Hi Trish, and Joan, Yes, what Joan said is ABSOLUTELY correct. I just had a chance to read some of my email, after coming in from shoveling all that we have to shovel_only took 3 1/2 hours to hand shovel everything, since my sister-in-law and I did it together. We have a whole lot, and more to come with the rubber roof lets its load loose. Yes, my immune system is fantastic, and probably because of this asthma. I haven't been sick for 44 years, which is GREAT. Lexus and Mike always have colds, or are always fighting colds_my residents at the home were very sick at times, yet I never caught anything. Probably carried a lot of germs home to Mike and Lexus, but I was never sick with a cold, or anything. Just, when I am around some things, my breathing passage can slam shut, and that's it, until I get my emergency inhaler out. Or I could lose my voice just like that, from something in the air, and after that the breathing passage starts to close. Or I could look thin one minute, and look really overweight the next_I've actually grown right before Mike's eyes, when we tried sitting outside the one summer. We are hoping that I am even better this year, so we can sit at the side of our house again, someday. I look normal, and very healthy, but this can happen at any moment, with whatever passes by me in the air. It could cause me to aspirate suddenly, also, which is never good. I did have a friend, who had NORMAL asthma, which she had since childhood. She hadn't grown out of it, as some say can happen. She was in her late twenties, married with two children. She heard of what you said, back then, in the 80s, and tried it. When she went to the Chiropracter (sp?), it made her problem a little better, with her everyday breathing problems a little less, but it didn't take it away. She still had allergy problems, and the breathing problems. And a big bill to pay on top of all her other doctor bills. The ONLY thing the doctor told me I can do for this is exactly what Joan said, to stay away from what triggers it. I am not allergic to anything, unless I am pre-exposed to perfumed products, or people who use them in their homes, or on their bodies. So, I don't have to take any kind of meds at all. I'm not a med taker. I was on meds for allergies for 3 1/2 years, holding onto furniture to make sure my feet were still on the ground. These were inhalers, pills, etc. I took myself off the meds, and when I told the doctor how I felt half the time, he quickly said, "Get off the meds!!!" Told him I already had, and he said good. Okay, next question to doc was "What do I do now? How do I exist?" I am a real people person_was doing volunteer work equalling two full time jobs. He started taking down everything I was allergic to, and in the middle of it, said he was sending me to an allergist. He began writing the referral up, and when I got to perfumes, laundry products, etc. in my list, he stopped writing the referral, and tore it up. Said he was not going to waste my money. That's when he told me there is nothing they can do about it, that they weren't even researching it at that time, and all he could tell me to do was stay away from what triggers it all, which was probably the perfumed things. I told him that would be very hard, because everything has perfume in it these days, and being the Band Front Director for the high school marching band, and teaching preschool, along with all the volunteer work I was doing_how can I give all of that up! He said, "Well, it's up to you. If you want to live, you have to give up the things that put you into the position of having your breathing passage swell shut like that. It's dangerous to your health." He went on to say that there is no medicine that can help, except the emergency inhaler to get me out of an attack. So, that's what I had to do, and it's not easy, believe me, with everyone wanting to smell the way they do, and have the strongest products out there, to make everything stink these days :o) He explained it's not like normal asthma, that it's from the chemicals in the products, and in the air from these products, soaking in, when I breathe, or in through my skin. So, that's when I had to slowly give up all the things I was doing. It's like environmental asthma to the max. A lot of people have environmental asthma, sports asthma, and other kinds, yet can go anywhere they want, and do most anything they want, because their breathing passages don't swell (SLAM suddenly) shut when their exposed to these products that are normal, everyday products around your house. My body absorbs everything in the air, and doesn't let it go. I don't know of any chiropractor or accupunturist who can keep a body from absorbing chemical particals in the air. My doctor said it was from having many Anaphylactic mini-shocks for many years, when we thought they were just bad allergies_so I was constantly being exposed to the triggers. Now it is this, and the only way it gets better is to just stay away from the stuff as much as possible. Believe me, I am a LOT better now, than I was a few years ago, before I stopped being around the stuff. Back then, I was actually counting my days, wondering if I was going to wake up in the morning_or if Mike would find me dead, when he came downstairs. I would dream I was dying, and couldn't catch my breath, and it would, THANKFULLY, wake me up_sure enough, I wasn't breathing. I don't have that anymore, unless I am over-exposed. I don't have the severe, daily migraines, and my head isn't swollen to the point that when I press on it, the finger dents stay in for days. So, what I am doing, is working, and what the doctor told me, is working. To the NORMAL person, it doesn't seem it, but I wouldn't be able to have any visitors at all, if I were like I was a few years ago. I just have to be very careful. I have a friend, from back home, who suggested the exact same things as you did, Trish. It was hard explaining it all to her, also. No one in my family, in past generations, had anything like this that we know of. But, my first cousin sounds like she has what I have, or is getting there. We spoke for three hours, last year, after not having contact with one another for about 20 years. Not that we were fighting or anything like that, we just live far away from each other, and always did. Anyway, in talking with her, it sounds like she has what I have. But, then again, she has been around perfumed products most of her working life, and it could have been just a coincidence that she was over-exposed at one point in time, also. I asked her dad, my Uncle Milt, who is my mom's brother, if he ever knew of any kind of breathing problem in the family, and he said no. I was wondering if maybe it is a result of the mustard gases that our grandfather was exposed to during WWI_he, eventually, died of the complications of being gased. Maybe the effects skipped a generation and hit mine and my cousin's. I don't know. Welp, better get busy with indoor stuff, now. Hugs from icy Columbia!!! boy, was that heavy stuff to shovel this morning! :o) Lynn Joan wrote: > Trish- > > I'm not Lynn and I don't believe that acupuncture and chiropractic are > hocus-pocus but there are limits to what each can do. Most diseases have > both > physical and mental components and it isn't always possible to be certain > that a > specific treatment is the cause of an improvement in your condition. It > is > wonderful that there was a significant improvement for you and your > friend, but > it may or may not have been the result of acupuncture or chiropractic. > > Acupuncture could possibly trigger endorphins that help with the symptoms > of > asthma making you feel better temporarily -- but it wouldn't be a cure or > remedy for the underlying cause of asthma itself. > > Asthma is partly genetic and is believed to be controlled by two genetic > markers plus environmental (pollution), viral (infections), allergens, > and > psychological factors that trigger the condition. There wouldn't be any > way that > chiropractic or acupuncture could remove the root causes of asthma (you > can't > change your genes) and I seriously doubt they could have much of an > effect on > Lynn's condition either -- unless the beneficial effect was primarily > psychological. > > I understand that you are saying as a "last ditch effort" try anything > that > you can and obviously people are free to choose to do that--but if money > is a > factor it would probably just be an unnecessary expense. > > I, too, have a form of asthma that is triggered by strong odors, mold, and > upper respiratory infections although my condition is nowhere near as > severe as > Lynn's (she and I have discussed this before). The best thing I can is > avoid > the triggers, try to keep from getting colds and other infections and > make > sure I keep my immune system working its best. Her condition may well > improve > over time (I know mine has) but avoiding the triggers is often the best > recourse. > > Just my opinion and two cents' worth--you don't have to agree. <g>