Asthma began after moving to a polluted area
My husband and I moved to an area in Southern Spain a couple of years ago, which, while very beautiful and in the countryside, was quite close to a lot of industry, including an oil refinery. We both would wake up coughing and gasping in the middle of the night after some months there, and our health continuously deteriorated from there. I developed such an awful cough and after a hike in the countryside saw my life fading away in front of me as my breathing shut down almost entirely. After many different doctors, I was finally diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma. My husband ended up hospitalized also, and diagnosed with the same thing. We have since moved from the area, but I am still in need of oral prednisone to stop the symptoms from returning. We now live in a place with clean air and a good climate, and are working on recuperating our health. I have had many parasite tests to rule out that as being a cause of my high eosinophil counts, but to date none have been found. The one thing that really helped me during a spell where I could hardly get off the couch for fatigue and shortness of breath was learning the Buteyko method. I am now enrolled in an online course to learn it well enough to help others and practice it daily. I am trained and licensed to practice Traditional Chinese Medicine, and sadly have not been able to help myself all that much. In the past I hiked everywhere, did yoga, swam and kept myself healthy and fit. Since I developed asthma there have been days I could hardly walk down the hallway. I really don't like taking all these drugs, but simultaneously I am incredibly grateful for them - without them we might not be here! This summer I may start monoclonal antibody therapy too, but I am still hoping for an improvement so I won't need it. I feel for all of you who have written, knowing what a terrible condition this can be. What worries me most is that asthma is becoming more and more prevalent in the world and we keep polluting the air, our food and our bodies more and more.
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