i also have asthma and i need some advice

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User Defcon8 - 05 Apr 2005 05:42 GMT

i have been told i have asthma since i was about 4 but i am questioning do
i really have asthma. i dont have anny asthmatic reasctions to cigaretted
( ofcoruse i dont smoke ) or birds or cats or anything. my lungs only clog
up when i run. is this because i am a little overweight at 95 kilos and 15
year old? what can i do about this

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Mary - 05 Apr 2005 08:50 GMT

> i have been told i have asthma since i was about 4 but i am questioning do
> i really have asthma. i dont have anny asthmatic reasctions to cigaretted
> ( ofcoruse i dont smoke ) or birds or cats or anything. my lungs only clog
> up when i run. is this because i am a little overweight at 95 kilos and 15
> year old? what can i do about this

You might have "exercise induced asthma." But you really ought
to be talking to your doctor. Make him answer your questions.
That's his job. Yours is to ask them.

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User Defcon8 - 05 Apr 2005 19:13 GMT

yeah the last time i went he gave me all thşis symbicort stuff and a load
of useless stuff that i think had no benefit to me atall. is ther eany
cure for excersize induced asthma? as i really weant to be a specialist
operator in the army

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Mary - 06 Apr 2005 08:15 GMT

> yeah the last time i went he gave me all thsis symbicort stuff and a load
> of useless stuff that i think had no benefit to me atall. is ther eany
> cure for excersize induced asthma? as i really weant to be a specialist
> operator in the army

There is no cure for asthma but that does not mean you cannot
control it. If you control it, it will not kill you. I don't know what
the army's policy is for asthma, but it is a very common disease
Have you considered doing a web search on that? Meaning,
do they accept people with asthma at all?

You need to see a doctor you respect. You need something
like Advair which will help to keep your lungs from spasming.
You also need to have a rescue inhaler--Albuterol is what I
have--for emergencies. If you treat asthma with medications
like this they keep it from keeping YOU from doing what
you want and need to do. The thing not to do is ignore it
and hope it goes away. Do some reading on your disease.
You need to understand it. And come back and talk to us
about it.

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Merlin - 06 Apr 2005 23:59 GMT

G'day Mary, over the years I have come across several military
asthmatics, these were basically cases that had begun during their
military careers. It seems that if reasonable control cannot be
maintained without dependence on drug supplies that person will likely
be examined and discharged or redeployed dependent on severity.
Two of these cases responded to desens with applied commonsense
substance and allergen avoidance.
Chances are more could improve with greater knowledge of how to avoid
the problem causes.
My apologies for not answering a question you mentioned some time
previously, the answer was "NO" , I think you might appreciate what was
afoot.
By the way, my compliments to you for being nice.
Cheers, Merlin.

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Mustang5 - 10 Apr 2005 22:41 GMT

: > yeah the last time i went he gave me all thsis symbicort stuff and a load
: > of useless stuff that i think had no benefit to me atall. is ther eany
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
: You need to understand it. And come back and talk to us
: about it.

I don't know about now, but in the early 80s, my brother was discharged from
the Army for not telling them he had asthma, when they found out about it.

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Colin Campbell - 11 Apr 2005 03:40 GMT

>: There is no cure for asthma but that does not mean you cannot
>: control it. If you control it, it will not kill you. I don't know what
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>I don't know about now, but in the early 80s, my brother was discharged from
>the Army for not telling them he had asthma, when they found out about it.

Well, I just spent a year in Iraq with asthma.

The basic rule is that if you have asthma you are not physically
qualified for military service. However if you develop asthma after a
couple years of service you will be retained as long as you can
generally keep it under control.

Because of the more effective medications to control asthma the Army
has relaxed its rules and will allow asthmatics who can demonstrate
several months of good control to deploy. (IMO a long overdue change
in policy.)

"The commander in the field is always right and the
rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise."
General Colin Powell

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Joy - 07 Apr 2005 00:31 GMT

So you are pretreating your asthma with Albuterol 15 minutes before exercise
and it doesn't do any good? Is this running in door and outdoors?

I was hoping Colin would come in and answer this question because he is in
the service and has asthma. When this topic has come up in the past, if you
are talking US forces, he has indicated you have little chance of getting in
and if they discover your condition if you do get in, each case is
individually evaluated. But not being controlled on
meds..................List all the meds you have tried and the dosages.

Joy

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