Does my inhaler need upgrading?

Hi all,

Had enough of my asthma and thought I would join up to a forum for some help and support, so its my first time posting here.

Iv'e had asthma since a very young age and I am now in my 20's. The past year or 2 my asthma seems to have got worse.

I am currently taking:

Preventer: Brown Qvar 100 Aerosol 2 times per day

Reliever: Blue Salamol CFC 100

Heres how I feel:

1. Out of breath when going up and down the stairs

2. I get out of breath when tired

3. I get tired more than usual

4. Wheezing when inhaling and exhaling hard

5. Its gets worse in the cold weather

6. I tend to take to blue reliever inhaler around 2 times a day as I feel I need it

7. Sometimes when eating, I feel I can't talk much as I get out of breath

8. Sometimes when I am talking, I get out of breath a little and have to take a deep breath

9. I constantly feel I am not getting a FULL breath, and feel I have to inhale that little harder to get one

By any chance, can you go through each one above and tell me if this is normal for my age range, taking the above inhalers, or do I need something stronger?

Thank you very much :).

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Hiya, my suggestion would probably be to go and see your dr, or book in for an asthma review at your surgery. If your asthma were well controlled then you wouldn't need to be using your reliever more than a couple of times a week.

There are loads of different options to try; my thoughts on what your go would probably do are either increase the dosage of your preventer or give you a combination inhaler - which would include a steroid the same/similar to that in your brown and like a long acting reliever like your salamol.

Either way you'll have to talk with your gp, so better be sooner than later? Like before it gets even colder? My asthma hates the cold weather!

Hope this helps!

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Hi and welcome,

I would agree with Laura that you need to see your GP soon. It sounds as though your asthma is not as controlled as it used to be which would suggest a review is necessary. None of the things in your list would be normal and sound as though they are linked to asthma (I get really tired when I am struggling which my GP thinks is due to constant coughing/wheezing in the night disrupting my sleep).

There is a step approach to asthma management and I have been up and down the steps several times so even if your GP changes your inhalers, it may be that you can go back down again once control has been established. (I had asthma when I was very young, it was very severe in my teens, was well controlled in my early twenties and then got worse again in my late twenties). As Laura said, the next step for you would probably be an increased dose of your preventer or adding in a LABA (a long acting version of your reliever) which you can get in an inhaler with the preventer. There are so many other medications you could try so go and discuss it with your GP. I was once told that the aim of asthma control is to not need your inhaler more than two times a week (although for me at the moment 2 times a day is wishful thinking!)

Take care

[yaf_user681_22889]

To AJS

You need to go and get an asthma review.

I have had asthma for 55 years since I was tiny. I have gone through stages when I have needed hardly any medication to needing to step up for a short while or even for a few years.

Stepping up and down treatments over time seems to be normal,certainly for me in any case.

Aim for lowest meds with GOOD control.

Best of luck with your review.