From Fostair to Symbicort

[MarieAnneX]

Hi, I’m confused. I was on Fostair 200/6 for two years after being on Seretide 250 for ages and it was working ok. Last few weeks I’ve been having daily symptoms. Nothing major, but constant and irritating.

I spoke to my asthma nurse and she put me on Symbicort 200/6 instead. I asked her if this was the equivalent dosed steroids and she said yes. But I’ve read step up/down documents that state otherwise. That Symbicort 200/6 is equivalent to Fostair 100/6.

My symptoms haven’t improved at all after a week and half. I have an AN call back for next week, but I wondered if anyone on here knew or had experienced this?

(I also take montelukast, hay fever tablets and steroid nasal spray.)

[Babbela]

Humidity has been high the last few weeks which has aggravated my asthma never had problems before don't know why all of a sudden it's effecting me perhaps it's the same for you just an idea .Hope you get to the bottom of it all my medication isnt working 100% at the moment taking my 200/6 more than I should hayfever tablets 2 times a day and montelukast and ventolin.

[twinkly29]

It may depend on how much you're taking but do phone your GP and ask again if you're concerned, or indeed if you are symptomatic.

It could well be that pollen issues are causing problems - levels of both tree and grass pollen have been very high this year so might be worth discussing with GP whether different antihistamines would be worth a go. Sometimes we just get used to them I think. A friend found that after trying prescribed antihistamines, plain old piriton (chlorphenamine) was the answer for them. Also weather changes recently might be causing issues (warming up, then storms, the warm again). So it could be that actually dealing with underlying issues might be the answer and that asthma preventers don't need changing. Of course that's for your GP to decide but given new inhalers take a while to kick in, it may be that it'll look like they have when other triggers have actually just lessened 🤷

[Poobah]

Symbicort 200/6 isn't as potent as Fostair 200/6. There are tables available online that show the equivalent potencies.

I went from Symbicort 200/6 to Fostair 100/6. I found it more effective. But meds can be very individualistic and it could be that you haven't found the right mix yet. You say that Seretide was working for you so I wonder why you were moved to a different inhaler. Maybe you can go back to Seretide if that worked better for you.

[MarieAnneX in reply to Poobah]

Hi. Seretide wasn’t working after a while so I went into Fostair 200/6 which worked for 2 years. Then recently I’ve been struggling with symptoms every day. So they put me on Symbicort. My concern is it’s not working and like you said, you went from Symbicort 200/6 to Fostair 100/6. I feel like I’ve been stepped down not sideways.

I’m taking 6-8 puffs daily.