Hello there,
Where to start? I guess my story started when I was
first diagnosed as having Asthma at the age of four. Both of my parents
were relatively young and didn't really understand what that meant, but
were willing to go along with whatever advice our local Doctor and
Hospital advised. At that time I was given tablets and my very first
inhaler, which I diligently used every day. That didn't stop me from
attempting to be the bright little boy that I was, but unfortunately
asthma had other ideas. I spent the next 8 years going to the hospital
every month for checks on my health, with attacks every three or four
months putting me in a hospital bed for anything from three to four days
to three weeks. I still managed to get an education and spent a lot of
time reading, studying and watching TV (I am a firm believer in young
children watching educational programs while at home - it worked for
me!) Due to this forced internment my reading level was raised
dramatically - I spent all of my school life excelling in English
language with a reading age at least +4 years ahead. It's not all bad
then!! Things turned around for my asthma as I grew older - by the time
I started comprehensive school (year 9 of school life) the attacks had
started to come under control - I had been used to asthma for so long
that I had started to "relax" during attacks, not stopping the attack
itself but aiding in the recovery. The then thin, weedy little boy
decided that his appearance (along with the onset of puberty) had become
a little more important to him, as well as "I've just had enough of been
weak all my life!" - spurred on by the hormonal changes plus a
competitive edge that seems to have always been with me I started on a
light fitness program - light walking / jogging to school (a 15 minute
walk for an asthmatic) and back each day, with light weight-training and
general flexibility exercises - this took the form of stretching,
sit-ups, squats, chin-ups, press-ups and the like, regulated every day
(before homework!) with a chart of progress, which I would build on over
time - I really was determined! The asthma complained throughout, but
that determined little boy was steadily growing into the determined man
he would become, so stuck at it. Those formative years are the best
time to exercise as the body is just starting to grow at its greatest
rate, gaining the most benefit from any fitness routine; I took full
advantage - from barely managing 5 press-ups, only 1-2 chin-ups (sweat!)
and a brisk walk to school nearly wiping me out (I would need my inhaler
with me to take before and after!) in 1 year I could do 100 press-ups,
100 sit-ups, 25 chin-ups and a run to school that took 4 minutes without
stopping (I still needed my inhaler though) For me, the achievement was
beyond belief! Ok, throughout this time my physical condition improving
didn't really help the asthma, but showed me that it was at least
possible to exercise - I still woke up in the middle of the night
coughing, up in the morning wheezy-chested, wheezy when the weather /
atmosphere changed - I just took this as normal (I'd been like this my
whole life!) At the tender age of fifteen I again suffered a number of
attacks which sent me back to the doctor's office - this time though
something different happened. Not just the listening to the chest and
the "Well, Ian's asthma is bad at the moment because he has a cold, so
for the next few weeks double the dose of ......" No! Into my hands
was placed what I would have described as "The best chemical
breakthrough known to Man!" Ok, so it was only the propellant
Salbutamol inhaler. Only!! Stop asthma attacks in under 2 minutes?
Fantastic!! No more sitting around for half an hour while the attack
subsides - I can just "Puff and Go!" Sounds like some kind of strange
TV commercial, doesn't it? What I was actually given was a time-bomb
waiting to go off - two years later I added to my drugs-list the
Becotide inhaler (which I didn't take very regularly *sigh*) and didn't
stop - I was down the Gym three times a week, I started work as a
printer / film processor, I was out all the time socialising - I was
enjoying my new-found freedom for the first time in my life!! At 19 I
changed career direction and started working shifts as a lowly computer
operator - I spent most of my working life in an air-conditioned
humidity-controlled computer room. Add together the lifestyle, the
"working-out", the socialising, the shift-work and the changes in
environment that I kept putting myself through (Cold, dry air to warm,
moist air and back every other day) - there just weren't enough hours in
the day!! I still felt bad in the night, woke up wheezy - never really
thought about it though. I later find that this is the sure sign that
your asthma is "out of control" - it took until aged 22 for the
"Time-Bomb" to stop ticking - I awoke in the middle of the night to an
attack that no amount of Salbutamol would stop - I just got up (it was 3
in the morning) and drove myself to the hospital, expecting them to put
me on a nebuliser for 30 minutes and i'd be "right as rain" - yeh,
right! 12 hours later and another really heavy attack put me on a
ventilator in intensive care for two days - having a machine breathe for
you can be quite a sobering experience I can tell you, especially for
your family. Once i'd recovered fully (a month later) I was then told
all about what I should be looking for, given the right amount of drugs
and told - "be careful!" Since then I stuck pretty much to the "drug
regime," although I always have been slack with the Becotide (just can't
get around to taking it!) unless i've got a cold or am a bit run-down.
So why, after all those years trusting the advice of the medical
profession, do I try something so radically different as Buteyko? Well,
as previously mentioned my appetite for reading has never diminished - I
am a voracious reader and now that I am a Computer Consultant have
access to a large amount of data: The Internet. I've always been very
sceptical of homeopathy and other forms of "natural healing" - to add
insult I also suffer from eczema and have tried a number of "alternative
medicines" - no joy. I consider eczema to be a low-risk disease so
there was no way I was going to try my asthma out on it. You know the
story - "Hey, you're having an attack - take this herbal tea and you'll
feel much better!!" And what part of "There's No Way i'm Trusting that
to Save Me" don't you understand? The other thing is that most of the
people I have spoken to about asthma couldn't really answer the
fundamental question - Why? All the doctors I spoke to said "We don't
know exactly what is the cause of asthma - you are just triggered by
"something" which closes your airways" Ok I say, I can take that as
long as the drugs carry on working i'll be fine. Thing was, when that
obviously wasn't working it was time to change my lifestyle to fit my
illness. I'd have to calm down and not run myself into the ground, get
plenty of sleep, not stress myself, that kind of thing - ok, I can
accept that; doesn't mean I like it though. Then came my final asthma
breakthrough - I was reading on the Asthma NewsGroup all about different
drugs people take, different remedies, symptoms, conditions etc,. when I
came across an interesting word - Buteyko. As I had only just started
reading messages posted by the group it took me a while to find out what
this word meant. Most people posting on the board were giving it what
can only be described as a hard time, but if it was worth talking about
then to my mind it was worth looking into - I love a good puzzle. Not
only are there a few people talking about this "Buteyko" but someone
just happens to post a memo saying that there will be a QED Programme
(TV Science / Fact Show) on this Buteyko thing - i'll watch a bit of
that! Unfortunately I missed the first half of the show but caught
enough of the info and the results to convince me to take a further look
into it. Back at the office I started hunting on the net - lo and
behold a WebSite! For the next two days I burrowed through the blurb
and finally had enough info to try the technique myself. Now i'd been
running low on my inhaler for a number of days as my asthma was pretty
hay-wire - I was using the inhaler about 10-15 times a day. I had to
put into the Doc's for a prescription for Salbutamol - this I did, but
ran out later that day. That's when I started using the Buteyko method,
breathing through my nose from then on. I did the control pause (10
seconds) and relaxed my breathing down to practically nothing, then
tried to hold my breath for as long as possible - the feeling of "no air
in the lungs" was quite disconcerting at first, but I soon got used to
it after a number of tries. On the second week, I think on a tuesday, I
was seated at my desk when the "attack Warning Signs" reared their ugly
head. Following the Buteyko method I again relaxed my shoulders and
breathed shallowly, holding my breath for the control pause again for as
long as possible. Within five minutes my lungs felt "clear" - no
attack, no wheezing, just an incredible sense of euphoria I will never
again feel - I almost burst into tears. From that day to this I have not
used my Salbutamol inhaler, nor have I needed to. I bought the inhalers
with my prescription two days after starting the Buteyko method and I
used the Becotide Inhaler for the following two months - after that I
stopped taking it altogether. The Salbutamol inhaler I carry with me
always, but since Day 1 have never needed to use it and hope I never
have to use it again.
Now I could go into the reasons the Buteyko method is supposed
to work; the carbon dioxide control, the "ultra-hyper-ventilation"
theory - for me, that doesn't matter. The real reason for my trying the
method is simple - the question "Why?" has been answered, a question
none of my Doctors could answer. The symptoms of hyper-ventilation and
their relation to asthma I feel is easy to see, once explained
rationally with the concept of hyper-ventilation in mind. The answer to
the question "Why?" is plain. That the "answer" has been under
everyone's noses all these years is just life - that's the way it goes.
What we come to in the end is a really simple premise - IT WORKS. I
don't want to get into a debate / argument over the issues because i'm
not a Doctor or a scientist so I don't feel i'm in a position to argue -
what I am is an asthmatic who is practising the Buteyko method and for
the first time does not have to use drugs to control it and has had no
further asthma attacks. I can run, train, play paintball - I play for a
team and no longer require my inhaler to enjoy it, as long as I breath
through my nose while playing and don't try to "gulp down" tons of air!
I still get tired and sweaty, just like every normal person I guess, but
still no asthma attacks or wheezing. I have to admit to not taping my
mouth shut at night but otherwise follow the principles to the letter.
Not much to ask then to get rid of my asthma altogether, just a few
minutes "exercise" a day. Dead easy.
Well, that's about it - if all this does is make an interesting
read to an asthma sufferer somewhere, or the worried parent of a child
who has been diagnosed as asthmatic then that's fine by me. I could
give you all that blurb about "I have no affiliation with the Buteyko
Institute blah, blah, blah" but I don't think that's necessary - you
don't need to hear it. My only "hard sell" if you like is that I would
Strongly Advise you to investigate this method and to try it out. It
works for me and i'd hope it would work for any asthmatic, young or old.
If that means getting a Buteyko expert if you can contact one direct for
training in the method, then please do so. I have learned how to do
this from studying all the literature I could get my hands on, as well
as the Web Pages and mailers from people who have attended the courses,
but I did it with my GP's guidance and the "crutch" of the drugs until I
felt I was strong enough to get off them, just as I was advised to do.
Never stop taking the drugs you have been prescribed until your GP says
otherwise, as this is against all the teachings of the method.
So there you have it - My Story. Hope it helps and good luck
for the future.
Regards,
Ian Bland.
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