For Those of You Struggling with Asthma

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I wanted to share something I recently learned in the hope that it will help someone else.

I've had a long history with asthma, first diagnosed when I was a toddler and still living in Florida. When we moved north, I was asymptomatic for years. Practically cured we thought. It wasn't until about age eleven, that the dreaded asthma word started to come up again, this time in relation to allergies I had just spontaneously developed. Looking back, I don't think it was really asthma, just allergies--mostly to animal dander, pollens, weeds, and molds. I was put on asthma medication as a preventative measure, but really, I think allergy medication would have worked all on its own.

Asthma wasn't an issue for me, that is until just a few years ago. My son was about four or five at the time. I remember that I had gotten a cold, and that that cold had turned into bronchitis. Not being the sort to run off to the doctor for things I think I can ride out at home, I waited. I waited a long time, but I never got better. After a few weeks of this, I finally succumbed, and went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with bronchitis, and sent home. After the antibiotic treatment, I felt better. But ever since that episode, I found that I was getting sick at the drop of a hat. After several relapses I was re-diagnosed with asthma--specifically asthmatic bronchitis. For a while there, as I switched doctors from time to time, always searching for someone who could help me, I received conflicting diagnoses. One doctor told me that I couldn't possibly have asthma because I had a productive cough. His diagnosis? Anxiety. He came to this conclusion when I didn't improve after treatment.

Again, I found myself getting "bronchitis" or something like it, several times per year. I was re-re-diagnosed with asthma, and every time I was symptomatic, my pulmonologist would prescribe the same medication--Azithromycin (Z-pack) and Prednisone. Every time, I felt an immediate relief of my symptoms. I assumed it was the Prednisone.

This past March, I got sick again, and delayed going to the doctor. When I woke up on a Saturday morning, about 10 days after I had first gotten sick, I was coughing up blood, and figured I'd better get seen. My doctor didn't have hours on Saturdays, so I went to one of those Urgent Care clinics. Again, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, which I was told had exacerbated my asthma. I also had an eye and throat infection. Yep, I was a mess because I waited too long to seek treatment. Again, I was given prescriptions for a Z-pack and Prednisone, as well as a few other medications for the coughing and eye infection.

On May 13th, just a little over a week ago, I got sick yet again. By Monday, I decided that it was starting to get out of control. I liked the Urgent Care clinic so much, that I decided to go back there again. I saw a different doctor. She told me that I didn't have bronchitis. I thought I did, as that's what I'm always diagnosed with whenever I go (sometimes up to 6 times per year). She said I was having an asthma exacerbation...i.e., an asthma attack. She checked my peak flow, gave me a nebulizer treatment, and I improved slightly, but not enough. Next I got a steroid shot, and left there with a 15 day prescription for Prednisone, and a prescription for Singulair (which I had taken before, without much improvement). I was to take these in addition to my Advair and Ventolin rescue (which I had been using up to 4x/day). The doctor felt that I didn't need antibiotics this time, as technically, it wasn't an infection, just an asthma flare-up.

I didn't notice any improvement after a few days. As a matter of fact, by day six of my course of Prednisone, I was still finding it difficult to draw breath, and the coughing fits kept me awake all night. It struck me that I wasn't improving. The only difference between this last visit to the the doctor and all of my previous visits, was that I had always been prescribed antibiotics along with the Prednisone. I was curious, so I Googled for info on the treatment of asthma with antibiotics, and I found this very informative website. The research page at the site has tons of links from reputable sources finding that there is a bacterial link to many cases of asthma, and that it can be "cured" with an extended course of antibiotics. Considering how quickly I improve with the antibiotics, it made sense to me. I made up my mind to find a doctor who would be receptive to this information.

On Saturday, I spent the day at my Mom's apartment. I still wasn't feeling well, and didn't want to be alone--my husband and the kids were out all day for kung fu and errands. I was still only on the Prednisone and Singulair, in addition to my other asthma medications. I had a very difficult time at my mother's. After my third nebulizer treatment, I was flushed, and I felt like I had tied tourniquets on both of my upper arms. The pressure on my arms was awful, and my veins looked as if they were bulging. I had a lot of pain in my chest. I refused to go to the ER, but I probably should have. Yesterday morning I woke up, coughing up blood again. I went back to the clinic as it was Sunday, and the only place other than the ER that was open. My peak flow was again, not so great. I had another nebulizer treatment, and the doctor wanted to give me another steroid shot. I refused the shot, considering that I was still taking the prednisone (on day 6 of 15). I told her about the research, and she seemed receptive. But she wanted to prescribe a preliminary dose of antibiotics anyway, as she figured that I was putting too much strain on my heart.

Now here I am today. I've had only two doses of the antibiotic (500 mg each), and I'm feeling a noticeable difference. I'm confident that if I follow the extended antibiotic protocol, I may even be cured of asthma. Seriously. I'm feeling very hopeful. When I weigh out the pros and cons of trying the antibiotic treatment (one weekly dose for between 9-15 or more weeks) as opposed to indefinitely using a ton of steroidal drugs to treat my asthma, the choice is clear.

In any case, I just wanted to share this information with all of you. I wish all of you who struggle with this to be well. If you respond to antibiotics during asthma flare-ups, this could help you.

Here are a few other links (in addition to http://www.asthmastory.com hyperlinked above):


Information For Interested Physicians – Dr. David L. Hahn – http://www.asthmastory.com/research/asthmamdinfov13.pdf

Model Demonstrates Infections Cause of Asthma – ScienceDaily May 25, 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0524161240.htm

Asthma Linked to Chronic Chlamydia - http://www.drkaslow.com/html/asthma-_an_infection_.html

Infectious Asthma Research – Dr. David L. Hahn - http://www.dean.org/Foundation/resea...-research.aspx

Asthma Trial in Community Settings - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20

Treatment of Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection in Adult Asthma: A Before-After Trial - http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266851%20
Additional Research w/ Several Links: http://asthmastory.com/theresearch/

UPDATES:

Follow-up posts. (It's been a long journey.) - Here and Here. More to come shortly.