[beth_crocker1]

I noticed in one of your other posts, that you mentioned you had asthma. I have asthma also, but havent had much trouble with it since I was a kid, or a couple of times a year with seasonal allergies. But in the last 2 months, my asthma has gotten worse, I saw my doctor for it, because I wasnt real sure it was asthma. It felt a little different to me. But he insists that its the asthma, because when i use my inhalers it goes away. Any way my question is do you think its possible for the ibs to be making the asthma worse all of a sudden? It seems like after i got ibs a year ago, my allergies got worse too. I used to only have trouble with allergies a couple times a year, now its been nonstop.

 

[Kathleen M.]

One of the problems with having allergies, is that you can gain new things to be allergic to. After mononucleosis (which does play havoc with the immune cells) I went from seasonal allergies to more of a year round profile. My asthma didn't start up til I was an adult, but all of that occured before the IBS kicked into high gear.If the allergies have gotten worse that would be a more likely cause of the asthma than anything your gut is doing. One thing to look at is how your lifestyle changed after getting IBS. Do you clean the house as often (dust mites cause alot of year-round allergies and that can mess with the asthma). Do you spend alot more time indoors. Most year-round allergies are caused by indoor things (dust mites, pet hair, feathers, cockroaches, mold) where seasonal allergies are mostly outdoor things (assorted pollens). You may want to do some dust control things (better filter furnaces, better vaccum, other filtration devices, putting the mattress and pillows in casings that keep the dust mites at bay, various miticides that can be used on the carpet...) If your allergies and asthma are getting worse, I'd recommend seeing a specialist about it, and see what can be done to get everything under control. In many cases new asthma treatments can prevent you from getting an attack, not just clear it up once problems start.K.

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

HI BETH...I do not normally horn-in on threads where a question was directed to a specific person...but I did want ot add something to SpecialK's very competent response.The relationship between IBS and atopic conditions like asthma is more closely linked than many think. I won't go into all the history and studies, but the most interesting thing has been found more than once using cromolyn sodium.Gut mast cells and pulmonary mast cells are very similar. And some have found evidence of increased tissue mast cell density in the cecum of some IBS patients. What recruited them is another discussion, but cromolyn sodium administered orally (instead of by inhalation as in asthma prophylaxis) has also been found more than once to reduce the symptoms of D-predominant IBS. One report I recall found 67% of the IBS patients who took cromolyn sodium orally experienced significant symptoms reduction within a month. Cromolyn also stabilizes circulating immune cells as well as mst cells in tissue, reducing th release of mediators into the bloodstream from granulocytes. So the relative contribution of the two in IBS begs further study as reactions can be quantified and have been.So, which came first chicken or egg may remain unclear. But whichever "symptom set mechanism" (IBS or asthma) suffered an "event" (and there are several which come to mind) which exacerbated the reactivity, it can very possibly be associated with a worsening of symptoms in the other as there are related elements of the immune system being affected.Sorry for butting in...Have a DFDMNL________________ www.leapallergy.com

 

[beth_crocker1]

Thanks for the info kmottus, and mike, I dont mind you jumping in. I will take all the advice I can get.

 

[Guest]

Hi beth its a really boring day for me and I clicked on this out of curiosity. I just wanted to let you know about my experience with asthma and its link to my C problem. You see I developed a motility disorder after a ter a terrible bout of D while camping. After a few months of not knowing why I was suddenly constipated all the time I went on an allergy elimination diet. I cut out everything such as dairy any sweetners eggs wheat corn. Basically it was just meat vegetables non citrus fruit and almonds. The only grains I ate were rice and rye. Funny thing happened. For no reason I started wheezing and then in a few weeks was hospitalized for severe asthma. A few months later I was on a heavy regime of steroids inhaler nebulizers and still couldn't breathe. The diet wasn't helping my GI problem so I quit it and within a few weeks the asthma had subsided. Anyway to make a long story short I no longer have any asthma symptoms at all. I've concluded all the rye I was eating caused it. Just a little example of how weird allergies can be.best of luck to you