Intal (sodium cromoglate) Inhaler

Hi

I have just had this inhaler added to top up my seretide dose and I wondered if anyone else has used this and how long did it take to get any benefits?

[risabel59]

Intal is an old drug, which does work for some people. It was the first asthma inhaler I got when I was 13, (1972) does it still come with a capsule and then spin when you inhale. Quite often it is prescribed for exercise induced asthma.

I don’t remember having any side effects. But also don’t remember if it worked for me. There were no steroid inhalers then. Only the tablets. Which doctors were so reluctant to prescribe to children because of the side effects and they didn’t know about dosages then. 2 of my friends suffered terribly, one did ‘t grow and subsequently died in her early twenties of asthma related hear attack. The other also died of asthma. In her late teens.

Anyway, I would say give it a go and see if it works for you

R x

[Hidden in reply to risabel59]

Thanks @risabel59 I have had to take a lot of steroids over the past few years so I thought no harm done worth a try if it keeps me away from steroids!

[Kate261]

Hi, I’ve recently had intal added to my cocktail of seretide 500 and montelukast and fexofenadine! I didn’t think it was doing much but I have noticed that if I don’t take it I notice it, I’m on 4 doses a day. Taking it throughout the day is what I am finding hardest but when I do I am seeing a bit of improvement. I was having a good run and then a rough week last week so I guess I have to just get used to the peaks and troughs! ( I have only been diagnosed for a year so this is all new-ish to me!)

Hope it works for you

[Hidden in reply to Kate261]

That almost sounds like my cocktail too but I couldn’t have fexofenadine it would make me faint! I’m on four doses a day and totally agree with the difficulty in doing that throughout the day. I keep forgetting and actually now think I need to add a spacer to it as I see a lot of white residue in the sides of the inhaler.

Having chronic/difficult/severe asthma whatever is tough - I had a rough patch over Christmas and I’m willing to try anything to bring the symptoms down from being spontaneously vicious attacks to normal annoying asthma for me.

[Kate261 in reply to Hidden]

Oh lord, that’s no good is it! I would be lost without that one! Have you tried setting a phone alert to remind you?

I get that too, it says to wash out the holder every week too, seems to be a lot of multiple times a week joy with this one!

I have had a week of misery, walking from my car to my house has made me feel so tight in the throat and tired, onwards and upwards though I hope if spring is round the corner! Then only hay fever to contend with!

I really hope it works for you, I similarly would try anything! I have found salt water nasal spray to be quite good too!

[Hidden in reply to Kate261]

I was just thinking that 😁 dec 2017 asthma through to January then feb sinusitis...roll on March to June hayfever and skin stuff!! 🤦‍♀️

Good point about the mobile alarms and washing it out weekly I need to be a little more disciplined with this one.

[Kate261 in reply to Hidden]

I can recommend going somewhere in the med by the sea, that’s the only time I’ve felt well!

It might help, you never know! Best of luck

[Minushabens]

It's a real blast from the past. I can't really comment on its use nowadays, but in the early 1970s, it transformed my life from being a sickly, weak, constantly out of breath child to someone who could, at least up to a point, join in with things.

I guess if it worked then, it works now!

[Hidden]

As with Minushabens this was the medication that changed my life as a child in the late 1960s/early1970s. The only difference was that the version I was put on was a combination medication, containing both sodium chromoglycate and isoprenaline. I have a feeling that version is no longer available and, also like Minushabens, I can’t really comment on sodium chromoglycate’s current use. Sodium chromoglycate on its own was available back then, but as I wasn’t put on it I can’t comment on how well it worked.

That said, it was prescribed for my younger son when he developed asthma aged three (same age as I was when I developed it). The doctors were reluctant to put him on a steroid inhaler when he was so young (he was also very small for his age), and tried him on it. It wasn’t enough for him and he ended up being put on a steroid inhaler shortly before his fourth birthday. But that was over twenty years ago and asthma medication has come on a lot since then. As Risabel says, give it a go:-).

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

I was on this for a bit, 5 or 6 years ago when my GP didn't know what to do with me. It didn't help much but I think a lot of that was the delivery - it came in a white inhaler with a red cap which dumped white powder on my clothes, my bag, the back of my throat...pretty much everywhere except my lungs!

If you.can sort the delivery aspect out (the pharma company will send you a spacer to fit if you ask them) then it may well work! As others have said it is a bit ancient and pre-steroid but so is aminophylline/theophylline and I love that!

Hope.it works out for you as sounds like you're having a rubbish time. Stupid asthma!

[Hidden in reply to Lysistrata]

Hi I am wildly in love with aminophylline (sad isn’t it!) this is worth a try I’m going to give it a little longer till I come to a conclusion about the intal. But thank you for the advice about the spacer. I will get in touch with them now

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Lol my consultant can't understand why I like aminophylline so much! He keeps grumbling about it then saying well I suppose it does help obstruction... My response is he can have it off me when they license a biologic targeting something I have too much of.

Let us know how you get on with the Intal (hope I am still right about free spacer). I would almost be tempted to try again if I could actually get it to my lungs this time!

[-Butterfly-]

I'm interested to know how you get on with this.

I've had asthma for some years now. My 'normal' asthma had actually been well controlled but exercise is awful for me. I could have no symptoms all week, but when I attempt exercise, my chest tightens and generally I have to stop what I'm doing. This is despite taking 2-4 puffs of ventolin before exercise, warming up gently etc.

The nurse put me on montelukast which I've taken for a month now, but it's not helped the exercise at all, and infact it's made my normal asthma worse, keep getting persistent coughing along with a wheeze and a significant drop in my peak flow.

I have to go back for a review, obviously I want to come off the montelukast but wondered if intal might be an option?

I'm currently taking sirdupla 2 puffs twice a day.

[Cumfevan]

I'm on cromoglycate nebs 4/day now because one can't get the inhaler in Canada anymore. This medicine as inhaler has been a life-changer for me before it was added to the mix of asthma meds I was on back in early 1990s I was missing >45days of secondary school each year! After getting this med on board - I was able to go onto become / work as a paramedic.

It stabilizes the mast cells in my lungs so I don't get as many severe respiratory anaphylactic / sudden allergic (brittle) asthma attacks as I would've without it.

A few years ago: I didn't realize the pharmacy had given me 3months supply of (Intal) nebs that had expired. Resulted 2 months later in a severe food-induced anaphylactic reaction that took 2 Epipens before the paramedics arrived then multiple meds given both by medic's & a&e to combat the biphasic reaction & life-threatening asthma attack that ensued.

It can take awhile for the meds to build up to full protective effect, but for those it helps it can be a game changer 😀 Hopefully this anecdote helps.

[Hidden in reply to Cumfevan]

I have anaphylaxis and a severe food allergy too this is what actually lead me to want to try this medication out. It’s been 3 months now and it’s great. It’s been making the sudden asthma wheeze stop and I’m also feeling like I can breath really well and deep.

[Gino39]

Oh my, I had thought that they had stopped making Intal years ago. There was always the yellow version and the compound that was orange. They came with a spinhailer which I had no problems with. I loved Intal Orange and still have a very few spin caps left which I use sparingly. They were made by Fisons. The local Fisons factory is now a housing estate! Which type have you been prescribed? If it's the compound then I will be interested in adding to my own treatment. Of course we are all different so I'm sure it's not as successful for all users. The yellow caps could still be purchased from the USA but it was the compound that worked for me. Doctors will sometimes say that one med has been replaced by a newer 'better' one, but I have always thought that with years of personal benefits from using a particular drug, it's the patient who should be listened to. I hope that it works for you....

Gino