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Irishboy profile image
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Hi guys

I was wondering has anybody on here taken uniphyllin i have just been put on it today by my consultant the dosage is 200mg twice a day? has anyone found it helpful? im going through a rough time with my asthma at the min have also started symbicort 400/12 and home nebs as needed.when i went to see the cons this morning my chest was clear as a bell but was up alnight with nebs,,sods law i suppose :)

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Irishboy
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yaf_user681_30355 profile image
yaf_user681_30355

Hi Irishboy,

Yes, I am on it, the same dose as you and found an instant improvement. I hope it works for you too. I am also on Symbicort 400/12 :-)

Irishboy profile image
Irishboy

Thanks for the reply JF

Did u get any bad side effects?

Uniphyline has the only thing that has made a significant difference to my asthma. Side effects tremour and palpitation when on too high a dose as you should have your level checked after about 5 days to make sure in the therapeutic dose.

Irishboy profile image
Irishboy

Hi bird

I have to go to my gp iin 5 days to get my bloods checked.

What dose are u on? Is ur asthma severe? I'm haveing a pretty rough time with my chest!

Is uniphylline for severe asthmatics only?

yaf_user681_30355 profile image
yaf_user681_30355

I didn't find I had side effects when I started the uniphyllin but do get the increased heart rate and shakes from all of my meds together.

Im on 300mg of Uniphylline. I am classed as Brittle and diffcult (Im hospitalized with is frequently)

Unphyllin I always thought was more for consultants to start you on as its an older drug, I do know some GP's do give it. Its classed as a stage 4 add on therapy along with singlair but most go for singuair

I'm on uniphylline, its made a huge difference to me! I take 400mg daily and currently waiting to see if I am in the therapeutic range - If not, the dose will be increased. I have been on it for a couple of weeks - was during an admission it was decided I should try it.

I am a brittle asthmatic and currently averaging at a serious admission every 5 days. But I think this has made a difference to me.

What else are you on?

It is seriously annoying being uncontrolled.

Irishboy profile image
Irishboy

Hi Laurs

Sorry to hear you are haveing a rough time I hope you get well soon.

Iam on

symbicort 400/12

singulair 10mg

theophylline 400mg daily

Telfast 180mg

And also home nebs as needed 5mg of salbutamol upto 4 times a day.

Wat meds are you currently on?

Hey,

I am on a concoction of stuff:

Symbicort SMART 400/12 (unlicensed but authorised by cons), Atrovent QD + PRN, Salbutamol PRN, Montelukast 10mg, Uniphylline 400mg, Maintanence pred 30mg, citerizine (upto60mg), omeprazole 20mg, Cyclozine PRN, Alendronic Acid.

Not currently allowed home nebs due to brittleness.

Hope things improve :-)

Laura x

Sorry to hijack the thread but reading meds lists reminds me that you asked me in another thread about what treatment I am on and I never replied!!

Pulmicort 400 3 puffs bd

Oxis 12 2 puffs bd

Ventolin inhaler PRN

Ventolin 5mg nebs PRN

Atrovent 250 nebs PRN

Montelukast tablets I nocte

Prednisolone 5mg anything from 5mg upto 40mg

Carbocisteine oral solution

Azithromycin 250mg capsules 3x a week

Loratadine tablets 1 morning

Beconase nasal spray

Opticrom eye drops

Cyclizine tablets PRN upto 3x d day

Buscopan Tablets 2 PRN upto 4x a day

Calcichew D3 Forte tablets

Hope this helps you x

Edit to say I used to be on Uniphyllin but I was having admissions with heart palpitations above 200 unrelated to asthma attacks so was taken off it. I found it really useful but heart probs have reduced since being off it.

Irishboy profile image
Irishboy

Wow use are both on a lot of meds! Lol

I have to go bk to my cons in 4 weeks to see how iam doing and I've to go to an asthma team which I've never been to before I think it's nurses.

I do have a asthma nurse in my gp surgery but she is not very good and hasn't even gave me an asthma plan so my cons would prefer me to see these guys!

Anyone else have problems with asthma nurse/gp surgery?

yaf_user681_30355 profile image
yaf_user681_30355

I don't have a lot of luck with GP surgery asthma nurses. They seem more geared around people with easier to manage asthma up to the combi inhaler level and people with textbook asthma. I have met a couple of really good ones but they seem to be hard to find. My next appt with my GP (who is excellent), I am going to ask if he can recommend the best one.

Irishboy profile image
Irishboy

You are so lucky to have a good gp JF mine are not so understanding.

My gp does not take my asthma very seriously at all and can be very patronising at times which really annoys me.

My asthma has been very well controlled over this last few years maybe only on pred twice a year at the most but when I was younger I had numerous ICU admissions.i hope my flare up at the min gets under control soon :-)

yaf_user681_30355 profile image
yaf_user681_30355

Relationships with the medical professionals trying to help us is such a fine balance, isn't it?

My GP supported me through a very stressful time 2006 - 2008 and so got to know me personally very well. When my asthma took a nose-dive in 2010 (my current roller-coaster flare up) he didn't quite know how to manage me as I have atypical asthma but having seen a consultant and beginning to get some control back, he trusts my judgement and listens to my suggestions and I have found him the most support, second to this forum and my family. I do realise how lucky I am.

I have a great asthma nurse - she actually has asthma, which is a good start! Although I'm now under a consultant, it was the asthma nurse who first suggested that I could be trusted with home nebs, and she took me up to Stage 4 of the treatment stages, and has redone my written plan with me regularly.

My GP is also very good. Actually all the GPs in our surgery are good with asthma. (I suspect they are probably good with pretty much everything - I have the kind of GP who will go and find things out if they don't know the answer already - very lucky).

Cx

JF - sounds like we're both in the same lucky boat there!

Oh - and on meds, I'm on the usual Seretide / Salbutamol (MDI + nebs) / Montelukast / Antihistamines etc - but the most useful asthma add-on I've had recently is Spiriva - it's long-acting atrovent, needs to be prescribed by a consultant. It really helps me.

in reply to

but the most useful asthma add-on I've had recently is Spiriva - it's long-acting atrovent, needs to be prescribed by a consultant. It really helps me.

I also find spiriva helpful but am unable to use the handihaler and capsules. Atrovent is not the same drug as spiriva. Spiriva is tiotropium. Atrovent is ipratropium. Type of drug is same though.

in reply to

but the most useful asthma add-on I've had recently is Spiriva - it's long-acting atrovent, needs to be prescribed by a consultant. It really helps me.

I also find spiriva helpful but am unable to use the handihaler and capsules. Atrovent is not the same drug as spiriva. Spiriva is tiotropium. Atrovent is ipratropium. Type of drug is same though.

Yes - sorry, was explained to me as being the same relationship as salbutamol-salmeterol. As in 'salmeterol is long acting salbutamol' and 'spiriva is long acting atrovent'. But my consultant might have been over-simplifying. He said that they had replaced 4 x Daily Atrovent with 1 x Daily Spiriva - and the reason they tried me on it was that I responded well to an atrovent neb.

It's a shame you can't use it - but I have to say I've always thought the 'handihaler' to be the most ridiculous device, especially as the target is COPD patients. It's way too fiddly for anyone with arthritis - all that peeling back the foil 'exactly' - the capsules are tricky to handle, you need fantastic inhalation to actually get the stuff in properly and despite not having dementia (afaik) I've accidentally swallowed the damn capsule instead of inhaling it on two occasions! DUH!

Cx

in reply to

It's a shame you can't use it - but I have to say I've always thought the 'handihaler' to be the most ridiculous device, especially as the target is COPD patients. It's way too fiddly for anyone with arthritis - all that peeling back the foil 'exactly' - the capsules are tricky to handle, you need fantastic inhalation to actually get the stuff in properly and despite not having dementia (afaik) I've accidentally swallowed the damn capsule instead of inhaling it on two occasions! DUH! Cx

LOL sorry that made me grin! But you're right, it's a ridiculous device for the target patient group. I am prescribed spiriva - but I'm prescribed spiriva respimat. I was the only person in the practice with it, don't know if that's still the case - presumably because of cost. They prescribed me that one due to small airway disease and my very limited inspiratory 'ooomph' for want of a better word!! (Restrictive lung disease). x

I have found my asthma nurse to be a bit hit and miss. She was great when my asthma was more severe but easier to control but not so good during my recent flare. Just as I thought the relationship was starting to break down, we had a key appointment during which she admitted to banging her head the table sometimes but it was my asthma she was frustrated with and not me. I also talked about how I felt a little confused and let down by the fact that no one seemed to be taken my asthma seriously. Today I had an appointment that may not have gone so well in the past but with this renewed understanding of each others point of view was actually quite positive. Again she admitted that, while she is usually quite good with asthma, she has got to the end of the road in what she can recommend and we need to be led by the cons.

Like CurIouser, the best asthma nurse I ever had (when I was very young and just diagnosed) also had asthma. I think she understood the importance of educating young children about asthma and used to read me stories about a dragon to help me understand the importance of taking my inhaler (even at 3/4 years old).

Hi Irishboy

Uniphyllin has been great for me. I'm on the 200mg twice a day dose too. I hope you get on with it well.

there are other long acting spirivia like one erkica genuair being the one Im on its I puff twice a day

There are warnings over the resmimat being over effective I got told and was told I had to swap to another type hence the genuair

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