Starting Fostair 100/6 - Anyone had an experience with this?

[Foskr]

Hi all,

I haven’t had my asthma well managed for a while and as someone who loves to exercise and play football it’s not great. In the summer i took Clenil Modulite and didn’t seem to help just made my lungs feel worse. I’ve just been prescribed fostair and directed to take two puffs twice a day. I’ve seen on here people having good and bad experiences with it and i’m worried about the side effects ie shakiness, increased heart rate as i’m fairly anxious normally.

Been told to give it a go for a month - should I?

Thanks in advance

[Snowdrop27]

I use fostair nexthaler 200/6 2 Puffs twice a day. I still get the shakes after using it for 2/3 years. To be honest I don't really take any notice and it doesn't last long.

[Foskr in reply to Snowdrop27]

does it help with your asthma? x

[Snowdrop27 in reply to Foskr]

Yes it does.

[twinkly29]

Yes to giving it time but it needs more than a month. Steroid inhalers usually take about 8 weeks to kick in and become fully effective. In that time, any side effects should also diminish or even disappear too.

Having said that, it might kick in more quickly for you because you've been on Clenil which contains the same steroid as Fostair, so you're not actually starting from scratch as you would be with some other inhalers.

It can be a bit worrying reading about the negative effects, but many people take it and don't have them - so hopefully you'll be one of those!

This post might help give some background regarding inhalers, in case it's useful....

healthunlocked.com/asthmauk...

[Foskr in reply to twinkly29]

thank you!

[Dogruff]

At the start or when the dose was increased I would get skakey and anxious. It wore off eventually and I don’t get it now even though I’m on 200/6 2puffs 4 times a day.

[Foskr in reply to Dogruff]

does it work well for u?

[Dogruff in reply to Foskr]

It had been. Unfortunately I’ve been deteriorating over the last year and I’m waiting respiratory appointment. It did keep me relatively ok for a good long stint.

[B_Asthma]

I took Fostair 100 /6 and then went to Fostair 200 / 6. I was on Fostair for about 3 years. I never had side-effects from it but it did not do much to control my asthma. It worked if I was fine but when I had a flare-up it never worked.

[Jollygood in reply to B_Asthma]

I’ve found exactly the same with it; works great in between but doesn’t help the flare ups. I’m currently waiting on a referral.

[Poobah]

I've been on Fostair just over a year now and it certainly helps my asthma, better than the previous Symbicort. I don't get the shakes and take additional potassium in my diet to counteract the side effects from lowered potassium levels (see patient leaflet). 100gms of naturally dried apricots deliver a good dose of potassium daily and better than supplements (naturally dried apricots, no preservatives such as sulphur dioxide which is in most supermarket dried fruit).

[Dizzart]

I was shaky and hyper so I gave up caffeine, I didn’t think of it at first but I was surprised by how much I run high on the stuff. I have decaf tea and coffee now and only allow myself a real one in the morning and after tea. If I forget my last one I dose off infront of the TV. Zzzzzzz zzzzz

[Flowergirl78]

I had clenil before and like you it didn't do anything and was put on Fostair 100/6. When I first started I was a little shaky and heart palpitations but also am very anxious so may have made it worse. I also had very strange dreams. With a bit of perseverance and trying to convince myself I was fine the side effects eventually wore off. As to whether it works, it definitely does more than clenil did for me but eventually had to be put on montelukast also as still couldn't completely control my asthma. I've learned from reading these forums that asthma treatment is very trial and error as everyone's needs are so individual but they are great for finding similar experiences.