Dramatic Asthma after Pulmonary Edema

[madreluna]

I just turned 36.  When I was a teenager, I had seasonal allergies and an asthma attack maybe once each year at most.  I grew up in a home with 3 chainsmokers and most every year got very severe bronchitis.  I am not a smoker, and when I moved out, lung problems seemed to subside for me.  But then I went into heart failure with my first baby due to toxemia and spent a week in ICU literally getting drained.  My lungs had been full of fluid when I arrived.  I was 30 years old.  I lived through this only to now suddenly be faced with asthma symptoms on a daily basis and constant coughing and mucous in my lungs.  I am on Singulair and a fast acting inhaler.  I now develop pneumonia at least twice each year and last Christmas was hospitalized because I had lost most of my breathing capacity and was coughing up blood.  What happened?  I used to be an avid hiker, canoer, I went rapelling and spelunking...now I feel like every speck dust will send me into attacks so I have to function wether it will kill me or not.  What can I do and why is this happening?  Will I ever be normal again?  I am going to lose years from my life because of this?

[Levi212]

One thing that can help you is to take excess particles out of your air by installing a whole house filter. The Polarized Media Filter with a UV light would help you out the best because it both attracts particles in the air and neutralizes everything else so that in case something did go by it still wouldn't have a harmful effect. I had a friend who had a problem like this, where she couldn't breathe too well inside, but when she got one of these things she was fine.

The best place I've found for prices and information is at www.airlifeone.com. I'd look for the Electrobreeze brand, since this is the best price for what the filters actually do.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out.

[Deeds]

Has any doctor talked about physical activity helping you? I have a lot of allergies and found when I was working out at least 3-4 times a week for at least 40mins - It would clear my lungs and keep things  'flowing' better respiratory wise....just a thought...I too am all of a sudden more sick then healthy with allergies and the like...like you.  My friend talked about my health with me the other day. She pointed out that when you are ill or sick and it drags on for a long time - you almost become accustomed to being sick and going thru your day forgetting about what it felt like to be 'healthy and normal'... On my weekends I used to love to garden and trim hedges and mow the lawn...really get in there and just work...today - I looked longingly at the hedges outside my front door and just shrugged and walked into the house...too scared to even trim hedges because I don't want to have an asthma attack or allergic reaction or WHATever!!  I'm not sure but, I used to take what is now over the counter mucinex daily for the last 10 years (up until a year ago) ....that stuff really kept mucus to a minimum and kept me from getting sick in the Winter.  Mucinex (guifenisin) is not also at Costco for cheap!!  Don't let yourself get lost and lose years on this!!  I also started taking vitamins after getting really ill last year!!  Those might help??  don't think they'd hurt...
Gosh - I hope and wish you the best because I know how you feel.