Asthma Sufferers - What do we do when SHTF?

I agree completely with the natural selection comment. It's exactly what I was thinking as I was reading this thread. Personally though, I'd be more concerned about diabetics who rely on insulin when the "shtf". They're only allowed a month's supply of their medication as well, and I'd imagine the diabetics will die off before the asthmatics.

Unless they've got or can get a supply of pigs and know how to extract their insulin. It's not quite the same with asthma, as there are alternative medications for that.

reply to post by lucentenigma


I wondered about this a few years back since my son has asthma. I ran acrossed a book called Water cures. In it the man that wrote the book said for an emergency inhaler take salt (perferably sea salt) but any salt will work. pour some out in the palm of your hand and lick it with your tongue and then drink a glass of water. It will give you the same effects as useing your inhaler. So the next time my son thought he needed his inhaler I decided to try this to see if it worked just incase we ever needed it. It does work. The man also believes if we drink more water even more than they say that we need you might never have another asthma attack since it is one of the signs the body is suffering from lack of water. My son now drinks more water and hasn't had an attack for about 2 years.

I do not suffer from asthma but my sister has a severe problem with it. Any time we drove through arkansas when we were younger we would have to go to the hospital because her inhaler would not take care of it completely (she will no longer go anywhere near there). The last time this happened a doctor told her to keep peppermints on her. She always did after that. The real teat for it came one day when she was at a lake near her home. She disturbed a yellow jacket nest and ran to her care. she managed to only be stung once or twice but she said that the bees were making loud popping sounds as they flew into the windows. She had left here rescue inhaler at home and the only thing she had on here were those breath mint liquid capsules which were peppermint. In a panic she put around 6 in her mouth and chewed them. she said it was way to much peppermint flavor and she didn't like it but her attack stopped.

I have had asthma 35 yrs and a certain illegal weed smoked through a pipe or bong will work wonders, I speak from experience and know the benefits of a wonderous drug.

Originally posted by blaenau2000
I have had asthma 35 yrs and a certain illegal weed smoked through a pipe or bong will work wonders, I speak from experience and know the benefits of a wonderous drug.

So you're not so much a asthma sufferer as a drug addict!

Accorrding to big pharma all disease is caused by a lack of some drug or another.
pretty much all the drugs you need grow in the average bush garden swamp and or field

I don't hold much hope in people learning in time so those that do
consider the value to the community when you hold the secret to people's survival.

it will be a valuable skill and skills are easy to carry store and trade with....
if you have then when needed.

oh and one might consider moral
carry on

Originally posted by CholmondleyWarner

Originally posted by blaenau2000
I have had asthma 35 yrs and a certain illegal weed smoked through a pipe or bong will work wonders, I speak from experience and know the benefits of a wonderous drug.

So you're not so much a asthma sufferer as a drug addict!

I have NEVER been called a drug addict before, first time for everything i suppose.

Being called a drug addict wont bother someone who is dying of asthma and needs relief ?

You obviously judge quickly, all i will say is the OP asked a genuine question and i gave him a truthful answer,
Could be something to do with the drugs affects in relaxation of the body and mind, during severe attacks i found it helps me.
I wont even get into the other astonishing medical usesof cannabis as you obviously class smokers as addicts,
so i wont waste youre time.

Peace to you my friend..............

These types of threads serve to aggrandize my lifes choice to become a carpenter/builder and an herbalist/wildcrafter. I can use rudimentary tools and build shelters from many different materials and I can hunt and gather a very large range of plants from coast to coast of the US , with full knowledge of how to prepare foods and medicines as well as cleansers, sealants pest repellents and so forth. When the S*** does hit the fan my friends and family can rest assured. Rather then discussing what limited life weapons and techno gadgets (the very things that have lead us to this point) some of us can just head out into the woods and make a fine go of things.

Learn the plants in your surrounding areas folks, learn them...it will save your life one day.

I was talking to a fellow sailor the other day who has asthma and I asked him about what he uses when he does not have access to his inhaler he told me he learned this ah i forgot the county and he said it worked for him. It is Breathe Easy Tea
Link

and if you can find it Yogi tea works well also.

I have to use a puffer--Ventolin HFA several times a day in addition to using my nebulizer at least 4 times a day using a duo neb combination of albuterol and atrovent (?). My husband is also a diabetic. I do worry that if TSHTF that we will not make it. Seeing the responses here made me think of something that some of the seniors living on fixed incomes do in a group called "EFFORTS".( This group is for folks like me with COPD)
Like I said they are on fixed incomes and cannot afford all their mediations so they buy from a company in India called "All Day Chemist". I checked the price on generic ventolin HFA and the price is $3.50 per nebulizer. I haven't purchased anything from them yet but there are many members who buy from them and swear by them. They also sell other meds. NO Narcotics!
anyhoooo, I just thought I would throw this in.

reply to post by grumpydaysleeper


hey thanks for that link! I'm in the UK and each item on a prescription costs ~£7.50 (depending on the pharmacy) and unless the doc prescribes 2+ it can be quite a pain! - I'm grabbing an order for a generic brand salbutomol and see if it gets to me! only $3.50!!! so worth the try!

EDIT:
$25 dollars shipping / handling but with a large enough order it spans out!

reply to post by lucentenigma


apologies for the double post, but to contribute i find cayenne pepper tea if my chest is a little tight helps, and rosemary tea / diet high in onions helps as a preventative measure. Always wondered as a kid why I craved pickled onions! yum yum yum!

now in SHTF onions wont be the first thing on your mind! (not sure if garlic paste would work, but should as its related to the onion family as i recall) but jars of cayenne pepper should be! the more capsicum the better! - it has a host of other uses too to make it a useful addition! my FAK has 2 jars of the stuff mind you I have a few 100mcg ventolin's saved up too now as I'm naff at getting my prescriptions sorted in time!

improving your stomach muscles should help somewhat in managing the condition too as they (abdominal and diaphragm) work with the intercostal muscles with breathing. And of course prevention is better than a cure so lots of CV will help in the mean time! luckily i'm not a bad sufferer but I definitely need to improve my CV as its when I've been running my chest usually tightens up (could be the cold air doing that though!) Something else I do is keep a food diary so I know if any foods trigger any wheeziness, which would be useful to know if on the run! I'd rather miss a meal than be on my knees sounding like an 80 yearold man after 10 meters running lol

the other option is to pack a load of anti-histamines in your kit. In an attack they will help some what, but not strait away!

anyway! hope theres been some useful info in here for you! - don't just take my word on the cayenne, next time you feel that tightness coming on try it before have a squirt or two!

Ive got a ton of medicine in vials put away.. I have to do treatments 5 times a day..and I'm on a BD machine with a vest that i do 5 times a day but without electricity the nebulizer and BD machine is worthless and inhalers just aren't strong enough for me they do nothing i have CF its like having asthma but a 100 times worse..So I'm afraid id be on the natural selection list and its just scary for me to even think about the SHTF scenario ..There would be no hope..

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Have you heard of Buteyko method or shallow breathing technique?

It's supposed to help asthma sufferers without using any medicines. I have tried this method and this has worked for me.

You can check it out here.

I have suffered from athsma off and on since the age of 8. I am 36 now and I can honestly say in my experience a great deal of athsma symptoms are in your mind. You can't join the military if you have athsma, but I am in the Army. I never had an attack in basic training or even during my deployments to Iraq. Hitting the old "puffer" is a quick fix, but stopping the attack with basic stress relieving techniques works well. Calm down, control your breathing rate and clear your mind... in about 2-6 minutes athsma attack subsides and you go on your merry way.

Sadly there's nothing better than the real deal. Most of what is mentioned here is very effective for treatment but in an attack you'd want the real thing. As you mentioned you can find wholesale places online, for instance I found a place that sells 100 units of Albuterol 6mg for 15$/unit, ships from canada. I have no clue on how long that would last you.

Also I recommend you buy a pair of ultrasonic nebulizers, in case one dies. These are small portable nebulizers that don't need much power. For instance you can buy a small solar panel in order to recharge it if there's no more electric power.

reply to post by Lateralussicksicksick


Thank you so much for the link i skimmed over it a bit it sounds very interesting ..Ive never heard of this method before this just might help alot of people in here maybe even me.. I will talk this over with my DR next time i go in also..

I suffer from asthma pretty bad.

However, I've noticed that if I remain hungry and somewhat empty-stomached, I don't have flare ups. I don't think going hungry will be a problem when SHTF.

I only use my inhaler a few minutes into my jog and live in a place with rather clean air. But, if I don't have my inhaler during this time, it's lights out. A very unpleasant experience.

I would imagine 100 inhalers would last me the rest of my life...maybe buying in bulk isn't such a bad idea.

I have asthma and very recently I started taking an OTC drug called Guaifenesin. There is also a plant called Guaiacum that it's derived from.

It's not specifically for asthma. It's an expectorant so it helps you cough up mucus in your chest. It's included in a lot of cough medicines. I started taking it because one of the main contributors to my asthma is that my body tends to develop very thick mucus and this medicine thins it out. My breathing has improved a lot and I've cut way down on using my inhaler. One thing to note: you should drink a lot of water with it.

"Asthma Sufferers - What do we do when SHTF?"

Most of us will die within a few weeks or months of our medication running out.

Moving on.