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Asthma, steroids and the impossible

spectrachic311 said: "I have asthma as well, but it's currently in remission and I barely ever even get symptoms anymore. When I was overweight, I would get severe attacks when I exercised and when I got a cold or something. I had inhaled steriods and a fast-acting albuterol inhaler, but I usually had to go on Prednisone when I was ill to help the symptoms. I can honestly say that losing weight and getting in shape was one of the main factors in getting rid of my asthma. I very rarely need my inhaler now and I haven't needed steroids in years. Are your symptoms so bad that you can't do any exercise at all? I would say to try and do as much physical activity as you can (when I started, I could barely walk/run a mile without wheezing) and try to lose as much extra weight as possible (extra weight will press on the airways, making it even harder to breathe). I don't know for sure if that will help you, but it really did work for me."

spectrachic311 said: "Yeah, it's pretty interesting that those symptoms went away when I lost weight. It's part of my motivation to not gain it back! Another one of my weird health issues that went away when I lost weight was extremely painful periods. I used to have cramps so bad that I'd be literally in bed, taking ibuprofen like crazy, throwing up, just in horrific agony. They thought I might have endometriosis, but I didn't, so I just had to deal with it. Then when I lost weight, my period pain got less and less severe. I mentioned it to my doctor and she said "Oh, sometimes that happens. Extra fat can carry extra estrogen and make your cramps worse." Geez, if I'd known that all I had to do was lose weight to get rid of cramps I would have done it a LONG time ago."

klynnfosh said: "I just wanted to make one suggestion on the not losing, maybe you need to eat just a little more say about 1500 calories a day and you will notice you lose weight. You could be putting your body in starvation mode, because based on current weight you should be able to eat up to 1800 calories probably and still lose weight. I try to aim for 1500 and I weight 174, so you might not be helping your body by eating less. You need a basic amount of food just for your body to function and going to the gym requires energy fueled by the proper types of food as well. Give it a chance and then as Lakelady said you might want to check with your doctor for more medically sound advice to the best type of diet for you, maybe sodium and water weight is the culprit. Steroids are not my friend either, I tend to gain weight with them as well."

an8lemongirl said: "You have seen me bounce in and out of featherish. As I have time from work, or family or my asthma. Every time I seem to make progress a new season pops up and I am sick and back on steroids again and gain all the weight I lost and then some. I am a Respiratory therapist...I know all the tricks on how to avoid a big launch of symptoms but can't seem to get any thing done. I'm back up to 240 wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!:sad010: I take all of my meds at the same time every day, I never miss a dose, I have tesson pearles for a stuffy chest, I have Rhinocort for a runny nose, I don't go out without a mask, half the time I wear one at work. Any suggestions?"

an8lemongirl said: "As for the steroids mostly inhale the advair unless I am really sick then the pills. Been to the gymn go every other day. cardio, treadmill, that running pull the sticks thingy that kills you, weights. Slowly getting on and doing more been 2 weeks now with 1,200 calorie diet 2 days fast one back to 1,200 for 3 days fast one. not lost an ounce. sore all over though so i am soing something right i think.maybe.sorta."

an8lemongirl said: "I am at the beginning of my effort. Again. I go till I get sick manage to get to 199 and then something in my head kicks in and up we go. Start weight this time was 245. Been going to therapy and getting the head re arranged so maybe this time. I have been ignoring the scale since the first week with no change but period is finallly over and I was trying to find a reason to go to the gym this morning and as a last ditch effort I tried the scale ....even one pound was worth it. Well, I got a huge surprise and scared my hubby (with the hollering ).......[SIZE="3"]9 pounds[/SIZE]. As for the water I have a two litre bottle a day 4 days a week, the other three I work and simply can not drink that much and do my job...It would be a disaster. Especially if I draw the E.R. for the day, it has 45 beds and while we are not the biggest E.R. we are the second busiest in the state of missouri. The biggest and busiest being Barnes Jewish Hospital (downtown, St Louis Mo) aka, the knife and gun club. And the thingy in the last post was called an eliptical half way through my goal of the day i believe satan invented the thing. LOL."

lakelady said: "First, do you inhale your steroids or take them in tablet form? Taken in tablet form they can suppress your adrenal function and there's research to at least suggest that that may inhibit your weight loss efforts. Also, did you know that psychosocial stress has been shown to weaken cortisol responses to your steroids? In other words, if you have anxiety over your weight it can make your steroids ineffective. Since you ARE a respiratory therapist, you probably know these things, but it never hurts to mention them. I'm a lifelong asthmatic myself, but I've never had the severity of difficulty that you have. I've never read of a connection between weight and asthma, but I can tell you for certain that I nearly never have an attack now and I had one at least twice a week when I was 100 pounds overweight! Hope you find some answers. Good Luck!"

lakelady said: "Spec, isn't it interesting that science has made no connection between being overweight and more frequent asthma attacks, but you and I BOTH had them cease when we lost weight? As scientists we can't really take anecdotal evidence into account, but still......"

lakelady said: "Way to go Cool! You're the Evangelist of weight loss!"

lakelady said: "lemongirl, I'm concerned. two weeks on the regimen you describe should have seen SOME weight loss! Especially with the exercise! (you're right btw, if you're sore, the exercise is working!) How long has it been since you've been to the doctor to talk about your meds? Are you drinking enough water? ESPECIALLY on meds you need to have AT LEAST 64 oz of water a day. That's 8 big glasses. Even if you don't like it particularly (like me) stand by the tap or fridge and drink it like medicine! Don't convince yourself that because you always have a bottle of water at hand that you're drinking enough of it. Diet drinks aren't a substitute mostly, because they can contain a lot of sodium and other additives that can exacerbate fluid retention instead of solving it. I'm guessing that fluid retention is your problem and water will wash the toxins causing it out of your body, There's another possibility. How much do you weigh? Are you at the goal end of your diet? Was your goal too low? Are you trying to make your body lose weight it doesn't need to lose? Think about that, and if the answer is 'no' go check with your doc that your meds aren't messing with your electrolytes and kidney function. It's not something to mess around with. Sorry for the long lecture! :lecture:"

DrCOOL959 said: "[quote=lakelady]Spec, isn't it interesting that science has made no connection between being overweight and more frequent asthma attacks, but you and I BOTH had them cease when we lost weight? As scientists we can't really take anecdotal evidence into account, but still......[/quote] That is interesting! My step-dad had a pretty bad attack recently (hospitalized him for a week) he is overweight. Another bit of ammo to use to convert him! =) Got most of my family on board but he is resisting change! Btw: got my mom onboard and she has already dropped 20lbs in a couple months =)"

DrCOOL959 said: "[quote=spectrachic311]Yeah, it's pretty interesting that those symptoms went away when I lost weight. It's part of my motivation to not gain it back! Another one of my weird health issues that went away when I lost weight was extremely painful periods. I used to have cramps so bad that I'd be literally in bed, taking ibuprofen like crazy, throwing up, just in horrific agony. They thought I might have endometriosis, but I didn't, so I just had to deal with it. Then when I lost weight, my period pain got less and less severe. I mentioned it to my doctor and she said "Oh, sometimes that happens. Extra fat can carry extra estrogen and make your cramps worse." Geez, if I'd known that all I had to do was lose weight to get rid of cramps I would have done it a LONG time ago.[/quote] Makes you wonder just how much our weight affects us. Makes the Pro's list to lose the weight even that much longer! =)"