Looking for asthma sufferer's on The Creek

[Guy Mathews]

Well after 3 long months of not feeling good, chronic coughing when lifting sheets of plywood or anything that required exertion, 2 trips to the emergency room for difficulty breathing, Bronchitis diagnosis, stress test on the heart, a lung function test and lots of bloodwork...
Eureka! I have finally been diagnosed with full blown asthma. They gave me a nebulizer and everything.

Our shop is equipped with good DC and in the last 2 months I have faithfully been wearing disposable 3M dust Mask while on the shop floor and while running the CNC machines thinking that MDF was killing me slowly. (Which it will if you are not careful!)

We have identified through alergy testing, Cats, dogs and dust mites. Cats being the worst. She leaves Saturday! The prick test revealed no reactions to wood species although they only tested a few. Teak and Spanish Cedar were not on the list. I have also found a mold problem in my home which is currently being taken care of.

This morning was the scariest day of my life. Emergency room for 4 hours and I was giving 2 hours worth of albutrol. Talk about the jitters! Feeling better tonight now that we finally have targeted the asthma and I have effective treatment. I am also taking Singulair and Alegre morning and night. Over the coming weeks we are adding HEPA filtration to the home, and more allergy testing to identify the things in my area that may be contributing to the attacks.

My question, are there any Creekers who are asthmatic that can share some tips and there stories to help me cope with my asthma while enjoying life with my two little girls and my second love...

Woodworking.:D

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Kent]

Guy, my hand is raised.

My asthma is mild but can become a real problem when combined with H1N1, or with Walnut Burl sawdust. That was the combination that got me between July and October 2009 - continual lung pain along with the recurrent stuffed up lungs.


For a couple of months I have been sanding Padauk, which is a known irritant, but have had no lung problems. The big difference has been that I now always wear a 3m 7503 series half mask respirator with P100 filters. When finishing I use the organic vapor cartridge. My total order from Amazon was $41. The number on the mask varies according to face size, but the 7000 series seemed to be made better than the 6000 series.

Good luck to you.

Brian

[Belinda Barfield]

Guy,

I also have mild asthma. One of my triggers is cigarette smoke, but only from one particular brand of cigarettes - go figure.

Once you and your doc find the combination of meds that best controls your asthma you will fell much better. One bit of advice I would offer, in addition to the dust mask get some sort of cover up to wear over your clothing while in the shop. Even if it is nothing more than a long sleeved full length lab coat. When you leave the shop, leave it there. Don't forget about covering your head as well. In the stone industry people are so conscious about wearing dust masks, but rarely think about the stone dust that is in the hair, and on the clothing. That dust transfers to your car/truck, and to your home. You may even go so far as to change clothes before you leave the shop. This may seem extreme, but it sure beats four hours in the ER.

Another bit of advice . . . when you have an attack, don't panic. Now that you know the problem this will be a little easier. A full blown asthma attack is pretty scary, and not only for you but your family as well.

I hope you are feeling much better soon.

[Samuel Butler]

I am a pulmonary physician and a woodworker. In your post you said you have found to be allergic to cats. Cats are the most frequent trigger for asthma in the home. You will need to get rid of the cat as you are doing and it will take a while for the cat dander to settle into the carpet. It is difficult to get rid of the cat dander even after the cat is gone. You will have to be careful when you do any work on the carpet, drapes etc.

As to woodworking the good news is that there are only a few species of wood that always cause airway constriction, western red cedar is the worst offender. Any dust from any species of wood or other material if small enough to get into the lungs can cause airways to constrict. So sand less and use more scrapers and planes, wear dust masks, invest in dust control, not just big chip control. There have been lots of posts discussing the difference between removing dust and simple removing the larger pieces that I will call chips.

Also the albuterol that you mention is just part of the solution, you must also be on a "controller" medication. The most studied and effective are inhaled steroids. These you will take every day and use the albuterol as needed as a "rescue" drug. I agree when you are having an asthma attack is a good idea to calm yourself by concentrating of exhaling. Shortness of breath is cause by air being trapped in you lungs from the previous breath which due to the airway narrowing can't get out before the next breath must come in. So slow your exhalations to allow more to get out and therefor more to air to come in with the next breath.


Good luck.

p.s. In my practice it was harder to get a woman with asthma to give up her cat than it was to get rid of her husband.

[Guy Mathews]

I am a pulmonary physician and a woodworker. In your post you said you have found to be allergic to cats. Cats are the most frequent trigger for asthma in the home. You will need to get rid of the cat as you are doing and it will take a while for the cat dander to settle into the carpet. It is difficult to get rid of the cat dander even after the cat is gone. You will have to be careful when you do any work on the carpet, drapes etc.

As to woodworking the good news is that there are only a few species of wood that always cause airway constriction, western red cedar is the worst offender. Any dust from any species of wood or other material if small enough to get into the lungs can cause airways to constrict. So sand less and use more scrapers and planes, wear dust masks, invest in dust control, not just big chip control. There have been lots of posts discussing the difference between removing dust and simple removing the larger pieces that I will call chips.

Also the albuterol that you mention is just part of the solution, you must also be on a "controller" medication. The most studied and effective are inhaled steroids. These you will take every day and use the albuterol as needed as a "rescue" drug. I agree when you are having an asthma attack is a good idea to calm yourself by concentrating of exhaling. Shortness of breath is cause by air being trapped in you lungs from the previous breath which due to the airway narrowing can't get out before the next breath must come in. So slow your exhalations to allow more to get out and therefor more to air to come in with the next breath.


Good luck.

p.s. In my practice it was harder to get a woman with asthma to give up her cat than it was to get rid of her husband.

Sam,

Thanks for posting. I am currently taken singulair and fexofendine. Just recently this has gotten really bad for me and I think the doctors were just as perplexed as I was. I bought Nibbles home when she was just 5 weeks old. We learned of my alergy almost 10 years later and tried to deal with it using loratadine for the alergy med, putting the cushions up on the furniture and closing the bedroom door. It was also suggested that we wash the cat. At the time Nibbles was10 years old, and 17 pounds of fat and muscle. Now 15 years old, she is still quite quick for her age and still has a dislike for water that stems from when she was a kitten and I trained her using a water spray bottle. The few times that I tried to bath her when she was younger ended up with her running outside through the dog door dripping wet, and me running to the medicine cabinet to get guaze for my arms! Yes, she has never been declawed! Unfortunately, all of the above tricks did not work so well.

I could not get rid of the cat, not because of my wife, but because of my 7 year old daughter. "Nibbles the Cat" is Alexis's best friend. Nibbles took to Alexis the day we brought her home from the hospital. Ironically, she ignored my oldest daughter when Kayla first came home and for over year after that. Alexis was another story. Nibbles was like a surrogate mother to her. There was one day when Alexis was going up the stairs at about age 4. She fell on the stairs and Nibbles who appeared to be sleeping jumped to her feet and started screaming toward the stairs and kept looking back to Jen and I who were sitting on the sofa. Before we could react, Alexis stood up, looked at Nibbles and said, "I'm okay Nibbles." and continued upstairs. With that, Nibbles stopped screaming, layed down and resumed her pretended state of sleep. My wife and I were awestruck to say the least. I have seen Alexis have 15 minute conversations with this damn cat, Nibbles will talk back to her with meows, growls and purrs. I swear to god! It is quite comical to watch.

I had to tell Alexis last night that Nibbles had to finally go. She knew that this day was coming because I had been telling her for a while that we were going to have to find a new home for Nibbles as soon as we could. She kept a straight face for about 15 seconds and I saw the first tears roll down her face. With that I held out my arms and she jumped into them sobbing uncontrollably. Both her and I cried for at least 5 minutes. Between her sobs I finally got her understand that my boss was taken Nibbles to live on his farm with his wife, two kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, horses, rabbits, chickens, donkeys and peacocks. Alexis immediately smiled, delighted in the fact that she was going to the Million Dollar Farm to live out her years in spoiled luxury. Alexis will also be able to visit her now and again.

Even though the outcome for Nibbles is one that any animal would envy I have to admit, it was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do with one of my two girls. I know that when we take her over to the farm that we are going to cry all over again.

Anyway, I see my doctor on Wednesday and we will go over plans of attack for my asthma now that we know what is going on.

Like Belinda said, it is scary when you do not know what is happening. Today, was a great day. I swear, I do not remember feeling this good in a long time. Even when my chest and throat tighened a little at work today around 1PM, it was as simple as saying to myself, okay, time to relax, slow down and breathe properly.

Anyhow, thanks for the response and the advice.

Below is a photo Alexis and her friend, "Nibbles the Cat" as she has affectionately called her since she was old enough to say the words "Nibbles the Cat!".

After we drop off Nibbles, I will take Alexis for ice cream and then I will take her to the pet store so she can get some fish for her new aquarium...

Let's just hope I am not alergic to scales!!!

Thanks for letting me ramble. It will make this weekend a little easier.