Three years ago Sandra was desperate to find a way of relieving her serious asthma, and bronchiectasis, a condition that causes swelling in the bronchial tubes inside the lungs. She also wanted to cut down on the large amounts of steroid medication that had been necessary for years to keep her condition stable. She tried various alternative health remedies, but none helped her enough.
"I was looking for anything that would make some difference", she says of that time. "I had no energy - even hanging out the washing was exhausting and lifting up my arms to do my hair was an effort". She felt worn out walking up steps, and life itself seemed like hard work.
Sandra also had trouble sleeping at night, and was unable to relax with her heart racing. She was constantly thirsty, and her limbs were often numb - feelings that she believes were side-effects from the heavy doses of medication. She was unhappy and didn't feel 'herself'.
But these are now problems of the past. After seeing a newspaper advertisement, she attended a Buteyko course and learned the control techniques that changed her whole approach to the asthma that had previously dominated her life.
"Within a week of learning the Buteyko method, my energy levels increased and I just felt so much better", she says. She followed the programme conscientiously and soon found her asthma symptoms were disappearing. She was able to tackle the daily chores with new vitality, and friends and family commented on the change in her health. Soon Sandra was able to cut down on her medication and now controls her asthma with a minimum amount, with her specialist's approval.
"Vacuuming, gardening, walking - I can do it all now as a normal part of daily living without having aching muscles," she comments. "My hayfever has greatly improved and I feel so much more positive. The changes came after the Buteyko course; it seems hard to believe that something so simple could make such a difference to me. Once the theory behind the exercises were explained to me, it really made sense. I continue to practice the exercises because they work."
"This is a common response to the Buteyko method," comments Russell Stark, tutor for Buteyko NZ Ltd. "We are helping asthmatics firstly by reducing their symptoms, and then by enabling them to take control of their own condition, they find they need less medication. Side effects from cortico-steroids are well documented; it is only fairly recently that researchers are also coming to understand the serious effects of the over-use of relievers, such as Ventolin."
Russell Stark stresses that Buteyko courses do not encourage asthmatics to throw away their drugs, but rather to use them only when they are needed.
Developed by a Russian doctor, Professor Konstantin Buteyko, the method originated from orthodox medical science, and is taught in many former Soviet hospitals as a first defence against asthma and other respiratory problems. Russell Stark aims for the same approach to eventually be taken up in New Zealand.
"More doctors and specialists here are encouraging their asthmatic patients to try it, and we are working towards medical trials that will prove to the Health Department they need to seriously consider Buteyko as a complimentary approach to the management of asthma", he says.
For Sandra and hundreds of other asthmatics in New Zealand who have learned the method, they have all the proof they need - their dramatic improvement in health.
