Asthma

[slpinsd]

So, I went in for allergy skin testing today.....found I am allergic to dust mites and a few other things, plus.....highly likely that I have ASTHMA! I failed the breath test and am going in for more extensive testing. Ironically, the "difficulty breathing" that I had, right along with anxiety, depression, adrenal exhaustion, reflux, weight loss, D, lack of appetite, joint pain, headaches, increased respiratory allergies, and so on and so forth, started this summer at EXACTLY the same time as everything else. If you have Asthma, do you feel it related to Celiac? Mine seems triggered when I ingest gluten, so those chest spasms I thought were reflux now may be reflux and "reflex"-- bronchial spasms due to ASTHMA (+ fam history). After going gluten free- I have had a minimal problem with the chest bubbles/pressure and difficulty breathing. I think it was the gluten all along triggering asthmatic symptoms. If you have asthma- when did it start- prior to, at the same time, or after your onset of symptoms?

[Ursa Major]

I've had asthma from the age of three, and probably had celiac symptoms before that (only nobody recognized them as such). I have severe allergies to tobacco smoke, cats, dogs, mold, dust and dust mites, which will all trigger an asthma attack if exposed to them (five minutes near my daughter's dog, and I'm sick for weeks, with smoke or cats my tolerance level is about an hour).

But also I've read that 1 in five asthmatics have an Aspirin allergy as well, which could be the asthma trigger. Aspirin is salicylic acid, and when doing more research realized, that a salicylate intolerance can cause asthma. Now that I know that I have that problem, and I am avoiding salicylates as much as I can, I am wondering if the asthma will go away. On the other hand, my lungs are probably permanently damaged by now. Still, I am sure it will make a difference.

[sparkles]

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 40 and the doc felt that it was related to the reflux problems that I had. It was explained to me that the part of the brain that controls the esophagas and the bronchial spasms are close to each other and the brain sometimes get confused as to what should have the spasm. This is really an elementary explanation....but alas, I have had asthma since I was 40. Eventually as the stomach and reflux problems got under control, I had less and less attacks. Since being diagnosed with celiac disease when I was 55, I have had only 2 attacks and they were caused from smoke. But since being gluten-free, I have not had the bronchial problems that I had before and my whole immune system seems to work better. Both are autoimmune diseases and I do think that not being able to absorb the vitamins and minerals that we need really puts us at risk for lots and lots of what people and docs would think are unrelated problems. I just know that my medical files are so thick that they could fill a whole filing cabinet by themselves. I look at the files and think how many tests and diagnosis I would never have needed if someone had just tested me for celiac disease some 30 years ago. I cannot believe how much better I feel...emotiionally, physically since the diagnosis..... I think that in the future, docs will find a definite connection between diabetis and celiac disease.....

[tarnalberry]

I have asthma, and have had it since I was a kid. It's not traditional "I can hear you wheezing" asthma, and it's never landed me in the hospital, or in an emergency, but it's asthma. I do not believe it is connected to celiac disease, but I DO believe that you can get symptoms that closely mimic asthma and behavior similarly from celiac disease if you get significant non-GI symptoms.

[tiredofdoctors]

I had asthma as a kid -- it went away around age 19. I had a fire in my bedroom (a candle overturned while I was sleeping -- awoke to a fiery bookcase and wall -- I stood over the fire, extinguishing it with a blanket, opened my bedroom window, but continued to sleep in the room that night. Ended up with thermal burns in my lungs from standing over the fire, and chemical burns from the cyanide gas that developed when my cordless phone burned. (The MD checked with the fire dept. about the type of plastic which was burned) Was REALLY sick for several weeks -- the blisters inside my lungs kept popping and filling my lungs with fluid -- the pulmonologist said that that was "the first hurdle" -- to get that under control. The second "hurdle" was to hope that the asthma didn't return -- that it was very common for that to happen. Boy, did it, and with a vengance. It's worse than when I was a kid.

[Nickie]

I have asthma have had it since I was 17, 2 years after I started getting my rash which 20 years later, finally last month was diagnosed as DH. I just did a PFT, and I have to go to a specialist in pulmology now too, cause I have severely bad lungs. So who knows if it was related. Makes me wonder though.

[sasha1234]

I was born with asthma and have been under very special care by a pulmonary specialist since birth. Thankfully my asthma is well controlled and I have never been in hospital because of it. I am on medication twice daily for it. My GI is doing research on the connection between asthma and celiac. So it seems the so-called experts are finding a link between the two. According to my mom I've had GI problems since birth too, though they never were fully diagnosed, so it's entirely possible that mine are related, or not at all. I doubt I'll ever really know. Unlike what some of you seem to have, my asthma doesn't get better with going gluten-free or worse if I get gluttened.

[Guest cassidy]

I was diagnosed with asthma at age 3. The asthma medicine didn't help very much and I was rushed to the hospital several times with several attacks. When I was 10 I was diagnosed with Gerd and told that the asthma was due to gerd. I had surgery for the gerd and the asthma went away. About a year ago I started having gerd symptoms again and I started having asthma attacs. I was scheduled for surgery last month. In January my mother suggested celiac and I went gluten-free. My the time of my surgery I was off all gerd medicine and feeling great. So, for me, I definitely think the asthma is due to gerd which is due to celiac.

[Rusla]

I was diagnosed with asthma at 17, acid reflux is common in asthmatics. My brother also has asthma and reflux and seems to have problems with wheaty things but won't get tested.

[CMCM]

So, I went in for allergy skin testing today.....found I am allergic to dust mites and a few other things, plus.....highly likely that I have ASTHMA! I failed the breath test and am going in for more extensive testing. Ironically, the "difficulty breathing" that I had, right along with anxiety, depression, adrenal exhaustion, reflux, weight loss, D, lack of appetite, joint pain, headaches, increased respiratory allergies, and so on and so forth, started this summer at EXACTLY the same time as everything else. If you have Asthma, do you feel it related to Celiac? Mine seems triggered when I ingest gluten, so those chest spasms I thought were reflux now may be reflux and "reflex"-- bronchial spasms due to ASTHMA (+ fam history). After going gluten free- I have had a minimal problem with the chest bubbles/pressure and difficulty breathing. I think it was the gluten all along triggering asthmatic symptoms. If you have asthma- when did it start- prior to, at the same time, or after your onset of symptoms?

Absolutely, I fit all the descriptions of asthma, although despite having very thorough testing on several different occasions over a 25 year period, doctors kept insisting whatever I had was not asthma. They were willing to prescribe the Advair inhaler, though, and at one period I had an emergency inhaler, too. What I can't remember is if during the summer when I was having those very bad attacks, whether I was eating more gluten than ususal or what. I wasn't paying attention to it then. Sure felt like a real asthma attack, though. It would come and go, but for the last couple of years I have sporadically used Advair to help control it. And a number of years ago I had what I consider a very acute attack and I could not breathe and it scared me like the dickens. After going off gluten and dairy, my asthma symptoms mostly went away. So it seems obvious to me that gluten and/or dairy were triggering the symptoms. I also had a lot of clogged up sinus (probably the dairy), headaches, an incessant chronic cough (related to the asthma), joint pain....most of which you experienced (except the weight loss...darn!). Meanwhile...I haven't felt the need to use my Advair inhaler at all since November.

This apparent relationship of my asthma symptoms to gluten and/or dairy was a HUGE surprise to me. I never even thought of that possibility. I just never realized food could cause all these weird, seemingly unrelated symptoms!

[slpinsd]

Yep- it's Asthma- got diagnosed this morning. My % was so low on the machine they could not do the testing they were going to do and she diagnosed me with Asthma on the spot.

[nogluten-]

I have asthma too and it's definately made worse by dairy.

[Moongirl]

I used to have asthma when i was younger, used to get chronic strep throat, ear infections, sinus infections alllll the time. Had pretty bad enviornmental allergies, mainly to dustmites and ragweed, couldnt even be in a room with a dog without reacting.

Then they decided to take my tonsils and anoids out when i was about 16. 10 years later, i havent had an episode since, except maybe when I get a cold or congestion i wheeze a little but not bad enough that I need an inhaler.

[Jnkmnky]

I've had a roller coaster of dxes this past two months. The so called asthma I was dxed with turned out NOT to be asthma! I was taking advair twice a day, got acute bronchitis, pink eye in both eyes, a thrush infection in my throat and felt terrible. I refused to take the advair, and demanded to see a specialist. Got one, and he said I don't have asthma! My pink eye, thrush and acute bronchitis were a result of taking the advair! Just be careful. You probably have asthma... but get a second opinion if you can. Can you imagine if I was still taking the advair twice a day ( my doctor DEMANDED I continue taking it when I told him I thought it was killing me and that I DON'T have asthma). Doctors don't know everything, but they should be consulted, of course.

[mookie03]

I have asthma induced by allergies and exercise. Usually i will just take a puff before any cardio activity and im ok but occasionally i will have a reaction just from allergies or from accidental ingestion of gluten. If it is from the gluten, i usually will wake up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. I have found that it helps to sleep w/ a humidifier on and obviously to avoid gluten. By the way, my asthma got MUCH worse right before i was diagnosed w/ celiac and was actually one of the reasons i sought medical help at that time. It improved drastically with the gluten-free diet, but not 100% b/c i make a lot of mistakes

[TCA]

I wad diagnosed with asthma at 8 when they were repainting my school. the fumes set it off. My primary celiac disease symptom is joint pain. I can't remember not having it, so I'm not sure when it started. I also have this blistery rash that went away when I went gluten-free - I now think it's probably DH. I've never been hospitalized with my asthma, but I keep a tight control on it. I also have Horrible allergies, espcially to smoke, dust mites, and mold. These things set me off quick. I had horrible asthmatic bronchitis while pregnant with my daughter. I sometimes wonder if it contributed to her heart defect. Guess I'll never know.

[jerseyangel]

Actually, the jury's still out on it for me. I am currently working with an allergist who is holding off diagnosing asthma until he sees how I do on the meds. For now, he's calling what I have bronchial spasms brought on by reflux.

[natalunia]

I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 7 years old (now 29). I don't take meds for it on a regular basis. My asthma flares up when I am exposed to mold spores, extreme amounts of dust or pollen. I am allergic to almost all trees, grasses and weeds, as well as molds, penicillins, cephalosporins, xylocaine and phenergan. I also tested positive for a chocolate allergy, but I still eat it sometimes.

[zakismom]

I have asthma too! I also am allergic to dust, dust mites, tree pollen and cats. Luckily, almost all of my symptoms have been greatly reduced since going gluten free. I haven't used an inhaler in 2 years.

[jerseyangel]

I have asthma too! I also am allergic to dust, dust mites, tree pollen and cats. Luckily, almost all of my symptoms have been greatly reduced since going gluten free. I haven't used an inhaler in 2 years.

We have the exact same allergies. Something I found interesting--I had allergy testing about 10 years ago. At the time, I was highly allergic to cats--so much so that the doctor suggested giving up the cat, or taking shots. (I did neither--look to your left, he's still here!) Anyway, I had testing again last month, 9+months gluten-free, and I only tested mildly allergic to cats! The other things were still bad, though.

[carriecraig]

I was diagnosed with Asthma around 3 or 4, at the same time they did my allergy testing. My mother was a smoker until I was about 6 or 7, and think the asthma and allergies are related to that, not Celiac. I didn't have severe Celiac symptoms until I was 28, and was diagnosed right before my 29th birthday.

However, I do see a connection to flare-ups and ingesting gluten.

[num1habsfan]

I have had asthma since September 2004. And have never had breathing problems since before going gluten-free. Nothing TOO serious, but definitely "moderate asthma" as they put it, and I sure know when I have an asthma attack, no question about it.

I also find that gluten can set off my asthma too a bit, either with food or just in the air!

~lisa~

[ravenwoodglass]

So, I went in for allergy skin testing today.....found I am allergic to dust mites and a few other things, plus.....highly likely that I have ASTHMA! I failed the breath test and am going in for more extensive testing. Ironically, the "difficulty breathing" that I had, right along with anxiety, depression, adrenal exhaustion, reflux, weight loss, D, lack of appetite, joint pain, headaches, increased respiratory allergies, and so on and so forth, started this summer at EXACTLY the same time as everything else. If you have Asthma, do you feel it related to Celiac? Mine seems triggered when I ingest gluten, so those chest spasms I thought were reflux now may be reflux and "reflex"-- bronchial spasms due to ASTHMA (+ fam history). After going gluten free- I have had a minimal problem with the chest bubbles/pressure and difficulty breathing. I think it was the gluten all along triggering asthmatic symptoms. If you have asthma- when did it start- prior to, at the same time, or after your onset of symptoms?

I have had asthma most of my life, I did not however need an inhalor or meds until I was full blown celiac. I have only had to use my inhalor once since diagnosis and start on the gluten-free diet, and that was when I was badly glutened by misreading a can of soup.