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holly
USA
243 Posts |
 Posted - 03/08/2008 : 11:52:53
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Hi all! I have been on and off this forum for the past 10-13 years I would guess. I am now 50. I had developed adult mild asthma at age 38 after getting bronchitis. Everytime I went outside in the cold air after that my lungs got all tight & I'de get mucus in the back of my throat. The first asthma Dr. diagnosed it as "mild asthma". (I never wheezed just felt soooo uncomfortably tight in my chest). In 2004 I went to see another guy who wasn't too impressed with my "asthma" either.
Now it's 2008 so I went back to see that 2nd. Dr. for the hell of it since I had not been checked in so long & see if anything new is out since I thought I might do a bit better.
I basically had the asthma pretty much under control by taking accolate 20mg.2x(discovered the accolate helped on my own when taking it "off label" for scar tissue) and then got it from my G.P. after asking & used inhailers for my asthma as needed in cold/cool weather and got by.
Our Febuary" tropical vacations" each winter were great as I could give myself a break from inhailers & accolate( because of the warm air) and not have to take or use anything. If I did happen to go into a place very air conditioned I would feel the tightening begin a bit . In NY I spend November-March having to cover my mouth with a scarf along with taking inhalers,accolate etc. before going outside. I got by reasonably well doing all this but it is annoying! I have to cover up mouth and nose below about 58 degrees or I will suffer. So I go back to this 2nd Dr. to see maybe there is something new out there these days and check myself since it has been so long since I have seen anyone. He still isn't too impressed with my breathing tests. He has me walk around in cold air,breathe it in (I having wishfull thinking while inhaling the cold air that maybe, hopefully this has been TMS.) This walk shows little change.
(I most always feel the chest tightness the night or day after the most). Then he had some kind of family imergency and had to run out! He is sending me for some type of methacholine inhalation challenge test next week as he hate for me to be taking medication for the rest of my life if it is not "asthma".
In the mean time... for 4 days now, I stopped the accolate(on my own hoping) and feel so tight in my lungs & mucus in the back of my throat ever since going ouside that day and intentially breating in cold air! I am almost sorry I went back to see the Dr. and doing that but he wants to make sure I actually have "asthma". I had hoped just maybe I had TMS but I think NOT. I think I just have mild athma from cold air! Meanwhile I sit here typing and still tight from that day. I think I set my whole condition back doing this for the asthma Dr.
I admit this week in particular has been extremely stressfull. Does anyone out there have anything even remotely like this situation actually turn out to be TMS? I think I just happen to be like the millions out there with asthma but my trigger is cold air that's all! So it's mild vs. bad....is that so improbable because I had TMS in the past with other things? I started the accolate again today cause I hate this tight feeling. Hopefully I feel better by the time I have to go out tonight! Help! |
Edited by - holly on 03/08/2008 15:34:40 |
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kilton
38 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2008 : 07:18:40
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Holly,
Presumably your symptoms are caused by your immune system overreacting to the cold air, so it could certainly be TMS -- just like any allergy can be.
BTW, most asthma mediciations work by essentially suppressing the immune system in the lungs.
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Edited by - kilton on 03/09/2008 07:23:09 |
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holly
USA
243 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2008 : 09:40:34
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so what does that mean. I don't understand the correlation. oh wait now I do!!! you know all someone has to do is open a door and I could be inside and the air hits my face and a breath a bit of that air in I tighten up! I know it seems bizarre but that is how sensitive I am to it. What would one even begin to do with this one if it even is TMS? Today is Sunday and I am still tight from that office visit in which he sent me out to breath in the cold air. I called the office this morning when I woke up and a different dr. called me back. I am seeing him tomorrow at7pm (to be his last patient so he can take a xray). He seems like he listens so hopefully he can help. I just got off the phone with my friend who has a son who had asthma since he was 3 weeks old so you know a 3 week old can't develope TMS!! So this is what throughs me that I can easily just have asthma. I have dry eyes too since a kid and that's not TMS. So I don't have the confidence that I can just TMS this one away. I got this after bad bronchotis so it makes too much sense. not good for "TMS thinking". |
Edited by - holly on 03/09/2008 10:00:55 |
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kilton
38 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2008 : 12:58:07
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I don't know that I can offer any specific advice. But I don't see why your symptom (asthma whenever cold air is encountered) can't at a high level be approached like a pain symptom (such as back pain when walking up stairs). In both cases a symptom is known to be triggered by a specific circumstance.
As far as what does and doesn't make sense, your immune system going ballastic when it encounters cold air in your lungs definitely doesn't "make sense" to me, whether it started after bronchitis or not. Again this sounds an awful lot like a chronic pain symptom magically starting after, say, lifting something heavy. Then the lifting is blamed for the pain.
But as far as this message board goes, no one can ever say definitively that someone else's symptom is or isn't TMS. We are not doctors. |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2008 : 14:05:43
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Hilly, in the spirit of the Sarno work, and hoping you won't feel I'm trying to fix you or anything, I noticed that you said of a possible doc "he seems like he will listen," followed by a sad face.
It really stuck out from the rest of your poast (for my emotional body). Almost as if there is something trying to be heard on a very deep level from within you. Of course, it's never that much of a mystery, for me, it's just usually the inner child who wants some feeling acknowledged.
So I'm acknowledging that you want to be heard, by your doc, and also by us.
xx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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holly
USA
243 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2008 : 17:47:45
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the face wasn't about the Dr. but the feeling about my situation of the asthma. You know My 11yr. old daughter went to the emergency room after playing basketball and running back and forth for about 25 minutes straight this past Wends. I wasn't there from the onset but ran there and arrived about 20 minutes later. She couldn't breath! She couldn't catch her breath. i thought it was some anxiety attack or something This happened one day before I even went to the Asthma Dr.appointment. (no my daughter didn't know I had this appt.nor do sit and talk about this with her at all)
This also happened about 3 years ago too and I brought her to a pulminary DR. to be checked out. He said she had great lung function and that was that.(like was implied to me!) Now 3 yrs. later it happens again but real bad to her! It wasn't untill today when I went to do some reaserch online for myself that I realised we both have the same thing! It's called Bronchial Asthma Mine for going on for many years and cold air being the trigger and her's from prolonged excersise! Exactly how each of us felt was described EXACTLY as" Bronichial Asthma!! I am too lazy to type out the whole explanation but there it was as plain and exact as it could be...."The late phase reaction may last many hours or days and is thought to result from an inflammatory reaction". There was more and more of my/our exact situation which was most similar. I known that anxiety can make asthma in general worse but it seems like no doubt this Bronchial Asthma describes exactly what I have been going thru. things are starting to make sense. I printed it all out to show the Dr. and now I have to deal with my daughter too!!
(yeah that is enraging lol) |
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mizlorinj
USA
490 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2008 : 08:47:42
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Holly. Are you open to trying Dr. Sarno's treatment plan as outlined in The Divided Mind book? Writing and getting the feelings out. e.g. How do you feel when you are about to go outside? How do you feel when your daughter couldn't breathe? You mention stressful times--how about writing about that?
Emotions are the cause of myriad conditions; there are docs and researchers who've written books and believe asthma and allergies are in that bucket as well. You can see a list of such books in my Success Story.
Children and infants have feelings too, so they certainly can get tms or its equivalents.
I spent a lot of time reading about back pain and herniated discs and it was very frightening. And the condition I researched was not the cause of my pain. TMS was.
Is it possible you are conditioned to be scared when you go outside based on past experiences? Perhaps try to undo that conditioning by gentle talking to yourself. It may not work instantly, but isn't it worth a try?
If you believe the doc holds the answer for you, by all means, please pursue that treatment. We are trying to offer you helpful suggestions.
Best wishes on your path to healing,
L 
PS: dry eye--a man at Dr. Sarno's lecture last year had that--and the condition was diagnosed as TMS. |
Edited by - mizlorinj on 03/10/2008 08:54:27 |
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Genshin
6 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2015 : 10:35:37
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| This could very well be TMS. I've had similar breathing symptoms before. I even got hives on my face and arms, but only when the temperature dropped below +3c :) It was scary as hell, but eventually I managed to treat it as TMS and the symptoms went away. |
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asthma from cold air...any input welcome!!!! UHHH
