Advair HFA Asthma Sufferers, Cause of Asthma, Actual Condition, Hyperventilation, Bronchodilator

ASTHMA SUFFERERS (like I was),

I'd like to share my experience of HOW I SUCCEEDED GETTING OFF ADVAIR and getting rid of my (first mild, then severe) asthma.

PRIOR WARNING :

- NEVER STOP YOUR MEDICATION WITHOUT YOUR DOCTOR TELLING YOU THAT YOU CAN STOP.

- ALWAYS KEEP YOUR RESCUE INHALER AT HAND.

- ONLY WHEN YOU FEEL MUCH BETTER CAN YOU CONTEMPLATE TAPERING YOUR MEDICINE OFF WITH YOUR DOCTOR's CONSENT.

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FIRST THINGS FIRST:

- ADVAIR, SYMBICORT, etc, are not one medicine: they are "2 medicines in 1": A Bronchodilator AND Steroids TOGETHER.
In some cases you may need to use only the steroids part, in other cases only the bronchodilation part, but with ADVAIR, SYMBICORT you are automatically getting BOTH each time, even when your condition would require you taking only one of the two. Ask your doctor if you can have it separated in two different inhalers, so you can fine-tune your medication and tailor to your real actual condition.

- If you are a severe asthmatic ADVAIR could be justified, at least for some time, but even so your condition CAN be reversed, sometimes even permanently. Yes it CAN.

- if you are a light to medium asthmatic, you may NOT need ADVAIR and in many cases it is "Overkill": prescribed to you to avoid you blaming your doctor for not eliminating a bad condition - this is called "standard procedure". Problem is: in many cases this turns light-asthmatics into real-severe asthmatics over time because this medication does NOT treat the underlying Asthma, it just relives the symptoms artificially (try to stop taking ADVAIR abruptly after you started, and you'll see that your actual underlying asthma is still very much there...in many cases MORE than before...) .

REAL CAUSE OF ASTHMA : "HYPERVENTILATION" (and allergies as triggers, but not as real underlying cause)

You should know that the REAL REASON for asthma is "Hyperventilation" (too much air inhaling, too much CO2 exhaling), much more than allergies themselves, which are only triggers but not the real underlying CAUSE of Asthma.
Asthma is a genetic predisposition that you have which is caused by Hyperventilation, which can be derived from a traumas, stress, heavy eating/poor diet, etc...

Principle is simple: Asthma is just a protective reaction from your lungs to retain more CO2 inside your body, so if you are able to increase your levels of CO2 and decrease the depth of your breathing, your Asthma will reverse and eventually disappear.

This is the so-called "BUTEYKO method" that i have used successfully. After 6 months on ADVAIR and a worsening condition, I could come OUT OF ALL MEDICATION within 1 month and I have stayed without medication since then, with no attack, or only very light asthma and no medication for the past 4 months. I can breathe normally again !

Yes, I had a tough time coming out of ADVAIR, so you should taper it out progressively, no abrupt stop ! It is the steroids in ADVAIR that create the addiction, not the bronchodilator component of ADVAIR, understood ?

I was diagnosed with mild Asthma in mid-2009, and put on ADVAIR 250, then 500: my symptoms got much better, of course, but remember (GSK-Glaxo admits it !): ADVAIR does NOT TREAT Asthma, it only brings relief (temporarily) by treats its symptoms without curing the underlying Asthma.

Hyperventilation and the medication problem: By forcing (through broncho-dilation) your airways open artificially, your levels of Co2 decrease and your underlying asthma gets worse (although the symptoms are momentarily suppressed and you seem to feel better). In brief : your body wants to reduce the air intake (as a defense mechanism) and you are forcing it to open the airways forcefully... OK on the very short term, but your asthma WILL get worse.

INTERESTING TO KNOW :

Nobody was dying from asthma in Eastern Germany (before reunification in1989) because they had NO broncho-dilation medication against it, so people were sick, but they never died from Asthma, they actually lived sickly but longer than non-asthmatics (because of their higher levels of retained CO2 in their blood thanks to naturally occurring constriction in their lungs).

At the same time, in rich-wealthy developed Western Germany, where broncho-dilation was available, Asthma-related deaths did occur more and more. Why ? Because medication in the West treated the symptoms, sure, but also aggravated the underlying Asthma condition by undercutting the defense mechanism that Asthma actually is...

Result over the long term of using ADVAIR, SYMBICORT, etc and Bronchodilation or Steroids: even a mild asthma becomes a severe asthma as soon as you get off of it, or stop ADVAIR: you do become MORE sick...

REMEDIES :

Remedies that worked for me (and made me almost asthma free, although I do keep a Ventoline inhaler for unforeseen attacks but it never happened any more) :

1 - Drink (caffeinated) COFFEE on a regular basis and any time you can instead of your inhaler (unless attack is severe or underway): Coffee contains Theophylline, a powerful bronchodilator, like your medication, but because it is not a pharma-chemical medication coffee's side effects are virtually non-existent: coffee even helps with diabete prevention, by the way...

2 - Search for a "BUTEYKO Method" class/course/clinic if you have any in your area, or do a course online: it is cheap and it WILL allow you to reverse your asthma, in many case making it disappear forever.

Remember the BUTEYKO principle : by inhaling LESS air AND by exhaling LESS air (and CO2 therefore), you increase (retain higher) levels of CO2 in your blood (when you exhale) , which automatically dilates your bronchi, which in turn prevents your lungs from narrowing your airways as a defense mechanism (in order to retain CO2 as much as possible).

How : main BUTEYKO respiratory exercises aim at increasing the CO2 levels in your blood and re-program over time your brain-respiratory center to BREATHE LESS (not more).

The method (which should be done ideally with a BUTEYKO therapist, but you can download manuals online from BUTEYKO clinics websites for very reasonable amounts) consists in the following key concepts :

- NEVER EVER BREATH THROUGH YOUR MOUTH ANY MORE: ONLY THROUGH YOUR NOSE. EVEN COUGH THROUGH YOUR NOSE, WHILE KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT (yes it is possible)

- Tape your mouth (yes, no joking) with surgical tape EACH EVENING BEFORE going to bed, so you make sure that you will NOT breath through your mouth while sleeping - this corrects your breathing pattern at night and increases your levels of CO2 in your blood over the long term, decreases your hyperventilation, and keeps your airways dilated NATURALLY (CO2 is a natural bronchodilator so you want to keep it in your body as much as possible by exhaling-breathing out LESS as much as possible).

- (1) by holding your breath (stopping breathing like in apnea) several times a day for longer and longer lengths of times (several seconds more each time over several weeks or months): this re-programs your brain to breathe less and increases your levels of CO2 in your body, clears your lungs, allows mucus to clear, etc...
If you breathe less, you breathe Better !

- (2) by stopping breathing on short bursts for a few secs many times a day,

- (3) by very-shallow-breathing, at the tip of your nose, as often as possible, all throughout the day

The key is to stop breathing deeply (and ban mouth-breathing forever).

Paradoxically, a shallow breathing gives you two positive effects:

- increased levels of Co2 in your blood (broncho dilation effect),

- a development of your alveoli tree inside your bronchi

so that eventually you will be able over time to breathe more and more easily.

Remember: an asthmatic has an atrophied alveolar structure in its lungs' bronchi, so you want to re-develop it, and through shallow breathing you can reach that (over time, with regular training, though).

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This saved me from Asthma and allowed me to breathe like a healthy individual, stop medication completely, and lead a normal life again.

Before: I was under ADVAIR and getting worse (as far as the real, actual underlying asthma condition was concerned).

Saying that you feel good because you have no symptoms thanks to your medication in actual facts means that you are still very much sick and are NOT cured to this day.

You can only say that your asthma is treated and cured if one day you can stop taking your medication without experiencing any symptoms.

You can try the BUTEYKO method, it may work for you as well, but do not stop medication, ever, without your doctor allowing or advising you to.

I hope this helps my fellow asthmatics.

Wishing you a full recovery and an asthma-free life.