Shooting and Asthma...anybody else have problems?

[springmom]

I have adult-onset asthma, and I've come to realize that the day after shooting is a baaaaaaaaad day, at least when I go to the range. I'm still trying to figure out for sure whether that is true when I'm more or less there by myself (say, Monday mornings versus Saturdays when they're quite crowded). But it appears that it's at least partially the "blowback" of particulates from my own guns that do it. FMJ is mostly what I shoot, although not exclusively, and this is a problem for all types of guns except (so far as I can tell) my shotgun.

At any rate, I thought I'd ask and see if anyone else has this problem and if so what (apart from using your rescue inhaler) do you do about it?

Springmom

 

[Robby]

A good way to improve your situation, might be the use of the fiber masks, that keep the particulate matter out of your nose and mouth. In some indoor ranges after an hour you might find the mask to be quite dark where you breath thru it. But it also might help you with the problem. Yeah, I know tough folks do not wear masks, but if you breath better the next day. You figure what is important to you.

 

[Tribal]

+1 to Robby's suggestion. I'd think that a white mask would also, as he mentions, helps you see if you're actually inhaling the powder residue or if it's something else.

If you shoot indoors, it's also possible that you're allergic to something else in the building.

 

[eflatminor]

In my experience, if you:
1) Eliminate processed food and any chemials from your diet (nothing with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or anything you can't pronounce);
2) Take NO drugs, over-the-counter or prescribed;
3) Incorporate as many "superfoods" into your diet as possible (salmon, ground flax and hemp seeds, berries, nuts, turkey, oranges, and all the fruits and veggies you can eat);
4) Drink lots of filtered water;
5) Exersize by walking whenever possible (always take the stairs, etc); and
6) Undertake periodic cleanses to rid your body of toxins (try Blessed Herbs and hydro colon therapy),
you will never be sick again. Your asthma will dissapear.

I made the change 10+ years ago and since then haven't had so much as a cold. The allergies I suffered from dissappeared. My weight, cholestoral, blood pressure...everything is excellent. I've had no need for doctors except for periodic physicals afterwhich they tell me I'm the healthiest patient they have. This was far from the case before I made these changes.

Good health to you.

 

[The Tourist]

I have asthma, as well. I would wonder if you're allergic to plants or standing water where you shoot. I take my allergy meds before I leave for the range, and I do okay.

In my life, surrounded by idiots who smoke, oily engines and inhaling pollen at 80 MPH, I've found that a nebulizer and a little albuteral, coupled with high aerobic work-outs (at least one hour per day on a StairMaster) daily at the gym, keeps my nose and lungs clean.

Kind of like "changing the air filter" before a long drive.

 

[Blackbeard]

1) Eliminate processed food and any chemials from your diet (nothing with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or anything you can't pronounce);
2) Take NO drugs, over-the-counter or prescribed;
3) Incorporate as many "superfoods" into your diet as possible (salmon, ground flax and hemp seeds, berries, nuts, turkey, oranges, and all the fruits and veggies you can eat);
4) Drink lots of filtered water;
5) Exersize by walking whenever possible (always take the stairs, etc); and
6) Undertake periodic cleanses to rid your body of toxins (try Blessed Herbs and hydro colon therapy),

Personal opinion, it's #3 and #5 that are contributing to your health. The rest is superstition. Did this lifestyle change cure your asthma?

 

[np15cgg]

Springmom,

I also like the idea of a filter-mask but wonder whether you could try using a fan (maybe on those quiet days at the range) to minimize exposure to propellant gasses, etc. Your asthma may be ellicited by these inflammatory exposures and not just the larger, unburnt powder residues.

What about outdoors? In any event, good luck!

 

[Pat-inCO]

Look at http://www.w0ipl.net/N95.htm for information on filter masks. It was written during the time when the hottest scare was the bird flu pandemic but the information on filter masks is still accurate.

The Sears brand, N-95 "Wood Workers" mask, is the most cost effective and comfortable to use. I also have asthma, but mine is triggered by mold, nicotine and a few other air borne particles. The N-95 mask takes care of the mold and other particulate matter quite well.

The disposable masks do work but are very hard to get a reliable seal to your face, thus are far less effective.

I have not had any problems while shooting (THANKFULLY!) but just mowing the grass, without the mask, sets mine off.

 

[TallPine]

I dunno about the shooting part of it, but what finally seemed to help me was using pure saline solution (no meds) in a nebulizer. I was really sick for a number of years after a chemical exposure on the job (as in disabled and went back to school sick). The albuterol was causing a "rebound effect" - it would give me maybe 30 minutes of relief and then 3 more hours until the next dose

A nurse friend (not a doctor - they will only suggest drugs) suggested the saline inhalation. It provides some relief and you can use it as often as you need/want. After a couple years of that, my lungs healed and I haven't had much breathing trouble at all for about 10 years now.

Have you tried shooting outdoors at your property?

 

[springmom]

I always shoot outdoors. No way am I going to do that inside

A mask may end up being the answer, although on a 95 degree day, that would be pretty miserable. I suppose if I were into Cowboy Action, I could do it with a bandana over my face instead....

Eflaminator, I appreciate the suggestion, but there are a number of other things I have to take meds for, including thyroid, and not taking them will not increase my quality of life. They enable my quality of life. In the case of the thyroid, they enable my continued life.

Springmom

 

[High Planes Drifter]

Springmom, I have adult onset asthma, along with allergies. Are you taking any preventative medication? Have you tried taking an inhaled steroid like Asmanex?

 

[rcmodel]

All I know for sure is, don't waste your money on those disposable white paper dust masks.
They don't work much better then nothing at all.

If you decide on a mask, get a Mine Safety Appliance or other cartridge filter mask, and DFM rated cartridge and really filter the air.

BTDT with knife making grinders & other toxic dust, smoke, & fumes.

rcmodel

 

[springmom]

I take five different meds, not counting the rescue inhaler and the nebulizer which are on an as-needed basis. Plus I'm getting allergy shots. I'm doing all I can on that front.

And I have wooden floors in the bedroom, a mattress cover, the whole nine yards.

Springmom

ETA: The five meds are for allergies and asthma. That doesn't count all the rest of them.....

 

[rcmodel]

The five meds are for allergies and asthma.

That right there might be your problem.

My wife and one son were on meds when they were younger. I had to take my wife to the ER for severe asthma attacks on more then one occasion.

But that was then, and they both stopped taking allergy & asthma meds in their mid-20's.

No problems now for 30+ years for both of them.

Maybe they just outgrew it?

rcmodel

 

[springmom]

Maybe. Myself, I didn't develop allergies until my mid-thirties.

I have a specialist treating this stuff, and it's more complicated than just the asthma, and I really don't want to get into the specifics. I just wanted to get some ideas about how other people with asthma handle shooting and whether it bothers them.

Springmom

 

[rbernie]

Asthma can bother me while shooting, but most any 3rd gen antihistamine + Singular keeps me in check. I tend to use Claratin, if only because it's now OTC.

My wife has Samters Triad, and we need to be kinda careful with her. (She cannot continue living without her meds, sadly.) Last time she went with me, she wound up on the home nebulizer for a while.

 

[3KillerBs]

I haven't noticed that shooting affects my asthma. Mine is adult onset too and I'm fortunate in that Singulair and the albuterol inhaler, both on an as-needed basis do the trick for me.

Do you have an option for shooting at different ranges to see if there is something environmental affecting your at your usual range?

Prophylactic use of your emergency albuterol inhaler before shooting might or might not make a difference -- I use mine that way for perfume on people at church and such things. But as an experienced asthmatic you probably already know that.

Good luck figuring this out.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Springmom,

This may sound off the wall, but let me relate something from my own life. I grew up in the Northeast and had "colds" all my life. I have also had frequent bronchitis and sinus infections all my life. I was tested for allergies and had no specific chemical reactions to anything I was tested for. It was so bad I could not go into the cleaning products isle, couldn't be around candles, perfumes, pot pourri, etc.

I moved to the West ( one state above you) and the misery continued. I finally went to the VA for it two years ago and they prescribed a number of meds. I was on it for a year when a nurse asked me if I frequently had acid reflux. I said yes, all my life. She asked me to get an acid blocker and see if it made a difference.

Wow, what a difference. As long as I take it every morning I no longer have the persistent cough, the sensitivity to airborns allergens, the wheezing or shortness of breath (at least not more than what an old fat man would have normally).

Point is, oft times the symptoms of respiratory distress are NOT actually allergies, but are the body's response to something else. You might be well served to explore more on what you are putting into your body that is causing the symptoms you describe, and less on what outside your body appears to be causing it.

Grandpa

 

[springmom]

Grandpa Shooter, I appreciate the comments. Let me say again: my medical situation is complicated, I'm on a number of medications (including TWO reflux meds, one in the morning, one at night) that I really do need to be on, and none of them is causing my asthma. I'm taking shots and have had the whole testing schtick done for allergens. I'm on a modified diet for the food sensitivities I do have.

It sounds to me as if most people are in a situation of having their symptoms taken care of by fairly standard allergy meds. Mine aren't. I would like to ask y'all to please stop trying to diagnose. You aren't doctors and you don't know my situation and it's not what I asked.

If you have asthma and have some ideas to share about how you deal with it at the range, I'd love to hear it....and to those who've commented along those lines, thank you. As far as a different range goes; the flora of the Houston area is pretty much the same unless you get out of this area up into the Blacklands Prairie or down on the seashore. I do not have these problems in Llano when we're at the ranch, so I'm assuming it is local and environmental; but I'm doing all the stuff you can really do to deal with that.

Springmom

 

[The Tourist]

fairly standard allergy meds

I'm not sure that's the implication, I know it's not from my perspective.

However, many times asthma is the result of sinus issues. For example, I still get bad post-nasal-drip, and in many cases it aggravates my asthma.

When that is the issue, my doctor has me take a prescription drug called Loratadine. It is a way of controlling asthma by controlling the sinus issue.

For me, it's a shotgun approach. I stay away from pollen and cigarette smoke (even perfume), I work out, control my sinuses, carry a rescue inhaler, and head off major inflamation with a nebulizer.

Today I knew I was going to ride. I used a few breaths of albuteral and took a loratadine.

BTW, a personal observation. For a group who professes to love freedom, there are too many of my biker brethren who smoke--and smoke heavily. The parking lot at Capital Harley today actually had a "haze" as two groups of bikes pulled in.

There's no freedom in having to drag around an oxygen tank.

 

[.cheese.]

If I'm having my childhood asthma act up, ranges present a problem.

It's tough for several reasons. It's not so much whatever smoke or particles are released from the guns, it's more that the dust in indoor ranges are bad for me, just like the various allergens found at outdoor ranges (certain grasses, certain insects, pollen, etc.) cause the asthma to act up.

My suggestion - find an outdoor range that has as few allergens as possible. Since you suspect that it has to do with particulates from your gun, try to use closed base FMJs like the ones made specifically for indoor ranges. You can also try 100% copper bullets, or sintered ammo. Try using ammo with a different powder too.

Also, go to Home Depot and get a dust mask like would be used for working with dry-wall. It wouldn't hurt to wear one at the range. This is what I do if I go to the range during a problem period. If anybody asks at the range, you can just be honest about it. There's nothing to be ashamed about. I've never even been asked. Bring your inhaler(s) of course. I find that Advair and Albuterol used together work for me.

 

[TallPine]

If you get one of those cartridge filter masks, keep in mind that the clock starts running as soon as you break the seal. You can't use it once, throw it in the back of the car, and then use it again a week or two later. By then it will be worthless.

Keeping the mask and/or the cartridges in double plastic bags when not in use helps extend their life somewhat.

I know this (now!) because the place where I used to work was real grumpy about letting us have new filters. I kept mine in plastic bags between shifts, but later I learned that I should have had new cartridges every couple days (12 hr shifts) instead of every couple weeks Even back then, the cartridges were $16/pair.

Oh, and I was born in Austin and had terrible asthma. We left when I was 7 or 8. About 20 yrs ago, we went for a visit down that way and I was sick again most of the time. The only time I felt good was down on the beach with the wind blowing in off the gulf. Otherwise, we might have relocated back down there in the Hill Country somewhere.

 

[jakeswensonmt]

I had childhood asthma which has become less serious as I grew older. I find that gases from some cartridges will cause asthma symptoms, and others do not. For example PMC 223's have an ammonia-ish smell that causes my bronchi to tighten up immediately. Could there be any correlation to ammo brand and your symptoms?

1) Eliminate processed food and any chemials from your diet (nothing with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or anything you can't pronounce);

posted by Blackbeard : Personal opinion, it's #3 and #5 that are contributing to your health. The rest is superstition. Did this lifestyle change cure your asthma?

Not trying to derail the thread, but there is truth to #1 also. Studies (except the ones funded by the beverage and corn industries) indicate that fructose is not readily metabolized in the human body, forcing the liver to break it down and remove it, and in even in small quantities it becomes hematoxic (causes liver damage) and messes up insulin balance. Hydrogenated fats clog your circulatory system like nobody's business, cause obesity, stroke, and heart disease.

 

[springmom]

Fructose is fruit sugar and is found in every orange, banana, apple and pear you ever ate.

Mods: time to close this, please. It's gotten off topic.

Springmom

 

[loneviking]

Springmom, as an asthmatic and respiratory therapist, I'd recommend asking your doctor for an inhaled steroid inhaler/bronchodilator such as Advair. Advair contains both and is taken twice a day. Regardless, it sounds as if you need to take an inhaled steroid reguarly.

Another possible factor is dehydration in the sun and heat. Asthmatics tend to produce a lot of mucous, and if you get dehydrated, those secretions get thick. That can irritate the lungs and cause coughing/bronchospasm.

You could also talk to your allergist and see if there is some way to test you for allergies to various gunpowder formulations. Those allergy tine tests are for all sorts of things you wouldn't think they could test for, so why not gunpowder?

I hope you feel better soon!