People with bizarre ideas!!!

My post on the 4th September 2018 focused on when I was going to see a change in my asthma control since starting mepolizumab. It was about the unknown because unlike salbutamol or prednisolone there is not an immediate effect, you have to be patient and allow the drug to work.

I get a lot of different comments left on posts but this one stood out to me as absurd and almost dangerous if read by someone who then went ahead and followed their advice.

PLEASE DO NOT DO WHAT THE PERSON IN THE COMMENT SUGGESTS. ALWAYS FOLLOW WHAT YOUR MEDICAL TEAM SUGGEST- IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR ASTHMA AND TREATMENT SPEAK TO YOUR TEAM (CONSULTANT, ASTHMA NURSE, GP, PRACTICE NURSE) ABOUT IT AND THEY WILL WORK WITH YOU.

This is the comment:

When is it going to start working? So I am one of all and I were suffered from asthma. Ihad moderate asthma with COPD by PEF markers. My asthma symptoms were not too bad but everything went wrong when I took ICS inhalers. So I had occupational decease. Doctors did not cooperate with me and I made my choice. I began to take care for my healthy alone. The first step I have done – I tried to stop using all kind of ICS but doctors did not know about it. The prescribe me different kind of ICS. Sometimes I used only Salbutamol (Ventoline). Every drug has its side effects. ICS inhalers suppress adrenal gland hormones and related to its failure. Antidepressant drugs make patient more depressed and change the person. More than a year I do no use any kind of ICS or other drugs for asthma. I am healthy because I can do hard gym exercises and to build my muscles, to run, to cycling, to swim, to training a martial art – Aikido. I have no any kind of asthma symptoms. I found the way to cure successfully my asthma. So, I am ready to give some advises to help for you and every person with asthma somewhere on the world. My story is so long and I write a book about it. I share my advises in the pages and I believe that I can help for everyone suffered from asthma.

Sometimes I wonder about these sort of people and where they get their ideas from. No matter how frustrated I have got with my asthma care team there has never been a moment when I have thought I can just stop taking my medications and start going to the gym and I would be cured. Im sure everyone would love it if this was such a simple thing and everyone with asthma can be cured. It would save the NHS a lot of money for one thing.

Don’t get me wrong sometimes with asthma it can be so complex that patients do end up on a bit of a polypharmacy and you don’t know what is doing what so a regular medication review is always a good thing, but when managing asthma there is always the need for inhaled medication at some-point and I guess if the medication is not working then is it time for more investigation to see what is really going on.

It is a worry because this comment is not isolated. There are so many that crop up like that. Thankfully I have my comments to approve or reject so don’t show them as I worry who will read them and do what they suggest.

I wonder that those who leave such comments if they actually had asthma in the first place and are one of those in the statistics that were misdiagnosed and maybe had viral induced wheeze or cough.

I think my message is that if there is ever any doubt in your asthma, symptoms, medications please discuss it with your Dr or team and do not just stop things. This is dangerous. There is no doubt that exercise is really good for asthma and ensuring your lungs are expanding etc but for some exercise is dangerous and can exacerbate an attack.

Everything in moderation is the key to success.