My Life as an Asthma Mom

( www.epipen.com ) I know I have blogged about this before, but food allergies are still such a part of our lives. Hubby and I both have allergies, along with all 3 of our kids. But food allergies are a problem for myself and Son #2. There are various things that can trigger anaphylaxis such as: Foods - peanuts, treenuts (walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds), eggs, milk, fish and shellfish (shrimp and lobster) and soy. To learn more about food allergies, click here. Medications - ibuprofen (Advil), asprin, antibiotics and anesthetics. Click here to learn more. Insect stings - yellow jackets, wasps, bees, hornets and fire ants. Click here to learn how to avoid stings. Latex - disposable gloves, syringes, and IV tubes. Click here for more information. I am allergic to seafood, and it can show up in the strangest places. I was at a catered lunch that asked for an RSVP, and I did mention that I was allergic to seafood. However, after I scooped a little pulled pork on my plate, I came upon ...

      Many people only get allergies a certain time of year (they call it seasonal allergic rhinitis-also known as hay fever.) One of the worst things for fall is ragweed. I hate that stuff!  One plant can make a million pollen spores in one day, and it can really travel! According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation, ragweed pollen has been found as far as 400 miles out to sea and 2 miles up in the atmosphere! Most of it falls close to the ground, but if you're sneezing, there's a good chance that ragweed is the culprit. Click here to read more information about ragweed from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. I was reading an article in Coping with Allergies and Asthma magazine about ragweed. They had some great ideas. Some of their suggestions are: Start on allergy medication the first week of August, before ragweed season hits. Get treated for allergies year round which can make it easier when ragweed season starts. They say other allergies (animals, dust mites,...

As many of you know, I like to keep current on medical issues, especially anything concerning asthma. A recent report from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) shows that many deaths from the flu can be prevented. Click here to read the story. The report says many deaths could be prevented if you vaccinate your child and follow up with influenza anti viral drugs if they do become sick. The flu vaccine isn't 100% effective, especially for kids with high risk medical conditions. (I believe kids with asthma would be included in that group.) What is a little scary is that almost half of the deaths of children (under 18) happened to kids that were less than 5 years of age. For those of you with kids that age, you know that it seems like they are always sick. They get over one illness, and it starts all over again. What is shocking about this report is that half of the children who died were otherwise healthy. The other half of the children suffered from a variety of conditions such as ...

        I had a friend ask me if I had heard about asthma medications causing cavities, so I thought I would see what I could find. There is a dentist in Nebraska that has some information on his website concerning asthma medications and cavities. He has a scientific study from 2001 that shows a link between asthma and cavities. To read it, click here. The study shows that albuterol decreases saliva, which will lead to an increase in cavities. However, it would probably depend on how often you are using your inhaler. It's not recommended to use it more than twice a week. If you need albuterol more often than that, you should be on a daily, maintenance medication. I always rinse my mouth out after taking asthma medication too. There are other side effects that can happen, especially if you are taking a daily, maintenance medication that can cause thrush. Thrush is a not-so-fun yeast infection of your mouth that can be treated by rinsing your mouth with a special medi...

            I've heard some weird things over the years, but this one takes the cake. According to an article in Reader's Digest, appliances and power lines all generate magnetic fields. They say that there was a recent study showing that women who avoided appliances (hair dryers, microwaves and vacuum cleaners) may lower the chances of their child developing asthma. Huh? I had to go back several times and re-read that. That makes no sense to me at all. How can magnetic fields cause asthma? I would like to read that study. On the positive side, if you are expecting a baby, maybe you could use this as an excuse to hire someone to do your housework. If you can't be around microwaves, vacuums and hair dryers, then I guess you'll have to hire someone to do it for you, right?! You wouldn't want to increase the odds that your child will have asthma! Maybe that's my problem. All three of my kids have asthma, and I did all the cooking and cleaning while I was pregn...

(AP photo) If you have been on the internet the last couple of days, you have already seen the story of a group of people lifting the car off a motorcyclist in Utah. Click here for a link to the video. I watched this on the news last night, and to say I was shocked would be an understatement. It makes you think "what would I do?" I know I would have been one of the first ones there, and been on my belly like the lady who looks under the car to see if the motorcyclist was still alive. The fire on the video is the scariest part, and where there's fire, there's smoke. And that's one of the things that can set off an asthma attack. Some others that are less well known are fear, anger (or any strong emotion) and stress. I think it would be fair to say that all of the people lifting the car off the motorcyclist felt all of those emotions! I hope none of them had asthma or suffered an asthma attack from it. What a shocking situation to find yourself in! I heard an update...

Well, illness has already struck our house (and school just started!) Son #2, Kitty and Hubby have had sore throats, fevers, nausea and diarrhea.    I am the only one who didn't get sick-knock on wood. So, how can you keep from getting sick? Well, Lysol is my best friend right now. As well as lots of cleaning. I have a found a few other things over the years. Each family member should have their own tube of toothpaste. (Toothpaste isn't that expensive, it's less expensive than getting sick and paying a co-pay for the doctor) Keep each toothbrush on a separate shelf (and please don't keep it next to the sink where water from washing your hands can flip bacteria all over your toothbrush) Use fresh hand towels daily Use a new glass daily for drinking water  Throw away your toothbrush once you get sick so you don't re-infect yourself Get a new toothbrush at the end of the illness (that's right folks-two new toothbrushes) Wash, wash, wash your hands Don't touch y...

What is this?    An oximeter (or sat monitor) can tell you how much oxygen is in the blood. You should be as close to 100 as possible.    From our experience, we found that our kids would be admitted to the hospital when their 'sat' was 89 or below. My two youngest kids-daughter Kitty and Son #2- have been hospitalized 12 times with asthma. How times have changed! We used to think having a sat monitor was a luxury. We would borrow one from a neighbor. She inherited her sat monitor from a neighbor who passed away after suffering all his life from Cystic Fibrosis. It was larger than the size of my hand.   Now you can buy one at the local corner drugstore. That sat monitor was a lifesaver for us (literally.) I could check the kids as they slept, because their oxygen levels always dropped while they were asleep. We were warned about this from a respiratory therapist during one of the times Son #2 was in the hospital. He said, "don't relax when he falls asleep and th...

      It seems like I can never get away from asthma!   This week I attended a cooking with vegetables class. As I was thumbing through the Health Monitor magazine they handed out, I saw an article called "Dancing with Asthma." I have to admit that I don't watch Dancing with the Stars, but apparently one of the dancers on the show, Anna Trebunskaya, has asthma. The article tells her story of living with asthma.  Originally from Russia, she said her asthma was made worse by living in an industrialized area. Once she moved to California, her breathing improved instantly due to the ocean air. (She must not live too close to LA, because anyone who's been there has probably experienced their bad air due to all the cars!) Anna uses breathing exercises that she says trains the lungs to take in more oxygen. The website where this is available is based in Australia and is a partnership with two drug company, four universities, and two medical researcher institutes...