Chest tightness a night

Last year I was diagnoised with adult onset asthma. I do pretty well during the day but I night my chest seems
to tighten up. My doctor had me on Paxil  and I got off of it last summer. I had the worse time getting off of that
medication. I started doing better and the last 3 months the asthma is worse. My doctor wants me to go back
onto the Paxil but I don't want to gain anymore weight. Does anyone have suggestions on what I should try? I
still use my nebulizer when I need too and it does help. The doctor also just put me on Alprazolam to help me
sleep but I have heard that this drug is addictive. Please give me any suggestions.

Thanks.

[tgal]

Hi,

I recently started seeing a board certified doctor who also believes in vitamins and herbal supplements. Now you need to check with a doctor to make sure that you don't have any other medications that these supplements might mess with but I'm taking feverfew for both migraines and asthma. Also magnesium is a relaxer and helps people get to sleep. Check it out online and check with a doctor. This might be a muscle relaxing idea. Also do you change your pillowcases enough and your sheets? 1x a week is what is reccomended for asthmatics. Also I found (I have adult onset asthma and similar complaints with chest tightness at night) that mine gets worse if I don't have my might/dust/allergy guards on my bed and pillow. It also helped when I used HEPA air filters in my heater and bought a HEPA vacume. Good luck!

Tanja

[treebranches]

Tell your doctor you don't want the paxil and work with them to find another medication without that side affect to see which one will work for you.  The same goes with the other medication; talk with your doctor about whether it will be addictive and find another solution.

I also second tgal in vitamins and herbals in addition to treatments or instead of treatments for sleeping medications.  Try aromatherpy for sleeping (lavendar and eucalyptus for nighttime asthmatics), with valerian root (an herbal supplement to aid sleeping) and calming sounds or music (i.e. rain, ocean waves, etc.).

I also agree with the tip for magnesium, changing your sheets (sometimes even a different texture or temperate in the sheets will change how you sleep) and HEPA filters and/or HEPA vacuum.  You might also consider mattress and pillow case covers to minimize mites and dust.