I had my six monthly checkup with my asthma nurse three weeks ago. I was stunned to hear that Becloforte (and Becotide) are being discontinued although I know this is old news here! My asthma is usually pretty well controlled with quite high doses of Beclomethasone, and I have had no problems in the last six months.
However I have had problems in the past when I have been tried on new inhalers, especially with loss of voice/hoarseness/sore throat and a feeling like my tonsils are really swollen. It is REALLY unpleasant.
I was initially switched to Q-var (two puffs twice a day) and was given a follow up appointment for two weeks to see how I was doing. Within three days of starting, my tonsils were swollen, my voice is hoarse and it hurts to speak. I take the Q-var through a spacer to try and prevent the hoarseness, but to no avail. The final straw was the massive migraine the day before I saw the nurse, and she reckoned it was likely to have been triggered by the Q-var as I had the same problem with Seretide last year.
So, the nurse is now trying me on Symbicort (three puffs twice a day) and I am feeling even worse than I was on Q-var, my voice is practically non-existant, I have real pain in my tonsils and I'm starting to get headaches again. Added to this, it makes me shake really badly and feel sick for about three hours after I take it.
I rinse my mouth and gargle after taking my inhalers as suggested.
Does anyone have any suggestions? What could I be switched on to next? I hate losing my voice as I do a job where I have to talk on the phone a lot, and I also sing in a choir, and I can do neither at the moment. HELP!
Edited to add: sorry, I forgot to put in my post above that I was also on a Serevent inhaler (one of the round ones) with my Becloforte. Sorry for the confusion about why the nurse put me on a combined inhaler.