In a few more words - if your asthma is sufficiently severe to require
medication .....then you NEED medication.

If however it is sufficiently mild that the wonder drug "placebo" will do,
try the cheap generics - you'll save more money that way. :o)

Seriously however: you may be directed towards, or read about, "ephedra" or
"ma huang" as a ""natural"" way to treat asthma. Don't even think about it!
The active ingredient is a compound called ephedrine. If you'd been an
asthmatic in the 50's or 60's you would be more than familliar with it.
Pharmacology has come a long way since then.

A quick google of "ephedra" and "death"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=ephedra+death&meta=

gives over 100,000 items.

Pete

I tried the primatene in pill form once about 10 years ago. It was
horrible. My heart was racing like crazy. My breathing was totally out
of control. I had 2 asthma attacks on my way to school (I was in
college at the time). By my second class, I was so jittery that I
could not hold me pen well enough to write. I called my parents and
asked them to come get me as I was jittery and weak, and the thought
of walking 2 miles home was too much.

I was extremely exhausted from the heart and lungs working overtime,
but way too wired to sleep. It took over 30 hours to wear off. I threw
out the box and won't ever touch one again.

My albuterol never did that to me. On the rare occassion that I took
it when I didn't really need it, my legs would get that jello weak
feeling for a few minutes and then go away. And I rarely ever get that
feeling. Usually, I just get a feeling of relief as the tightness in
my chest goes away.

Also, I have never finished an albuterol inhaler. They have always
expired long before I can run one out. If you are going through them
that quickly, then your asthma is not under control. A rescue inhaler
is for when your breathing is impaired. I use mine during actual
attacks, when I can feel the tightness, or when I have an asthma
cough. Once the symtoms go away, I do not use it.

Until last December, that was all I have ever used. And I could go
months without using it. In December, I had a bad cold, and I
developed the asthma cough, only I thought it was Bronchitis, so I
went to the doctor. She said I was fine, but decided it would be
better to take a preventive medication on a daily basis to prevent
long term lung damage, so I have advair now twice a day, and I still
have a rescue inhaler for those times I need it.

I was really surprised that she was concerned about my asthma with no
prevntative medication as I don't consider it much of a problem. I am
31, and I have learned to avoid most of the triggers and situations
that cause an asthma attack. When I went to use my inhaler last
December, I disocvered that it expired in July of 2001. So, it had
been a long time since I had felt the need to use it.

If the doctor thinks I need something on a daily basis when I rarely
have a problem, then I suspect you need to be on some regular
medications that will keep it under control as well as prevent long
term damage.

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