Now, my Fostair inhaler has a dose counter so I know exactly where I am with that, but my rescue inhaler does not.
I have just found out that ALL inhalers in the US have dose counters!
Why not here? Surely I am not the only one who has trouble keeping track of how much might be left in there? You would think that the NHS would invest in this. I wonder how many people end up in A&E because their rescue inhaler did not have enough doses left to rescue them.
Done. Rant over 😊 Feel much better now.
I always carry 2 blue inhalers when one is running low but I am extremely lucky that I don't use my blue inhaler at all. It's also down to the company who makes the inhalers if they use a dose counter or not
I always ensure that I have two Ventolin inhalers so that as one finishes I can start the spare while ordering a replacement. And I'm on dry powder so the inhaler has a counter but it's that insurance that if there's a delay in replacement or a shortage I'm good for a few weeks.
Somebody at my surgery is a bit stingy with them. Against the rules I know. Last month I was down to my last one and I didn’t know how much was left in, so when I ordered my prescription I asked for two. ( Ideally I like to have one in my bedroom, one I’m using and a spare.) They issued one!
Order one and wait for a bit and then order a spare one as that is what I do so I have 3 blue inhalers as I lost a blue inhaler but I have find the misplaced one now and they only go by what is on the repeat slip. You can ask for 2 when you go for a check up.
That’s what I did. I rang the surgery first and could see early in the conversation I was getting nowhere, so I waited a couple of days and then out in a repeat prescription. And hey presto! It was issued! Nonsense.
But definitely request two when you have a check up on the repeat slip. My dad has COPD and he has 2 blue inhalers issued at the same time. I get 2 months of my preventer and a tablet I have to take for my hayfever and asthma to stay under control. So it's possible
Thanks Kamilla. I’ll do that. I’m usually ok on the one, but just recently I have needed to use the blue more than usual in a morning when I first get up - to do with the cold weather I think. I’ve tried leaving the heating on low which has helped a bit.
I don't use my blue inhaler at all but I still have spare s just in case I turn bad or need to help out my dad. But definitely look into it. It's the weather that's messing us up. If you use up one and you have 2 ordered and about to start the last second one then order if you have noticed that your asthma is stable again. Good luck with getting two blue inhalers and I hope you are better soon
Thanks Kamilla
You can buy on ebay a counter you can put on inhaler to keep track of the doeses
I see you can buy them on eBay and Amazon. You can also buy smart ones which record how many doses you have taken in a day, what the weather conditions are like etc. You can also make a note of the reason why you took it. They look useful. I’m rubbish at recording how many doses I have taken.
The thing that struck me was that the same brands as we use here are issued in the USA with dose counters as standard. Their research showed that it reduced visits to the emergency room by 45%. That seems a lot. If the same is true here (I’m in the U.K.) then that would reduce demand on A&E.
I don’t really understand why the U.K./EU hasn’t gone down the same route.
I looked this up. At £90 I don't think I will bother. WHY won't the UK put counters on Ventolins? Money, of course. And we (asthmatics) are a small minority of the people who need stuff from NHS; we are perforce a quiet minority, and therefore get left out. I'm very grateful to the NHS for all it's done for me and family, but this feels like a small mean-ness. (My GP agreed when I asked her.)
My Seretide used to have a counter on, and then they changed the brand so I don’t have one anymore. Seretide was the same brand as my rescue (ventolin) but my rescue didn’t have a counter. I honestly would have thought having a counter on a rescue would be more important since it’s more of a risk to have that in an emergency then it not work.
I agree this is mystifying. After the number of doses is used up (I know from tracking them), there will still be propellant coming out, so it is impossible to know whether the thing is empty or not until that is all gone. People will be getting empty doses unless they count and record puffs.
In the olden days I used my diary to track my use of my preventer. The counter for that is great. But with relievers, there's no consistent pattern to my use, so tracking is a lot harder.
You are quite right and that was one of the things that surprised me on the US research. It said that some patients were discarding their inhalers when there were as many as 80 doses while the vast majority of patients continued to use them until nothing came out. I am one of the latter.
One of the things I have learnt today is that I use my inhaler when it is empty. So I have bought (ordered) an old fashioned counter that fits onto your finger. I am just hoping that they are designed for people with big fingers😁
My idea is that I can attach it to my blue inhaler, maybe.
Anyway, thought it worth a try.
If it works I’ll let you know.
Over the counter Ventolin
Fostair 200/6 as MART??
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - Rapid Response Paramedic
GP refusing to prescribe more than 1 reliever
