Allergic To Air

New Developments

Greetings all! For those who celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving!

Interesting developments in regard to my voice and health, and a PSA for those who may find it useful.

After being partially misdiagnosed with asthma for over two decades, my pulmonologist now thinks I may have either Vocal Cord Dysfunction or Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction, both rare and sort of untreatable.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with asthma but gets no relief from medications, here is some useful info. VCD and ILO are commonly mistaken for asthma, which inflames the alveoli in the lung walls, causing issues breathing out, leading to carbon dioxide overload in the lungs.

VCD and ILO have similar symptoms and triggers, but are a general hypersensitivity of the vocal cords and larynx, restricting airflow in rather than out, often with wheezing and coughing fits. Asthma can accompany either of them. It can be triggered by hot, stuffy air, certain food / drink, or anything in the air you breathe (smoke / vapes / cleaners / perfumes / colognes / allergens), and it causes a LOT of suffering, often accompanied by a productive cough (coughing up phlegm), and subject to bronchial infections, requiring antibiotics. It makes those affected sensitive to any kind of chemical smell -- cleaners, air fresheners, perfumes, colognes, even smoke and vape pens. I've even been found sensitive to the smell of wood from certain trees.

The difference is knowing which is causing your attack. I determine this by reversing my peak-flow meter (most doctors supply these to asthma patients) so I can compare my flow rate in to my flow rate out. It's not a perfect system, but it does help in determining any discrepancy between the two. When doing this, it's important to maintain a good seal on the flow meter with your lips, especially when reversing for intake flow, as it was not designed for doing so. I have found, however, that I apparently have attacks of both natures.

What's important to know is that bronchiodilators do nothing for VCD or ILO. Onset and recovery times are vastly different from VCD / ILO, and only asthma responds to bronchiodilators. These are the key tell-tale signs. It is often exercise-induced (sometimes mislabeled exercise-induced asthma). The best thing to do is stop whatever you're doing and let things calm down, or in the case of airborne irritants, get away from the source. In short, remove yourself from whatever brought it on.

I have also found that acid reflux (GERD), otherwise known as heartburn, can cause this. In these cases, I have found that vanilla ice cream can help stop an attack, though it takes a few minutes and I often need 1-2 bowls. Menthol cough drops can also help, but they MUST be menthol, pectin will not work. But they are only a temporary fix if an irritant is involved, because a bronchial infection is likely.

Now for the part that lots of people will not want to hear, but it is necessary, and I hope I don't lose fans saying this, but it is necessary, and quite frankly, losing fans over this will say far more about those who leave than I. These disorders make the world a gas chamber for people who have them, and among other things, smoke, particularly tobacco smoke, and even the chemicals in vaping are a huge trigger for these disorders.

I had to give up a good career in commercial trucking because the copious amounts of diesel exhaust and cigarette smoke around truck stops and shipping / receiving yards was keeping me sick, and though I can still sing, it has impacted my voice.

Those of us who suffer with this disorder are highly sensitive to such irritants. I myself cannot be within 100 feet (perhaps more) of an active smoker, and even the smell of it on someone's clothing can cause an attack. Those who smoke and vape need to understand that it simply isn’t appropriate to do so around others.

It has never been, but the vast majority of society let this pass simply because it doesn't affect them, envoking a sense of entitlement amongst those who partake. And for many people with asthma, VCD or ILO, this can mean death.

Unfortunately, that is speaking for others for whom it may cause serious problems, and we can't tell you when this is a problem, because we have to leave immediately. This is a major reason being in public is no longer safe for me. In fact, I cannot safely breathe air over 68F without an attack and require a closed, controlled, air-conditioned environment, even in winter, going through 4-6 tubs of vanila ice cream and 100-200 menthol cough drops weekly just to keep my suffering to a minimum.

So, please, if you smoke or vape, please be responsible and considerate, and do so away from others and common areas where other people have to walk by or near entrances or exits. It's simply not cool and not fair to others with health problems to do so where they have to walk by / through or have to breathe it in. That includes drive-through lines, because sooner or later we have to open our windows.

In addition, certain irritants in the smoke / vape also hang on the air, unseen, for several minutes after the smoke is gone, creating a veritable "booby trap" for those of us with these disorders. We cannot "just hold our breath", nor should we have to. I myself cannot do so for more than a few seconds. So please, show some consideration for others. It won't kill you to move a reasonable distance out of the line of fire. But there are people you can inadvertently kill if you don’t.

I hope this explains this sufficiently, and that at least some of you find it useful in helping yourself or others.

Apologies to those who may have gotten private emails of this two or three times... It's hard to know what you're doing when someone who thinks they're smarter than they really are goes changing things.

"So, what's been going on?" you may be wondering... Here is your answer.

Three weeks ago, I tested positive for COVID, strain unknown. No sooner do I think it's okay to get back into the swing of things, I was taken down hard by extreme gout in one knee this weekend.

I'm talking bad enough that my left knee felt like a knife was stuck in it whether I moved or sat still. The slightest movement made it worse, and the more I moved the worse it got. I spent most of that day on my back, wriggling along the carpet to a drawer 30 feet away that might contain ibuprofen.

I'm no stranger to injury or pain. But while gout can be treated and managed, I've never been in pain like I was that day, nor do I ever want to be again.

ER doctors removed 30ml of fluid from my knee, and I was told that testing indicated gout, and no pun intended, gout is a very fluid situation. As quick and strong as this pain came on and crippled me, there is a possibility the source of fluid in my knee may very well be forming more, and at this stage I can only do what I can do.

So, for the moment, it's anyone's guess as to if or when this project will resume... *sigh*

Just a quick update to let those who are interested know what is going on.

Respiratory health issues aforementioned in the previous newsletter continue to be problematic, and I am currently in new treatment for them and waiting to see the results of that treatment. For newcomers who want info on this project, see the May 2021 Newsletter, it has a great deal of info on the beginnings and history of this project.

Another complication is that there are also strong indications of having Autism Spectrum Disorder, for which I am being tested, and possibly Sensory Processing Disorder. ASD can be a double-edged sword, allowing creativity to thrive while otherwise making life a train wreck in many ways. A condition of regression is linked, which in layman's terms means that various signs and traits of ASD can get worse with age, and I unfortunately show signs of this.

However, I have not given up and have been exploring new material on the guitar when possible, with new ideas in a nebulous stage, more or less. I appreciate the support I have found here, and the patience of those who are waiting to see if I can turn out anything new.

Peace, and I hope to maintain working on and releasing new material. A belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to all.

May 14, 2021

First and foremost, I would like to thank all who have taken interest in my music. Sixteen years after the first track was recorded, it's exhilarating to know that some folks enjoy it, even if only 13-15% of the total plays say they like it. You folks are AWESOME! You ROCK! I can't thank you enough for listening!

The interesting thing about this newfound support on N1M of late, is that I didn't even know N1M existed. Around 2010, I signed up for BandPage, and was under the strong impression it was long gone. Evidently N1M is a phoenix that rose from the ashes of BandPage.

Unfortunately, the BandPage tracks did not transfer to N1M, explaining the lack of music here for so long. Some folks have expressed interest in buying my music. I will be exploring options to see what I can do to make that happen. Bear in mind, I can only post one newsletter a month, so any updates will be posted in the most current newsletter.

Allergic To Air is a one-person band – me. Yes, these tracks were written, arranged, played, recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by one person, using only a Digitech RP-250 effects processor, a cheap $300 keyboard, a StudioTechnica studio-quality condenser microphone, a TASCAM 2488 24-track digital recorder / mixer, and two electric guitars (an Ibanez and a Kramer Striker).

I've dabbled in music and writing song lyrics, parodies and fiction since my teens, nearly thirty years. Apologies in advance for the long read, but 20-30 years isn't compressed into a few paragraphs easily. Now for some history, a few crucial details, and an interesting backstory – one corroborating John Lennon's statement of “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”

I grew up in Central Virginia in the United States, exposed to many kinds of music – popular songs from as far back as the 1940s, as well as southern rock, blues, hard rock / heavy metal, hip-hop, pop, top 40, etc. Obviously, my main influences are hard rock and rap. I can't really tie my sound to any particular artists, but feel the music I listened to most in my teens and twenties heavily influenced it. Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Sebastian Bach-era Skid Row, Audioslave, Megadeth, Pearl Jam, Oleander, and many other hard rock / heavy metal bands of those eras, as well as many hip-hop artists of these eras. One might even suggest Linkin Park as an influence.

Hearing Guns N' Roses in 1988 awoke something in me. I began singing around 1992, and dabbled with a basic electric guitar in high school, but naysayers clowned my unorthodox playing technique, hampering efforts at showing what I could do. But connections made after a drunken 1999 karaoke encounter convinced me to take my talents more seriously. I was a regular at Charlottesville area karaoke shows, three to five nights a week, singing most any song I knew, from Dion and The Belmonts to Alice In Chains. Between 2000 and 2003, I began writing song lyrics and digging more into sharpening my guitar playing.

Fronting for a local band fizzled fast – the others couldn't stay coherent long enough to do anything. My first recording attempt across 2003 / 2004 was sabotaged by a con man, who claimed to be able to use their talents to give my project a shot in the arm, but ultimately ripped me off, taking the money I paid him to help compose original music and recording my vocals over ripped-off snippets of copyrighted music.

Around 2006, my late friend Steve Miller, an area karaoke host, offered help recording my demo, in a small studio built in his shed. Steve was largely responsible for my sound, as he taught me a LOT about mixdown and mastering. He also made valiant efforts in trying to get my talent exposure by helping to create MP3+G versions of The Color Of Time, Beautiful Day, and Slave To Society for inclusion in his library, allowing for live performances, karaoke-style.

The three tracks here are from twenty or so recorded there from 2005-2011, using the working title “The Color Of Time”, anticipating an indie release effort that never went beyond 150 or so promo copies. I also uploaded lyrics videos for several songs to my YouTube channel, AllergicToAirMusic – here's the link.

(expired link)

Around 2009, another late friend, Andrew Rich, mentioned a possible connection he had in the United Kingdom, to which I sent five tracks. They requested more, and I sent five more, but heard nothing further. Other than YouTube and the aforementioned promo copies, these tracks were more or less unreleased until uploaded here, and you'll notice even YouTube and MySpace (if it still exists) have ten or less of the twenty or so recorded.

Now, here is where John Lennon's statement holds true. Since the late 1990s, severe allergies and severe asthma have plagued my life. There are even indications it is COPD. Around 2002, bronchial infections progressively increased in frequency and severity. One such infection in 2003 lasted 2-3 months, taking my singing voice for six months. Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess, because in this time, I figured out I could rap, paving the way for Anomaly and The Color Of Time's last two verses.

During treatment of that infection, my doctor said cigarette smoke was likely the cause of this latest infection. Having been told I was allergic to dust, ragweed and pollen already, I joked, “Great, I'm allergic to air.” And THAT, is how I came to use Allergic To Air as an artist name. Sadly, folks, it's NOT a joke – I REALLY AM allergic to air. Hence, the chances of ever really playing live are slim to none.

In 2013, another bronchial infection sabotaged an audition for The Voice in NYC, and finances forced me to at least temporarily shelve the project in search of greener pastures. I drove 18-wheelers from 2013 until 2017, when the bronchial infections got too frequent and too severe to keep at bay. In 2019, I discovered an undisclosed 40-year-old diagnosis of asthma and asthmatic bronchitis, which, accompanied by years of continuous heavy secondhand tobacco smoke exposure, explains everything.

So, now that I've brought everyone up to date on the history and behind-the-scenes, most might wonder, “what now?” Very good question.

What I can tell you is that I have by no means given up on music, though I was definitely forced to put it on the back burner, and my equipment has largely been in storage since at least 2014. I recently discovered most of it had been exposed to heavy amounts of moisture and mold. But amazingly, most, if not all of it seems none the worse for wear after cleaning and maintenance, and I actually just picked up my guitars from a local shop that took them completely apart for inspection, repair, cleaning and rejuvenation. Just last night, I played for about thirty minutes, the first time since 2016. Before that, 2011.

While I can't promise anything earth-shattering is coming, I am slowly getting back into the groove playing, and I'll be trying to make serious effort to work on new music, as I've had many inspirations for new tunes in my 10-year hiatus, some of which I experimented with while on the road.

It may or may not be more than studio instrumentals, however. The lung capacity for serious singing or rapping is questionable at this point, and will likely require multiple recording takes, as my lung function is approximately 60-70% of normal with treatment, 35-45% without.

That is all I can say for now, folks. I even have some old tracks from the old studio that were never used or released, so hopefully, there is more to come. I can also be reached directly by email at < (expired link) >.