Advice please

[Meredith62]

Hi , I hope everyone is keeping safe

This week my Qvar inhaler has been increased from 2puffs 2 times a day to 4 puffs 4 times a day as my chest feels tight and I’m coughing , sometimes productive. I’ve been using my Ventolin every day for last week or so I’m still using my Ventolin once or twice a day with the increased Qvar.

I want to speak to my GP again as not happy about this lack of improvement.

Thought the best thing to do is to ask all you lovely experts what advice you might give me , is there a different routine or extra meds I can start to take to help ? From these posts there is mention of lots of different drugs including tablets at night in addition to inhalers, so any help is appreciated before I speak to my GP

Thanks

[Troilus]

There are certainly things you can ask about, but I only know about the ones I take.

Fostair 200/6 which is a high dose ics with preventer (long acting beta antagonist)

Montelukast a tablet I take at night. Leukretine inhibitor. Leukretines are involved in the inflammation process.

Braltus. A sucky inhaler ( hope you like the scientific jargon. It started off well. This is where it goes downhill !) Contains tiotroponium ( or something spelt a bit like that) which is an anti musculant ( or some such thing🤔) which prevents or at least reduces bronchospasm.

All you can do is ask.

Maybe you just need to give your increased dose of Qvar time to kick in?

[Meredith62 in reply to Troilus]

Thanks for the info , I’ve been on the increased dose for 4 days , thought it would have kicked in pretty quickly but that might be my naivety. Does it usually take longer , am I just being impatient??

Thanks for the jargon ... love it 😊

[WindsweptRissa in reply to Meredith62]

It takes a while for the effect of steroid inhalers to build up. A lot of it depends on whether this is a short term exacerbation, perhaps due to a viral infection or bacterial infection, or a longer term issue. A short course of steroid tablets might be an option for a short term exacerbation depending on how bad you are. If you are coughing up green phlegm then you might have a bacterial infection and need antibiotics (your doctor might want to send a sample off to confirm this). If this is a longer term issue then there are other medications but you would probably need to wait to see if increasing the dose helps before the GP starts increasing/changing your medication.

[Meredith62 in reply to WindsweptRissa]

Thanks so much , all advice so useful.

Anyone clapping for the NHS @ 8pm as a thank you ? Just stand on doorstep balcony etc and clap