Hi everyone!

Just wondering if any of you suffer from asthma.  I've had allergies since moving to California 30 years ago - but usually in the winter and related to what the eucalyptus trees do that time of year.  But after being diagnosed with FFA earlier this year I suddenly started having pretty severe allergies in the last few weeks.  And then developed asthma for the first time in my life.  I had been kind of lax in my diet and started eating more carbs (specifically wheat/gluten) and so I stopped that immediately.  My symptoms seem to be getting better altho I still have to use a rescue inhaler about once or twice a night. 

On a positive note, the 5% rogaine seems to be giving me some eyebrow hair - yay!!

Would love to hear about anyone else with an asthma issue - wonder if it's all related.

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So sorry you're having to deal with asthma now!  But congrats on the eyebrows.  I'm having the same with Rogaine.  My MD recently told me that I had asthma, but truthfully I have almost no symptoms.  Would not have thought it to be connected to FFA, but checked the official list of autoimmune disorders to be sure.  http://www.aarda.org/autoimmune-information/list-of-diseases/

Asthma is not amongst them.  But then neither was FFA, only Alopecia Areata.  Perhaps your MD has some thoughts for you about the relationship, if any?  Hope you can 'outgrow' the need for the rescue inhaler quite so often!

Thanks for the link Classical Anne!  I'm still thinking the link may be inflammatory - I have become very serious about changing my diet and my asthma symptoms are better - not perfect but better.  I also heard a news report that there has been a significant increase in adult onset asthma here in California and they think it might be due to the drought.  Who knows.  In the meantime, I'm cleaning up my act - both dietary and in the products I use in my home.

But yes, the eyebrows growing in has truly been a blessing.  I don't even mind the crazy hairs that would have been otherwise plucked back in the day.  I still need makeup to fill them in, but it's improvement and I'm happy for it!

Hi Kathy,

I agree with you that the link may be inflammatory. Thinking back, I did notice an increase in allergy symptoms in the years leading up to my FFA diagnosis, so much so that I visited an allergist for the first time in my life.  I remember telling the doctors that it felt like my sinuses were tingling, burning or irritated, the same words I have used to describe my scalp irritation. I periodically used an inhaler given to me by the allergist, but he did not diagnose asthma and said my lung function seemed fine.

Cubbie Blue

P.S. Hi Classical Anne

Hi Cubbie Blue

I also had a back injury a few months ago - again, an inflammatory condition.  I'm working really hard on getting that under control.  I've known for years that inflammation is pretty much at the root of all disease but I was always so healthy I didn't think I had an issue.  Then...BAM...all this in the course of 6 months.  A wake-up call for sure!  I'm trying to increase my supplements that help with it - Omega 3, Curcumin and the like.  Plus sitting in the sun for a bit every day helps with Vitamin D - and it just plain feels good :)

I have been seeing a medical herbalist in the UK, Riki Davies in Surbiton, I stopped all meds in February. She runs cooking courses on anti inflammatory foods and fully understands our medical situation. I have a tincture I take 3x a day before food. She listens to what is happening in your life and adjusts the herbs used to suit you. I am having a lot of stress at work currently which does not help my FFA, she is helping me with work related stress as well as my autoimmunity. It is worth seeking help from qualified complementary healers especially as our Drs often are reductionist and are unable to see the bigger picture with our health. I know that acupuncture can work very well with asthma, might be worth looking into.

Hi Kathy,

I'm fairly newly diagnosed and agree this condition is inflammatory and auto-immune but want to know just what is it that is setting off this reaction?    Antiandrogens have helped some women with FFA so (at least for them) there is a hormonal connection.  Has anyone on this site had good results by taking any type of DHT blocker/inhibitor - either oral or topical?

Thanks!

Kathy,

I was researching estrogen dominance/progesterone deficiency and found several articles that mentioned increased incidences of asthma and allergies as a result of estrogen-dominance.    Women on Hormone Replacement Therapy are more prone to severe asthma (particularly those who took estrogen-only therapy before they realized how harmful that was).

I'm now wondering about how estrogen dominance might play into what we all are experiencing.  Progesterone apparently fights inflammation in the body. . . is connected to thyroid function and inhibits the enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT).  DHT (among other things) destroys hair follicles.

Progesterone starts diminishing in our late 30's and we have very little of it after menopause.  Even though estrogen is also diminished it's not nearly as reduced as our progesterone levels.   Plus, unfortunately, we're inundated with "xenoestrogens" in our environment which only increases the imbalance.

This thread is interesting to me ... as I was diagnosed with asthma right around the time that my hair loss was so rapid that I had to turn to wearing hair. Interesting how so many of us have a pattern here.

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