To ask why is dh's asthma OK in Corfu?

I know I sound like a broken record but he needs to take his preventer (orange) inhaler while he's on holiday too even if he feels he doesn't need it.

He should try it. Benadryl acrivastine, relief tablets are good

Thanks for the explanation; I was a bit concerned because I couldn't work out what inhalers he was having and when, and it's amazing how many asthmatics out there are just doing entirely the wrong thing with their inhalers. (I knew a woman whose entire asthma treatment regime consisted of spraying a steroid inhaler in the vague direction of her open mouth from about eight inches away, any time she felt wheezy. Obviously, it did fuck all, but she thought she was taking her medication.)

My adult DS has this too. His GP told him that as his Asthma, and other allergies, Hay fever, eczema are all getting worse every year in the UK that he may want to consider moving somewhere near the sea as the salt in the air is beneficial. He currently lives very near an airport in the SE where there is a lot of pollution, so could be the salt air in Corfu is helping.

OP, I'm not sure what you mean here so I'm going to play safe and describe everything in excruciating detail.

Preventers are inhalers you take every day to prevent asthma symptoms. Usually steroids like beclometasone or similar. If the preventer is the one he's taking regularly, he needs to see the asthma nurse to check he's using it properly and maybe increase the dose or change the inhaler, because he's still getting wheezy.

The blue one asthmatics usually have is salbutamol, which opens up your airways and calms the asthma, and is what people mean by "reliever" (even if you take it preemptively before something you know will trigger symptoms, like exercise or going in a house with cats in it). He should be taking this every single time he gets wheezy, even a little bit. Untreated asthma symptoms can cause permanent damage and you really don't want that.

Firstly it's the drier air ( it's the damp air that makes my asthma bad)

Also if he's taking antihistamines to stop mosquito bites that may be helping g his asthma ( I have allergy asthma and antihistamines are part of my prescribed meds)

Air quality is very important

My very asthmatic friend lives in Birmingham, she bought a caravan in Wales and feels much better there.
I grew up in Liverpool, brothers very asthmatic - also much better on our annual North Wales holiday
So much less pollution

I know someone who developed asthma after moving from the east to the west coast and it was triggered by a damper climate.

@Tuddlepops how does he know he doesn't need his preventer then? If he takes a preventer inhaler twice daily he shouldn't feel any wheeze or chest tightness. He should still take it in Corfu.

Hold on. He shouldn't stop using his preventer inhaler just because he's temporarily not getting symptoms.

Are you staying somewhere with no upholstered furnishings/carpets/curtains (i.e. fewer house dust mites), no damp (i.e. no fungal spores), different pollen, no cats...?

^^

I never have asthma or eczema or hayfever when I'm abroad.

I find sea air really helps. And conversely being in cities exacerbates it - my asthma was bad in London and at its worst when I lived in Bath which is surrounded by hills so car fumes etc sort of settle in the city

Allergies, my DD has asthma but it only happens when triggered by allergens. If the allergens aren't present in Corfu they will be fine.

The ones I know for my DD are some preservatives in food, some very specific pollens and fungal spores from rotting wood, walking in the woods in Autumn is very likely to cause an attack. Could be almost anything for different people.

Possibly humidity. I have CFS and felt energetic and fantastic in Corfu heat a few years ago but awfully hot and sweaty in similar temperatures in Portugal

I was going to suggest that about the carpets. I noticed my son's asthma just stopped around the time I moved house to a place with hard floor down everywhere

All the things other people have suggested along the lines of different pollens, lack of mould spores, cleanliness of/lack of soft furnishings, maybe different/newer pillows, temperature, humidity, and maybe things like different exercise patterns or less stress — plus one more left-field suggestion:

Is he having more caffeine than usual?

I ask because, a few years ago, I had to give up caffeine for medical reasons (well, I gave up all but my first coffee of the day, which you'll have to pry from my cold dead jittery hands, but as long as I keep it consistent it's medically fine).

A while afterwards, I realised I was getting wheezy every evening, and had to go back on the steroid preventer inhalers I hadn't needed for years.

Initially, I didn't make the connection, but then I discovered that caffeine acts as a bronchodilator, and realised that all these years, I'd been unknowingly medicating my asthma with coffee. It's described as a "mild" bronchodilator, and my GP didn't even know it was a thing, but for me, taken regularly throughout the day, it was startlingly effective. When I drank caffeine all day, I had almost no asthma symptoms. Maybe once every few months, I would react badly to an environmental pollutant and need to take my salbutamol reliever inhaler, but other than that, no symptoms at all.

It's the damp UK climate, causing mould everywhere.

Remember in the old days dr's used to prescribe holidays to warmer climates for patients with lung conditions.

OP do you mean his blue reliever inhaler? If he's using g this more than twice a week at home he should be on a preventer inhaler. Sorry I know this is missing the point of your post!

What sort of climate to you live in at home? We live on the west coast which is a very damp climate. DCs' asthma is always better when we're abroad in the dry, or even in a less damp part of the UK tbh.

My asthmatic mother replaced the carpet in her bedroom - housedust eas her problem. She has a hard floor plus machine washable rugs and she is sure it has helped