Spiriva respimat

[Mons]

Been given Spiriva Respimat to try alongside Fostair and Ventolin? Been taking this for 6 days. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to do its job and stop my breathlessness (if it’s going to). The reviews are not very hopeful that I’ve read. Thank you. x

[Chip_y2kuk]

Anything from a few weeks to a few months it's an antimucinagenic so it's Helps to make mucus easier to move and open your airways

I noticed I coughed up a load of mucus after the first few days .... and breathing got easier

[Mons in reply to Chip_y2kuk]

Thank you for the reply.

[Homely2 Administrator]

I really like spiriva. It took a couple of months to fully work for me.

It just seems to make my system more resilient, I still get asthma attacks frequently, but they are not as bad and I do not end up in hospital.

Before I started on it I was on max dose of fostair 200 plus lots of pred. Now I am on fostair 100 mart, but need a bit of extra steroid which they are trying alvesco for. However no pred for six months.

So give it a go, but do not expect it to solve everything, it helps and I am grateful for it.

[Mons in reply to Homely2]

Thank you for the reply. I will persevere for another couple of weeks. It’s always good to read success stories!

[alexa_s]

Spiriva did wonders for me, helped get my asthma under control alongside Relvar. I noticed a difference after 2-3 weeks, with full effect after 2 months. Hang in there and give it a try for a couple of months to see if it works for you.

[Mons in reply to alexa_s]

Thank you for the positive reply. I will keep going with it for a while longer and see if it helps.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

I can't remember how long mine took to work, but I remember I was absolutely sure it wasn't working! I even asked to come off it, and my consultant, who's usually all for reducing medications and me being fine when I'm not, told me to stay on it, that it works well for my type of asthma.

I'm usually very sceptical of his 'this medication works for everyone with this type and no-one with this type of asthma' all or nothing, but I'm glad he didn't let me stop because it really DOES work for me - it's just subtle. I had an issue with the prescription once, missed a day or two of it and my lungs made it really clear they weren't accepting the lack of Spiriva, give it back NOW!

With other meds I've found it was more obvious that it was working but this one is sneaky. So I would give it plenty of time and maybe compare after a while on it to how you were off it.

[Mons in reply to Lysistrata]

Sensible advice and I will stay on it for a while to give it a chance to work. Thank you for your input.

[LittleZebra]

I have been on Spiriva since, I think early 2020 when my GP particularly wanted to keep me away from hospitals for obvious reasons. I was at the time also on high dose Sirdupla but it was still not quite keeping my asthma under control. I think Spiriva must really suit my particular asthma (I think possibly mostly small airways) because from the first morning after taking it I really felt the difference. It made me feel 'normal' for the first time since my asthma became a real pain in late 2017. I always take my main preventer (Fostair nexthaler now) and also always have my blue inhaler with me but beyond that I have been able to get on with my life and not give it much thought (although I am slightly more aware of my Asthma just now- hey ho).

[hilary39]

It's helped me quite a bit, just adding to the chorus

[Mons in reply to hilary39]

Thank you for the reply 😀

[Hussain1968]

Hi MonsI'm on the same 3 as you and cope OK, still get breathless as expected but there us no magic solution. Give it a try and see how you go.

[Mons in reply to Hussain1968]

Many thanks. One week in and fingers crossed!

[JonLeda]

Hi, I have been on Spiriva for at least 5yrs. I find it works well in combination with Ventolin (not Salamol) Fostair. That said I have uncontrolled Eosinophilic asthma and I still ended up in hospital for over 8 weeks with double pneumonia, 3 emergencies that saw me ITU/HDU due to collapsing with my asthma. I think it does help greatly but don’t expect a universal miracle.

I am under the Royal Brompton (finally) I am undergoing all the tests required to be put on Biogenics programme. I am slightly annoyed that anyone in Scotland can have it just like that as can the people in Wales, do correct me if I am wrong regarding Wales.

I collapsed and it took 1.5hrs to make me stable enough to get me on the road, dense fog meant I could on travel via road. Chatting to ambulance crew turned out we were both police officers in neighbouring boroughs in the Met. I am retired though (a lucky one) so he started to tell me if this was 3 miles up the road care would be completely different for me due to the prescribing regs…..lovely.

Sorry for the waffle,

John

[Mons in reply to JonLeda]

Many thanks for the reply. I hope your asthma is now controlled a bit more. Great news about being under the Royal Brompton. Unfortunately it seems that some things are a postcode lottery from what we all hear! I did a pulmonary course 18 months ago. Got a lot from it but not everyone seems to be able to access this!