Alternative cure for asthma.

[dany_my]

Hi all,

I’d like some opinions from u guys on an alternative cure for asthma.

Current Physical Condition

Male
Sedentary for the past 2.5 years.
Height 5’ 9” and 96kg (211lbs) ..
Blood pressure 85/130 Borderline normal.
Blood sugar a bit high.
Diagnosed with mild asthma just 2 days back.

The Events

I have been experiencing coughes and phlegms for the past 1.5 months almost nonstop. It was kinda bad but now it has receded in the past 3 weeks. However, now I notice having a slight wheeze when breathing at nite and I tend to cough plegm (just a little now) whenever I laugh (go figure).

I went to see the doctor twice and still planning to go and see another one this week just to rule out TB pneumonia and what not.

I don’t know for sure what has triggered it, may be dust but I have no history of allergies to dust (lung wise) prior to this. It may also be my prolonged use of the airconditioning at nite since I live in KL (Kuala Lumpur) since the nites here can be hot. I sleep shirtless.

Anyways, the last doc I went to see has prescribed asthma medication to me to be used 3 times daily for the next 10 days (pulmicort) and to be reduced to perhaps 1 dose daily. My condition is mild asthma.

After taking the nebulizer & medicine, the weezing stopped almost immediately.

On the other hand, I have decided to look into some alternative therapies as well since I don’t want to be dependent on steroids (pulmicort) since it may have long term side effects (eg depression etc).

The question

I have just read about Buteyko method as a cure on the net.

What do u guys think?

Any other alternative therapies for asthma?

I really welcome all your opinions.

[Scott Sonnon]

Dany,

What changed in your diet and life 1.5 months ago?

[kerykes]

In answer to the Buteyko question - I've had asthma & allergies since I can clearly remember, and a very loose application of Buteyko's ideas has helped me control mild spasms & such. I don't follow Buteyko's method to the letter, but shallower nasal breathing & the control pause concept were useful. It allowed me to start letting go of 20+ years of breath-related panic so I could start with basic Be Breathed stuff.

Your situation sounds a lot different from mine, though - you may able to just fix whatever started the asthma a couple of months ago.

[dany_my]

Scott,

The past 1.5 months has not seen any difference in my diet. Typical Malaysian food (curry, fish, internal organs, beef, veges etc) and minus white rice for the most part but using brown rice or brown bread as a substitute (no change in diet for at least the past year).

I avoid all sugars in my drinks plus I've never taken any hard drinks in my life.

If u have a hard time imagining Malaysian food, think a cross of Thai, Chinese and Indian food. Basically rich, hot and spicy for the most part.

Apart from that, I do took supplements such a vitamin C in doses of 8 - 10 grams almost daily following Nobel Laurier Dr Linus Paulings regimen to reduce cholesterol build up and prevent artherosclerosis. ( But man do I go to the toilet often!).

In terms of events, well I did notice that I contracted some coughing at the beginning of the past 6 weeks from my infant daughter who started to cough. However, after sending her to the docs, she progressively got better (1.5 years old by the way). Whereas I recovered slower and ended up with a wheezing noise especially at nite.

I have noticed that within the past year, I have some sort of eczema condition on my chest just above my sternum as confirmed by the docs.

Prior in 2005, I experienced very bad coughing symptoms due to the haze that blow over KL every year (originating from the open burning of crop lands in Sumatra) in the month of July and August. This phenomenon has been recurring in KL for the past 12 years running.

That was the most terrible episode of coughing I have ever experienced. Prior to that, I have been relatively ok when it comes to the haze conditions.

Oh yes, my nose is allergic to dust (I think ) where the membranes inside the nostril tend to swell and block my breathing to the point that I wake from my sleep sometimes gasping for air. I have noticed that my snoring has gotten progressively louder to the point that I even some times wake up from the sound of my own snore (especially if I take a mid day nap). I have never snored and only learnt about my snoring about 7 years back. However, back then no one complained that my snoring was loud. Could this have anything to do with it??

That’s about it.

So what is ur opinion for a remedy?

Kerykes,

Is the Buteyko anti thesis to deep breathing methods such as practiced in yoga or are they complementary and can be used together?

[imported_siameeser]

Have you considered or do you have access to raw milk? I don't know if this would work for you, but I know of several children whose symptoms disappeared after changing over to raw milk. I know it seemed to help me (42 yoa) with allergy-related breathing issues this past summer. I only suffered from three short-lived attacks this year vs the almost daily suffering from years past.

It's also the first year I didn't have to take any meds for the problems.

[Connie Brown]

Hm, the allergies, eczema, asthma, slightly high blood sugar, and creeping high blood pressure all say to me a diet that is contributing to inflammation, possible omega fat imbalance, and possible insulin imbalance.

is there an ND you can work with?

In your shoes I would look at the ratio of omega3 to other fats, switch away from rice&bread to root veg and fibrous veg, and have twice the volume of veg as meat/starch.

Oh and if you could start moving it helps everything. I now think these kind of diet problems are from the stoppage of "flow" at the level of muscle energy. I think of it as the incoming fuel "puddling up" instead of being used, and that leads to inflammation, allergies, skin problems, overweight, you name it. Like a stagnant pond, eeeeyew.

I have done that is how i know.

[kerykes]

Buteyko v. yoga... In my experience, they were not contradictory; the Buteyko gave me more comfort with controlled breath, which led me to freak out less when trying "deep" (more continuous) breathing like pranayama.

Of course, I'm not an expert on either!

[dany_my]

Thanks everyone and I regard every opinion highly. Do not fear, I realise they are not medical opinions [i wont sue ya :wink: ] so I will use these info as a stepping stone for more research.

I would like to know what is the RMAX remedy to asthma, highblood sugar, and what not?
Are they like yoga?
What is the underlying fundamental healing principle?
Are there any supporting clinical studies that can be perused?

Can we mix and match? ie: Buteyko, yoga, rmax etc.

[Scott Sonnon]

Dany,

Did you advise your doctors that you contracted the initial infection from your daughter's virus? 6 weeks may seem long, but it may be a secondary or tertiary infection from the initial.

[dany_my]

Scott,

Yes I did advise the first doctor of the situation. She proceeded to give me some anti phlegm pills, and a cough serum. This was about 5 weeks ago.

Second Doc, I met about 4 days ago, was also informed about my condition but said that I have mild asthma since the symptoms have persisted for too long and I had a slight wheezing in the chest.

The night before seeing the doctor, my wheezing got a bit bad and I did experience some discomfort inhaling (felt a drowning sensation which is extremely rare for me, i can only remember one other time back 18 years back when I had a similar but worse sensation after eating some pickles bought from a sidewalk hawker ).

I proceeded to exhale vigorously that night which resulted in more coughing but it was good since I felt relieved of the phlegm and the wheezing.