Asthma and Incense

What type of asthma do you have? Is it phlegm? Constriction in your breathing? Coughing? Wheezing? Allergy based? What are the typical things that onset it? Are you effected by exercise? Taking any medicines? Ever hyperventilated? What your problem is determines what can be recommended, as there are different types of asthma. Also what is it that incense does to you? Could you possibly be making things worse by not breathing when it goes by?

We actually have a priest in the city who has trouble with incense. He uses very little. Perhaps you could talk to the priest about the amount and type of incense. We\'ve found out that the priest can tolerate certain types of incense but not others.

My priest is actually allergic to the Somalian frankincense. We started using Indian frankincense, and he does pretty well with that.

I also have asthma as well as my son and two of my daughters. Fortunately none of have problems with incense.

When I was a kid sometimes I would have to stand at the back of the church (or just right outside the church doors looking in) during 1 or 2 parts of the service. I\'d also get some Kleenex and breathe into those when there was a lot of incense around. But, like other people have mentioned, I think there were probably certain types of incense that bothered me more than others.

I have asthma that is usually triggered by allergies( pollen particularly). i havent personally tried this, but maybe you could try tying a \'kerchief over your mouth during the part of the service where there is incense involved. Granted you\'d look like a bank robber or a villian from a cheap western, but atleast you could stay in the church during the service. : )

I\'ve considered just wearing a mask, and some of the doctors at the hospital have offered to \\"borrow\\" some of the super-secure masks they use with TB patients. I have no problem wearing a mask at work to protect others if I\'ve got a cold, but church isn\'t a hospital and I\'d be horribly self-conscious!

I\'m not sure if a TB mask would be much help - the TB mask is good for particle sizes of 1-5 microns, whereas the particle size of smoke can be as small as 0.01 micron. You might adversely restrict your air intake without benefit, if indeed it is the smoke that is causing the irritation. The types of masks which filter smaller particles have cartridges. They are uncomfortable and cumbersome and I don\'t think asthma sufferers should wear them. (I have a mask at work for the yuckky chemicals we sometimes use.) There is one kind of incense that absolutely derails the choir. Fr Joseph has stopped using it, I think... I hope. Perhaps you could carry a small folding paper fan and use it discretely to help dissipate the incense when it passes by your area.

A friend of mine has told me that this is the only reason she has a headscarf--so that she can put a corner of it over her mouth and nose when the incense comes by when her allergies/asthma kicks in. She says it works for her.

Can someone explain this to me...Is there some reason the priest has to use LOTS of incesnse? Can\'t they just put a little in? I think that incense has disinfectant properties, which was probably a good thing \\"in the old days.\\" I\'m sensitive to incense too, but not asthmatic. It definitely seems related to the type that is used in terms with my symptoms.

The amount of smoke during censing depends on various factors, including the type of incense, the priest\'s censing technique, and, of course, how much he puts in the censer. The use of incense is a very ancient custom, and has Biblical authority, OT and NT. At Vespers, the psalm verses sung at \\"Lord, I have called\\" include \\"Let my prayer be directed like incense before You; the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. Hear me, O Lord.\\" It\'s not used just to make the church smell nice.

Dear All, In case anyone is wondering, my doctor\'s response was that I should forget about trying to figure out which kinds of incense trigger allergic reactions and just use the rescue inhaler before I attend any church service. I do use a fan during the Paraklesis services in August. I waited many years to be one of the ladies who is old enough to bring a fan to that service! Thank you all for your suggestions!

I\'m going to ask for prayers here rather than elsewhere because only people who have asthma or have family members with asthma will know what I\'m talking about. My doctor has had to add a course of prednisone to my high-dose inhaled corticosteroids. All corticosteroids make me a little crazy and Prednisone makes me unbearable! Please pray for me and especially for those who have to be around me! On the other hand, I\'m breathing well!

Oddly I find my breathing to be easier when incense is in the air in higher amounts. It\'s also very relaxing to me. Though otherwise my asthma has been worsening as I\'ve been getting older. There are preventative inhalers that aren\'t steroid based. I was on corticosteroids here and there and they always made me really sick. I\'ve had good experiences with both Intal and Advair inhalers for reducing asthma symptoms without feeling sick from the steroids.

I use an Albuterol inhaler in addition to the corticosteroids. Incense was never a big issue for me, but it recently became a huge trigger. I take two puffs of Albuterol 30-45 minutes before I go to church and that helps. I will be through this course of Prednisone at the end of the week and I hope to taper off the Provent at the end of September, although my doctor isn\'t sure that\'s going to succeed. I\'m 63 years old and it hasn\'t killed me yet, but it certainly is a nuisance! One blessing is that I work in a hospital and my bosses are all doctors who understand what\'s going on. Thanks for posting.