Real Life Experiments

I'm having a weird out-of-sorts day. Everything's too loose and too tight at the same time. Not sure what to do with myself...so here I am.

I think I found a way to limit my reaction to wheat. Or not. I don't really know, but I did experiment with taking Alpha Lipoic Acid with wheat and it seems to have reduced the reaction markedly.

Why that works, I can't say. For whatever reason Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a wonder drug for me.

The asthma still triggers, but at least the ugly itchy leper rash response is limited. Any new rash I see while using ALA is pretty light. Plus, I also added in some otc hydrocortisone cream to treat the existing rash. My neck looks half way normal now.

ALA is not good enough for me to eat wheat on a regular basis or anything, but when we're out and about, keeping it out of my system is crazy difficult. It's nice to have a tool to use to combat the problem.

As it happened, we went to a fancy dinner dance. It was a fundraiser with a fixed menu full of wheat thickened sauces*. So I popped the alpha lipoic acid as I ate, danced furiously, got a good whiff of second hand cigarette smoke and then had an asthma attack.

But my neck didn't break out. She said brightly.

I did, however, fall asleep in the car on the way home. I am always surprised at how quickly asthma like that can eat up my energy. You would think that brand of exhaustion would be old hat to me, but I think most of the time I have bad asthma, I'm also too damn sick to really care or notice how I feel. That's why you'll find me trying to grocery shop with an oxygen level somewhere around 90, completely stumped by the fact that I don't have the strength to push the cart. Classic sign of not-with-it-ness.

These attacks that aren't associated with a germ overlay have a strong contrast between okay and not okay. One second I'm fine, the next I can't even stay awake because I'm so zonked. It's jarring, like a sudden power outage. My husband had a terrible time getting me up and into bed.

The attack wasn't serious, but raged for several hours. I used the albuterol quite liberally and it just squeezed me tighter. The next day wasn't too bad though, so fairly limited in scope.

*Yes I tried to think of other ways to mange this. Eating before the event. Bringing food to the event. However, I wanted to try the ALA again and see how it shook out. I wish I hadn't gotten a whiff of smoke because now I can't tell if the trigger was the food or the cigarettes.