gingernut

Try a search tk.

tope kayode

sure You right that there is no flying school here in lagos, but my sponsors requested me taking the medicals before heading to Mid Rand, South Africa for my training.

MrBrightside

Went to the doctors recently due to slight weezing after exercise. I have been given a ventolin evohale inhaler and a peak flow meter to record my peak flow results over a period of time. From reading previous posts on here I have become slightly worried as to the results I have been getting. My highest peak flow is 570 with my lowest being 540. Just wonderiing if anyone on here could shed some light on this? Is there anyone who has had similar results and falied the C1 medical?

Any methods on how I could perhaps improve this? .. I currently am an active person.

Thanks in advance
MB

gingernut

Hi MrBrightside.

The variation in your peak flow rate is marginal, but don't fall into the trap of placing too much emphasis on the figures alone. We have to look at the bigger picture.

A couple of points:

Asthma can sometimes be quite difficult to diagnose with any certainty.

Doctors (and nurses, and sometimes surgeons) can sometimes be a"prickly" lot and resent being told what to do, but I do think that it is important that you stress the importance of an accurate diagnosis to your GP- does he realise the implications of labelling you as "asthmatic", on your future career.

He may even be aware of the newly released guidelines to managment and care of asthma.... http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/qrg101.pdf , although I'd resist the temptaion to print him a copy!

I know more about asthma than I do about aviation medicine, but from experience of these pages, it'd seem that mild asthma doesn't seem to be a problem for aviation medicals. (Try a search)- although the RAF seem to be stricter.

I expect the quack will be interested in the severity of your symptoms, how it affects your day to day life, and hospital admissions due to asthma.

Keep us posted.

redsnail

G'day from one very mildly asthmatic person and a holder of a Class 1 medical and an ATPL.

Asthma is a condition that needs to be monitored and controlled to have the least amount on impact on your life.

If the doc didn't explain, take 2 readings of your peak flow per day. One in the morning (first thing ideally) and one in the evening. What the doc is looking for is a bench mark for yourself and to see if there's a 25% or greater difference between the readings. The morning one should be the worst.

Being active is good. You may find you'll need to take a puff before exercise.

My version is a cough and it took several trips to the docs and changing doctors to get it diagnosed.

Loose rivets

An anti-inflamatry drug for me back causes really quite bad asthma. Couldn't get through the night without a puffer. Stopped taking it, and back to blowing nearly off the scale.

cats_five

Some variation in peak flow is normal. Take it when you get up, and in the early evening and plot the results as a graph. If your morning reading is a lot lower that suggests asthma, but modern treatment guidelines suggest that inhaled steroids are the drug of choice for most asthmatics rather than relieves, which is what Ventolin is.

However, if you only get symptoms after exercise then pre-treatment with a reliever might be all you need - if indeed you have asthma!

The Asthma UK website is very good, plus they have a phone number that will let you speak to an asthma nurse:

http://www.asthma.org.uk/

MrBrightside

Thanks for the replies. Greatly appreciated.

I have been recording my peak flow readings three times a day, morning, afternoon and before I go to bed. I do seem to find that my morning readings are slightly worse than my afternoon/evening readings but do not vary dramatically. I have been using the reliever twice after i take my readings.

I have managed to increase my peak flow to a maximum of 630 and I feel as if I may be able to improve upon this through time. What I would like to know is that if I was to stop using my ventolin evohale inhaler would my readings begin to drop substantially? Will this benefit me in the long term?

Thanks
MB

timelapse

www.peakflow.com is quite useful too

redsnail

I am not sure why you want a higher peak flow reading?

Sift through those links and educate yourself about what asthma is and how it's best managed. Then you can discuss it with your doctor as chances are, you'll know yourself better than s/he will. I spent a fair bit of time wading through the British Medical guidelines on asthma and it's well worth it.

Any way. How I understand the "reliever" eg Ventolin, it works when your bronchiols are playing up or as a temporary "preventer" if the asthma's exercise induced.

As I found out, as an adult you don't get cured, your condition is managed. Since I hadn't used my puffer for ages the asthma crept up and sidelined me for a week. Back to the preventer (steroid puffer) for 2 weeks to settle it down and also had to take the ventolin as well. Lesson learned. So, back to taking a puff before exercise.

It's not a crime or shameful to have to take a puff. Plenty of world class athletes are asthmatic eg, Kieren Perkins (Aussie swimmer) and Paula Radcliffe.

cats_five

Neither do child asthmatics as there is not cure - all that can be done for any of us is management, and the better it's managed the less it's impact on your life. However, some shildren literaly 'grow out' of asthma as their airways enlarge. A fair percentage of those that grow out of it age back into it...

gingernut

Doesn't everyone?

I think we're all in danger of labelling you with a disease which hasn't yet been formally diagnosed.

Go see the quack rather than diagnosis by internet. This is important- it may affect your future career.

Pre and post ventolin peak flows may be useful- remember that when recording peak flow readings, it's the "best of three" which counts.

gingernut

It sounds like he did do it right.

If you look at the SIGN guidelines, you'll see that "getting it right" isn't always an exact science, and sometimes a trial with inhalers is the correct thing to do.

Cough medicines don't work. Full stop.

But I guess they're sometimes useful for placating the odd wimp with a sore throat and a sniffle, who probably doesn't know his gluteus maximus from his olecranium

AMEandPPL

You know what "olecranium" means ?

I'm all ears . . . . . . . . .

AMEandPPL

Actually, one part of the elbow joint is the OLECRANON


this might be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olecranon

davo31

Hello all,

Is Asthma a problem for pilots??

I have mild asthma, never had an asthma attack or been hospitalised. Civil aviation have asked for a spirometry reading and status from a gp after passing the class 2 medical. Is this something to be concerned about considering I can only blow 350 on the peak flow and have a return reading of a moderate obstruction from the spirometry reading?

AMEandPPL

An initial JAR class 1 at Gatwick would be seriously in doubt if a
candidate could not manage a PEFR greater than 350 l/min.

Just imagine a temporary WORSENING of that, for whatever reason at
all, and then combine that with the reduced oxygen content of a cabin at the equivalent of 8000 feet.

Still capable of dealing with any in-flight emergencies ? I don't think so.

davo31

Yes true this could become a problem in the case of low oxygen.

Thanks for your response I think I will have to reconsider my options.

Is there a training method that can improve lung capacity? After exercise I have blown >400. Also I have passed respritory testing and have gained a scuba diving licence.

SNS3Guppy

Short of having an asthmatic attack at altitude, it's probably not going to be an issue operationally. Getting past the paperwork, however, could very well be. I don't know what Australia provides with respect to Asthma, but in the US it's considered childhood asthma if it hasn't been repeated since the age of 12. If the paperwork reflects a statement that asthma hasn't been experienced since the age of 12, that may well do the trick. If you tell the examining physician you have asthma...then you're opening up a can of worms.

I'm an asthmatic. I grew up at density altitudes in the summer of well over 10,000'. I have more problems breathing at sea level than at higher elevations, and I've found that I tend to handle an oxygen deprived environment better than most; I spent much of my early life in that condition. I worked as a firefighter in the smoke for years, and I have regularly been above FL180 doing parachute jumps without any difficulty. Don't assume that being asthmatic automatically pushes you out of the running, or disables you at altitude. I've experienced on decompression at altitude without any ill effects. A much bigger concern would be a sinus block at altitude, which has nothing to do with asthma, and is something to which everyone is subject.

Truth be told, if one is truly a severe chronic asthmatic, an oxygen deprived environment is familiar territory. I know.

AMEandPPL

And if that DOES happen ? For example, induced by the great stress of a mid-air emergency ? The name asthma covers a wide range of levels of disability. Admittedly, some can be pretty trivial, and lived with easily. Let it not be forgotten, though, that at the other end of the spectrum asthma can be life-threatening.

Bad news if you are at the controls of an aeroplane in flight.