by chulya

Created on: March 15, 2009

I am a asthma sufferer. I have been since 1996. In the beginning, I did not know how to control the attacks without the inhaler. One day, I was at work in 1999. I had forgotten my inhaler at home. My supervisor on call that day told me; "don't worry". He went and got a Pepsi Cola from the machine and heated it up in the microwave. He told me to come and sit at the table in the lounge to drink it the warm soda. At first , I said no way. Thinking he must be crazy. He asked me to trust him cause it always worked for him. Then I realize he had asthma also, so I started to sip. Sure enough in a couple of minutes I was fine. From that day on I tried to keep a Pepsi near. On days I could not find a Pepsi it turned out that Coca Cola works just as well.

Through the years, I realize one thing though. It does not have to be a soda that stops the asthma attack. I have tried coffee,tea, and cappuccino. They all work. The key to stopping it was the steam and heat from the warm beverage. It turns out that a lot of times some attacks start from either allergies or gas. So when you take the hot beverage and drink it;. it helps your system out in more ways than one.

I am not a professional, but I am someone with asthma.

Other ways to stop attacks before they get started is if you are hot and you start to cough a little to much regularly, then you need to cool off some. Sometimes if you are too hot you need to get to some form of air ,where it is a fan, a/c or just go outside and catch some natural breeze. I have also used humidifiers in the past. It does not matter if it is a hot or a cold one. The steam helps a lot. If you do not have one then,another option is to just start the shower and let the steam from there help you out. It has worked for me too. Most of us don't like taking drugs and sometimes times get a little to hard to afford the medication.

Another way to stop the attack before it is started is get enough sleep. If you are to tired at times that seem to bring on the attacks. But remember the one method that is my favorite is a hot beverage. It is good cause you can sip the beverage while reading,watching TV,on the computer, writing an article for Helium, or just relaxing. Either way it helps . I hope this article with help another asthma suffer get some well needed relief. It is not easy trying to breath when it feels like your chest is caving in on you.

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