to hear that… :)

while i’ve never technically been an asthmatic, i suffered from severe bronchial spasms (same symptoms—wheezing, unable to breathe) for four years in high school thanks to an extreme bout with pneumonia at the beginning of freshman year. by the time i graduated, i was taking allergy medicine and using an inhaler every day (sometimes twice a day). my mom is really into alternative/holistic medicine stuff, and one of her friends practices quigong and taught me breathing exercises to combat the bronchial spasms (he said he uses the same exercises when dealing with asthma). i met with him once a week and did about six sessions with him, and it wasn’t too cheap (about $100 a session), but it taught me breathing exercises that i still use today, two years later. i don’t even own an inhaler anymore!
so, do with it what you wish, but i just wanted to let you know of another option besides the traditional route.