breathe-buteyko.co.uk

Luke - aged 9
Inhalers: Filair, Salamol

Before the course Luke's parents were exhausted by his constant cough. He needed a baby monitor each night because if he started coughing it would bring on his asthma. Luke had hay fever and suffered from asthma attacks every day. He had put on weight and was often short tempered.

Lora - aged 10
Inhalers: Serevent, Becotide, Ventolin

By the end of the course, Lora didn't need the Serevent and was taking only Becotide and a little Ventolin when needed.

A few months later her Mum reported that not only was she no longer taking any medication at all, but her swimming had also improved. She was in a local swimming team and competing in major events.

By the end of the course, Luke no longer needed the Salamol. He was very pleased to be able to play with our soft toys because his own had been locked away as they made him ill.

Now, two years after his course Luke is able to swim, take part in school sports and practise Karate. His only medication is a single puff of Ventolin on the rare occasions when he gets wheezy, perhaps every few months.

Having been a teacher for so many years, children are especially important to me. Since I retired, I have taught in several schools as a supply teacher. It's heartbreaking to see all the different coloured inhalers in the teacher's drawer in primary school classes. Every lunchtime, children wait in line for a puff of the chemical that is going to enable them to breathe throughout the afternoon.

I know how they feel. I recall struggling to breathe all through maths every week because I'd played a game of hockey during the previous lesson. Eventually, I gave up hockey, and netball and even dancing, because it just didn't seem worth it.

Compare that to running on a treadmill for half an hour then comfortably moving on to lifting weights as I do now. After my hockey matches, I could barely speak!

Inhalers allow children to do what they want. They may even think they're fit and healthy (I did when I took them), but that's just an illusion. The truth is that they're on a treacherous path, unaware of its perils, and so are their parents. As their need for drugs increase however, the pitfalls become apparent but by then it's usually too late.

The only solution is to find a good Buteyko practitioner as soon as possible. Again, pressurise your doctor for information. Only in this way will it become available to everyone on the NHS.