Looking for answers

I’ve had asthma since I was 5 (that’s 31 years now) and for the past 15 years it’s been totally under control, most recently on advair 250/50 with some singulair in the spring for extra help during pollen season.

In December I got an IUD and the doc told me to take aleve 24/7 (double dose) for cramps for the first few months b/c they can be really bad. So I did. My asthma got REALLY bad in that time and I didn’t make the connection until I was about a week in on the aleve. Thinking back, I’ve been having trouble when I took NSAIDs for any length of time for a while now, but I hadn’t connected it until then.

I went to the asthma doc, they put me on the advair 500/50 and a neb as needed. She told me that it was an “exacerbating incident” and my lungs should go back to normal over time. I think, okay, fine, I can do “time” as long as they do go back to normal.

I was getting better through the spring - 2 flights of stairs at a time with minimal loss of breath! - hah! And then something triggered me and I started getting worse again. Again with the slow recovery (2-3 weeks to go to neb 2x a day from 3x a day).

We went on vacation (Belgium, it was fabulous) and I was totally paranoid that I was going to be sicker while away b/c I couldn’t control my environment, but the thing is, I was FINE. No shortness of breath (even with a nasty chest cold), walking all over the place, climbing belfries, etc - and I was good, fine, lovely.

So we got home on Friday and by mid day saturday I was completely miserable again, short of breath just sitting still, forget walking anywhere and it was even more miserable b/c I had remembered what it was like to breathe freely again.

I call the doc, get on some prednisone - now I have been on pred 40/40/40/60/60/50/50, I am tapering off, I am not getting worse so far, but I am not 100% either.  

I had a doc appt this morning and they say incredibly unhelpful things like “I don’t know, you should be fine on all those meds”. She did start me on aciphex in case I have unfelt acid reflux that is aggravating the asthma, so that’s something, and we’re going to get the house tested for mold.

The next step she says is heart tests b/c a heart problem could present as tightness in the chest - but if it were a heart problem it doesn't make sense that I was FINE on vacation. It seems obvious to me that I am allergic to something either in my home, or in the general region that I live.

I'm just looking for any other suggestions of things to do/try/eliminate - anything.  I'm grasping at straws here, I feel like I can't participate in my own life because it's all I can do to get enough air to keep going every day.

Thanks.

[bsmsl]

I can so relate to a dr saying "I don't know."  I get that a lot.  It is a bummer.  My asthma dr did finally come right out and say that I am too complicated for the PAs and that I should be seeing her most of the time yesterday.  I haven't scheduled a regular check up with anyone but her since the first few months I was going to the clinic, but sick calls I usually have to settle for a PA.  BUMMER!!  She has alluded to my being complicate many times before.  Complicated and enigma are frequent words out of my ENT's mouth.  

I would look into the possibility of new allergies and have general allergy testing done.  Maybe before your house is tested if that would be cheaper.  My thoughts are that since you were fine in a foreign country, what ever is triggering your asthma was not there, but is at your home - weather it is an indoor allergen like mold can be or some seasonal pollen.  

You didn't mention any antihistamines.  I would suggest you try adding something like Zyrtec.  Also, talk to your dr about other allergy medicines like nasal steroids and nasal spray antihisitamines.  Also, you might want to try sinus rinses.  Singulair really helps some patients, but it is an anti-leukotriine, not an antihistamine.  They do totally different things.

The Aciphex may really be helpful for you, but I am wondering since you were fine on vacation if that is the problem.  You do tend to eat differently on vacation than you do at home, so that could be a big enough difference to have controled acid reflux while you were gone and then whe you got back and resumed your usual diet for it to flare back up.  But would that flare that quickly?  

Hang in there,  You will find relief soon.