phlegm

[elvera1]

my peak flow for last two years has been between 250 and 300
since reducing my long term steroids which were causing chronic fatigue my peak flow is supprisingly going up and up. now reading 400. my question is the more i am able to exhert myself the pleasure is taken away by the amount of phlegm i am producing. is this because air is reaching pockets its never reached for a while and dormant phlegm is there. or am i making the phlegm by overexerting myself. it feels more like cystic fybrosis at min tha asthma

maria

[Tammy2009]

I have horrible phelgm too.  Increasing water intake and taking guanfensin have helped me in the past.  

Now the thing that helps the most is my high dose omega 3, which were helping A LOT and starting to bring it down, at least until my recent flare-up.

[elvera1]

thanks but you didnt say what the most lilkey cause was

[bsmsl]

I also take guaifenesen for excess phlegm.  Drinking lots and lots of water is really halpful as Tammy said.

I would think that the phlegm is from inflammation.  What kind of steroids were/are you on?  I found that the dry powders caused phlegm for me.  I don very well with the HFA versions.  If you were on a dry powder, you might have been having problems with the milk by products in them keeping your peak flow down.

My guess would be that your current phlegm problem is from the inflammation and asthma even though your peak flows are improving.  If you aren't working with your dr to reduce your steroid use, you should really see your asthma doctor to make sure that your asthma is not flaring.  (This can happen even with improved peak flows.  I had a 118% PFT at the allergist's office once and was diagnosed with mycoplasma pnuemonia. I once had a 93% PFT but my lungs sounded so bad that the doctor came in a talked to me during a PA visit.)  I am a prime example of "Numbers not telling the whole story."  I baffle the PAs at my allergist's offics as a result.  

So, see your doctor and let them have a listen to what is goin on in there.

[KathleenElsie]

My asthma was well controled before they stopped producing the "non-eviro" friendly puffers. No break throughs for over four years.
I have had little or no luck with the new powered ones. My cough gets worse and becomes cronic instead of acute. Most of the times I end up on pills this last time (on them now) is a 40 day extened use.
HFA versions IMHO are mostly useless.

[allmymarbles]

The very best mucolytic I have found (and no side effects whatsoever) is vitamin B5. Try taking 500 mg daily. That will probably work. I take 1000 because I have chronic bronchitis.

I am glad you got off steroids. I too developed adrenal fatigue. That stuff is poison. I substituted natural anti-inflammatories and mucolytics and my breathing, like yours, is much improved. Steroids were actually worsening my condition.

[bsmsl]

I sympathize with your issues on finding meds that work.  I also cannot take the dry powders.  The technique for using them is different than other inhalers.  If your doctor didn't train you well on how to use them, that could be part of the problem you had.  Also, the fact that they are powder and the powder settles on the vocal cords and other parts of the respiratory tract causes irritation.  That makes me cough constantly as well.

Just a note:  The HFA MDI's work much better with a spacer.  I use ProAir as a rescue and refuse to use it without a spacer because it does nothing that way.  Another friend (nurse practitioner) told me that if you do not use a spacer with HFA meds the medicine lands on your tongue.  You then swallow the medcine.  This only allows 20% of the medicine to enter your system and that enters through the stomach instead of the lungs where it needs to be.  She compared not using a spacer with HFA meds to taking an empty capsule.

Feel better every one.