Surprise Attacks

Bronchodilators to relieve attacks are also inhaled. They keep the lungs from receiving a chemical that would otherwise make them constrict. That helps with both breathing and clearing out mucus by coughing. Short-acting beta-2 antagonists are the most commonly used for asthma; brand names include Proventil and Ventolin.

For best effect, people with asthma need to take their medications according to a schedule that’s based on risk factors. For example, Johnson’s daughter takes her maintenance medications daily when she’s well, or in the “green zone.” If she gets a cold, she’s in the “yellow zone” and more vulnerable to asthma attacks; her pediatrician increases her medications to guard against attacks. If she gets into the “red zone,” it means prevention has failed and she likely needs prednisone to control her asthma symptoms, a powerful oral steroid that tastes terrible and causes mood swings (and worse effects with prolonged use).

Before her daughter had a medication plan, Johnson says, she needed frequent doses of prednisone and used an albuterol (bronchodilator) inhaler around the clock. Under the zoned prevention plan, her daughter hasn’t been in the red zone for nearly two years.

Stifle that Sneeze

The best news for those with allergies is that controlling them could reduce the chance of developing asthma. Studies have shown this result in children who received a regimen of allergy shots every one to four weeks for several years.

“With allergy shots, you’re trying to retrain the immune system so that it produces less IgE,” says Dr. Wexler at Advancements in Allergy and Asthma Care. IgE antibodies produce allergic responses, including all the symptoms of an asthma attack.

Johnson has seen such results for her kids, who all receive regular allergy shots. “It has really decreased allergies and asthma in my younger two, and antibiotics for my oldest son for sinus infections,” she says. “My goal was to decrease meds all around for them.”

No studies of the effectiveness of allergy shots have been done in adults, but allergy and asthma medications have helped Johnson, too. Two months after starting them, “I could breathe so much better and didn’t have to work so hard at running,” she says. “I have more energy than before.”