Out of control

[SRreporter]

My asthma has been out of control for about four months. I have seen two doctors and im on a combination of meds. They are, Advair500, Atrovent, Alvesco, Prednizone, Singulair, and ventolin. All these meds dont seem to work.Ive been to the e.r  three times in the last two months. And during my last visit I was put on bypass. Its seems like every day my chest is tight, and I wease a little. Sure there are some good days, but overall my asthma is still out of control. I feel so frustrated , and dont want to end up in the er again. What do I do?

[SRreporter]

Thats good to know about the singulair and claritin. Because I only got relief when I started taking both. Before I just took Singulair, and kept getting attack after attack, and I was just sitting in my own home

[Tammy2009]

A humifier can help asthma depending where you live.  I was told not to use it by my doctor but I ignored them because it is the only way I can comfortably sleep in the winter.  

I then bought a device to measure the humidity in my room and guess what, even with the humifier on all night, every night it never goes above 30% humidity.  This is because I live in Calgary, Alberta and we are at high altitude and very dry air.  

Also, sometimes you do use singulair and antihistamines because they block different parts of allergies and sometimes you need the double hit on them to keep them under control.

[scubamom]

You should ask your doctor/preferably a pulmonologist to run an  A1A level. (alpha-1 antitripsein level).  I have an A1A deficiency and it is the cause of my asthma.  They may also try taking you off the singulair and putting you on Zyflo. It is not commonly used, but it is an excellent drug.  As to the claritin...that is an antihistamine.  Singulair is one also; so you would be double treating one symptom.   You should not take OTC meds when you have asthma without a doctor saying it is OK.  Also a humidifier is contraindicated for people with asthma as it puts too much moisture in the air.  Ideally you need 40-45% humidity, which is easily achieved with a central home heating and air system.  Hope this helps.

[SRreporter]

Thank you very much for your response. I made an appointment with a specailist to see what he says. I think maybe your right about the allergies, because I seem to always get these attacks when Im at home. I vacume everyday , and use a humindifier. Would it help to take claritine ? A friend told me to get a purifier ? Does that help?
Thanks again

[Victoireh]

Are you seeing a pulmonary specialist? It sounds like there is an underlying condition aggravating your asthma. Is your specialist looking into this? Often GERD, sinusitis, and unknown allergies aggravate asthma to the point that a lot of medication is required to control it or no control can be achieved. Another possibility is that there is another lung disorder taking place, hence the bad response to the usual asthma medications.

You are on a very large amount of drugs, especially the fact that you are also on oral prednisone, which makes one question if there may be steroid resistance. It's rare, but does happen that there is very little response to steroids. These are all things that your doctor will work with you to determine what is the best treatment for your lungs.