FeNo monitor

[Z987]

Hi, I’m 65 and just had a diagnosis of asthma with a FeNo level of 142. What does this mean?I’ve had steroids 5 times this year and hospital twice for a week. I’ve got Fosdair 200. Also, is there any natural remedies that help? Thanks.

[Homely2 Administrator]

Feno levels show how inflamed your airways are. My hospital regards a Feno level of over 40 as an indicator of asthma. So your reading of 142 is high.

I had a similar time to you a couple of years ago, lots of steroids and hospital visits.

With me, from a medical viewpoint, they tried me on a variety of inhalers, until they settled on fostair 100 mart plus Alvesco. They also tried me some add ons, eventually settling on spiriva. They also found I needed something to control my Gerd, which aggravates asthma.

So you need to make sure you have a medic, who will help you on the journey of finding the correct inhalers and add ons for you. If they cannot settle you, they should consider putting you on biologics. Hopefully you are under the care of a hospital consultant and a trained asthma nurse.

From a natural viewpoint, you need to consider the air you breathe, so keeping your house clean, particularly your bed linen, and free of damp. As well as cleaning I supplement this with air purifiers and dehumidifiers, as I live in a damp area. Avoid items that irritate your lungs, I hate dust, pollen and perfume.

The first thing I would do on Monday is ring the asthma UK helpline on 0300 2225800, office hours and speak to a nurse there. The nurse will help you understand your condition and the best way forward.

Finally, you have not mentioned, what reliever you are on, are you on ventolin or salamol?, as fostair 200 normally needs to be paired with a reliever.

[Z987 in reply to Homely2]

thank you so much. It’s all new to me. No reliever at the moment, but I have an appointment at an asthma clinic in November. A life on a tropical island might help!

[Homely2 Administrator in reply to Z987]

Are you in the UK?

What does your asthma plan say you should do in the event of an asthma attack?

[Z987 in reply to Homely2]

I don’t have an asthma plan. Hopefully I will get on in November at the asthma clinic.

[runcyclexcski in reply to Z987]

>>>A life on a tropical island might help!

You never know. You may become allergic to plants there (which will take a year or two), and there will no cold season to have a break from it all. And then you will find that there is no good hospital on the tropical island.

This is what happenned to me in beautiful sunny California. Except that there were good hospitals there :).

[Allbranuser in reply to Homely2]

Interesting you are on Fostair100 mart and Alvesco both seem to be steroid inhalers, is this your understanding?

[Homely2 Administrator in reply to Allbranuser]

Yes. My asthma is very variable. They use Alvesco as my constant inhaler and I vary the fostair 100 as my asthma changes, within the Mart rules. My hospital does this arrangement as an alternative to prednisone. It mainly works and has got my prednisone use down to two to three times a year.

[Allbranuser in reply to Homely2]

Thank you, the more I read about Asthma the more complicated it becomes. I am just on Fostair 100 and managed great for a few years then flare up.

[Patk1]

As Homely 2 says, yr feno is high & shows inflammation in Airways.i don't know of any effective natural remedies buy I also use air purifiers in bedroom+ living room, and dehumidifier occasionally.try to keep as active as possible + take precautions to avoid colds,flu,covid etc as often trigger exacerbations( frequent handwashing,antibacterial gel,masks,also viral blockers like coldzyme throat spray& vicks rescue nose spray), try to avoid smoke+ anything that irritates yr asthma.What symptoms do u have?

[Z987 in reply to Patk1]

It can take 2 weeks, but it starts with a cough and wheezing and gets worse until I can barely breathe. I’ve had 5 bouts this year and hospitalised twice. I’ve had a history of bronchitis, but this wheezing and choking in the throat until I can’t breathe is new.

[Patk1 in reply to Z987]

Start rescue treatments+ increase inhalers as soon as u know its going off

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

As others have said, a high FENO reading shows that you have a lot of a specific type of inflammation in your airways. I say a specific type because FENO isn't useful for everyone with asthma - it doesn't pick up every kind of inflammation. And it's not necessarily correlated with how severe your asthma is - asthma is complex and FENO is just one measurement.

Your high FENO reading plus the steroid courses and hospital admissions does however suggest that in your case, your asthma isn't well controlled and the inflammation is causing problems. I was going to suggest you ask for a referral to a specialist, but I see you already have an appointment coming up which is good.

I agree with Homely2's suggestion to ring the nurses on the helpline and discuss everything with them - mention you have an asthma clinic appointment coming up and they can help you with what to ask/mention.

In terms of natural remedies, I would stick to working out your triggers and avoiding them, as others have suggested. Those triggers may well not be the same as they are for someone else, so it's important to work out what YOUR triggers are. (Sadly, the tropical island you mentioned would provide several of mine - heat and humidity plus tropical fruits are all triggers for me. But someone else with asthma might do wonderfully there.)

Although working out your triggers and making your environment as trigger-free as possible is generally helpful, you won't be able to eliminate everything. And don't go mad and change everything at once - you may not need to and it won't show you what the issue is. I wouldn't go and cut major things out of your diet or life just in case they're triggers (so don't listen to people like a well-meaning neighbour who says cutting out dairy helped their sister's son's asthma. It may well have done for him, but it doesn't mean it will for you if you're not allergic to dairy.)

I wouldn't look for natural remedies like supplements or salt caves. In general there's not much good evidence for these in asthma currently. That doesn't mean there never will be, but as things stand there isn't good evidence right now that they're helpful and not harmful. And some supplements can interfere with medication you take for asthma or any other conditions, and even trigger asthma. Even some apparently harmless home remedies people often mention on here, like steam inhalation or Vicks, can be triggers for some people with asthma.

This page will help show what could be helpful or harmful: asthmaandlung.org.uk/sympto...

Hope this helps - keep asking questions when you have them.

[Z987 in reply to Lysistrata]

Thank you. It is all quite daunting and scary. Something to just get used to. I am grateful for your help. X

[Allbranuser]

Hi

As others have helpfully said, that is a lot of inflammation, mine was 49 and was struggling. Not long later I had a flare up then Whooping cough. You should seek more help from a consultant.

[runcyclexcski]

High NO is a good thing, in a way -- it makes it easier for them to give you a conrete diagnosis, and to start the treatment as a matter of urgency. My NO is normal, and yet I have asthma. I wish it was high.