Question:
I am systematically trying to figure out what causes my asthma by - withdrawing different foods
- discontinusing usage of gas stoves/heaters
- travelling to places with different climates
- not going to work for several days (christmas helps) to exclude
occupational hazards
- etc
THe question is, how long should I spend under a certain environmental
condition to see no changes, and to conclude that this given condtion
does not matter for my symptoms? Or, is it possible for certain types
of asthma to screw up the airways so badly that withdrawing the trigger
will not cause an improvement anymore?
Answer:
this is a good question
asthma is caused by different things in different people
Only one reason I know that causes mine: particulate pollution. Ozone a tad
For some people its cold weather ( that never bothered me). Only recently
have people started to equate and measure the air near where they work and
play but by and large particulate pollution and onset adult asthma has a
correlation and why I go crazy about not doing enough. However there is one
contradiction I can't figure. they say ( whoever they are) that kids from
Hawaii have large asthma problems..considering Hawaii has great low particle
pollution other factors sometimes are in play obviously. I never though met
anyone who was affected by particulate pollution who didn't feel relief once
out of the conditions. So to answer your question, if you know the pollution
level in your area and your in acity at a low pollution count day and you
don't react favorably immediately you should know its not causing your
problem. One of the pleasures for me has been when people actually told me I
helped define why they had asthma to begin with. Of course these websites
rarely represent a majority of the people . News casters might have a fit if
I gave them too much reality.
I don't have the respiratory constrictions that is required for an
asthma diagnosis but I have had to deal with a chronic cough, chronic
bronchitis, Rhinitis, excessive mucus production, post nasal drip, and
sinus infection. I had these chronic conditions for over a 3 year
period. I took a vacation in 1985 where I took two weeks off. The
first week I spent on the ski slopes and I was coughing and had all the
mentioned symptoms. The second week I went to Martinique. I stopped
having all my symtoms 3 days after arriving on the island. I finally
figured out that the cigarette smoke in my office caused my conditions
and/or weakened me so I would react with other allergens and have my
respiratory problems. Within a few weeks of coming back from my 2 week
vacation, I started having respiratory problems again. I finally had
to quit a job where I had 10 years experience, benefits, and a good
salary. This happened in the Denver, Colorado area. Now the only
place where they allow indoor public smoking is in the gambling
cassinos.
I am not sure if this analogy holds for asthma, but it describes my allergy
reactions well: The body has a fixed capacity, like an empty glass, for
dealing with more and more allergens before an "overflow" causes symptoms.
What causes an overflow today might not next week or vice versa. I would often be sick in bed the day after exposure to a moldy basement or
extremely dusty house or long time outdoors on bright sunny day. My friends
back then only understood the instant reaction (ie, runny nose and eyes
water when enter house with cat) and could not understand how I knew I would
be sick tomorrow from exposure today.
There is a book that I read in the 80's called "An Alternate Approach
to Allergies" that explained that a person could have a delayed
reaction to allergens just as you described. You ger exposed on
Monday, and react on Tuesday. The other thing mentioned was when you
get a "critical" level of allergens in your system and you react. This
is when your body will start to produce the histamines where you have
the allergy/asthma symtpoms. I always had problems with cigarette
smoke. The particulates would get into my sinuses and I would not
immediatly react. If I sat down to read a book or do homework, my
sysetm would slow down and I would produce less adrenalin. At this
point, my sinuses would react and I would have problems with extreme
drowsiness. I had problems getting punished at school, getting
homework done, getting laughed at, cracking up a car, and getting fired
from a job due to this uncontrollable drowsiness. Also, after being
exposed to cigarette smoke in a bar, the next morning I would awaken to
having one of my nostrils completly plugged and the membranes would be
full of mucus. My parents were heavy smokers and I still have some
resentment for the polluted environment that I had to live in and some
of the poor performance when I was younger.
