Asthma and Cigarette sensitivity - Any help is appreciated :)

Hello, I am new to this site. I just did a search on Asthma Support and this is the first thing that came up. I searched this out of desperation. I have had asthma my entire life. It has been at stages where I have gone into respiratory arrest and it has had it's years of being undetectable. I have mostly been in control of it for the bulk of my adult life by controlling triggers and strengthening my immune system. I am now in a dilemma. I live with my husband who smokes. I seem to have developed an extreme sensitivity to it. He goes outside to smoke but, the traces are still left around the house by the residues stuck to/in him and the flow of air coming inside from his smoking area outside of the windows on one part of our house. It seems to be getting stronger and I am reacting very badly to it. I have more asthma attacks than usual and countless other symptoms with airway irritation and chronic infections to name a few. He is really trying and does not understand why I am so sensitive that even his smoking outside/on the side of the house is affecting me. It's even to the point that I start coughing, choking and wheezing if I am near him or where he usually sits. My appreciation to all that post a response. Cheers!

Update:

Thanks so much to everyone!!!!!! I really really appreciate you sharing your personal experiences and all of the good tips - I will definitely ask him to wear a certain jacket when he goes smoking and leave it outside or put it directly in the wash, I think it could work! And He came home last night and said that he will quit -Yay! That's a good start. Cheers to all!

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smoking and asthma

Hi, I am new to the site as well and have suffered for then past 27 years. I do agree with you as my wife smokes and if I am in the same room thats it wheezing and coughing even if she is in another room if I can smell it I cough. I also agree that sensitivity gets worse the older I become.

Keep smiling.

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hi

I am sensitive to smoke. I just have to walk past some one out side and it sets me off.

Sorry its not much

Amanda

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[Asthma-girl]

Smoke also sets me off as well

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I too am very sensitive to tobacco smoke, unfortunately the only way I've found to cope with it is avoidance. Often even taking preventative salbutamol doses when I know exposure to smoke is likely isn't enough to prevent symptoms. Even ""Third hand"" smoke residue on people's clothes is enough to cause an asthma attack for me, which means going out in public can cause massive problems.

The best solution for you would be for your husband to quit smoking, but I know that is easier said than done. Do have a chat with him to see if he's willing to give up, after all it would do you both a world of good. There's a lot of support out there to help smokers quit,smokefree.nhs.uk/ is a good starting point for information and pharmacists and doctors are always happy to offer help and advice.

If your husband cannot or will not give up all you can do is damage limitation. Don't let anyone smoke in the house and ask him to make his smoking area as far away from the house as he can. Make sure all windows and doors are closed when he's smoking and for a short time after he's finished to let the smoke disperse. When my fiancé had been outside gardening he always strips in the conservatory (with the blinds drawn of course) before putting his clothes straight in the washer and jumping straight in the shower to try to limit the amount of pollen and mould spores he brings in with him. I know that's impractical for smoking but would having a jacket or overall that he puts on when he goes out to smoke and then removes on his way in reduce the amount of smoke on the clothing underneath? If you can tolerate it one of those sprays that's supposed to remove odours like febreze might help, but for me personally that kind of thing is a trigger in itself. Spending a few minutes outside after finishing the cigarette might help disperse the smoke a little from clothing if it's a windy day, but I'm not convince it'll have much of an effect really. In truth I'm not sure any of these suggestions will be a great deal of help, but it's got to be worth a try!