I am still not sure whether my asthma is steroid induced or not. I am on the fence. On the one hand it could be, because I had a period of several asthma-free years in my late teens and my asthma came back when I started using steroid creams regularly. On the other hand, I have not had to increase the steroids to get an effect, like I did with my topicals.
After my scare a couple of days ago, I am putting the following regime in place:
1. Monitoring when I use my seretide by marking it on the calendar. At the moment, I am going to try dropping every third puff, as it was too much dropping every second puff.
2. Rinsing my mouth after puffs to prevent absorption of excess steroid.
3. Monitoring peak flow. If it drops to 250, reconsider increasing steroid dose (maybe drop every fourth puff instead). My average PF is 300. I would like this to increase if possible.
4. Try to do aerobic exercise to the point of breathlessness once a day.
5. Use my powerbreathe device twice a day to strengthen inspiratory muscles.
6.Research foods that are anti-inflammatory. So far, I have read that broccoli is good...
7. Try and lose some of this excess weight. I gained quite a bit after stopping steroid creams. This could be due to the changes in cortisol levels, as cortisol has an effect on body fat. It could also be that I have been much more sedentary since quitting the topicals, as sweating makes me itchy!
8. Do deep breathing exercises at least once a day. Aim to fill my lungs to max capacity to keep the airways clear and open.
If my lungs feel comfortable on this regime, I will continue for a month and then review my seretide dose, with the aim of stopping altogether eventually. This may take many months. On the other hand, it may not be achievable at all, I will wait and see. I am not going to be stupid about this.
4 comments:
Good luck - let us know how you get on. It's one heck of a plan and is only missing learning to play the trombone (maybe next month) : D
Much love xxx
Hey, trombone sounds like a good idea to me!
Dear Louise.
I wanted to ask you, haveyou ever heard about Strelnikova's breath gymnastic?
http://strelnikova.freehostia.com/
I'm not a doctor. But i had an atopical dermatit, and i'm in TSW right now. I know that this gymnastic saved many people from asthma. I have a book about Strelnikova's exercises, but it is on russian, she was from Russia. But she is so great,and so many many people are thankful and grateful for her gymnastic.I know that it's working. I'm doing it.
Maybe you could just check this website,on english. Please, let me know, if you would like to do it. I have skype,maybe i could give you some help with exercises online,if you would like of course. And if you are not afraid of my view in TSW,hehehe)
Hi minniecat.
Thank you for your advice. I haven't heard of it before, but I have heard of buteyko and sometimes use some of those methods.
I visited the site and watched the youtube video. I will definitely try it. I will post my progress!
Much love x
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