Do I have any other options left?

[shane404]

Hi I have had my medications increased every year since I was 21. I am now on Advair 500 2 puffs a day, Singular 10mg, reactine 20 mg (24 hr). as well as my rescue in haler. Now I can't work or go to malls, theaters, school or anything. Hair spray, smoke, scents, and air pollution all set me off. For the past 2 months I have to sleep semi seated. Is there any other options out there so I can have my life back??

[Sunny602]

Have you considered Xolair shots? They seem to block IGE (immunoglobulin E) which has been found to be responsible for allergic asthma. I have never been on them, but I have a friend who is and seems to be doing better with asthma. She is a severe sufferer as well and was on steroids chronically along with her inhalers to try to control her asthma. She is currently on a much lower dose of prednisone, her inhalers are the same but her quality of life has improved.
Here is a website that describes Xolair a little bit.. http://www.xolair.com/index.jsp?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=DKUS,DKUS:2006-42,DKUS:en&q=xolair

I hope that you finally find something that works for you...it is awful that you are so confined to home due to your sensitivities. Sunny

[risp]

Hi, I want to say as a severe asthmatic myself, I agree with Sunny602. Although, I hope you have health insurance b/c the injections are very expensive. I have been on them for about 2 1/2 years now and my asthma has really gotten a lot of relief from these shots. Before I started them, I was on my steroids and antibiotics every month sometimes twice a month. I still am not 100%, but I will recommend them to EVERYONE with no other options. When my doctor reported that my asthma was under control after the first year and I was doing really well, my insurance company would not approve the renewal of the Xolair shot. Being so expensive, I went without them for about 6 months fighting a lot with the ins company. In that time, I was back on my prednisone, heavily, and developed pnuemonia (pneumonia) 3x!!!!!!!! Along with other illnesses. So now it's time for renewal again. I'm hoping that I will not get rejected and have to do without Xolair again. Other than putting in some new lungs and passageways in my body, this is THE ONLY thing that has helped me. As I said before, I do still take my preventive meds and other things because of the environment i am constantly in, but you should check into it.
P.S. I was also referred to a gastro doc. My allergy doc seems to think that GERD or reflux is a big part of my asthma, something I never knew or heard of before. So now I am on Nexium and Zegerid. Not sure if this is helping out also along with the Xolair, but something is working. Both times I was off of either medicine, I had almost instant attacks again....Hope this helps....

[soccermom51]

go to www.asthmastory.com and read the entire website and associated links regarding mycoplasma colonization