Symbicort

[Catheec]

Hi All I have just started Symbicort as part of the Smart regime. I have used it religiously as told & when needed. Had a bad night coughing/breathless and very little sleep. Been taking for just under a week in others experience how long did they start to feel effects of inhaler regarding preventer side of it? I am worried it will not work but understand it can take a while so trying to calm myself & be patient. Going to rest up today but do not want this to affect work too much so really hoping this inhaler works! Any experiences of others really appreciated x

[PMRPete]

I have been on Symbicort for 6 years. I started with 400/12 4 times per day

I am now down to 100/6 1 puff am and pm. I found this was not quite enough to keep me going during the day so I have added 1 puff of Oxis 6 in the morning, this prevents me ever having to use any Ventolin.

The one problem with the Smart regime is having to rinse your mouth and throat, when I am out and about I do sometimes have to use a puff of Ventolin.

Symbicort does affect/irritate some throats.

[Catheec in reply to PMRPete]

Yes found myself with oral thrush at the moment...sorting that. Used a bit of ventolin & has stopped coughing for now. Hoping the preventer bit kicks in soon...so tired 💤 with coughing & tightness. Ah well keep going thanks for the advice

[Lynneypin]

Symbicort really works for me. I use a maintenance dose 100/6 x2 but have to increase to 200/6 x2 or x4 when I have a cold or infection. Always have issues with throat but it’s worth it for me. Just rinse, gargle and brush teeth afterwards.

[Catheec]

Thanks for advice I have been religiously gargling after I have used it now! Can you remember when you first started it how long it took to get the asthma under control? Been on it for a week & wondering when I might start to feel the benefits of the preventer drug in it?

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Hi Catheec, I used to be on Symbicort at various doses though never the SMART regime. Initially 2 puffs twice a day of the 200/6 (I think) and later much higher. I remember when I started it my cons at the time, who was a bit of an a*** but sometimes spot on, said it could take up to 4-6 weeks to really work. I can't remember exactly how long it was for me as this was about 5 years ago, but I think maybe 3-4 weeks in it suddenly kicked in - I realised my breathing had been great all day and behaved itself better for a while.

I'm not on it anymore for various complex reasons - it did work but I got palpitations from the high dose of the reliever part I was getting due to taking high doses of the steroid part, and my cons at the specialist place much prefers Fostair Nexthaler as it has finer particles.

I gargled with water after every dose which helped.

I should add my asthma is weird and not well controlled, so control is all relative for me. However, I felt Symbicort did a decent job for a while until it got complex. Definitely worth giving it a shot for a while but if it's not working after a couple of months then go back and ask what other options are. The steroid and the long-acting reliever in it can be found in other inhalers if it seems like perhaps one part is OK for you and the other isn't.

[Catheec]

Thanks for this - I really appreciate the advice. Got an appointment with asthma nurse in 3 weeks to review and see how I am getting on. Just finding it hard not to reach for the Ventolin! However I can see the sense in this inhaler and the SMART regime so do not want to give up on it when the chances are this could work for me if I keep to it. Plus up this asthma lark is all only happened in the last few months so I am still learning triggers and how to manage it...we live & learn x