Asthma Triggers, Safer Flares, And Natural Relief

Breathing trouble changes the whole mood of a home—especially when a child wakes at midnight tight-chested and scared. We wanted a plan that feels calm, clear, and practical, so we walk through how to read asthma patterns and match them to targeted homeopathic remedies without sidelining common-sense medical care. You’ll hear how triggers like colds, nighttime anxiety, damp mornings, mold, or exercise point to different choices, plus what improvement really looks like in the moment.

We dig into a focused remedy toolkit: Spongia for dry, barking coughs; Antimonium tart for rattly chests that can’t move mucus; Arsenicum for midnight fear and suffocation feelings; Ipecac for wheeze with nausea; Nat sulph for damp-weather and morning tightness; Blatta orientalis for dust and mold links; Bryonia for painful, stillness-seeking breathing; and Phosphorus for sensitive, easily overwhelmed lungs. We also share practical dosing guidance—start low and slow, reassess if nothing shifts, and use the rescue inhaler when needed. If a remedy consistently helps a known trigger, we discuss when prophylaxis makes sense and when to wait.

Because asthma isn’t just lungs—it’s nerves, sleep, and emotion—we add supportive tools that steady the whole system. Magnesium to relax bronchial muscles, avoiding cold dairy during colds, steam to move congestion, time outdoors for vitamin D and regulation, and playful breathwork like bubbles, pinwheels, and lion’s breath to ease panic and lengthen exhalations. We close with clear red flags for urgent care and a simple way to build your own “flare card” so the right remedy is at your fingertips. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s up at night with a wheezer, and leave a review with the trigger you want help mapping—we’ll build future guides around your questions.

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Transcript

Setting The Stage: Asthma At Home

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Welcome back to Homeopathy at Home with Melissa. Hey Melissa.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Hey Brie. Happy to talk tonight about asthma.

Defining Asthma And Common Triggers

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yeah, this is a great one. I love we're kind of doing, I guess not a series, but a bunch of these covering lots of different chronic and acute stuff. So if you've been listening lately, we're hopefully you're getting a lot of useful, helpful information, at least a starting place. And tonight we get to talk about asthma, something that affects, I mean, a lot of families in a lot of different ages. So I think a lot of times it's more common in childhood. Um and that could sometimes be viral induced. So they may wheeze when they get sick or struggle to breathe. It may be exercise activity induced. So maybe nighttime tightness can sometimes be worse than during the day. Sometimes it can be even more mild where you're just not able to get a big breath. I've even had some friends or clients where it's just a really dry cough in their young child all the time that then maybe exacerbates or is exacerbated with other things. But it's one of those diagnoses I think that can feel really overwhelming or to know what to do. And medications can help absolutely, especially in those acute situations. But we know they do come with side effects. And then most people do still feel like they're living managing the symptoms and not seeing, like not getting better. You're just waiting for the next time that there's that struggle. And asthma is an area where, again, homeopathy shines. So when you're considering an asthma picture for someone, you are looking at their asthma pattern triggers, sensations. Um, and maybe they'll be similar, but not exactly the same for everyone. So today we're going to cover the different types of asthma, whether they're it's nighttime exertion-induced or illness-triggered asthma, some remedies that can help, how to handle acute episodes safely, long-term support, and then um when it's time for more chronic care.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

So what is asthma? Let's define our terms.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Okay. So asthma is very on a very basic level, inflammation and constriction in the airways. Airways get tight and narrow. Um, mucus, if mucus is involved, can make everything feel even more blocked. And so symptoms often include wheezing, tightness in the chest, um, coughing, like maybe I mentioned some of these before, struggle to exhale fully, fatigue from poor oxygenation, usually accompanied by anxiety from not being able to breathe. And those episodes, again, may be triggered by illness, allergens, exercise, cold air, a lot of different things. Um, for kids, it does often show up during or after a viral illness. And at the same time, there are patterns we can look for and tools we can use to predict what's to come and to have remedies on hand.

Core Remedies For Acute Asthma

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah. So let's talk about some of the more common, the most common remedies for asthma. I've had a lot of success in helping families with asthma. Um children and adults. I've had adults come to me that have had asthma all their life, and we've had great success. So um these remedies are focused on acute episodes and trying to um eliminate the issues during a flare, right? So we're we're really trying to focus on um homeopathy can replace your rescue inhaler. But in the beginning, you're oh always be safe. I think that's that's just what I need to say. Always be safe. Have your rescue inhaler with you. If you need to use it, use it. But I have many times seen a person be able to start to transition and be able to use homeopathy instead of their rescue inhaler, yeah. And do great. I mean, I've seen it many, many, many times. So I don't say that um lightly at all. So homeopathy can work right alongside your, you know, your allopathic care if you need, you know, if you're already on um medicines or whatever, then we can we can help you. Homeopathy can help you get off of those medicines in a safe way with under the care of your doctor. So number one is spongia toaster. I really love this one. It's for the dry asthma with a barking saw-like cough. So think about dry wheezing, hollow cough. Feels like breathing through a sponge. Better with warm drinks, the child might sit up to breathe or the person. Um, this attack, asthma attack, often come follows a cold. And this is a classic remedy for the dry, tight airways. Number two is antimonium tart, and this is for the weak rattling breathing. So think about lots of mucus, but they can't cough it up. They're just not strong enough. They will they'll they might say, if I could just cough hard enough, I could get this mucus up and then I could clear it. Um, the chest might sound rattly, the the person might be very tired, they want to be left alone. Breathing feels labored, and they can be pale, sweaty, or dozing between breaths. This is great for children with sluggish respiration during respiratory illness. And again, be safe, go to the hospital if you need to, use the inhaler if you need to, use the medicine. Um, and you use discernment in your family and your yourself and your children, make good choices. So Arsenicum album is the third one, and this is great for the anxiety with asthma and restlessness. So, think about wheezing with anxiety, worse from 12 to 2 a.m. Fear of suffocation, better for sitting up and leaning forward. They might drink little sips of water, they might feel weak and exhausted. And um, this is a really important nighttime asthma remedy. Ipecac is great for the asthma with nausea. So think about wheezing with nausea or vomiting, continuous coughing, pale face, the chest feels full of mucus, and there might there's no relief from coughing. So, this is often great for people with asthma during a cold. And then Nat Sulf is a cell salt. This is the asthma from damp weather or morning asthma attack. So think about worse in damp basements or on rainy days, tight chest on waking, asthma after a head injury, greenish mucus, and this is one of your strongest chronic asthma supports. And then one of my newer favorites is blata, blata orientalis. This is the severe asthma with allergy connection. So think about dust triggers, mold triggers, wheezing with lots of mucus. The person might feel better in open air, great for chronic management. And this remedy is used often in India for regular asthma care. I really love this remedy. Number seven is bryonia. Uh oh, most of us know bryonia. This is the dry, painful breathing. Remember, bryonia is aka dry onia. So you think of the dry and painful um breathing. So this is pain when breathing deeply. The person says they don't want to move. There's dryness everywhere, and they're better for pressure and stillness. This is great for the asthma after a respiratory illness or a chest cold. And then number eight is phosphorus. And this is the emotional sensitive asthma. So think about burning chest sensations, wheezing from talking or laughing, better with cold drinks, fear during attacks, asthma from overwhelm. This remedy also supports recovery when asthma is tied to grief or emotional sensitivity. So, some asthma triggers and matching remedies. I'm going to go through these just quickly. So here's a simple cheat sheet. If you um can pause this and make your cheat sheet, then you'll have it. You can stick it in your remedy um box or uh, you know, keep it wherever you can find it quickly. So asthma from a cold is spongia or antimonium tart. Asthma at night might be arsenicum, asthma in damp weather might be not soft, asthma with nausea might be Ipicac. Asthma with allergy triggers might be blata, asthma with dryness or pain might be bryonia, and asthma from emotions might be phosphorus. So print this out, stick it with your remedy kit. You'll notice that I said might be because these aren't hard and fast rules. There are lots of other remedies that might actually fit. So, but these are this is a great place to start. So, Brie, what are what's some other things that people can do for asthma?

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Okay, before I get into that, I have a couple questions. That's okay. Um, what kind of potency and frequency would you suggest for some of these? Because several could um could be acute or chronic, right? Are asthma remedies ones you would take daily, every other day, once a week, and then where what kind of potency choice?

Safe Use With Inhalers And Care

SPEAKER_01 11:37

So this episode is not addressing chronic asthma, even though some of these remedies can be used for chronic, but in the acute instance, so that's what I'm really speaking to right now. If you have um, if you have acute attacks, an attack. Phosphorus, I really love 230 or 200. Um, start low and slow when you don't know. Bryonia, I love 200. I don't have a great deal of success with 30, but if you have good success with 30, then use it. Blatta, I like 6C. Um Nat Solf, I like 6X or um 12x, 63C, 6C, something low like that. Epicac 30 or 200. Arsenicum album, I just really love 200, but 30 is also good. So 30 or 200 for arsenicum. Antimonium tart, 30 or 200, also six C's. Antimonium can work really well in a six C also. And spongia toaster, same 630 or 200. And you know, when we give um potencies, they really are very loose guidelines. You always start low and slow when you don't know. And I do like to give my favorites and what I've seen good success with, but everybody's different. So if you don't respond well to a higher or a lower potency, then you change it up.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Okay, thank you. And then how would you suggest, or I mean, I maybe suggest isn't the right word, when somebody's having an attack, or let's say at what point should they start? You always know maybe activity is coming or a cold. Would you do these prophylactically? And then part B of that question is when they start to have an attack, what does improvement look like? What's a realistic improvement? Are we really looking for within five minutes we're seeing change or an hour? What has been your experience with that?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Really good question. So the first part A was oh, when to start? No, so sometimes I do I only do prophylactically when I've been working with a client for a while. We know that this remedy always shuts it down. We know that every time this person um plays this basketball sport, yeah, then they're they're always then so that's after experience with that person. Yeah, okay. Experience with that remedy, and that remedy always, and I really don't like to say shut it down, I shouldn't say that because that's not what we're trying to do. We're not trying to shut it down. We're we're stimulating the body's immune system to cause the body to bring balance and not go to that length, yeah. The lungs calm down, the the mucus calms down, everything comes into balance so that you're not running to the inhaler or the hospital. And um, so only prophylactically when I've got experience with that remedy in that person. Outside of that, as soon as you start to feel symptoms, so um, you know, in the beginning, when a you know, when a person is brand new to asthma symptoms, you don't really know. But a lot of people are coming to homeopathy from they've been dealing with this asthma. Yeah, and so they know what it feels like. You know when it starts, as soon as it starts, start the remedy.

Potency And Dosing Guidelines

SPEAKER_00 14:59

And then little kids, okay, so then when you dose, what's your and I it's I'm not asking because it's not gonna be the same for every person. So what I'm asking here, if you guys are listening, this is not going to look exactly the same for you. But I know sometimes, like if it's a little kid as a mom, I would want to know what am I what am I looking for? Um, because like acutes we've talked about, sometimes like with a cough, it sounds we're like things will shift, but it may be to us who don't know, like what does that look like? And what do you typically see? I guess do you have a pattern that you see an improvement?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Um, sometimes I do see the the person get worse, start coughing a lot, and then it calms down. Most of the time I see it just calm down. Okay. Or or there's no change at all. So it's very, it is kind of rare that somebody gets worse before, but but those families that I work with where the the child gets worse, it's scary the first time or the first couple of times, but then the mom's like, oh, well, this is what always happens, and they always calm down and they're ready with their inhaler, they're ready to take action with whatever medical, but um then, but usually it's either nothing at all, the child just stays the same, or everything just calms down and the child's able to go to sleep, or they're able to just you know, the child just starts playing and they're like, Oh, you know, you you watch the person just get better and it calm down.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, okay. And this is not a scenario like with steroids on the skin condition. You can tolerate a certain level of aggravation there with breathing. Obviously, we don't mess around with that. And I don't know if you see this, but I've had I don't see the same setback in um asthmatic clients with the use of an inhaler as I do with a steroid topically. And I don't, that is purely anecdotal. I don't have a ton of experience there, but I still see them improve well. Yeah. You know, like with skin, you do a steroid and it can blow up after. Do you ever see that with this breathing, or does it is do they work well? Does allopathic work well alongside remedies?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

I have, I think I've seen the, and this is really hard for me to say because I'm not there, so I'm definitely not judging anybody. Yeah. But my sense, my feeling has been there have been a couple of families that I've felt like maybe rushed too fast. Or um no, that's not it. Here's what I'm I'm remembering now. The family wanted to sleep that night. So they were like, Well, you're getting your inhaler because and I'm not and I again I'm not judging that. Right. But I've but you know, there've been many times where I'm like, well, how did you try the remedy first? Let's even give it prophylactically. So that those are the cases, and there's not many of them, but the couple that I've uh families that I've seen that do that, um their kids aren't really getting better. And I think because they're over you, I think overusing or using too quickly, and again, I'm not there, so I can't say yeah, it's just okay. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

So, some other supportive things you can try. And this is not replacing medical care, these are just extra things that you might be able to try. Um, magnesium seems to help with so many things, but can relax those bronchial muscles. So, I mean, just like any other muscles, magnesium is great for relaxing your muscles. Um, avoid cold dairy products when they're sick, or if you know that's their typical outcome that can thicken mucus. So, an easy thing to stay away from for that time. Um, when there is mucus, steam inhalation can be helpful. And vitamin D, um, there is there are some links to vitamin D deficiency in asthmatic people, which is a whole other can of worms, man. You I've been reading some about vitamin D, like how many people are deficient in vitamin D, but that's a whole other thing. Um, so with vitamin D, be outside regularly, get fresh air, but also help fund capacity and nervous system regulation and stability, like our grounding episode talked about. Being outside, barefoot, enjoy the fresh air in the earth. Um, and then, of course, stuff like breathing techniques to help with anxiety and calm any added stress on the lungs that are maybe outside of the illness. Um, you could have them blow bubbles. I'm not sure how to, you could probably Google all of these techniques if you need to, if you want to know how to do them. But feather breathing, pinwheel breathing, lion's breath, those are terms you can look up and see how to do that. Those can help regulate the panic that can come along with that to just calm a person. And rightly so, right? Not being able to breathe is terrifying.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah. And I would say take these terms to your doctor and ask them, are these safe for me or my child to do? And can you explain them to me? Or yes, um, Google it or chat GPT it.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Um, those can also be good for other things when there's anxiety involved. I mean, breathing alone. We've been doing that in your anxiety course. Breath work, oh my word, can calm down your and it's not just a mental thing, it's your body calming and bringing regulation to your nervous system. So don't underestimate that, how um helpful those can be. Um, seek help, get, I mean, whatever level of care that looks like for you, if you're finding that they need their rescue inhaler more often, um, if they're struggling to speak a full sentence, if any lips and nails, if there's any bluish lack of oxygen, obvious signs of low oxygen anywhere, um, physical, like visible labored breathing, if you suspect pneumonia, if there's just a buildup of fluid in the lungs. Homeopathy helps, but practice wisely. Use Wisdom and intuition here. We aren't proving anything to anyone. Yeah. And you can more information can be a tool.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, that's right. So asthma can be, can feel really scary because, like we've already said many times, breathing, you know, issues is not something to mess around with. But asthma does not have to control your life. I've seen it too many times with homeopathy, nervous system support, and some knowledge, you can help the body breathe easier. And so if you want help navigating asthma deeper, I'd love to support you. I have two different ways that I could support you. One is inside the inner healing circle, and that is um join.melissacrinshaw.com. Or you can thank you. Or you can um go to melissacrinshaw.com and schedule um a free discovery call so I can help you one on one. So I can do a consultation, or you can come join and learn how to use homeopathy. So healing is absolutely possible. Thank you for being here with us tonight. We'll look forward to seeing you next time.