I guess you could say I have extremely bad asthma. I have had sinus problems most of my life but I had my first asthma attack at the age of 33 and was in the hospital for 4 days after coming very close to death. If not from the asthma and a pulse ox of 30, the theo, steroids, atropine and something like 8 nebulizors in the ER alone which had my heart rate well over 200. Now, 4 years later, the symptoms are worse if anything. My Dr., a respected pulmonary and internal medicine internist, now has me on a $1000 dollar a month habit(not including any ccasional antibiotics or prednisone). Just to give you an idea...

Serevent 8 puffs daily(twice that approved in US) Aerobid 8 puffs daily(max dose) Intal 8 puffs daily(max dose) Albuterol as needed(a lot) Flonase 2 sprays daily(max dose) Claritin D 12hr 2 tablets daily Accolate 20mg 3 tablets daily

A friend had called my wife and said they were sending me an article about breathing techniques that could lessen or alleviate the symptoms. Being at work I hopped right on the internet and began searching for info.. I did'nt take long. I have starting practicing Buteyko, as described in Gerard O'Neil's transcript. Typically I could be classified as a skeptic about non-medical remedies, cures etc. It only took the first excercise session to make a me a beleiver. Before starting the first excercise I was experiencing sinus congestion/drainage, tightness of chest, and some wheezing and congestion(after taking all my meds and a 60mg dose of prednisione). After 1 full excercise session or sometime in the process the following happened.

My sinuses cleared, the tightness in my chest disappeared, my lungs cleared and the secretions stopped. In addition I felt more relaxed, alert and generally well. I still have a bit of a dry cough but that is subsiding.

I have only been practicing for a couple of days but the results have been astonishing. One weakness I have is record keeping, I don't do it for much of anything. I can tell you that I feel dramatically better and I have reduced my serevent, intal and aerobid use by 50% and not used albuterol at all. I have also gone back to the normal dose of 2 Accolate tablets a day instead of three. The funny thing is that the miracle drug accolate was supposed to do the same thing... reduce my drug usage. Six months later and and increased dose of accolate and it has done nothing.

All this gives testimony to the benefits of Buteyko. The amazing part is that it has been kept out of the U.S. by the ignorance and power of the medical and pharmacuetical industry. I mean after all it is big business, $12,000 plus a year in drugs, $55 doctor visits, a $25,000 hospital stay, $100's in chest and sinus xrays, $100's in allergy testing(and I'm not really allergic to much), $100's in radiologist fees, $65 ear/nose/throat specialists and so on..... good thing I have had good medical insurance now and in the past.

Jim Phillips
Senior Software Engineer
Securicor Telesciences
Moorestown, N.J. U.S.A