Hi

I'm just new to this board and was hoping for some advice.

My Partner was diagnosed with Asthma approx. 10 years ago. His symptoms were sneezing, tight chest, runny nose. Over the years more things seem to set him off and just recently he is worse and needing to sleep loads. His inhaler doesnt work anymore. His current list of symptoms are:

fatigue, sneezing, itchy eyes, tight chest, lethargy, bloating, wind.

Does anyone have any ideas on what may be the cause. i have been reading up on the subject of allergies and think that it may be multiple sensitivity. I myself have some food intolerance and i'm not ruling that out for him either.

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

K

Go to the " environmental illness " message board, and read up on this. I put a link there that describes this because i have it also, but many people either don't believe in it or don't understand it. All it is, is a sickness brought on by breathing in chemicals in the air, simple to understand, but hard to treat. The main treatment is to stay away from the things that bother you. It helps to know what brought his illness on in the first place, because if it is something in his home, this could be why he is getting worse, which is what happened to me. We had our bathroom redone, and the drywall was all over the house. I spent 6 months of being very ill, deathly tired and sleeping all the time, horrible body aches, trouble breathing at times, like asthma, sinus problems, and numerous trips to the doctor to find out what was the matter with me. Needless to say he took many blood tests, found nothing, diagnosed me with chronic fatigue and fibro mayalgia ( can't spell }. I very slowly started getting better, only because spring came and I spent more time outside. But what this did is make me so sensitive to other chemicals, that I get sick very easy around many things now. It is called multiple chemical sensitivity or environmental illness. Do not be surprised if you run across people that do not believe in it. What people don't know about, they deny. Here are a few ideas for you to help your partner, and what may make his symptoms worse. You need to look back to when his symptoms started worsening. Has he moved? Does he have a forced air furnace? These are very hard on you and he needs electric or hot water heat. The place he lives, is there anything new such as carpet, linoleum, drywall, as these all give off gases that really affect you. There are so many things that i cannot think of all of them right now. Read up all you can on this, it will help you to help him. Please keep me updated on what you find out and I really hope to hear from you again. Kamden

Hi

Thanks so much for replying to my post. I have read up on chemical/multiple sensitivity and i believe that this is probably what is affecting him. He just found out yesterday that he is also intolerant to wheat and wheat based products so i'm sure if he eliminates this from his diet he will start to feel a little better.

I was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue last year and had the same symptoms as yourself. I got so desperate in the end that i decided to go for a food sensitivity test and found out hat i am intolerant to yeast and potatoes. Since i have stopped both of these food sources i feel 100% better than i did.

Thankyou for replying once again and i will let you know how we get on in due course.

Thanks K

Kmif, there is another problem that i forgot to mention, and that is mold sickness. I get very sick from mold, and have been especially bad lately. We have had alot of rain. You may also want to check the house for this. Any water seeping in can easily grow mold. Two of the main symptoms are extreme fatigue, and respiratory problems. You can have a very nice new home and still have this. Check out " mold infestation " on the internet and you will see how many people have the problem and what illnesses it brings on. Since your partner is exhibiting the main symptoms I would check out the place thoroughly where he lives. When I was sick, my first symptoms were sleeping 14 hours in a day and asthma every time the furnace came on. Mold can usually be found in the basement or attic, where water has seeped in. If it is something in the house, your partner will notice that he feels a little better, every time he gets out of the house, for a day, or spends a night somewhere else. This is what happens to me. Which is why we have to move too. Forced air furnaces are also bad for people with asthma, because they blow the dust all over and we breathe the dust in. Keep me posted and good luck.

[This message has been edited by Kamden (edited 08-19-2002).]