strange reaction

hi i am just wondering does steam affect anyones asthma as i cant have a bath or shower or even go near the steam from the kettle.

Its a strange reaction as my mum used steam to help my asthma as a child

Amanda

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Gosh, yes! Steam has always affected me. Can almost smell it. Kind of like the smell of over-tumble dried towels. Catches the back of my throat.

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Steam can affect me too - I found it hard taking a shower with too much steam and also had difficulties when I went to a spa and used the steam room (grrr, so nice otherwise!) It doesn't bother me that much but does seem to affect my breathing a bit.

How are you managing - cold showers? Ouch!

[Asthma-girl]

I also find steam can affect me too

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yeah steam is the vain of my live at the min as i have been helping in my mums garden so my hayfever is playing up so my asthma is bad. So getting a bath is like really bad.

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yeah but I think it depends on how my lungs are behaving at the time. Sometimes a shower can trigger a huge asthma attack in me, but most of the time it doesn't bother me.

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I've been having massive problems with steam and humid air, so much so that my GP banned me from bathing and showering unsupervised. I've found that if the change in humidity is gradual it affects me less, it's similar to the way temperature affects me, going from warm air inside to cold air outside makes me struggle but if the air temperature cools gradually, the effect is lessened.

To shower first of all I take several puffs of my reliever inhaler the number of puffs depends on how my lungs feel that day, I have got it wrong before and taken too few, but I'm pretty well practised at it now. I have to open the window as wide as it'll go, and leave the ensuite door open. I then switch on our *VERY* heavy duty dehumidifier this is in addition to the built -in extractor fan, which also acts as a dehumidifier. I also aim a large and very powerful fan full blast at the open window to try and drive the steam outside although on good days I can sometimes skip this step. Now I can finally turn the shower on, I can only have cool water and turning the dial up to even lukewarm can be risky at times. I tend get undressed in the bedroom while I let the water run for a couple of minutes (I read somewhere that it can help clear the bugs that grow in shower-heads before you get in plus it seems to help with the gradual change in humidity thing). Any products I use must be unscented and have a low odour as adding in a second trigger like strong smells can be catastrophic (I could go on for hours about unscented products that stink anyway, but thats another story). I don't draw the shower curtain around as that will trap the moisture in with me and the ensuite is a wet room anyway so it doesn't really matter if water gets everywhere. I don't take baths anymore as I still have all the same problems with my lungs but also have to factor in stairs, the fact that there are no fans or dehumidifiers in the bathroom and the fact that baths exacerbate my eczema too (because you end up sitting in a diluted solution of whatever you wash with and can't rinse it away completely).

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I generally find it helps, did notice when I went to Bath Spa that they advise some areas may not be suitable for asthmatics

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unfortunatly i have to share a bathroom and i think if i left the door open i might scare or scar my brothers for life lol

My mum said it use to help my asthma as a child. I growe out of it and its come back.

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I've heard that steam can be bad at the time but can help longer term, at least for some people.

Nimueh, that sounds very awkward! Have they told you whether you'll always have that as a problem and have to do what you're currently doing, or is it just for the moment?

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Philomela, I'm not entirely sure to be honest. My consultant was fairly confident he would be able to make my asthma easier to manage, but in the next breath told me I will probably remain sensitive to a lot of triggers. I have good days and bad days and on the good days I can get away with more. Since increasing my inhaled steroid I've been able to leave the house without having an attack everytime, so I don't feel nearly as trapped as I did and it does give me hope that with the other interventions that my consultant mentioned I might get back some of the things that asthma has stolen from me. OK that last bit sounds a bit melodramatic, but I've really felt my world shrinking in the past few months, so I'd love to be able to get some things back.

[Annista]

I have to be very careful with steam. It's great for clearing the sinuses when the allergies are acting up and also if I can't cough properly and clear my lungs, so I often have a couple of minutes in the steam room when I go for my swim in the mornings.

However, on some days I find that just opening the steam room door is enough to set me off - it's a bit like inhaling a wet flannel and I have to grab my inhaler quickly.

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im very much like that i dont have to be near steam long to start an attack really i have to take my reliver in with me when im having a bath. And since my bathroom is tiny its like a steam room

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Think bathrooms can be worse with no window - I don't have too many problems now in a bathroom with a biggish velux window and a rigid folding screen to keep the water in, but I found it much worse in a bathroom with just a fan and with a shower curtain which seemed to trap the steam more (we had to really nag to get the ventilator too - bit stupid really, did the landlord want mould in their bathroom?)

Nimueh, really hope you do find that you can control it and start doing things again; I have an idea of how frustrating it can be and don't think you're being too melodramatic. I don't have as many triggers as you so I don't have to worry so much about something setting it off all the time but due to uncertainty about what I have I have no control and things seem to be sliding downwards and increasingly interfering with what I can do in daily life. And I seem to be the only one who is concerned about this - when I go to drs they just say 'well your lungs seem normal so I'm not sure'. I'm really glad that you seem to have a good consultant who is at least aware that it's making your life difficult, and hope he comes up with something soon so you can get back on an even keel.