asthma and exercise Archives

How Your Asthma and Allergies Change Over Time

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 18 minutes

If you live in the South, you know all about the annual yellow haze that hangs in the air and the yellow dust that covers every surface in the Spring.

This year we’ve had an especially prolonged pine pollen season. It started in February, and was still going strong in early April.

If you’re lucky, it’s just annoying.

Author, out standing in a field - full of bees! — Author, out standing in a field – full of bees!

Other people spend weeks this time every year wheezing and sneezing and taking LOTS of allergy meds.

Still another group of people (who never used to wheeze or sneeze in the Spring) find that they suddenly HAVE become allergic to the pervasive yellow dust….or something else, like, say bee stings.

How can that be? What happened?

The truth is that allergies and asthma, including what your triggers are, can change over time and strike without warning.

Bee Legends, Folklore, and Mythology — A busy bee doing it’s thing.

I experienced an unexpected new allergy earlier this year, with frightening and nearly deadly results!

Read on to learn more about my death-defying experience, plus how allergies change, and what you can do about it.

Continue reading How Your Asthma and Allergies Change Over Time

Asthma’s Effects on Mental Health

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

It’s been a while since I’ve written about anything asthma-related.

Of course, those of you living with this chronic illness already know that for us, everything is asthma related 😉

That’s kind-of what I’d like to talk about today…

I'm not really one for sharing my feelings, especially about my chronic asthma. — I’m not one for sharing my feelings about my chronic asthma.

One reason I started this blog was to share my ongoing quest to enjoy a “wheeze free” life – in hopes that my experience could help someone else.

I’ve written posts about what kind of diet and supplements helped, what kind of exercises worked, the latest medications, how to clean the air inside your home – and much more.

But one thing I’ve never written about is how chronic asthma makes you feel.

I’ll share my experience – and of course, the latest research – here, in hopes it might help you or someone you care for!

Continue reading Asthma’s Effects on Mental Health

On the Comeback Trail – Training After An Injury

Most recently updated January 18th, 2022

Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Training back to your “normal” fitness level after an injury or illness can be very discouraging.

It’s especially devastating if you’d been training towards a specific goal, like a race or an epic hike.

I’m currently training back from illness/injury for the third time this year. Ugh!

But it sure beats not being able to work out at all.

So, just in case you’re new around here, I’ve been spending 8 weeks training (again!) for a specific amazing hike.

Last time, I did this training to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand.

The hike was wonderful!

I just managed to squeak that trip in very early last Spring before travel was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So this time, I’m training for an amazing hike in Kauai.

This trip has already been rescheduled twice due to COVID travel restrictions.

But even if the hike has to be cancelled again, training as if it’s going to happen will get me back in great shape 🙂

While I’m very impatient with it, I’ve found that it’s possible to do meaningful training while you’re still recovering from injury without pushing yourself too far, too soon.

It’s always good to have a plan! 🙂

Continue reading On the Comeback Trail – Training After An Injury

Asthma and COVID-19: Are You at Higher Risk?

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 20 minutes

If you have asthma, like I do, you may be extra concerned about how COVID-19 could affect your health.

COVID-19, after all, is a respiratory disease and those of us with asthma have had bad experiences with those.

And by “concerned” I might also mean frightened, anxious, panicky… 😉

The COVID-19 virus is known to cause problems in the respiratory tract (nose, throat and lungs).

Because asthma is also a respiratory disease, it’s been assumed that people with asthma have a greater chance of catching the virus and getting very sick from it than other people.

It’s a reasonable assumption, and asthmatics have been classified as “high risk” since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But I’m here to tell you, I’ve done the research, and at this point – maybe for the first time ever – asthmatics are just like everyone else 🙂

It’s important to know that currently there’s no evidence of increased COVID-19 infection rates in those with asthma.

And now, after months of studying this new disease, medical and infectious disease experts have been able to create a more exact picture of the risk to asthmatics.

Since the release of the vaccines, there have also been questions about the possible risk to people with allergic reactions. I’ll tell you what I found about the current CDC advice.

(I’ve included photos of my garden and places I’ve traveled, as a reminder both that while there is beauty to be found at home, the world is still full of amazing places waiting for us to find them!)

Continue reading Asthma and COVID-19: Are You at Higher Risk?

Clean Your Indoor Air With Houseplants for National Indoor Plant Week!

Most recently updated April 19th, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 20 minutes

Indoor plants are growing in popularity in American homes and workplaces, and also in places like hospitals, shopping malls, and hotels.

National Indoor Plant Week (September 16-22) was established to promote and increase public awareness of the importance of live plants in interior spaces.

Anyone can participate in this holiday. You can do your part with something as simple as giving a plant to a friend, or picking up a new houseplant for your kitchen or living room.

Some of my potted plants spend the summer on the deck outdoors.

Houseplants and other indoor greenery improve your mental and physical well-being in a host of ways you’ve probably never thought about.

These days, with more people working from home, we’re spending more time inside our own homes than ever before.

By now maybe you’ve realized there’s a funky smell you’ve never noticed before, or the decor could use a little brightening – or maybe you’re just tired of watching screens and need to create something!

Plants can help clean indoor air, enhance your mood and create a soothing and cheerful living space.

Caring for another living thing, even a plant, can be very rewarding. — Caring for a plant can be very rewarding.

I knew a guy who grew 200 potted marijuana plants in the attic of his apartment building… But that’s not the kind of “mood enhancement” we’re talking about here 🙂

Growing indoor plants can really help alleviate loneliness and depression.

Caring for another living thing is very rewarding, especially when you see that living thing bloom and grow, all because of you!

No matter what your indoor space is like, there are many plants that would thrive at home with you – and be useful, too.

Continue reading Clean Your Indoor Air With Houseplants for National Indoor Plant Week!

How to Decorate for An Allergy-Free Holiday Season

Most recently updated January 3rd, 2024

It’s that time! Time to get ready for your Fall & Winter holiday gatherings.

Yay!!! And also: Oh, no!!

Everyone loves to decorate and make their home feel festive for the winter holidays, but before you can decorate, you also need to clean. (This is the worst part, honestly.)

Lighted Christmas trees in the snow in Big Bear, CA — Lighted trees in the snow in Big Bear, CA

And not only do you have to clean your house, but you might also need to freshen up your stored holiday decorations!

Unfortunately, some of our traditional decorations can harbor allergens that may irritate allergy-and-asthma-prone family or guests.

Some people are even allergic to Christmas trees – which is a point in favor of having an artificial tree.

Are you allergic to your Christmas tree?

And just think about all of the other decorations you put up, where you put them, and how long they stay there.

The key to avoiding hosting allergens (along with your guests) is to prep your home well in advance of your first holiday event, and choose your decorations carefully.

Read on to learn how!

Continue reading How to Decorate for An Allergy-Free Holiday Season

Fight Asthma with Vitamins and Supplements

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

If you’ve read some of my other posts, you know that I’ve had asthma and have been fighting asthma my whole life.

In spite of allergy shots and prescribed inhalers and pills, my asthma got worse every year.

Eco-friendly garden at Lake Crabtree County Park.

After a childhood full of midnight ER visits and college years laced with time in Intensive Care, I had complete respiratory failure as a young working adult, and spent several days unconscious on a ventilator.

After that event, the doctors could only advise that I take more daily medications and stay indoors in a controlled environment.

I realized then that the available asthma treatments would probably keep me alive, but would severely limit my life.

So, I moved across the country to escape the worst of my local airborne triggers – and got some breathing room 😉

Since then I’ve experimented with diet, exercise and supplements to find what might help reduce my symptoms and my use of most medications.

Through research plus trial and error, I’ve created a strategy that helps me breathe easier and stay healthy enough to do just about anything I want to do!

In this post I tell you about the vitamins and supplements available and the ones I’ve used – and mostly still use – that appear to help asthma.

For inspiration I’m also sharing more photos of beautiful places I’ve been able to hike, and beautiful plants and animals that haven’t made me wheeze 🙂

If you’re looking for additional (non-medical) ways to minimize or even eliminate asthma symptoms, maybe this strategy could help you, too!

Continue reading Fight Asthma with Vitamins and Supplements

Run and Hike the Lake Pine Trail – Even if You Have Asthma!

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

The Lake Pine Trail is a paved loop that circles the lake in Apex Community Park, located near the dividing line between the towns of Cary and Apex, close to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Like nearby Bond Park, Lake Crabtree County Park, and Umstead State Park, Apex Community Park has the benefit of being in town, plus the appeal of hosting a fairly large recreational lake.

Another nearby park with paved walking trails is the North Carolina Museum of Art Park – but they don’t have a lake, just a pond. 🙂

The Lake Pine Trail Loop

Lake Pine is a great trail for running or walking, is smooth and wide enough to use your stroller or baby jogger, too – and is good for all skill levels.

Apex Community Park entry sign at Laura Duncan Road

The trail runs between the lake and other natural areas, so there’s a good chance to see wildlife.

I’ve seen deer, otters, loons, cranes, turtles – and fish 🙂

Dogs are also allowed on this trail but must be kept on leash.

The loop is about 2 miles long, and you have the option to venture off the main path to other unpaved nature trails, too. Continue reading Run and Hike the Lake Pine Trail – Even if You Have Asthma!

10 Tips to Control Indoor Allergens – and Stop the Madness!

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

Spring!

It’s the time of year when trees in the South release massive clouds of yellow pollen into the wind, to be distributed to allergy-prone noses and lungs everywhere.

Around here, it’s known as “The Pollening”.

Pine pollen is a huge problem in the South

Even if you don’t live in the South, it isn’t unusual to find your allergies heating up along with the air temperature.

The horrors of pollen season are so well-known that years ago, when my boyfriend told me he’d be unavailable for a few weeks due to severe allergies, I had nothing but sympathy for him.

Much later, I realized that my boyfriend’s allergies struck at exactly the same time as the “March Madness” basketball playoffs. Hmmm…

Basketball and pine pollen season arrive together

I’m not as gullible now, but I still have nothing but sympathy for people with allergies 🙂

If you have allergic asthma symptoms throughout the year (like I do), or even seasonal allergies and asthma, you can’t do much about what’s floating around in the air outside.

What you can do is take steps to control allergens inside your home, so you can breathe and rest easier year round.

According to the The American Lung Association, the air quality inside your home could be 2-5 times worse than the air outdoors. Continue reading 10 Tips to Control Indoor Allergens – and Stop the Madness!

Eat to Breathe Easier – What is the Best Food for Asthma?

Most recently updated July 7th, 2023

The best food for asthma – or any kind of diet – is healthy food that you want to eat and keep eating for a lifetime!

Even when you know what foods to avoid, it’s hard to always stick with it, especially at family events and Holiday gatherings.

I’ve been looking for the best food for asthma and perfecting my own anti asthma diet for a long time – and my own strategies for being social and still sticking to foods that are good for me.

My earliest memory is being inside an oxygen tent when I was a toddler. (I’m in my 50’s now.)

That’s a lot of years’ living with the disease and learning what kind of diet and exercise helps.

Relaxing on a picnic break during a hike in the Mont Blanc range. — A picnic break during a hike in the Mont Blanc range.

Through research and trial and error, I’ve created a diet that helps me breathe easier.

Over time, thanks in part to my diet, I’ve gone from being a medicated Bubble Girl who couldn’t take a deep breath to a 50- something year old woman who does alpine hiking and leads weekly 6-12 mile hikes.

If you’re looking for additional (non-medical) ways to minimize or even eliminate asthma symptoms, this diet could help you, too.

The photos in this post highlight some amazing places I’ve been able to hike in spite of severe chronic asthma. Diet and exercise does make a difference 🙂 Continue reading Eat to Breathe Easier – What is the Best Food for Asthma?