Recently I've been using quite a lot of Ventolin....I was in Clenil as well. Anyway, I spoke to my asthma nurse yesterday, she's put me on Fostair to try....well, I must say, it's a relief to have to take one puff morning and evening....I can take one in the day if needed....but this is from 3 puffs of Ventolin, followed by 3 puffs of Clenil....twice a day! Plus more puffs of ventolin during the day....that's a lot of puffing!!? Anyway, my question is, if I use a puff of Fostair during the day, I think I need to gargle and rinse?? Does anyone have a way of doing this while at work?? It might sound daft....but I'm teaching again from Monday...don't really want to be gargling in class🤣🤣🤣 can you rinse water around your mouth and swallow it? Or does it have to be spat out🤷♀️🤷♀️
I'll be very glad if this new inhaler works...its so much easier!
Thanks in advance 😊
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Cakerunner
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Hi! I'm new to all this, and I take Qvar which I understand is basically the fine-mist version of Clenil. Both are steroid inhalers. The Qvar instructions clearly say to rinse and spit out, not to swallow, because of the risk of oral thrush. Salbutamol doesn't need that. Fostair is a combined bronchodilator and steroid, and as it has the steroid in it, I would imagine the directions would be the same for the same reasons. I'm sure someone will chime in who is more experienced than I am.
Are you still allowed to use your Ventolin by itself if you need a top-up between doses? Then you wouldn't need to rinse. I have a friend who changed from Clenil/Ventolin to Fostair and she found quickly that she didn't need anything between the morning and evening doses.
Hi there yes, I'm allowed ventolin, I'm hoping I don't need it though...I'm also allowed to have another puff of Fostair......but the nurse said if I'm finding I need that one in the middle of the day as often as I did with ventolin, then I need to up the puffs at beginning and end of day to two each time......
I’m glad fostair seems to be working so well for you! If it helps back when I was on the fostair MART regime I would just have a drink after taking it if it was during the day and I was unable to rinse and spit etc. I don’t think I ever had any issues.
The main reason for rinsing is to prevent oral thrush so just keep an eye out for that but it should be fine (as I said I never had an issue, just took a long drink each time).
I’m not sure if you have the DPI (nextinhaler which you suck) or the MDI (the puff inhaler) but if it’s the puff inhaler using a spacer will also reduce the risk of thrush (if you don’t already).
Hope this helps and good luck with returning to work
Sounds like the MDI version (a spray rather than a suck). You can use a spacer for that one which should help prevent thrush issues, and a drink of liquid should be enough after its use.
People vary. I was changed from Symbicort DPI to Fostair MDI specifically as I am prone to oral thrush. The idea was to use it with a spacer, and that should reduce the risk. Unfortunately I still do get oral thrush. Never badly at all, but definitely recurringly. As you can see from these replies it varies from person to person. I now rinse and gargle with salt water, brush my oral cavity with salt water and rinse again, and that keeps it at bay, but the battle lines are constantly drawn. So I would definitely rinse, and I would spit it out, but that is me. You may be fine! But if you are concerned could you not use your extra Fostair puff in a break?
Just be aware that though Fostair does contain a good, long acting reliever, in my experience it doesn’t kick in anything like as fast as Ventolin, which itself needs 10-15 minutes. So taking it in a break might work equally well.
Yes, I can see I'll need to find what works for me....we're not really having breaks...as in, we're not really having non contact breaks out the classroom.....my school has decided that the adults in each 'bubble' of children, stay with the children , same adults, same small group of children.......all day......everyday........to avoid mixing with others......😳 I know...I know......🤷♀️🤷♀️ Boris' fault, in my opinion, with no wish to start a political discussion. Anyway, tomorrow is my first day back.....so I will see what's needed....if I have to rinse?....well, I'll just have to do that.......or just use ventolin and see what happens....thanks for your useful responses anyway 😊
I'm finding that Ventolin works for me within a minute. I get relief extremely quickly. Probably the full effect takes longer. It's amazing how our bodies all react differently to the same medication. My Step-dad couldn't take Vitamin B tablets.
Are you using a spacer for all your inhalers? I tended to only use mine for my morning and evening inhaler but with my ventolin I wasn't and that made me have the dry mouth and throat.
I was with the Clenil....but the nurse said not with Fostair? However, it does say on the leaflet to use a spacer if needed.....thing is, I don't want to take the massive spacer to school really....I'm going to just use ventolin if needed during the day I think........if that's not enough....I'll ring the nurse and see what she says....not ideal, but what's ideal right now?!😞
She did say that if I did need Fostair during the day.....to try two puffs morning and night.......I'm a work in progress.....again😅
I'm a teacher too, so I know how awkward it can be. You can get smaller spacers. I'm sure your asthma nurse can advise. I keep one in school where I can access it easily.
That's an idea.....problem is, I'm new to asthma, so still trying to figure it all out...also, school is a completely different ball game now isn't it!🙄 absolutely bonkers world we're living in.....
All the best! Asthma got far more significant for me four years ago, and I still am having to work out how to approach certain situations. You’ll get there!
It certainly is. Just make sure your HR person is aware you have asthma if they are not already. Also if you haven't got a copy of your asthma action plan, make sure your asthma nurse gives you one. You can then keep a copy of that in school with a first aider/point near where you teach or an office so if you have a horrid attack, someone knows what action to take is best for you.
I've just come out of shielding and it's like I have entered a different world!
I'll have to work on this....I was very ill in the January February period with my chest.....still unexplained or diagnosed, Spirometry booked.....Covid 19 closed everything! So essentially, my gp is treating me for asthma...haven't seen him or the nurse face to face for months!🤷♀️ which essentially means, I'm working out what works on an everyday type basis....for myself......I'll eventually get a spirometry, and a plan......but at the minute? I'll just have to keep doing what feels right.......xx
PS....I think I might have had covid 19...I was very ill, with what are now recognised as covid 19 symptoms...but gp won't budge on an antibody test so I'll never know I guess....and whatever it was, its left me with this........I'd like a redo of 2020.....without the germs!🤣🤣
The antibody test is current only available to NHS staff and carers. But it will be rolled out to everyone pretty soon, hopefully. Keep checking the government website for updates.
I'm also waiting for all the chest tests after suspected Covid in March. I work for the NHS so after a bit of an argument with my GP, I was approved for the antibody test last Friday. I'm hoping to have it done this week. Until they open up again for spirometry and other tests, we have to battle on by ourselves with help from this excellent community. Have you been keeping a spreadsheet? I spent yesterday learning all about charting my new peak flow meter results. 🤓 🤣
Oh is it? Well, he could have told me🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm charting peak flow results on my phone, with notes on medication at the moment...I had a paper one......filled it up weeks ago...thought electronic might be better.....😊
It's possible your GP didn't know. Mine didn't. I had to point him at the government website, wait while he read it and then while he went searching for the test on ICE. He was very surprised when he found it, and at once said he would request it for me. Up until then, both he and the other GP were extremely discouraging about it, not because it is inaccurate, but because not everybody makes antibodies and if they do, nobody knows how long they last. But a positive result would prove that I haven't spent the last 10 weeks whingeing for nothing LOL, and I might even be useful for their research. They aren't able to study Covid in the community, only in hospitals.
You really should rinse.otherwise you could get thrush.i rinse with a mouthwash.i did try fostair but I couldn’t get in with it.i had to many flare ups.find clenhill100works for me.
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