Palpitations

[Trimley]

have been on Fostair 200/6 for about 6 months - was on Fostair 100/6, and am beginning to suffer palpitations. I see that this is a side effect of Fostair and wondering if anyone else has the same problems and if so is it getting worse with the whole Covid 19 situation??

[ChrissieMons]

Talk to your GPor asthma nurse and see if you can go back to 100/6. I get the jitters if I take an extra dose of my 200/6 because it's a combination inhaler, so I only do it if life is a bit rough. I'm ok with it otherwise. Really, only your GP or nurse can help.

[Trimley in reply to ChrissieMons]

Thank you

[scottsivy]

I get heart palpitations because of my salbutamol nebuliser and I’ve asked doctors about it and they’ve told me it’s fine usually.

[Trimley in reply to scottsivy]

Thank you

[WheezyNanma]

I got this problem when I was on on Fostair 100/6 - 2 puffs twice a day. Not taking the two puffs together helped, and I usually left at least an hour between each puff.

However my doctor prescribed me Fostair 200/6 ONE puff twice a day and things are better. Bear in mind it's the formotorol in the Fostair which causes palpitations, not the steroid. So by using the 200/6 twice a day I get the same amount of steroid (the 200 is the steroid and the 6 is the formotorol) as I did using the 100/6 four times a day, but the amount of formotorol I get has been halved. Which helps with the palpitations 🙂

[Trimley in reply to WheezyNanma]

Thank you

[_Badger_ in reply to WheezyNanma]

Hi WheezyNanma, this is really helpful. I've just been switched on to Fostair 100/6 two puffs twice daily. The shaking hands and racing heart/palpitations are horrible. I can't do anything that requires fine motor coordination for a few hours after taking it and the physical feelings of anxiety when my brain is calm are driving me crazy. Think I'll be calling the asthma nurse tomorrow and telling them about it and asking if they can change anything.

[WheezyNanma in reply to _Badger_]

I did get this initially - feeling on edge, nervous, anxious, shakes, and palpitations. Because Fostair stopped my wet cough almost immediately I persevered with it.

In my case those side effects stopped after a week or so, especially when I left an hour between puffs. But the palpitations continued which is why I went back to the doctor and he changed me over to 200/6, the rationale being as above, that I would get less formotorol by using the 200/6.

I hope you get it sorted.