Hi,

My husband and I are moving to Zurich soon. I suffer from asthma, and as I come from a tropical country (India) with limited living experience in temperate climates, i'm a little apprehensive of how i'm going to cope with my condition. are there any special factors i need to keep in mind (for example, i'm scared that the cold climate will be bad for me, as will be climbing steep inclines, etc), any tests i need to do, etc?

i know this sounds a little stupid (i'm sure there are people with asthma in switzerland and surviving fine ), but any pointer you have will be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Swati

I'm a Asthma sufferer too, I find the biggest problem I have this time of year more than the cold is that the pollen triggers my hayfever, which then triggers my Asthma.

Just take your time, make sure you have any inhalers with you and you should be okay. I hike up in the mountains without any issue so don't worry too much. I find it does me some good to be honest.

The cold last year dropped to -13c at one point in Basel overnight had little affect, just don't stay out in it too much.

I managed to get up on top of Jungfraujoch at 3,500m and play in the snow for 3hrs without any issues.

Thank you SO much, i already feel more secure

I dont think you have to much worry on.

As the humidity level is higher .. dusts will settle down and wont be in the air so even in the climate is chil you wont suffer.

If you have pure air and pure water then there is less risk on cold and asthma problems.

if u have more questions feel free to write me

Hi Cactina

I don't think you'll need to worry very much out here. I have asthma aswell but i've noticed it improving out here with the climate/air quality etc. When i go back home I find it gets worse or I need to take my inhaler more.

You will need to meet up with a doctor to get your prescription sorted out though. Careful as my first prescription without realising was only for 3 months and I had to go back to the doctor again for another top up....this time i asked for the longest and he gave me something like one year.

If you are ever stuck you can go into a pharmacy without a prescription and just tell them your are a tourist and your inhaler is empty, can you buy one right now. its never a problem.

two best things you can do are:

1-know your triggers (allergens, cold air, exercise) and manage them (cold air is new to you and likely to be a trigger so be prepared as per cata1st)

2-take your medicine every day (the steroid in your seretide/advair/etc is critical to keeping you healthy!) if you're well controlled you wont have to worry about a thing!

overall, i find it to be a pretty health climate!

Great advice from Jawbreaker.....know what your triggers are. I don't think I've had a bad asthma attack since I moved to Switzerland 6 years ago, whereas when I go back to UK for visits, I find I'm puffing on my ventolin inhaler 3 - 4 times a day but then I know the triggers are the animals my family have. I should prepare my lungs by using my steroidal inhaler for about 6 weeks prior to going and then I wouldn't suffer as much but I always forget as I don't need any of my inhalers here. I find the inside of my house becomes more dusty here than it did in the UK, so if dust is one of your triggers you may need to damp dust often to keep it down to a minimum. Pollen can also trigger off some folks, and there may be a lot of different pollens here that you aren't used to, so it may be worth getting some antihistamine tablets from the pharmacy. Walking or physical exercise can also be a trigger and as the winters here will be vastly different to what you are used to it may be worth wearing a scarf over your nose and mouth in the winter months to warm up the air before breathing it in.

But as long as you have your medication with you, you should be fine. As other posters have mentioned, you can get them from the many pharmacists.

I hope you enjoy your move and new life in Switzerland.

__________________
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak.

Thank you, Cata1yst, Dreispitz, Brianb_ie, Jawbreaker, and Swisscath. Your pointers are extremely valuable; I do know which allergens cause most problems for me (dust, smoke, certain smells, etc), so I'll be sure to stay clear of those. And also I think I'll need to take a comprehensive examination sheet from my doctor in India and then go share it with a doctor in Zürich so that s/he knows my case history.

Fear of asthma not withstanding, I'm looking forward to moving

An simple excercise suggested by a doctor which my friend is following

1 Take an balloon ... of medium quality
2 Inhale air by nose
3 Blow the balloon using ur mouth
4 Repeat step 2 and 3 until balloon is filled with air
5 Release the air from the balloon

Practise few times like this to increase your lung air holding capacity.

This will help a lot

I moved here from the UK about 3 months ago, and my asthma's vastly improved. My main trigger is house dust mites, and I think being in a house with no carpets is very good for me. I'm also allergic to cats, horses, that sort of thing, but just pop an anti-histamine if I know I'll be near them for any length of time.

Breath training exercise: breathing normally but steadily, exhale all the air in your lungs. Then stop. Hold your breath. Count how many seconds until you need to breath in again. Apparently 'normal' non-asthma people can hit at least a minute, whereas I feel like I'm imploding after 30 seconds. Your rate improves with practise - something to do with the way your body processes carbon dioxide, I think.

kodokan

Hey guys,

My mum has asthma which gets really severe from time to time. Last time when I was home (Bulgaria) she was in one of those periods of "bad" and I thought that maybe it will make sense to take her to a doctor here if there are better inhalers available - seems the ones she gets there doesn't work really well (and I know she's tried different types).

So for those experienced, can you recommend me a doctor I can take her to (preferably Zurich) or a hospital in general which should be good.

Any advise will be appreciated.

Hi Swati,

I agree the points everyone else makes, know the triggers,( in my case, viruses, and animals) take the inhalers as prescribed.
What catches me sometimes is- the change in air tempreture from moving from a warm house to the coldness of outdoors. It can be scary when it flares up, but I certainly wouldn't worry about it!


@ Ambros: If your mothers inhalers are not working and she has an attack, I'd suggest you take her to a hospital ( A&E) for a nebuliser. A prick test, on the arm can determine any allergies, I had one done as a child.
Afraid I don't know an asthma specialist here.

A volumatic increases the efficenty of the inhaler to 80%, and is definately worth buying, I had a brief stint in A&Efor Asthma in Ireland over Christmas and it was recommended.
It cost 10Euro in Ireland, don't know how much they are here.


Volumatic:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:3,s:0

An article on Asthma that might be worth reading. Some suggestions on supplements etc.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...sthmatics.aspx