Serevent... what is it?!

hi, i was prescribed a serevent inhaler by my doctor yesterday, he explained it was like a ""long acting reliever"". but that was all he said about it, i have read the enclosed leaflet but am still unsure about it. has anyone else been prescribed this drug or has any information about it?

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Why are you unsure about it? It is a good stuff. I am not on Serevent but I have been taking another long-acting beta-agonists (Oxis) for a couple of years now and I am very happy with it. Being on it I have been able to reduce my inhaled steroids dose to minimum (100 once a day) and I am able to tolerate exercise much better then I used to. It is definitely worth a try. Have you got any specific concerns or is it just genereal fear of unknown?

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just a geneeral fear, as the dotor hasnt explained much about my condition and i dont understand that if this asthma is mild or not so its down to guess work on my part,

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Hi

I started taking it at the end of December 2005. As you say it is a long acting reliever. It is a bit like your blue inhaler but takes slightly longer to work and lasts for about 12 hours. You should not use it when you are having an attack. I take it every morning and night. I have found since using it I have relied less on my reliever (blue) inhaler. I hope I have cleared a few things up. Please feel free to pm me if you want to.

Love

Steph

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it is along acting form a ventolin and in many cases it works really well, I used it for years and it was fabulous. I still take a long acting releiver now. If I were you don't too hung up about a extra lable for your asthma, if you have something like brittle asthma then it is useful as emergency services and hospitals know what to expect, oowever for years I was just asthmatic never felt the need add the extra label.

Bex

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its not the label i worry about, its just the fact i dont really know too much about whats happening to me and it scares me, the salmeterol seems to be helping and i hope soon i may step down, i just worry about the future and waether or not i'll be on the medication forever.

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Hi Wendy

I was prescribed this drug about a year ago, following a couple of chest infections which exacerbated my asthma. Suggest you do a google search to find out details. It is Salmeterol, a long acting reliever. It is not supposed to be taken without inhaled steroid (not sure why but it could be dangerous if relied on on its own)

I have been a lot more stable since I was prescribed it, and hopefully you would have the same experience

Fay

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getting used to the drug but finding that its making me shake almost uncontrollably at times, will this ease off or will i need to go back to the doctor and have my meds changed, its not painful, but very annoying and is making me a bit restless and jittery at times.

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thanks everyone for the advice and information you have been able to give me, it is very much appreciated

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Hi Wendy,

The shakes you are experiencing are a quite common side effect. They may well ease off but if they don't and if you are bothred by them then maybe you can be prescribed another type of long acting bronhodilator and check if that is any better for you.

I think part of you worries comes from the fact that long acting bronhodilators are percived as ""step 3"" medications and that may give you an impression that your asthma may be quite serious. It does not help that your doctor does not explain much to you as it should be done. There is an increasing reserch and trend folowing on it to include this type of medication earlier rather then later in oposit to increasing the dose of inhaled steroids. Also the labels mild/moderate etc does not realy mean much.

Asthma is a chronic disease and you may well be taking some sort of medication for it for the rest of your life. On the bright site side effects of medication are now reduced to minimum so taking them is not really such a terrible thing (apart of big guns such as orla steroids unfortuanately). We are constantly moving forward so hopwfuly we will finaly get a cure rather then a way of managening symptoms.

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thanks for that anna :), i think alot of me worries that because i like to keep my body as healthy on as few chemicals and drugs as possible, i worry that i will be on medication for a long time. i worry about addiction, tolerance (drugs stop working) or taking time away. i cannot deny that my asthma has been gradually deteriorating since january, but i wish my doctor would really explain things to me but no-one seems to.

its good that he has decided to step me up early as we could pottentially ""nip it in the bud"" and it is reassuring to be able to see it in that way

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I think most of us share the same worries. It is not possible to get addicted to the medication (asthma medications do not act in the way that would alow for physical addiction to develop) but there is always an issue of dependence on some artificial substance to function normaly. I feel dependant. I need to take my meds every day, remember to have my reliver with my wherever I go, take it in public etc etc. I am sort of used to it know but it still makes me angry sometimes. I also worry that it may get worse. I am well controled at the moment but at the back of my mind there is always a thought that I may go worse (I work as an auxiliary in AE and MAU at the moment so I tend to see many people with scary attacks on regular basis and that does not improve my morale I must admit).

A pity that you are not getting enough support from your GP (saying that, my is not very good as well). Maybe you can get in touch with asthma nurse to get some extra reasurence and advice?

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sadly there is no asthma nurse at my surgery and i would feel like a hypochondriac to ask about a local one. i mean id been getting coughs and chest problems for the last year and couldnt understand it until my mum and mother in law both suggested my childhood asthma, and each time the symptoms had been very much the same, i always felt like the doctor would just ignore me when i went to see him

then i mentioned it and ive been given the meds but the doctor just never seemed to explain anything.

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My surgery doesn't have asthma nurse as well. I am quite lucky in the fact that my occupational health nurse has interest in asthma and runs the clinic in OH department so I can always drop in there with any burning issues.

It is a shame realy that GPs nowadays seem to have just enough time to write up the prescription but not to offer detailed explenation. I hope that you will find this website and forum helpful :).

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i do, the information and the publications supplied here have been great for finding out information and getting advice. as is the forum, everyone is so supportive here

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As I have said in an earlier post I was described serevent at the end of Deceber. However, I also found it made me unbearably shaky. I mentioned this at my last appointment with my consultant and she changed my serevent to oxis on 16th March (another long acting inhaler). I have found that this makes me shake a lot less so prehaps you could mention this to your GP?

I don't know, I am no expert I just no it has worked for me and I am trying to offer some friendly advice.

Love

Steph x

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no worries steph, i am glad of all the advice i can get i will mention this to my GP on my follow up

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Servent is a protector to be taken along side a preventor , I used it for years. but it had to be changed as i had been on it too long and it did not work.

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how long were you on it for?