Asthma triggers.

[Danni]

With Asthma being such a prevelant condition these days, I thought a few ppl here might have a little info or some ideas on this.

I wondering what some of the triggers are for an attack?

Not just your normal ones, like smoke, dust mites, etc....

but the less known ones, like any sorts of foods? Change in weather/season? that sort of thing.

My son was diagnosed with asthma when he was abuot 7 months old. But it has always been the sort of ongoing type, always there, but never really any 'attacks' or sorts. About 2 years ago he had his first real 'attack', but since then you could count his asthma attacks on one hand.

Until this morning.

When I found him gasping for air and blue around the face and wheezing sooooo loudly! He handled it all quite well, but it really shook me up, so I was just wondering about any atypical triggers people might know of, as this one really came out of the blue.

Thanks.

D.

 

[oh_my_hat]

Danni I'm asthmatic and I hear that dairy foods are the worst type of food for causing attacks. I fortunately don't have a problem with any foods as I did all the tests including eating copious amounts of chocolate one day to see if I had a reaction.

I know that this isn't what you are asking but I have been using a new medication called Seretide for the last 8-10 months and it is wonderful. I used to use my ventolin inhaler about 4 or 5 times a day (2 puff each time) and since I have been using Seretide I have used my ventolin twice (both in the first weekafter starting the Seretide). It's the best thing I have ever tried and if any other asthmatics are reading this I would recommend that you ask your doctor about it.

Good luck

 

[Danni]

O_M_H - Seretide is a wonderful invention! My son has been on it now for about 12 months.

However as you will be able to gauge/understand this.....

After his attack this morning he is on his seretide, not once, not twice - but 3 times a day, along with Bricanyl every 4 hours. As you can probably imagine he is currently high as a kite and wired with steriod agression that is able to snap in a split second.

Funny you mention dairy - he was actually eating (almost drinking) milk drowned cereal when this happened and HIS first reaction was that it wa the food that did it. So I really shouldn't dismiss his idea on this straight up by the sounds of it.

 

[oh_my_hat]

Sounds like it would be a good idea to have an allergy test with dairy food.

This may sound strange too but my Grandpa, who was a chronic asthmatic, decided that after 70+ years that he would try a vegemite sandwich (I can't believe he had never had vegemite before) and he collapsed and had to be revived by a paramedic so I guess there a quite a few foods that can trigger flare ups.

 

[campbell]

Sorry to hear about Nic Danni.

As you know both my treasures are asthmatics.

When we lived in melbourne, both were hospitalised for their asthma on many occaions. Drips , oxgen the whole lot.

I had both tested by a respiratory allerigist. He checked for allergies of allsorts, including blood testing. He cheked spirometers etc.

My kids have intrinsic asthma.eg somthin triggers them within.
Not extrinsic, eg dust mites etc.

If they have a virus or cold etc, and the weather changes as it has been here recently, even yesterday up our way. That is a massive trigger.

Thats why Steve had the attack and was in hospital with the footy match not long ago. He was recoering from a heavy head cold, but appeared fine, but the weather changed , and was bitterly cold. He went down like a bucket of spuds.

Both are on seritide, and bricanyl daily. PLus during attacks, pumps of ventlin, atrovent, pulmicort and Prednisolone.

I would recomend getting him seen by a paediatric respiratoy specialist, privatley. Getting the allergy tests down. Getting a managment plan done.

Make sure the school has this plan.

Good luck. Hope he is feeling much better.

 

[aggels]

Yuck, yuck, asthma is scary.

Triggers I've experienced have been grass seed, rabbit and cat fur (when they're mautling.) and thunderstorms and humidity. Actually because of these triggers, my worst time for asthma is this time of year.

Gotta echo everyone else saying see the doctor about it though, can never be too careful when it comes to asthma, but that goes without saying.

 

[goalumpire]

Danni,

I have asthma. The best thing to do with your son is to buy a nebulizer for him and then clean his room. Make sure it is not dusty. Dustmites are the worst for asthmatics, especially if it is in his room.

Atrovent, Bricanyl, ventolin are used for me, especially before going to umpire footy.

 

[catgirl2002]

Originally posted by Danni
With Asthma being such a prevelant condition these days, I thought a few ppl here might have a little info or some ideas on this.

I wondering what some of the triggers are for an attack?

Not just your normal ones, like smoke, dust mites, etc....

but the less known ones, like any sorts of foods? Change in weather/season? that sort of thing.

My son was diagnosed with asthma when he was abuot 7 months old. But it has always been the sort of ongoing type, always there, but never really any 'attacks' or sorts. About 2 years ago he had his first real 'attack', but since then you could count his asthma attacks on one hand.

Until this morning.

When I found him gasping for air and blue around the face and wheezing sooooo loudly! He handled it all quite well, but it really shook me up, so I was just wondering about any atypical triggers people might know of, as this one really came out of the blue.

Thanks.

D.

Asthma seems to be one of those mysterious illness that people know little about. I am learning more about mine, day by day. I usually don't get many attacks, but lately it has been increasing .

My asthma has just recently gotten worse, the last two days the trigger was tomatoes. I guess it is different for some people, most days mine is barely noticeable. I am on a new medication called atrovent. It seems to work really well.

I have found that sometimes they can just occur out of the blue. I hope he gets better Danni

 

[BluesBabe666]

I am athsmatic and i cant be near cats at all otherwise i go into serious attack mode, cant drink cordial either!!!!

 

[ruck_roving]

Re: Re: Asthma triggers.

Originally posted by catgirl2002


Asthma seems to be one of those mysterious illness that people know little about. I am learning more about mine, day by day. I usually don't get many attacks, but lately it has been increasing .

My asthma has just recently gotten worse, the last two days the trigger was tomatoes. I guess it is different for some people, most days mine is barely noticeable. I am on a new medication called atrovent. It seems to work really well.

I have found that sometimes they can just occur out of the blue. I hope he gets better Danni

Jen,

I have had the same problem. Except with me it was the pollen in the air.

Which device do u use? I use the autohaler which is black. I have to have that every 6 hours.

Does your hubby get asthma?

 

[Jars458]

Alcohol - esp white win
Cat fur
Dog fur
smoke

These are the things that set of my fiance anyway

Her mum and sister can't go in a room where a cat has been never mind be near a cat. Scary stuff.

 

[Philj]

Asthma is a scary thing. My little guy has been diagnosed with it since about six months. He is now 4. Thankfully never had the severe case you are talking about. We also have a nebuliser but have tended not to use it the past year. Check and see the current advice on teh benefits of using nebulisers - I noticed the hospital has tended to use a spacer the last couple of visits#.

At one stage we were have some sort of an attack every month or so and scuttling to hospital every three or so months. His triggers seem to me external - v windy days blowing in dust, idiots burning off, some plants*. In each case he would quickly degenerate. What we have found over the past year is that if we hammer colds/sniffles at the first sign, then there is no problem.

From your discription, it sounded like an allergy. Our guy reacted to a speck of peanut early on. Definitely check for that (not a nice experience). You will now find yourself spending half your time in supermarkets reading teh contents of packaged foods. Check the cereal as well as the dairy.

# Admittedly about a year or so ago.

* The woman over the back (who's kid also has asthma) got us to get rid of a plant we had growing - Jasmine or soemthing like that - about a year ago. I don't know which helped but damned if I'm going to scientifiaclly examine which one helped and which didn't.

 

[Mooster7]

Asthma can get serious. If your child has respiratory distress to the point that he is turning blue, I would call an ambulance. I don't know how your EMS system works. Here, we will treat an asthma patient at home without transport, and not send a bill for the service. Get a prescription inhaler or other breathing treatment and keep it handy and stocked. Don't let the medication go out of date.

A friend of mine died from an asthma attack, and I got the call. He was so locked up, there wasn't anything to be done for him. He still had a pulse upon our arrival. Dropped a tube in him. I don't know if you've watched many medical TV shows, but there is a bag you squeeze and it forces pure oxygen into the lungs. This friend of mine was so locked, we couldn't get anything in. It was like trying to squeeze a football. We ran like hell to the hospital, all you could do was watch him die.

Lots of things can trigger an attack. It's important to note the patients environment at the onset to help recognize a trigger. Some key triggers

ALLERGENS: Anything that can cause an allergic reaction can trigger an asthma attack. It can be absolutely anything from Apples to.....something that starts with the letter 'Z'.

VAPORS: Weather vapor, perfumes, smog, disinfectants, cleaning products, aromatic candles, - you never know.

WEATHER: Changes in temperature, barometric pressure, humidity. The seasons are changing. Was this asthma attack at a time of day when the outside conditions were changing? The seasons themselves are in change (as you are probably aware). Monitor this too.

Don't rule out a potential trigger just because someone else in the family who has asthma didn't have an attack. Identical twins with asthma can have different triggers.

Treatments fall into two main categories.

Corticosteroids/anti-inflammatories
Bronchodilators

There are lots of sub-types of these two main categories. Just as with the identical twins and triggers, the same medication may not work equally as well with two different asthmatics.

Peace, and take care.

 

[goal_umpire]

Originally posted by Jars458
Alcohol - esp white win
Cat fur
Dog fur
smoke

These are the things that set of my fiance anyway

Her mum and sister can't go in a room where a cat has been never mind be near a cat. Scary stuff.

My cousin who is 14 gets severe asthma from the weather to cat fur and from emotional distress. Her mother is a smoker and where they live in Ocean Grove it is very windy and cold especially during winter.

 

[you_idiot]

Re: Re: Re: Asthma triggers.

Originally posted by ruck_roving

Jen,

I have had the same problem. Except with me it was the pollen in the air.

Which device do u use? I use the autohaler which is black. I have to have that every 6 hours.

Does your hubby get asthma?

Actually, Ruck, I don't. Never had it, no one on my side of the family has had it, either. But I can identify with what my wife is going through, and whenever the asthma has her feeling run-down, I'll help her out around the flat in any way needed.

One other matter that triggers her asthma (although hardly a factor, I assume, for a seven-year-old, as is the case with Danni's kid) is stress. Some forms of stress do cause shortness of breath in some people, and I do see this happen with Jen occasionally.

The thing with the tomatoes I found to be interesting in this regard-- and after a little research, we found out that the natural MSG's found in ripe tomatoes (as opposed to the processed variety) triggers her asthma. So it looks like no more homemade spaghetti sauce from me...

We're learning more about this bit by bit as time goes on, which is a very good thing for us.

Cheers,
William

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

Cold air, foul smells, mould, dustmites, infections (colds/flu) all give me asthma.

 

[Rupert Rocks]

How are you alive?

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

Originally posted by Rupert Rocks
How are you alive?

I look after myself really well.

 

[Blue'n'Gold]

My triggers are

Salt
Pepper
and some other spices

Cigarette smoke
Grasses and pollens to a lesser degree

Not a lot of fun, but as I watch what I eat, stay away from smokers and keep clear of flowering trees, I very rarely need any medication. I still carry inhalers with me and get it checked regularly at the dr's though.

 

[IceTemple]

There is one thing in these lists that no-one has mentioned yet -- gas. Ducted heaters or any type of gas heater can trigger an attack.

I grew up with chronic asthma and nothing worked completely as mine was both intrinsic and extrinsic. It was just a matter of watching for signs of how things affected me.

Each person can be triggered differently. You slowly learn when an attack may be about to occur and how to take steps to minimise the effect.

Good luck

 

[mantis]

My daughter isn't affected by smoke, because she smokes.

But all dairy products, cats, eggs, tomatoes, oranges, & parsley, that one through me for a loop, couldn't understand that one, but I used a lot of parsley in my cooking.

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

Originally posted by mantis
My daughter isn't affected by smoke, because she smokes.

But all dairy products, cats, eggs, tomatoes, oranges, & parsley, that one through me for a loop, couldn't understand that one, but I used a lot of parsley in my cooking.

The fact is if your daughter smokes, it's not good for her anyway because it could kill her.

At school one year (1995) a boy had a fatal asthma attack simply because he was a smoker. He had asthma. Asthma and smoking don't mix.

 

[Danni]

Originally posted by IceTemple
There is one thing in these lists that no-one has mentioned yet -- gas. Ducted heaters or any type of gas heater can trigger an attack.

I grew up with chronic asthma and nothing worked completely as mine was both intrinsic and extrinsic. It was just a matter of watching for signs of how things affected me.

Each person can be triggered differently. You slowly learn when an attack may be about to occur and how to take steps to minimise the effect.

Good luck

Is it the gas itself? Or the type of heat that it provides?

The drier the heat, the more likely an attack I have found. Similar to the use of antihystamines. They dry out everything and seem to bring on an attack.

Yet using a 'space heater' - ie one that doesn't eat the oxygen out of the air - heats the oils in the columns etc etc - seems to have no affect, yet a bar heater might be nice and warm but makes everything 'drier' and brings on symptoms.

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

Originally posted by manutd/dogs
The weirdest trigger I've ever experienced was Dry Ginger Ale. It always happens, without fail. Not sure why.

It must be the colouring that's in it that gives you asthma.

It's always fine with me.