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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am curious… How can one contract asthma at the age of 56? Did you have a fall or other trauma just before this appeared? Just to let you know it happens to others – I begain having acute asthma attacks at age 59. Rick I recently contracted asthma at the age of 56.  My doctor put me on Prednisone and various inhalers. My asthma appear under control now but I am experiencing an unusual side effect from the medications:  I am constantly salivating in the mouth. Can anyone give me some advise on this problem.  My doctor told me that he never heard of anyone having a problem like this. I look forward to hearing from you. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, OR, USA There is a product information page on prednisone at www.rxlist.com/ I didn’t see salivation as a side effect, but there are a lot of others, like high BP, osteoporosis, skin thinning, fluid retention, etc. Perhaps one of your other drugs is implicated, or maybe it is the prednisone. Prednisone is OK for short term therapy, 3-10 days. If you are on it for maintenance, efforts should be made to get you switched over to a steroid inhaler like Flovent, per new asthma guidelines. This results in a much lower dose of steroid since it goes directly to the lungs. The long-term bronchodilator Serevent may also be prescribed. Also you should be seen by an asthma specialist if you are on oral steroids for maintenance, since this puts you in the severe asthma category. Ellis

I was always under the impression that asthma can strike at any age, any race, sex or socioeconomic background.  It can be silent for years and then get severe rather quickly. Asthma is an equal opportunity disease Where did you hear that only the young get asthma?  And what kind of trauma or fall do you think is a trigger for asthma? I’m just curious…I think it is lack of info and myths that make asthma so scarey for many people out there.  So I’m curious as to where your info came from?  I do not intend to offend you….I’m learn lots from the responses to this newsgroup being newly diagnosised myself. "listen here ye little children and remember the truth how ever so pain, will set you free." Seek to find the joy in the truth…..

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I am curious… How can one contract asthma at the age of 56? Did you have a fall or other trauma just before this appeared?

Just to let you know it happens to others – I begain having acute asthma attacks at age 59. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Rick I recently contracted asthma at the age of 56.  My doctor put me on Prednisone and various inhalers. My asthma appear under control now but I am experiencing an unusual side effect from the medications:  I am constantly salivating in the mouth. Can anyone give me some advise on this problem.  My doctor told me that he never heard of anyone having a problem like this. I look forward to hearing from you. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, OR, USA There is a product information page on prednisone at www.rxlist.com/ I didn’t see salivation as a side effect, but there are a lot of others, like high BP, osteoporosis, skin thinning, fluid retention, etc. Perhaps one of your other drugs is implicated, or maybe it is the prednisone. Prednisone is OK for short term therapy, 3-10 days. If you are on it for maintenance, efforts should be made to get you switched over to a steroid inhaler like Flovent, per new asthma guidelines. This results in a much lower dose of steroid since it goes directly to the lungs. The long-term bronchodilator Serevent may also be prescribed. Also you should be seen by an asthma specialist if you are on oral steroids for maintenance, since this puts you in the severe asthma category. Ellis

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I also was diagnosed with asthma for the first time when I was 53. I had then "asthmatic bronchitis" (as said my doctor). I must say that all my life I had been easily out of breath but never enough to require medication. Yves Dussault, Nontreal.

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prednisone has some very serious side effects that your doctor should talk to  you about. this "miracle" drug comes with many risks. i urge you to read up on  it and consult your physician.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  you about. this "miracle" drug comes with many risks. i urge you to read up on  it and consult your physician.

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 you about. this "miracle" drug comes with many risks. i urge you to read up on  it and consult your physician.

Prerdnisone is a great drug but it is a terrible drug. Prolonged use will cause osteoporosis, cataracts, trunkal obeisity and so on. Doctors tell you the side effects on a need to know basis. My wife is trying to get off it now. DHEA also helps counteract some side effects. I am not a doctor and this is only my opinion.

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I am curious… How can one contract asthma at the age of 56? Did you have a fall or other trauma just before this appeared?

This is not that uncommon.  As lung performance decreases with age unknown conditions surface. Allthough I have had asthma all my life I was not diagnosed until are 36. You seem to assume asthma is related to neck problems.  Maybe you should learn something about asthma before you try to treat it. Have you had any training in internal medicine, respritory medicine or immunology at all?

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How can one contract asthma at 56? Well, many women have discovered an aggravation of their allergies, and possibly some new ones, around the time of the menopause. i’M NOT SURE WHY THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN, BUT FOR SOME OF US IT DOES.   eVE — What a wonderful beast the public are. When he stare, he see almost. When he see, he judge almost. When he judge, he speak of what he don’t see, Almost. – Eve Smyth

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Thanks to all who wrote about my side effects from prednisone. I used the pills from Sept. 10th (20 mg); and was finally weaned off them on Oct. 7th.  I’m now on Flovent and Serevent (two puffs/each, twice a day; to be reduced to one puff/each, twice a day). The salivation problem has reduced considerably since I went off the prednisone.  It’s my understanding that steriods are included in the Flovent; so I can probably expect some minor salivation problems in the future. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S.A. ps:  Have a good day (or night) on the web!       Also, I am using WEBTV and it works       great!

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I am curious… How can one contract asthma at the age of 56? Did you have a fall or other trauma just before this appeared? Rick – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I recently contracted asthma at the age of 56.  My doctor put me on Prednisone and various inhalers. My asthma appear under control now but I am experiencing an unusual side effect from the medications:  I am constantly salivating in the mouth. Can anyone give me some advise on this problem.  My doctor told me that he never heard of anyone having a problem like this. I look forward to hearing from you. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, OR, USA There is a product information page on prednisone at www.rxlist.com/ I didn’t see salivation as a side effect, but there are a lot of others, like high BP, osteoporosis, skin thinning, fluid retention, etc. Perhaps one of your other drugs is implicated, or maybe it is the prednisone. Prednisone is OK for short term therapy, 3-10 days. If you are on it for maintenance, efforts should be made to get you switched over to a steroid inhaler like Flovent, per new asthma guidelines. This results in a much lower dose of steroid since it goes directly to the lungs. The long-term bronchodilator Serevent may also be prescribed. Also you should be seen by an asthma specialist if you are on oral steroids for maintenance, since this puts you in the severe asthma category. Ellis

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I recently contracted asthma at the age of 56.  My doctor put me on Prednisone and various inhalers. My asthma appear under control now but I am experiencing an unusual side effect from the medications:  I am constantly salivating in the mouth. Can anyone give me some advise on this problem.  My doctor told me that he never heard of anyone having a problem like this. I look forward to hearing from you. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, OR, USA

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I recently contracted asthma at the age of 56.  My doctor put me on Prednisone and various inhalers. My asthma appear under control now but I am experiencing an unusual side effect from the medications:  I am constantly salivating in the mouth. Can anyone give me some advise on this problem.  My doctor told me that he never heard of anyone having a problem like this. I look forward to hearing from you. Al D. Gershen Grants Pass, OR, USA

There is a product information page on prednisone at www.rxlist.com/ I didn’t see salivation as a side effect, but there are a lot of others, like high BP, osteoporosis, skin thinning, fluid retention, etc. Perhaps one of your other drugs is implicated, or maybe it is the prednisone. Prednisone is OK for short term therapy, 3-10 days. If you are on it for maintenance, efforts should be made to get you switched over to a steroid inhaler like Flovent, per new asthma guidelines. This results in a much lower dose of steroid since it goes directly to the lungs. The long-term bronchodilator Serevent may also be prescribed. Also you should be seen by an asthma specialist if you are on oral steroids for maintenance, since this puts you in the severe asthma category. Ellis

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Question:

I guess I need to clarify myself.  I am getting great ideas about treatments but what I need is an AC/DC nebulizer NOW.  All these ideas are wonderful and I’m thankful for the info but I really need to find a nebulizer that we can afford.  We don’t have access to many of these treatments and drugs.  We have to take what we can afford and what our insurance system will allow…Our insurance will pay for a regular nebulizer but will not pay for the battery powered one.  My daughter has many other medical problems making using the inhalers very difficult and my experience is that they DO NT WORK FOR her and I’m wasting time. Please restrict your mail sent directly to me to the topic at hand..I’m really being overwelmed. thank you antoinette

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Well here i go clarifying myself again.  First of all we have been trying for over two years to get a battery powered neb.  But the military will not pay for any such battery powered device.  its against there rules.  I tried getting them to pay the allowance for a regular neb and I pay the difference so we could get a battery powered one and they said no to that also.  Its against there rules!!!! We have tried the powered inverter idea and it doens’t work.  We have a compressor (pulmo-aid) type of neb and the starting voltage is too much for our van to handle.  We were told we could have it specially wired for this but it would cost upwards of $1000 and no gaurentee what effects it would have on the other electronics in the van. Our van has a complete electric package and is computer comtrolled. So please let me know what type of nebulizer you are using with this power invertor and what kind of car you have?  I would be interested in hearing from any military family out there that has gotten a battery powered nebulizer paid for by Tricare or there local Military treatment facility. I am currently checking into a company that sells ultrasonic nebs with battery pack for $179 I will post again and let you know what happens.

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Hello, I have two asthamtic daughters(6 and 9yo) and we are in desperate need of a battery powered AC/DC nebulizer.  I have been checking al over the country to see if there is an organization that has used equipment for sale but so far have no leads.  We can afford the $300 to $600 cost of the nebulizers that I have found so far.  Our insurance will NOT cover this item.  They say it is an item of Conveniance and not necesssity.  I guess they”ve never made a trip to the ER with a gray, limp wet child that can barely breath. To make matters worst we are a military family and have to travel a lot.  Everytime we move its very unnerving wondering if your child is going to have and asthma attack in the middle of a 9hr plane trip!!  Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

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Hello, I have two asthamtic daughters(6 and 9yo) and we are in desperate need of a battery powered AC/DC nebulizer.  I have been checking al over the country to see if there is an organization that has used equipment for sale but so far have no leads.  We can afford the $300 to $600 cost of the nebulizers that I have found so far.  Our insurance will NOT cover this item.  They say it is an item of Conveniance and not necesssity.  I guess they”ve never made a trip to the ER with a gray, limp wet child that can barely breath. To make matters worst we are a military family and have to travel a lot.  Everytime we move its very unnerving wondering if your child is going to have and asthma attack in the middle of a 9hr plane trip!!  Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

If you are a military family then you should be able to see the ombundsman for the military health facility.  If that dosen’t work then go through the unit chain of command.  I don’t know what branch of service you are in but either get the doctor to write an order for you to be issued an nebulizer – or ask to see the hospital commander. Remember you are a ‘military dependent’ they cannot order you to shut up. ‘Reply to’ address changed to foil email spammers.

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Hello, I have two asthamtic daughters(6 and 9yo) and we are in desperate need of a battery powered AC/DC nebulizer.  I have been checking al over the country to see if there is an organization that has used equipment for sale but so far have no leads.  We can afford the $300 to $600 cost of the nebulizers that I have found so far.  Our insurance will NOT cover this item.  They say it is an item of Conveniance and not necesssity.  I guess they”ve never made a trip to the ER with a gray, limp wet child that can barely breath. To make matters worst we are a military family and have to travel a lot.  Everytime we move its very unnerving wondering if your child is going to have and asthma attack in the middle of a 9hr plane trip!!  Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Generally a nebulizer should not be needed for a child over the age of 5 if the asthma is being properly controlled with MDI (metered dose inhaler) beta2-agonist inhalers (Ventolin) and long term medications like steroid MDI inhalers, (Vanceril, Flovent,etc.). [See 'The Asthma Sourcebook', Francis Adams, MD] Asthma guidelines call for monitoring lung function using a Peak Flow Meter, green zone (80% of personal best) OK, yellow zone (50-80% PB) increase meds per doctor approved Action Plan, and red zone (<50% PB) call your doctor or use backup plan, eg oral steroids. I recommend the book ‘Children with Asthma’, Thomas Plaut, MD, c96 $10pp, 1-800-611-6081  www.pedipress.com It explains this & much more. Ellis

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