wheezing

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

I've had an on-and-off problem with wheezing lately. I've noticed it happen

bad after overloading on pizza once, but it also happens moderately often. I

think it tends to happen when I work at the mills at the living history

museum I work at, Old Sturbridge Village. The carding mill is very dusty and

the grist mill is even worse, such that on days without breezes I start

coughing and sneezing a lot soon after being in there. This sometimes has a

sustained effect throughout the rest of the day, though Breathe Deep Tea from

Yogi Tea, which contains ephedra, tends to help me, but not always as much.

I have a few questions:

1) I've been drinking lots of raw milk over the last few months. Since the

pizza overload produced this problem once, is there a protein in milk that

can cause wheezing? I started drinking lots of raw milk a month or so before

I started working at OSV, and I didn't have any problem then, so my guess is

this is mostly related to the mills, but I want to be sure.

2) Does ephedra have similar effects to caffeine, or does it work by

stimulating your adrenals rather than replacing their hormones? I dont' want

to get addicted to it.

3)Does anyone have any food or other nutritional recommendations that might

help?

Thanks

Chris

____

" What can one say of a soul, of a heart, filled with compassion? It is a

heart which burns with love for every creature: for human beings, birds, and

animals, for serpents and for demons. The thought of them and the sight of

them make the tears of the saint flow. And this immense and intense

compassion, which flows from the heart of the saints, makes them unable to

bear the sight of the smallest, most insignificant wound in any creature.

Thus they pray ceaselessly, with tears, even for animals, for enemies of the

truth, and for those who do them wrong. "

--Saint Isaac the Syrian

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 5 Aug 2002 20:56:52 EDT, you wrote:

>1) I've been drinking lots of raw milk over the last few months. Since the

>pizza overload produced this problem once, is there a protein in milk that

>can cause wheezing? I started drinking lots of raw milk a month or so before

>I started working at OSV, and I didn't have any problem then, so my guess is

>this is mostly related to the mills, but I want to be sure.

I have found one particular type of raw cheese makes my throat swell, making it

hard to swallow, it feels like I have a piece of food stuck in my throat. If I

eat enough of the cheese, before I figured out what caused it, it could take

more than 24 hours to reduce the swelling. It is the only food, of any sort,

I've ever had this reaction too. Are you sure it is the milk? Have you tried to

eat a pizza, one ingredient at a time to isolate the cause? You could certainly

stop the milk for a significant length of time, but your ability to tolerate the

dust may have changed, without any diet factor being involved

>

>2) Does ephedra have similar effects to caffeine, or does it work by

>stimulating your adrenals rather than replacing their hormones? I dont' want

>to get addicted to it.

I take 12 hour suphedrine before riding out in cattle country, or when the

pollen count is up. It's active ingredient is psuedoephedrine. I don't have any

idea if it is the same stuff, but I don't have any ill effects after it wears

off.

>3)Does anyone have any food or other nutritional recommendations that might

>help?

If your museum buildings are in operation, with cotton dust flying all around,

then you have a health issues to deal with right there. I don't remember the

name, but there is some condition, similar to the coal miners black lung, where

the cotton dust fills the lungs, causing breathing problems, if not outright

sickness. Is it possible to wear a mask when you are in there, at least some of

the time? in any case, breathing dust is just not going to help anyones health

improve, diet wouldn't help at all, I wouldn't think.

Mike

[Guest guest]

> 2) Does ephedra have similar effects to caffeine, or does it

work by

> stimulating your adrenals rather than replacing their

hormones? I dont' want

> to get addicted to it.

The properties of ephedra are diaphoretic, stimulant, diuretic,

decongestant, antirheumatic, astringent, and it stimulates the

sympathic nervous system, all of which sounds similar to

caffeine to me. Not to be used by those taking MAO inhibitors or

anti-depressants, and should be avoided in severe cases of

glaucoma, hypertension and coronary thrombosis (all this

according to my herb books). The " stimulant " part might indicate

an adrenal affect similar to caffeine, but I don't know for sure.

Caffeine is a powerful drug, which can be useful, but I suspect

that like caffeine, ephedra can be over-used easily. I don't think it

has quite the mood-altering properties of caffeine.

Pseudoephedrine is the synthetic version of the " active "

ingredient of ephedra (but I believe that like most synthetic

drugs, isolating and duplicating the chemical structure of one

component does not result in the same effects as what comes

from the whole herb, similar to isolated vitamins being different

from those found in their natual food form).

Aubin

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/6/02 9:54:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

meuritt@... writes:

> I have found one particular type of raw cheese makes my throat swell,

making

> it

> hard to swallow, it feels like I have a piece of food stuck in my throat.

If

> I

> eat enough of the cheese, before I figured out what caused it, it could

take

> more than 24 hours to reduce the swelling. It is the only food, of any

sort,

> I've ever had this reaction too. Are you sure it is the milk? Have you

tried

> to

> eat a pizza, one ingredient at a time to isolate the cause? You could

> certainly

> stop the milk for a significant length of time, but your ability to

tolerate

> the

> dust may have changed, without any diet factor being involved

I'm sorry for not being clear: I _don't_ think it's the milk, but I'm just

asking to make sure. It only happened once with pizza, and it was from a

pizza place, so not raw cheese, and I ate a lot of it. I think this may have

happened before from eating a real lot of ice cream too, but don't remember

correctly. I've only been working at this place for about two months, and I

think it is primarily due to the dust

> I take 12 hour suphedrine before riding out in cattle country, or when the

> pollen count is up. It's active ingredient is psuedoephedrine. I don't

have

> any idea if it is the same stuff, but I don't have any ill effects after

it

> wears off.

Ephedra is another name for the herb ma huang, which is a stimulant. It is

often used for allergies, so it may be a similar compound; maybe yours is

isolated from ephedra.

> If your museum buildings are in operation, with cotton dust flying all

> around,

> then you have a health issues to deal with right there. I don't remember

the

> name, but there is some condition, similar to the coal miners black lung,

> where

> the cotton dust fills the lungs, causing breathing problems, if not

outright

> sickness. Is it possible to wear a mask when you are in there, at least

some

> of

> the time? in any case, breathing dust is just not going to help anyones

> health

> improve, diet wouldn't help at all, I wouldn't think.

Well, it is wool and not cotton, but your statement is probably correct

either way. I never noticed how much dust the wool produced until I picked

up a clump of freshly picked (torn apart by a machine) wool and a huge cloud

of white dust puffed up in the air. The grain dust from the grist mill is

worse. I probably could wear a mask if the problem was bringing me to

asthmatic levels, but most of the time I do ok if I drink so Breathe Deep at

home. It seemed to help partially last night but not fully, though.

Thankfully, last week I got trained to do pottery and shoe-making, so I am

beginning to be in the mills much less often. Also, I have to go back to

school soon so it won't continue.

Right now it is just discomforting, and not to asthmatic proportions most of

the time, thankfully. Thanks for your suggestions.

chris

____

" What can one say of a soul, of a heart, filled with compassion? It is a

heart which burns with love for every creature: for human beings, birds, and

animals, for serpents and for demons. The thought of them and the sight of

them make the tears of the saint flow. And this immense and intense

compassion, which flows from the heart of the saints, makes them unable to

bear the sight of the smallest, most insignificant wound in any creature.

Thus they pray ceaselessly, with tears, even for animals, for enemies of the

truth, and for those who do them wrong. "

--Saint Isaac the Syrian

[Guest guest]

He's been off milk products for over a year now. So I know that that can't be

the problem. What kind of natural anti-viral would you recommend? He can't

swallow tablets/capsules or we would have tried the vira-stop by now. I'm just

so torn on this!

And sorry about the message subject, I thought I had changed it!

Wheezing/ was Re: Is hereditary autism curable?

If this were my child I would not allow the shot, even if mercury

free. Live viruses are just as bad for our kids as the mercury.

Does he drink milk? One of my sons used to have terrible chronic

wheezing, which required breath treatments, all the time until I

removed milk from his diet. You may also want to consider treating

him with some of the natural anti-viral supplements and see if that

helps eliminate the problem.

I know it is really scary to watch your child struggle to breath.

However, in my opinion, any vaccine will potentially cause more

unwelcomed problems. Better to try to boost his immune system

naturally.

Sheresa

>

> Sorry it's been so long since I posted... things have been a little

nuts. We took (4, ASD) to the emergency room last night for

severe wheezing and trouble breathing. They gave him a breathing

treatment and some medicine and sent him home. We did a follow up

with the pediatrician today. She thinks that was he has isn't

asthma, but something that presents as similar, is based on an viral

infection, and can be outgrown over time. She really wants him to

get a flu shot this year, and is willing to reserve one of the very

few thimerisol free vaccines for him. I really thought I had more

time to make a final decision regarding more vaccines for him (he was

fully vaccinated before his diagnosis, but does't have anthing due

until he's 5 now.. we put off the 4 year old booster since they're

optional until 5) Does anyone have any experience with this viral-

triggered wheezing? Any advice you can give me? Also, any good

resources for vaccine info in maryland would be greatly appreciated!

>

> I'm so conflicted since is doing so well. His language has

really exploded, he is starting imagintive play, he's interacting and

starting to show empathy for his peers. I REALLY don't want to risk

a regression! But, I don't want to risk his health in other aspects

either!

>

> Thanks!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Virastop capsules can be opened and mixed into juice very easily.

This is how I give it to my daughter. I would start with a small

amount, like a half capsule or so and see how he tolerates it. Some

kids have a hard time with Virastop. We had to give OLE for several

months before the VS was tolerated at all.

If you look in the files section there is a very good viral file put

together by one of our listmates. There is some very good viral

information there and a good listing/description of other immune

boosters/modulators that you could try.

Also, see if your pediatrician will prescribe a nebulizer with

appropriate medication for your son. (something like pulmicort and/or

xopenex) Your insurance would probably pay for it. I have 2 of these

at my house and they have saved us a trip to the ER many times. As

soon as one of my kids even gets a hint of lung congestion I start

them on the breath treatments and it clears right up, usually without

having to use any oral meds. Good luck!

Sheresa

> >

> > Sorry it's been so long since I posted... things have been a

little

> nuts. We took (4, ASD) to the emergency room last night

for

> severe wheezing and trouble breathing. They gave him a breathing

> treatment and some medicine and sent him home. We did a follow up

> with the pediatrician today. She thinks that was he has isn't

> asthma, but something that presents as similar, is based on an

viral

> infection, and can be outgrown over time. She really wants him to

> get a flu shot this year, and is willing to reserve one of the

very

> few thimerisol free vaccines for him. I really thought I had more

> time to make a final decision regarding more vaccines for him (he

was

> fully vaccinated before his diagnosis, but does't have anthing

due

> until he's 5 now.. we put off the 4 year old booster since

they're

> optional until 5) Does anyone have any experience with this viral-

> triggered wheezing? Any advice you can give me? Also, any good

> resources for vaccine info in maryland would be greatly

appreciated!

> >

> > I'm so conflicted since is doing so well. His language

has

> really exploded, he is starting imagintive play, he's interacting

and

> starting to show empathy for his peers. I REALLY don't want to

risk

> a regression! But, I don't want to risk his health in other

aspects

> either!

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

> Also, see if your pediatrician will prescribe a nebulizer with

> appropriate medication for your son. (something like pulmicort and/or

> xopenex)

In case you're like me, and prefer not using prescription meds if

there is a more " natural " alternative, you could use xylitol. Here is

a nebulizer recipe I found online (on a Cystic Fibrosis site). Best

wishes, Lalita

" This recipe is from my friend, who is a former Registered Nurse. She

has adjusted and re-adjusted this recipe for her family, in

particular for the child who is prone to debilitating bouts of

bronchitis. This solution is meant to be used with the nebulizer

using a face mask. For her family, it has made a huge difference in

the effective and antibiotic-free treatment of acute bronchitis,

shortening the illness and its intensity considerably. They have also

used it with good effect for asthma, as the mist reduces bronchial

inflammation and promotes the movement of mucous from the bronchii

(and nasal passages).

Recipe

One pint (2 cups, 500 ml) GLASS jar, cleaned in HOT water, such as in

a dishwasher or with boiling water. Rinse with sterile water (to

remove any soap residue).

Fill with distilled or reverse osmosis water. Because this solution

will be inhaled through the mist created by the nebulizer, the water

needs to be sterile and pure, with no contaminants, microbial or

otherwise. (Not tap water)

Add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt or " pickling/canning " salt. (Sea salt

has a benefical balance of minerals.) DO NOT use table salt as it

contains many undesirable additives.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of Xylitol.

Stir well. Discard after one week.

_._,___

[Guest guest]

Thank you all so much for your feedback! I think we're going to skip the shot

for now. He's responded so well to the medicine, with no side effects, and no

regression. I'd rather just keep a real close eye on him than risk hurting him

any more. It's so hard to make these decisions, and know that no matter what

you decide there is a risk. I'm also going to try the natural recipe and see

how that works for him. Thank you all!!!!!