Natural/Home remedies

[Morgana1979]

Does anybody use any natural or home remedies to control their asthma?

TIA 🤗

[peege]

No, definitely not. Personally I prefer to take prescribed inhalers which have had years and years of thorough research before being accepted by NHS.

I do practice deep diaphragm breathing and pursed lip breathing which are very helpful at times of lung/breathing stress like walking an incline or long walks, dips in sats and keeping calm.

[Morgana1979 in reply to peege]

Thanks - I appreciate your answer 🤗

[Homely2 Administrator]

I steer clear of natural or home remedies. Basically my lung system seems to react to so many things that I avoid looking for trouble. If a remedy worked a drug company would already produce a refined version of it.

If you look at the asthma UK website, they suggest that you could consider breathing exercises and note that vitamin D is often low in people. For most other natural remedies they point out there is a lack of evidence and the remedy can sometimes cause an allergic reaction.

The area that I would look at is avoiding the things that set off your asthma, so for me a clean, decluttered house is crucial. I hate candle like smells.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Homely2]

That’s a wonderful point to consider. I make sure to have my vitamin D and C every day for sure. Thanks for your reply 🙌🏻

[Mandevilla]

Only in the sense that I try to avoid things that trigger my asthma and use things that make me feel better - e.g. breathing exercises, using a dehumidifier when it's raining/foggy, using a wedge pillow so that I sleep semi-upright. But this is alongside scrupulous use of my maintenance inhaler. Every time I have a review, they check my Ventolin use and I trust them to suggest reducing my maintenance inhaler if they think that the asthma is well controlled enough to try this.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Mandevilla]

Thanks for your reply. I’m interested in the kind of pillow you use. Any particular suggestions? TIA

[Mandevilla in reply to Morgana1979]

I just ordered an ordinary foam one online - it's a bit too firm to use on its own, but I put an ordinary pillow on top and find it works really well for me. It cost around £17 I think.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Mandevilla]

Perfect! I was wondering about that as I only saw foam ones online. I thought maybe that was something else out there that I was missing out. Definitely ordering one! Thanks a lot!

[Poobah]

Natural doesn't equate with safe in the asthma world. The best things to do is understand your asthma better in terms of what triggers it and then make adaptations to avoid those things. Triggers can be environmental, animals, foods, drinks or exercise. Even some medicines can exacerbate asthma in some, with aspirin and other NSAIDs being a common culprit. Everyone is different and being aware of what doesn't suit you can be obvious or a bit of a puzzle. And triggers can introduce themselves at any time.

In addition, take your medication as prescribed and have an annual asthma review with your asthma nurse. Suitable, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are recommended. Some asthmatics benefit from breathing exercises (especially if they have a propensity to mouth breath).

A good level of VitD will help your immune system. A test can inform you of your levels and if they're at an optimum. If you're lucky, you may get a test through your doctor, but they're available privately through companies that specialise in testing (you can see if they're used by the NHS on their websites). We obtain VitD through diet but also through being exposed to sunlight. Northern hemisphere countries don't enjoy sufficient sunshine all the year round, so it's easy to become deficient in VitD., especially over winter time. If you do decide to supplement, ensure you test again after a while to ensure you're not over doing it.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Poobah]

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it 🙏🏻

[fraid]

Beer. Very relaxing.

[Jamesd1234]

I have some supplements to my asthma medication , but not as a replacement. I’m taking quercetin to help with allergies, omega 3 which is also good for other things and turmeric Curcumin with vitamin d, which is meant to be good for inflammation . All of this is just a little add on in hope it can help a little , but unsure if it really has done a lot. I’d do some research yourself but definitely don’t skip your usual asthma medication

[Morgana1979 in reply to Jamesd1234]

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing and definitely keeping my regular meds - just looking for a boost of health 😊

[peege]

I forgot to mention........ I do take vitamins to keep my immunity as strong as possible because I'm prone to chest infections. I wouldn't say they're totally natural though (apart from daily small banana and a kiwi)! I try to stick to a healthy natural diet & aim for 1000 steps per day (failing often if it's damp out) & a healthy weight.

[Morgana1979]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. All these things are truly helpful 🤗

[Lilaceyes]

HI -as others have said it depends on your triggers. I also take multivitamins and minerals through the winter -the immune busting vitamin C and zinc ) as well as vitamin D among others. These are in addition to prescribed meds.

I find singing including lessons with breathing control lessons as well as eating healthily and exercising improve my general health as well as making sure my house is as dust free as possible .

We have a PIV unit in our house which pumps fresh filtered air through the house as well as a hoover with a hepa filter. Both are meant to reduce allergens.

Just a few ideas that I have found helpful ….

[Morgana1979 in reply to Lilaceyes]

Thank you for your ideas… so helpful 🙏🏻

[Gareth57]

I think "natural" is a misused word, tobacco is a natural product so arethe deadly nightshade and foxgloves that all will kill if eaten, most vitamins I would class as not natural but refined and manufactured. Eating healthily using fresh food not processed can help and as others have said vitamins (I go for multivitamin and minerals) I also make up a mixture containing turmeric and ginger with orange juice to ease arthritis pain but I guess it's a general anti inflammatory drink, but maintain using the medication agreed with my doctors

[Morgana1979]

Thanks! It sounds very helpful! I’ll look that up too.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Morgana1979]

Buteyko can be effective as an add-on non-medication for some people with asthma, but it's not a replacement for asthma medication. As with anything like this, please use it alongside your medication and don't stop anything without medical advice. I have deleted this particular reply as it's against forum rules for posts on natural remedies.

[Loveducks in reply to Morgana1979]

I found that what Gareth57 said, you take the vitamins to help boost your immune yet a lot of them have a load of additives. The vitamin D supplement I finally found is a soft capsule with Olive Oil, so try and find some that doesn't have all the nasty additives.

Also, Buteyko as Lysistrata mentions, really helps me, especially when I am having difficulty breathing. I also bought a Dyson Cool Air Purifier, not the one that collects water though, I always have this on at night now when I sleep and have found it really helps. Other brands probably do a similar job, it depends if your asthma is triggered with dust allergy, which mine is. I also do a nasal rinse every evening.

I was like you when I first was diagnosed with asthma, tried everything that was supposed to be natural to see if I could control it that way. Sadly no, I am also in the category of difficult to treat and at the moment steroid dependant. It is crucial you take the prescribed inhalers, also the right one that works for you, doesn't give you bad side effects, etc and works. I do believe though that supplementing a healthy life style, along with Vitamin D and breathing exercises does help. One more thing, what can help others you may react too. It is a case of trial and error, I ended up doing a daily food diary so I could work out what was aggravating my asthma.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Loveducks]

Thanks for your insightful note 🙏🏻 I definitely rely on my meds and have no intention of stopping anything without doctor's decision. I’m so grateful for all the ideas on supplementing what I already do for a better lifestyle. This community is incredible! ❤️

[Mandevilla in reply to Morgana1979]

Just make sure you are cautious about trying anything new and keep an eye on your asthma symptoms because something that can help one person can make someone else worse. For example, I find a dehumidifier very beneficial, but for other people, drier air makes them worse and they need to increase humidity! Camomile tea is beneficial for me - but my mother is allergic to it! Likewise, I noticed someone saying that whisky helped their asthma (I think it might have been on the deleted post) which made me laugh because alcohol is my biggest trigger and I can't even sit next to someone who is drinking without my asthma kicking off!

[Morgana1979 in reply to Mandevilla]

Oh yes! Great point! 🙌🏻

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Mandevilla]

Great point Mandevilla - asthma is a pain because it's so variable! I saw someone on Facebook saying 'like many asthmatics, I long for the summer'. Presumably she was triggered mostly by colder/damp weather but I laughed internally because I think hot weather is worse for me now. And it USED to be mostly cold weather for me too, so it's not even consistent within the same person (to be fair now my lungs just hate about 90% of all weather).

Some things can definitely creep up on you natural remedy wise too so worth remembering, what's ok now may not always be ok. As I discovered on holiday last year. Mmmm, guava juice! Oh...tastes great, but maybe not guava juice after all.

And it has nothing to do with severity either necessarily. The fact someone with severe asthma is fine with X doesn't mean someone with milder asthma also will be.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Lysistrata]

Yes!!! I’m so new to this as I was diagnosed last winter and there is so much to learn about my own triggers and soothing elements. I finally got a referral to see a specialist and look forward to get some further tests done and learn more about it. It’s fascinating to hear all the personal experiences from others. So grateful for this supportive community!

[Mandevilla in reply to Morgana1979]

You'll get there! I got diagnosed January 2022, and it took me over a year to get my head around it all, but it's much easier now.

[Morgana1979 in reply to Mandevilla]

That’s so hopeful 🙏🏻