in the walls. Add to that all kinds of new pollen and it's pretty un-fun.

I'm calling a pulmonologist to see about starting the testing procedure, dreading it, but moving again would be a really big financial hit right now.

I'd see an allergist instead. Just my opinion. It was an allergist that helpe me the most when I was really sick in AZ. Like, having to use a nebulizer before I taught aerobics! The pulmonologist seemed baffled by my "specious" asthma, with no wheezing.

You've recently moved to Florida which leads me to concur with Crankin. Every time I've moved I've had problems for a couple of seasons as my asthma adjusted to the new environment/pollen mix/ etc. The allergist may be able to help you more quickly, it's worth checking out. I don't have "normal" asthma, but what they call a "cough variant" form, though I do wheeze - but after a certain point the coughing reaches pretty extreme levels for me.

I really hope it turns out to be more pollen related than a mold issue, crossing my fingers for you!

Thanks for the suggestion, I know when my honey went to a pulmonologist, the guy did nothing for her. Never occurred to me to try an allergist.

If you haven't spent much time in the area before, unfortunately I'd tend to suspect molds. Allergies need exposure to develop a sensitivity to a particular allergen - I had three or four good winters in Florida before I became just as allergic to cedar pollen as I am to ragweed, sigh (as in, if I don't get the shots, I'm literally very close to incapacitated for the whole season). Still, while removing the source is always best, mold allergies are just as treatable as pollen. PM me if you want the name of my allergist in Daytona.

Thanks, Oak, I'll definitely ask about your allergist, hopefully my insurance will cover them.

If it is mold in the house, I may just have to bite the bullet and have a mold remediation done. I swear, it would probably be cheaper for me to tear out the drywall and have it replaced than have a "mold specialist" get their mitts on the condo.

Probably cheaper and just as effective. That's pretty much what we found when we were researching after we had roof damage the year of the four hurricanes. It's Florida, after all, where everything will turn to mold overnight if you don't run the AC, no matter how cool it is. Do you have carpet or curtains? Those would be the first things to get rid of. Anything that retains moisture. Spray the floorboards with a 10% bleach solution before they lay the new floor covering. Then you can get a UV light installed in your AC - ours has been really great at keeping the mold down - might want to get the ducts cleaned first.

My honey has had pretty awful asthma for decades (although she's been fine here in FL for some reason), so we pulled the carpet and out in tile, no curtains, one small new area rug... but we didn't have the ducts cleaned when we moved is, so that would be a good next step, thanks.

Moisture blocking mattress covers and especially pillow covers help a lot, too. Nowadays they make them with fabric over the backing, so they're not as nasty as the old rubber covers for bed-wetters. :p I'm sure they're made with a lot of scary toxic chemicals and no doubt the plastics out-gas VOCs as well, but being able to breathe is definitely an area where I'll prioritize my immediate health over longer-term danger.

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Originally Posted by Pax

Thanks for the suggestion, I know when my honey went to a pulmonologist, the guy did nothing for her. Never occurred to me to try an allergist.

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Either type of doctor should be able to help with asthma, but I agree that an allergist would probably be most helpful for you at this point.

I've gone to a pulmonologist for years for the asthma, and he's a great doctor. However he's never suggested any tests for finding out what might be triggering it. I've also never asked him for tests, since so far I've seen clear evidence of triggers.

I also go to an allergist for the chronic hives, and have had him do allergy tests which helped me determine that the hives are not caused by any common allergens and also gave me a list of specific types of pollen that cause problems for me (e.g., oak - no, maple - no, cedar - hell yes). The tests also showed that mold is not a problem for me (and I hope it stays that way!). If it was, I would have had to do my kitchen and bathroom remodeling much sooner to get rid of the old cabinets, drywall, etc that showed signs of mold.

The allergist also asks me about my asthma and I could rely on him to treat it if I didn't like the pulmonologist so much. My father has had his asthma treated by an allergist for decades and only recently started seeing a pulmonologist for it.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

ple of seasons as my asthma adjusted to the new environment/pollen mix/ etc. The allergist may be able to help you more quickly, it's worth checking out. I don't have "normal" asthma, but what they call a "cough variant" form, though I do wheeze - but after a certain point the coughing reaches pretty extreme levels for me.

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I have this too, Catrin! I've been coughing every night here in NC as we go through pollen season. It doesn't help that I go over to my mother's most days, and she has two cats, which I am also allergic to. I love the springtime for its beauty, but it is tough on those of us with asthma or allergies. There was an earlier spring pollen out when we drove to Ohio for a few days, and my eyes were so pink I was scared I had conjunctivitis, but they promptly went back to normal once we returned NC, so I think it was pollen-related.

Pax, I hope you can get to the bottom of your problem. Having to use all those asthma meds does not sound good. I have only a rescue inhaler but have been having to use it before bed most nights because of the wheezing and coughing. Fortunately, this is not a normal thing for me, which is why I am not on daily asthma meds. I did use Advair for awhile years ago but got too nervous about the osteoporosis side effect that I quit it.

We were in Florida from early January until mid-March, and I did not have the asthma problems I'm having here in NC, leaving me to wonder how much of my current issues are with my mother's cats rather than pollen, because there was plenty of pollen in Florida while we were there.

I am pretty sure my osteoporosis was influenced by the many courses of prednisone I took in the 80s, along with a few other meds. My asthma was really bad right before Advair and all of that was invented, so not as many choices. In fact, my allergist in Tempe was one of the main inventors of Advair, which I found out because his brother (a psychiatrist) lives in Acton and was tangentially in my social group for awhile.
I do have a family history of osteoporosis, so I don't think the meds are the whole cause, but it seems like some of the stomach meds I have taken are also implicated in bone degeneration.
When I went to a pulmonologist about the scarring on my lungs from Valley Fever a few years ago, he was not concerned at all about having to take a rescue inhaler for occasional wheezing. It just so happened I was recovering from bronchitis and having some residual wheezing at the start of the cycling season when I went for the consult about the "spots" on my lungs that freaked out my PCP.

I'm sure it did, Crankin. My wife has horrific osteoporosis, like 12% density in her hips and lower spine. 25 years of non-stop steroid inhaler use takes a huge toll.

Emily - the news is reporting that on my side, this is the worse allergy season in decades. Funny, I thought the ocean breeze would help, but it's not usually an onshore breeze, but an inland one. I heard the other coast, near Cape Coral is one of the top 10 best places to live if you have asthma... guess we gambled wrong.

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Originally Posted by Pax

Emily - the news is reporting that on my side, this is the worse allergy season in decades. Funny, I thought the ocean breeze would help, but it's not usually an onshore breeze, but an inland one. I heard the other coast, near Cape Coral is one of the top 10 best places to live if you have asthma... guess we gambled wrong.

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Wow, who knew? My grandparents lived in Ft. Myers through their retirement (30 years), and I visited there twice a year, most years. Loved it there, though it's much more built up than it used to be.

Sorry about the terrible allergy season where you are. It's been a rough one in NC too. Until the rain we finally had yesterday, you could see clouds of pollen in the air just walking, driving, biking around. Horrible. It's been very dry, which isn't helpful.

Yup, I am feeling much better, since yesterday, too. It rained Friday night, so that must have cleared out at least some of the pollen.
Was waiting for the horrific sinus headache to start last night, after I rode, but just a few sneezes... at least this has got me to do the sinus rinse after I ride.

We had a wrath of god rainstorm the other evening that dropped the pollen quite a bit, so nice to take a full breath! My lungs feel tired though, struggling to breathe for over two months seems to have worn me out.

Cough variant asthma is the pits. I have been in asthma Hell for the past week. Started with a standard cold (2nd one this Spring, grrr...), now it's constant coughing. I've been on allergy shots for 2 years, too (for 9 different airborne things. My 10th allergy is crustaceans. Nothing to do for that, just can't eat my favorite shellfishes)! Most people say it takes 2-3 years for them to really kick-in, so I hope this is my last Spring of misery. It sucks when this is when I should be ramping up for Spring/Summer races. I haven't registered for anything, yet, since my health has been so sketchy for the past 6 weeks. When I get a cold it generally spells a solid month of coughing and crap lung function.

Last Spring we were in the FL Keys in early April and I was really miserable. No clue what was setting me off, but probably all of the green. Trees and grass are my big triggers and everything was in bloom.

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

When I get a cold it generally spells a solid month of coughing and crap lung function.

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Ditto! And my mother wonders why I have a stashes of hand sanitizer (just the alcohol type -- not anti-bacterial) everywhere. I just hate getting a cold. So sorry you're suffering, Kirsten. Two colds in a short span of time is just not fair!

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

Ditto! And my mother wonders why I have a stashes of hand sanitizer (just the alcohol type -- not anti-bacterial) everywhere. I just hate getting a cold. So sorry you're suffering, Kirsten. Two colds in a short span of time is just not fair!

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Oh, my DH makes fun of me for using the cart wipes at the store, but hand/foot/mouth disease is making the rounds, here!

When I first started going to my pulmonologist I had colds pretty frequently. He always focused on treating the head congestion and reducing the mucus there (I really hate word "mucus") to keep it from settling in my lungs and turning into a bad cough. That's still my #1 strategy when I get a cold. But also I'm lucky that my asthma symptoms are usually well-controlled so I'm able to increase the daily-Rx dosage or use the albuterol more if needed -- I'm not anywhere near the maximum doses for either medicine when I'm not sick.

Some years ago when there was a shortage of flu vaccines and I worked in an office building where several floors were used for community college classrooms full of sneezing and coughing teenagers, I developed the habit of pressing elevator buttons with my elbow. And I use hand sanitizer whenever I touch things that lots of people touch, like the pen you use to sign for credit card purchases at a store or the pump handle at a gas station. Yes I know I look like a crazy germophobe, but I'd rather be crazy than wheezing and coughing.

So, kinda odd, I started going to the chiropractor this week, I've had two sessions. She said the muscles around my lower rib cage in the back are in spasm probably from struggling to breathe for so long. She worked them over very hard, and amazingly I can take a deep breath now. Really hoping that can be fixed over the long-term.

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Originally Posted by Pax

So, kinda odd, I started going to the chiropractor this week, I've had two sessions. She said the muscles around my lower rib cage in the back are in spasm probably from struggling to breathe for so long. She worked them over very hard, and amazingly I can take a deep breath now. Really hoping that can be fixed over the long-term.

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That makes a lot of sense, she sounds like my chiropractor. He does wonders with my various arthritic and otherwise broken bits by loosening fascia and working on muscles. Glad you are breathing a bit better, it does help :cool: