4 ms·

Why are you no longer asthmatic? Did you move to a less polluted/better climate area? Change your diet? Something else?

majewsky 8y ago
I would be interested in this as well. I feel like my asthma got worse since I moved to an apartment next to a busier road.
- kian 8y ago
  I can't speak for JumpCrissCross, but there are 3 things that improved my asthma: 1) Eating better. Low level inflammation is terrible for people with auto-immune disorders, to which the trio of asthma, eczema, and allergies belong. 2) Moved closer to the ocean - salt air is great for the lungs, and really has a way of helping deal with any allergies you might have to local pollen 3) RUN! seriously, aerobic exercise for 45 minutes to an hour (anything less doesn't count) is a literal life-changer. Yeah, it really does suck for the first two weeks (if you're doing it every other day), but after that you'll start to feel amazing. You'll lose weight, which also helps with the breathing. And you'll have way more energy and higher happiness levels, which will help you want to move around more and be outside, which again will help with your asthma. Seriously, if I could do only one, this one is it. Run. Or swim if you can't (I only run on sand or dirt because my knees are shot). Best of luck!
  - ilaksh 8y ago
    Not everyone's asthma is like yours. For example, trying to run for 45 minutes would kill me these days. My asthma is triggered by exercise and even when I used to exercise quite a lot and was on more medication it was a struggle. So don't assume everyone's condition is the same as yours.
    - kian 8y ago
      Ilaksh, I seem to have touched a bit of a nerve here. I know, I used to respond the same way to similar advice. I wasn't assuming anything about anyone's condition - I was giving personal advice based on my experience. I say this as a person who grew up with extremely exercise-induced asthma - I used to run a slower mile than I walked (due to collapsing multiple times), went to the hospital multiple (6+) times a year (from ages 8-20), etc. Also, running in dry and not-salty humid climates is still a bad idea for me, or around certain kinds of trees. Running for 45 minutes was something I worked up to around the age of 25 - started with 5 or ten minute periods, interspersed with walking, until I was able to do another brief run, etc. When I stopped running for a few years, my issues came back, with multiple hospitalizations from 28-30, until I started up again around 30. Part of the issue with exercise-induced asthma, for me personally, was also general nutrition and health - I found that as I earned more income, and switched to a diet higher in fats and vegetables and lower in carbohydrates, my condition significantly improved, providing a positive feedback loop with the exercise that eventually has brought me to being nearly symptom-free today (34). Your mileage may of course vary. The main reason I focused so much on the running is because for most of my life I thought it would kill me, and always told myself that the reason that I didn't run is that it was bad for me. In the end it was exercising more and eating better (in a better environment) that saved me. Hopefully you'll find the trick for you - living with asthma is really unpleasant, to understate it.
      - ilaksh 8y ago
        But there is still the implication that my disease is the same as yours and that I just need to run out of it. I was extremely active throughout my youth including intensive training for wrestling and less intensive training for two other sports and in no way did exercise diminish my asthma throughout many years. So although I do look forward to becoming more active again, I will need to increase my medication dosage and use a rescue inhaler every day and I will never be symptom free. I am not like you.
        majewsky 8y ago
        FWIW, I did not interpret kian's account as suggesting that it works for everybody. I'm well aware that chronic diseases can have lots of different causes and mechanics depending on the person (especially true for my other chronic condition, atopic eczema).
JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> Why are you no longer asthmatic? I managed the allergic reactions that were causing it. Far too late in life, I discovered I'm allergic to grass. So I avoided hiking in grass and started popping a Zyrtec when my dog came back from running around in it. (I'm still allergic to my cat, but unless he sleeps on my chest it's manageable.) Solved the problem sufficiently that I no longer have an inhaler.

I would be interested in this as well. I feel like my asthma got worse since I moved to an apartment next to a busier road.

kian 8y ago
I can't speak for JumpCrissCross, but there are 3 things that improved my asthma: 1) Eating better. Low level inflammation is terrible for people with auto-immune disorders, to which the trio of asthma, eczema, and allergies belong. 2) Moved closer to the ocean - salt air is great for the lungs, and really has a way of helping deal with any allergies you might have to local pollen 3) RUN! seriously, aerobic exercise for 45 minutes to an hour (anything less doesn't count) is a literal life-changer. Yeah, it really does suck for the first two weeks (if you're doing it every other day), but after that you'll start to feel amazing. You'll lose weight, which also helps with the breathing. And you'll have way more energy and higher happiness levels, which will help you want to move around more and be outside, which again will help with your asthma. Seriously, if I could do only one, this one is it. Run. Or swim if you can't (I only run on sand or dirt because my knees are shot). Best of luck!
- ilaksh 8y ago
  Not everyone's asthma is like yours. For example, trying to run for 45 minutes would kill me these days. My asthma is triggered by exercise and even when I used to exercise quite a lot and was on more medication it was a struggle. So don't assume everyone's condition is the same as yours.
  - kian 8y ago
    Ilaksh, I seem to have touched a bit of a nerve here. I know, I used to respond the same way to similar advice. I wasn't assuming anything about anyone's condition - I was giving personal advice based on my experience. I say this as a person who grew up with extremely exercise-induced asthma - I used to run a slower mile than I walked (due to collapsing multiple times), went to the hospital multiple (6+) times a year (from ages 8-20), etc. Also, running in dry and not-salty humid climates is still a bad idea for me, or around certain kinds of trees. Running for 45 minutes was something I worked up to around the age of 25 - started with 5 or ten minute periods, interspersed with walking, until I was able to do another brief run, etc. When I stopped running for a few years, my issues came back, with multiple hospitalizations from 28-30, until I started up again around 30. Part of the issue with exercise-induced asthma, for me personally, was also general nutrition and health - I found that as I earned more income, and switched to a diet higher in fats and vegetables and lower in carbohydrates, my condition significantly improved, providing a positive feedback loop with the exercise that eventually has brought me to being nearly symptom-free today (34). Your mileage may of course vary. The main reason I focused so much on the running is because for most of my life I thought it would kill me, and always told myself that the reason that I didn't run is that it was bad for me. In the end it was exercising more and eating better (in a better environment) that saved me. Hopefully you'll find the trick for you - living with asthma is really unpleasant, to understate it.
    - ilaksh 8y ago
      But there is still the implication that my disease is the same as yours and that I just need to run out of it. I was extremely active throughout my youth including intensive training for wrestling and less intensive training for two other sports and in no way did exercise diminish my asthma throughout many years. So although I do look forward to becoming more active again, I will need to increase my medication dosage and use a rescue inhaler every day and I will never be symptom free. I am not like you.
      - majewsky 8y ago
        FWIW, I did not interpret kian's account as suggesting that it works for everybody. I'm well aware that chronic diseases can have lots of different causes and mechanics depending on the person (especially true for my other chronic condition, atopic eczema).

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> Why are you no longer asthmatic? I managed the allergic reactions that were causing it. Far too late in life, I discovered I'm allergic to grass. So I avoided hiking in grass and started popping a Zyrtec when my dog came back from running around in it. (I'm still allergic to my cat, but unless he sleeps on my chest it's manageable.) Solved the problem sufficiently that I no longer have an inhaler.