Excessive Yawning and Low Blood O2 using Forstair

[Maverick62]

I have been taking Forstair 200/6 for over 3 years and suffer from Low blood O2 at night. I also excessively yawn when my blood O2 goes low which appears to be 30 minutes after taking the inhaler. Does anyone else get these symptoms?

[Poobah]

Like other asthma inhalers, Fostair can cause low potassium levels. This is an exert from the Fostair UK patient leaflet; "Your doctor may wish to measure the potassium levels in your blood from time to time especially if your asthma is severe. Like many bronchodilators Fostair can cause a sharp fall in your serum potassium level (hypokalaemia). This is because a lack of oxygen in the blood combined with some other treatments you may be taking together with Fostair can make the fall in potassium level worse."

Low oxygen levels can lead to other health issues so I wouldn't put off discussing this with your doctor.

I'm on Fostair 200/6 & my only side effect to date is a tendency to bruise easily. It's proved very good at keeping my asthma under control. But we're all different and side effects can be individualistic. I've had low potassium levels in the past, before I started Fostair, and was treated by the hospital with potassium supplements and they continued to monitor my levels to ensure they didn't go too high (equally nasty). I wouldn't recommend taking potassium supplements without medical supervision as it's something that can do damage if taken in excess.

[Roxysbakes]

I find my blood oxygen levels drop quite low at night time too. Not sure if it’s the meds doing this or what. I also get this recorded on my Apple Watch which is very clever but I’m not sure if this is reliable. I’m waiting to have some tests to check this.