Well, it's official...

I had my physical today, and I have mild, persistent asthma. I posted a few weeks ago about suspecting I was asthmatic. I was prescribed inhaled steroids -- 2 puffs, twice a day -- and a rescue inhaler. Well, two rescue inhalers... one for home, and one for my handbag. Ha.

She said that I should know how this treatment is working within two weeks, and if I haven't improved, to give her a call so we can adjust the dosage of the daily inhaler.

Wish me luck! Unfortunately, she said I don't have much of a chance of outgrowing this, since I'm already 25.

Which steroid inhaler are you on? DH takes Advair and it really helps him, without it he has a lot of asthma attacks.

well i don't go along with the 'outgrowing' comment. my asthma started at the age of 17 and 3 months after i quit smoking 4 years ago, i lost my asthma at the grand age of 35!

so i am living proof that it can go later in life!

good luck anyway!

Bummer! At least it's manageable. My hubby takes Advair as well and he has mild asthma - he gets wheezy when the pollen is bad and is more prone to chest infections when he gets sick but the Advair has helped that also.

I hope you do "grow out of it"!

Originally Posted by tab

well i don't go along with the 'outgrowing' comment. my asthma started at the age of 17 and 3 months after i quit smoking 4 years ago, i lost my asthma at the grand age of 35!

so i am living proof that it can go later in life!

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You "lost" it because you're no longer subjecting yourself to a well known irritant - cigarette smoke. Since that's no longer causing the chronic inflammation, the symptoms went away. Exposure to a smoky environment would probably induce an attack or cause you to have mild breathing problems after. You may still yet develop other allergies later in life and colds could cause a flair up of symptoms.
To better phrase it, your immune response is not gone but your main trigger is.

The reason steroids works is because asthma is basically an immune response, much like allergies but with more factors than just histamine and mast cells causing it.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

You "lost" it because you're no longer subjecting yourself to a well known irritant - cigarette smoke. Since that's no longer causing the chronic inflammation, the symptoms went away. Exposure to a smoky environment would probably induce an attack or cause you to have mild breathing problems after. You may still yet develop other allergies later in life and colds could cause a flair up of symptoms.
To better phrase it, your immune response is not gone but your main trigger is.

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i have to disagree. one of my closest friends is a smoker, a heavy one at that. i suffer no ill effects by being in her company nor when i am subjected to cigarette smoke by anyone else.

having been told by a doctor (when my symptoms first occurred) that it was 'probably my pet cats that were causing the allergy'. i informed him that i was a cat and dog groomer and had no symptoms when grooming them. he spluttered a little and gave me no further advice.

asthma is personal. after a while you will know what triggers your attacks. for me it was laughter or being patted on the back.

i would strongly suggest that you listen to your body and not anyone who professes to being an expert with no personal knowledge of the condition.

I have had asthma for years...goes along with the allergies I have year round.When the allergies are particularly bad,so's the asthma.I have my proventil and advair,and they work quite well.I try and watch out for the upper respiratory infections...had a bad one a couple of months ago and had to fire up the dreaded breathing machine for a couple of weeks.I just use them every day and I get along pretty well.I haven't noticed any side effects from what I take...I've been using the proventil for years...the advair about 4 years.I have learned what sets things off and stay away from it as much as I can.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Which steroid inhaler are you on? DH takes Advair and it really helps him, without it he has a lot of asthma attacks.

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I take Azmacort. It's so expensive! Does anybody know if there's a generic of it that's cheaper? It cost me $50 with my insurance... yikes! It's enough to last me 2 months, but still... if I can save money at all, I'd like to!

I would ask my pharmacist if there's a generic.If there is,there shouldn't be a problem with them faxing a request for a generic scrip to your doctor's office.Or at least that's how my pharmacy works.I pay $30 with my insurance for the Advair and I think the proventil is one of the $4.00 prescriptions.They don't run it thru my insurance and I get my discount,and these days every little bit helps!

As far as I know, a lot of these inhalers are all so new that there are no generics. Maybe in a few more years for Advair. I don't know when the patent would expire for Azmacort. Even the basic arbuterol inhalers cost more now because they changed them and only a few companies make them. I bet the companies that got the bids on that are thrilled.

They're expensive but they help prevent the worse damage that can come from uncontrolled inflammation. We pay $48 with insurance for one Advair disc. Our previous insurance had a great mail order set up that used to let DH order 3 for $90 - so if you have mail order as an option I suggest you check into setting that up.
Since this is a steroid inhaler, please read the information sheet that came with it. And try to remember to rinse your mouth out after you take it to help decrease your chances of getting candida. DH's morning ritual is Advair, pills + water (some breakfast, huh? ). He also has a lot of decrease in symptoms because he takes Allegra for allergies, and Singular (a mast cell stablizer) - so you may vary well have to be back to the doctor to try different doses on your Azmacort and/or other drugs to help decrease your response to triggers.

If you're willing to go that route, seeing an allergist could help you find some things that may be your triggers.

I hope you find the right doses and combinations soon so you can get some relief.
Other things that help are the obvious things one does for allergies - keep things clean, use good filters in heat/air duct work and on vacuums. If you have something really dusty that needs cleaning... let someone else do it. You may also benefit from making sure you're not using a dusty cat litter and letting someone else pour it in after litter box changes.

Advair works great but I would use it only if nothing else works. If you ever want to get off of it you have reduce your usage extremely slowly - it took me almost two months to get off of Advair. If you don't reduce it slowly, your asthma can come back worse than it ever was.

I developed asthma when I was 2 and I'm almost 50 and I've tried probably everything. Good luck - it's not that bad and you can live with asthma.

My father was born with severe asthma. He used to be on several medications twice a day. He also had an inhaler that he used when needed during an attack.

About 7 years ago, he read a book by Dr. Weil where it was recommended that he live an organic lifestyle. My dad buys organic toothpaste, laundry soap, food, and anything he can get his hands on. My father that took several medications a day has stopped taking the meds and now just takes Advair twice a day. He's not as rigid about being organic like he was at first, but he still lives a predominately organic lifestyle.