Qvar question

[AirIsUnderrated]

Short version: possible Covid back in March, persistent breathlessness helped by salbutamol, was put on Qvar 50 2bd. 5 months on, docs are still saying I'm post-viral and can come off it any time, but every time I try, my lungs feel sore and itch intensely as if I've got mosquito bites inside me. Increasing the Qvar to 3bd stops that. My sats and peak flow are fine, and always have been even during the worst of the virus.

I tried Omeprazole in case it was silent reflux, but the side effects were horrid, and upping the Qvar helped more.

My question is this. I no longer feel breathless, only occasionally a bit tight and a strange sensation of coldness in my chest as if I'm breathing Vicks. I just get this horrible soreness and itching that makes me cough when I try to reduce the dose. If Qvar helps that, is this a weird form of asthma, or could the corticosteroid also help other conditions like silent reflux?

[twinkly29]

I googled "biting feeling in lungs" and various things came up to do with itchy/scratchy lungs and covid and, along with that, feeling like they were breathing in very cold air. I think this was when they had covid but maybe fits with the post-viral thing too? I don't know enough about it though - have you tried the post covid hub that Asthma UK have got? Not sure if they have a community like this though but just wondered if others who were post-covid (for sure or even possibly) had felt similar.

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to twinkly29]

Thank you Twinkly. I will try that. I have seen a couple of accounts of ‘long Covid’ sufferers describing that cold feeling. It’s so strange, and the itch is 3rd degree. Impossible to ignore & v distracting.

How are you doing? Getting back on track?

[twinkly29 in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

It must be really frustrating not knowing whether you did have covid or not - a bit of a stab in the dark at any symptoms really and where they might or might not fit!

I'm ok thanks, at my usual trying to balance recovery with not doing too much!

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to twinkly29]

Oh I'm glad. Keep on getting better! I've responded to ccccc below, and it's really a response to you too. 👍

[ccccc]

Hi

I take Qvar and haven't experienced the itching you describe but I do get a sore chest as part of my asthma. You have had a similar experience to my mum who was put onto beclomethasone (another steroid inhaler) as she has a persistent cough/tight chest after suffering "the flu" which we suspect was Covid. She was tested with a peak flow and spirometry and showed no sign of asthma yet the beclomethasone has helped her cough and sore chest a lot. I've also been on a low dose of Prednisolone since March when I think I had Covid. I know steroids have helped people who've been in hospital with Covid. So all I can suggest is that if the Qvar is working to stay on that and maybe contact the nurses at Asthma UK for some advice to take back to your GP?

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to ccccc]

Thank you! Although I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this, it is encouraging to know that I'm not alone in these particular weird symptoms. I hope you and your mum get over it completely.

I followed your advice and called Asthma UK. I spoke to Claire - what a lovely lady. She reassured me that whatever is causing my lungs to be twitchy in whatever obscure way, if the steroid inhaler is helping, to continue it. She disagreed that I should be stopping it now, as the cooler weather and coughs/colds season is approaching. She said that I should be aiming for a baseline of my triggers not triggering me, not just feeling OK as long as I avoid my triggers. I didn't realise that. As I'm still being triggered at 3 puffs twice a day of Qvar, she recommended starting Fostair, which my respiratory nurse mentioned a few weeks ago. My Qvar will run out in a couple of weeks so I will request the change to Fostair.

I feel so much better having spoken to her and from both your responses. You have no idea. When it is such an effort to get an appointment to speak to the GP/resp nurse and then you only get 10 minutes before they start getting impatient, every little worry gets magnified out of all proportion. It isn't their fault and I can't blame them, but with our current NHS system you have to be fit to get healthcare! I'm going to be diverting some of my charity donations to Asthma UK. ❤️

[ccccc in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

Hi

I'm so pleased you've got some further help from Asthma UK, they provide brilliant advice so I'm glad they pointed you in the right direction. My mum is following the same advice, if the treatment is working just go with it and carry on even if you aren't sure what's causing it. Hopefully if you start the Fostair you won't need the Qvar so much. I'm quite lucky in that the practice nurse at our surgery who handles the asthma appointments understands that asthma doesn't fit into a neat little box and you can have symptoms that don't aways show up on the usual tests. Some GPs have a bit of a narrow view of asthma so it's always good to be forearmed with info from Asthma UK. I've had asthma for 30+ years and you learn what is useful and what to take with a pinch of salt! Hope it goes well with the Fostair. I take Seretide which is an older version of Fostair and even though I've been a bit worse in the past few years, switching to it from Becotide + Ventolin 15+ years ago made my asthma so much better, so good luck!

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to ccccc]

Thank you, you too! Yes, the Fostair is intended to replace the Qvar and the Salamol completely I think. I put in an e-Consult to the surgery and they're supposed to be ringing me on Monday. 🤞

[Hazyeyes]

Hi, I have experience of having been on both Qvar and Omeprazole and I found Qvar was good for me for three years for mild asthma but it gave me silent reflux and I had to come off it . I am now on pulmicort a powder inhaler which seems to be ok I have only been on it for six weeks.

Any steroid inhalers tend to make me have allergic reactions which make my asthma worse. I only tried Omeprazole briefly as it made me feel worse with my breathing. I did try Lansoprazole which helped with silent reflux perfectly but had other side effects which meant I came off that too.

Sorry you have had a rough time. Hope you feel better soon.

[AirIsUnderrated in reply to Hazyeyes]

Aw thank you.

The trouble is that it's a vicious circle: asthma itself can cause reflux/silent reflux through coughing and the diaphragm having to work harder to breathe which pushes the stomach acid up, and stomach acid can irritate the lungs exacerbating asthma.

Omeprazole gave me heartburn, a permanent feeling of nausea and therefore weight loss, and I just couldn't get comfortable. The lung itchiness seemed better but my quality of life was worse. And then I got rebound symptoms coming off the stuff. I'd be scared to try Lansoprazole or its family members now!

I'm glad the Pulmicort is working for you. I wonder why our bodies' reactions to these meds suddenly changes?

[Hazyeyes in reply to AirIsUnderrated]

Yes it’s strange when a medication that worked before for us stops working. When the pollen was high my Qvar didn’t help me anymore and the asthma nurse said your body can build up a resistance against them over time. The scary part was I then had to try a couple of other sprays and they all gave me asthma reactions when I started then so I had to stop them. Eventually the pulmicort had the least reaction and as I used it more it settled. But for six weeks I got a itchy chest feeling and like if you drink a certain squash drink and it affects you.

I am not taking the reflux medication now , I have found if I take my medication before dinner or a long time after it I don’t get the reflux and in the morning I take it before breakfast.