MART (maintenance as reliever therapy)

[Tink1313]

Hi, I’m just wondering if MART should work for most people? We’ve tried it recently (I say we because me and my GP have a good relationship and typically we work together on things like a team) and it didn’t help much. However I’m currently in the middle of a flare up (thank you cold weather + chest infection!) and have ended up on prednisone tablets so that could be why? My preventer we’ve tried it with is fostair 200 / 6 and I take 2 puffs twice a day and was on montelukast as well up until a few months ago but I started throwing everything up (and continue to throw up often) and we haven’t figured out a trigger as of yet as I have multiple things going on at once with my health so we’ve reduced all my medication made a clean slate and now we’re slowly building it back up and having a fresh start to figure out what I need and don’t need as I was on a lot! Because I have existing bipolar and have been in a depressive episode recently we’ve held off on the montelukast as there’s a slight risk of making it worse in that department and we’re not big fans of doing that but in theory we might have to if that makes sense as when I was on it it did benefit me and I had less flare ups but this has been my worse one in awhile and the last time I was on steroids before this was last Feb / March after having a operation under general and had a flare up in the days after that. I haven’t been seen by a consultant for my asthma as of yet but I have been referred in last year after that flare in the hospital.

I was just wondering if anybody else has been in a similar situation? Because I’m still new to this (I was only diagnosed in the last few years officially but have had symptoms since childhood) so I’m really still in the dark. I’m really not sure how MART works either and haven’t really found much info on it online? It’s only my GP managing my asthma as ill probably see if it’s successful when I’m out of this flare up (it’s been going on awhile now gradually getting worse) so in theory with a clean slate I should know once and for all without worrying that I’m gonna be awake in the middle of the night again having issues and getting stressed over it and causing a never ending cycle of more panic = more symptoms and more symptoms = more panic lol.

Sorry for the ramble it just felt like I should explain the whole situation so you guys knew where I’m coming from! Sorry if I missed out anything important?

[Chip_y2kuk]

MART ... Maintenance and Reliever Therapy is where you use your combination preventer as a Relieever too..

You normally take a few puffs morning and night with a maximum of x puffs.

so fostair 100 is a maximum of 8 puffs a day, so you could take 1 or 2 puffs morning and night and have another 4-6 puffs "spare" if needed

The logic is sound I think in that: salbutamol/ventolin is a bronchidilator (it opens the airways). asthma is an inflammatory condition of the airways so ventolin will make it easier to breathe, but doesn't fight back any inflammation at all (there's no steroid element/anti inflammatory) .

Fostair/combination inhalers have a long acting bronchodilator (longer lasting than salbutamol) and a steroid / anti/-inflammatory element. so your opening the airways and fighting back inflammation at the same time.

Which surely means that the inflammation that caused the airway issue; will be less/removed... so it's less likely to reoccur.

[Homely2 Administrator]

It sounds like you are well looked after by your GP and have been referred to a consultant.

I have always loved MART with fostair 100 as my asthma is very variable and MART allows me to vary my dosage depending on what is triggering my asthma.

If you need a chat re your asthma ring the asthma UK helpline on 0300 2225800, they are very helpful.

[Patk1]

You've a lot to contend with.I'm on mart with fostair.itll b difficult to monitor while Yr chests bad but it may help to bridge the steroid withdrawal gap.yes,anxiety can trigger breathing difficulties.take a look on ALUK website at controlled breathing techniques.sounds like Yr gp is v well informed + helpful x

[Superzob]

I'm told that I can use my Symbicort Turbohaler with MART, but I find Ventolin more effective for flare-ups. There are a lot of individual response issues with any medication, which is often why there are so many to treat the same condition (like asthma), so it's not surprising that what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. There's a lot of trial and error in this, but having a good relationship with your GP is an excellent starting point and, together, you should be able to come up with the best solution for you.