My poorly controlled asthma disappeared on both occasions of taking itraconazole for toenail fungal infections. Doc says "rubbish, no link"

[AsthmaBoy]

Having heard all the news today about Jo Armstead finding a link between CF and aspergillus, I've been looking into fungal infections and asthma...loads of info on the net, and, guess what, it is normally treated with itraconazole! The ONLY time EVER that my asthma has improved to any degree was on both occasions I took a course of itraconazole for toenail fungal infections. At the time I was telling people that my asthma had 'gone away'. I have told several doctors this during consultations, but on all occasions they all told me that it was unlikely that there is a link. The information I have been reading this evening contradicts their opinions totally! I write this feeling quite angry that a clear, entirely feasible link is being immediately dismissed by people who should already be acutely aware of this possibility. Please help and advise me. What should I ask Doc? What should I tell Doc?

[naomi88]

I understand your frustration, there are such things happening all the time. Who knows why are they not aware about the link. Perhaps that is because they are not having a holistic approach.

I believe that fungal and mycoplasma are at the root of so many health problems. Whether the body was overwhelmed with a large quantity of them or the immune system is failing at battle these successfully due to various factors( from diet, external or internal environment to stress, depression etc)

Hard to say what you should ask or tell the Docs, maybe finding a holistic Doc would be a solution.

[DrGraham]

The link between asthma and fungal sensitivity (possibly infection/colonisation) is yet to be well established (see ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/251... and doctors will be quite conservative about this new information for some time until more evidence emerges. This is a good thing as doctors have to be very sure what they are doing as our safety is at risk!

After careful consideration some specialist doctors will treat asthma (only severe asthma with fungal sensitisation) with an antifungal drug - here at the North West Lung Centre (NWLC) in Manchester it is considered, I cannot say where else this would happen at the moment. You can ask for a referral to NWLC from your GP.