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When my post-viral asthma got bad after having kids I was given flovent (orange inhaler, steroid) to take long with the ventolin inhaler, and it didn't work.
Eventually, another doctor gave me the advair script, with instructions to, as soon as I got a cold, start taking it. You use the ventolin, to open up your airways, then the advair, for two weeks. It really worked very well, and seemed to reduce the incidence of colds as well because I was truly better in between, with clear lungs (but that could be environmentl or my kids getting older, or my physiology changing). These days, I can wait until the end of a cold, and take it for a week, tops, and I'm done coughing by then. And I used to cough for months, a beautiful smoker's cough.
Another thing that helped was using a spacer for the ventolin.
I like these as-needed plans a lot better than being on something daily, year-round like my doc was suggesting. Thank you for the info.
And on the not wanting to take the drugs point, by avoiding using something you make the whole thing worse. By really being vigilant in the early days of the cold you can open your airways up, deal with the cold and be done with it, instead of limping along for months taking a puff here and there.
You should be able to hear the pitch and resonance of your cough change when you've tKen someting for your airways.
Very true. I agree. Oh, these get so bad, that I'll take just about anything to make them go away. lol She wants to put me on something daily forever. That part was what I was having concerns with, but I can handle an as-needed situation.
You're welcome. It took a while for me to get something that worked, too, and there's nothing like that panic-tinged frustration of being unable to breathe!
I thought of another thing - I am always honest about not wanting to take drugs, and docs are generally very good about explaining which drugs need to build up in your system, or be taken early, or whatever. You'd be surprised how often they say I don't neeed to take something, they just prescribed it because they thought I wanted it!
You could definitely have that conversation, about taking it daily for a month or three and reassessing.
Advair is a steroid/long acting bronchidilator combo. It's a serious drug, and I think the first time I was given it was at urgent care (I didn't think I was that bad, but apparently the doc disagreed), but I'm able to take it for short periods infrequently and it works perfectly with my physiology, while the steroid was totally ineffectual.
I tend to believe there's a psychological ingredient to asthma as well, how large or small of factor, who knows!
I was in a horrid roommate situation, back in the 80's, and I started having asthma attacks, which sent me to a Doctor. Interesting, that when I removed myself from that situation, and I was living alone, it seemed to disappear!
Good grief! If had the responsibility/stress of raising a family today, I would probably stop breathing altogether!
30 years later, I've entered the realm of COPD, due to 45 years of smoking! It's manageable unless I get the flu, or have to face really cold weather. I now have both asthma inhalors (I keep a half-dozen scattered around the house, just in case) and COPD inhalors (Combivent), and I still smoke but am now down to a half pack or less a day!
Amazingly, if I'm having breathing problems, many times, I can breathe better after having my half-cigarette!
Just be thankful you or I are not in Beijing/China, where 4400 people are dying every day over there due to the unbreatheable filthy air! Not even a mask is going to save you over there!
I've had asthma 60+ years, allergy related. I quit smoking 25 years ago but will comment on the above poster saying he or she can breathe better after a smoke. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. It shrinks blood vessels and surrounding tissue. What's bad for your heart is temporarily a relief for your bronchial tubes. Unfortunately you get a rebound effect in a little while and need to smoke again. A half pack a day smoker with COPD? Good grief. Quit already.
I have tried the daily inhaled stuff like Symbicort. They ALL work, and they ALL make me lose my voice which is unacceptable. I get a shot of Kenalog, a steroid, once every six months and all's good. I still use my Albuterol inhaler as necessary but the Kenalog has been a godsend the last few years. At my age I am not concerned with growing a hump.
Because prednisone is a b*tch of a drug, with a huge list of dangerous side effects including but not limited to:
Elevation of blood glucose (which can be extreme)
Elevation of blood pressure (which can be extreme)
Huge mood swings (which can progress to actual psychosis in some cases, and can necessite putting the affected person in a locked psych ward)
Increased appetite and rapid weight gain
Gastroesophageal reflux
Increased susceptibility to infection
Osteoporosis (if used chronically)
Aseptic necrosis of the femoral head (can happen with ANY length of use, and means you need a hip replacement)
Adrenal insufficiency/Addison's disease (so if you take high doses of prednisone or are on it for more than 4-5 days, you have to be tapered off it slowly to give the adrenal glands time to start functioning again)
It's the nuclear bomb of asthma treatment, and its use can be lifesaving, but you absolutely don't want to be on it any longer than you have to be (but remember the need to taper it! Stopping abruptly can kill you!).
The many very nasty side effects of prednisone are why inhaled steroids were developed: why subject the whole body to steroids when you can deliver the drug only to where it is needed (the lungs)? Because they put the steriod right where it needs to be, inhaled steroids can use a lower dose to get the same effect, with fewer systemic side effects.
But when inhaled steroids simply aren't cutting it, then it's time to roll out the big gun...
Prednisone is a life saver. Old ass drug that is cheap as hell..but it does wonders. I'd be dead from asthma without it.
I tend to believe there's a psychological ingredient to asthma as well, how large or small of factor, who knows!
I was in a horrid roommate situation, back in the 80's, and I started having asthma attacks, which sent me to a Doctor. Interesting, that when I removed myself from that situation, and I was living alone, it seemed to disappear!
Good grief! If had the responsibility/stress of raising a family today, I would probably stop breathing altogether!
30 years later, I've entered the realm of COPD, due to 45 years of smoking! It's manageable unless I get the flu, or have to face really cold weather. I now have both asthma inhalors (I keep a half-dozen scattered around the house, just in case) and COPD inhalors (Combivent), and I still smoke but am now down to a half pack or less a day!
Amazingly, if I'm having breathing problems, many times, I can breathe better after having my half-cigarette!
Just be thankful you or I are not in Beijing/China, where 4400 people are dying every day over there due to the unbreatheable filthy air! Not even a mask is going to save you over there!
I've had asthma 60+ years, allergy related. I quit smoking 25 years ago but will comment on the above poster saying he or she can breathe better after a smoke. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. It shrinks blood vessels and surrounding tissue. What's bad for your heart is temporarily a relief for your bronchial tubes. Unfortunately you get a rebound effect in a little while and need to smoke again. A half pack a day smoker with COPD? Good grief. Quit already.
I have tried the daily inhaled stuff like Symbicort. They ALL work, and they ALL make me lose my voice which is unacceptable. I get a shot of Kenalog, a steroid, once every six months and all's good. I still use my Albuterol inhaler as necessary but the Kenalog has been a godsend the last few years. At my age I am not concerned with growing a hump.
lol Come on now, humps mean you can ask people to guess what day it is. lol!!!
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