I have two younger children with asthma and have searched for years for a simple device that can be attached to a puffer simply to track the amount of puffs dispensed. This helps me to keep track of how many are left.
Too often I have had one that is almost spent without knowing it. Is there anything inexpensive on the market (not interested in app style electronic device - just a simple counter would do!). thanks
I used to keep a list & a pencil inside the bathroom cabinet to tick off daily. More tricky with ventolin. My daughter used to use the same but in the kitchen drawer were the inhalers are. Its a flipping nuisance
Thx. Yes. Can you think of why there isn't a product available that can simply attach to the puffer and even manually keep count? Seems like such an obvious idea?
I know Randerson77, its utterly ridiculous when plenty of other inhalers come with a built-in counter so you never have to think about it. The ones without are particularity bad because the spray type contain a propellant some of which remains in the aerosol when the medication is finished. If people don't realise that then they think there's still medication left when they shake and there isn't. Happily my Fostair has a counter.
I use this counter:
amazon.de/-/en/SDARMING-Cou...
Yes there is always that solution i suppose! thx. But there must be an attachable device on the market somewhere. Or maybe I'm being over the top and people don't really need one?
I agree that we need one, but I guess the big pharma/the NHS has decided that 95% of people have well controlled asthma (via steroidal inhalers), use their inhaler only occasionally, and then just get another inhaler in a month w/o worrying how much there is left. I also used to measure the mass of the inhaler on a digital scale, but this is even more fiddly than the counter I posted.
I found that only some steroidal inhalers have counters (Trimbow and Seretide, for example).
Hi Randerson.
I saw these on Facebook - 2 for £9.99. When they came they were delivered by Amazon.
Yes, there is an app. No I haven’t used them - my phone is too old - and yes, I suspect there is a subscription.
smartasthma.com/products/su...
thx troilus. Yes a few app things about i suppose. Do people not really bother tracking how many puffs are left in their dispenser?
I’ve searched for quite a few years for a dose tracker for my blue inhaler. At one point I had a stitch counter strapped to my inhaler but didn’t use it consistently. If I remember rightly dose counters are fitted on Ventolin inhalers in the USA after research showed that some people were throwing them out while there were still doses in them and a fairly large percentage of people who turned up in the Emergency department had been using an “empty” inhaler.
Mostly I have been checking the weight, which isn’t ideal.
Trollius, do you like this gizmo? I might get one, too, thanks for the tip. Although I trust mechanical devices more than smartphones :).
I haven’t used it yet, but I am looking forward to giving it a go- even if there is a small monthly charge. I’ll be changing my phone at the end of the month as networks are dropping 3G.
Wow, they want a monthly fee for this? If it was a one-off payment, I would pay them up to 20 quid, perhaps...
I think it is about £10 a year, which isn’t bad and I think I read that once the battery dies on the counter they replace it - don’t ask me how
I agree 10 quid is not much at all. I would prefer to replace batteries on my own, not wait for them to do it :). The device is a bluetooth switch, I guess. I hope it pairs etc etc reliably, and does not lose the count. I guess the phone is what keeps the count, the thing just transmits a pulse.
I wrap a bit of masking tape around mine and mark the doses on with a pen - the old way of four strokes and then a 5th one across, so it's easy to count up multiples of 5. And draw a line across the whole thing under each set of 50 marks, so I can easily see when I've used 150 and am down to my last 50 doses. It's the only thing I've found works for me as separate lists just got lost and stitch counters could get nudged and altered by mistake. Also, I usually have two inhalers on the go, one that I take out with me and one that stays in the house, and now I'm marking the actual inhaler, there's no risk of mixing the two up, which happened once before - I thought I had the fuller of the two with me, but I'd accidentally swapped it with the one that didn't have much left!
My asthma nurse told me that you can float the canister in water and the lower it sinks, the more medication is left in.... personally , i much prefer to try and order a new one once mine feels like its getting low, and since my asthma is very badly controlled at the moment, its been very touch and go getting a replacement in time for my pharmacy before the weekend, with my doctor surgery not signing off in time. so need to get better at ordering a new one well in advance. I also think that we should be entitled to have 2 at a time so that there is always a backup.
I gradually ordered mine a bit earlier so now I keep one in reserve and when I start that I order the new one. As in a few days earlier each time so that eventually you have a reserve, I don’t know why they don’t let you have a reserve it seems ridiculous unless someone knows a reason why?
I think it's worry about overuse and someone trying to self-medicate poorly controlled asthma at home with excessive amounts of Ventolin instead of seeing their GP. So I can see why GPs might be wary about issuing Ventolin too often - but that surely needs to be balanced against the risk of someone running out completely.
Anyone, my pharmacy told me that if you've been issued with Ventolin on prescription in the last 6 months, they are allowed to issue you with one 'emergency' one, so as to cover emergency situations where someone loses their original one. So if you can get a second inhaler as an emergency supply, anyone who is determined not to see their GP is still going to be able to work their way through two inhalers before running out.
I agree it’s for a good reason with the reliever as once you’re using it a lot it’s a sign your asthma isn’t controlled so you should see someone, I did it with my steroid inhaler and not my reliever.
Yes I have a back up of my steroid that’s what I meant below but I agree with mandevilla that the thinking is if your using your reliever a lot the asthma is not controlled.
Sorry, I misunderstood. My maintenance inhaler is fixed at one dose a day, so I don't really need a backup for that as long as it arrives a couple of days before the old one runs out. And my pharmacy is pretty good at issuing a few days early if I'm due to be away when it runs out. I find it more of an issue getting the Ventolin, which is much more variable in use (and potentially more serious if I run out!)
that’s great to know about the pharmacy’s.
I've been hunting online,following Yr post.q a few companies have designed counters and been approved by fda in America.theyre expensive to us in UK.Hopefully,manufacturers may incorporate the designs.fostair has a counter on x
Don't know if they still do them but you used to be able to get simple knitting counters for counting the number of stitches or rows.
I write mine on the box inhaler comes in! x
I tried that, but the box disintegrated and I lost part of it, so had no idea how much was left. ☹️Hence the tape on the actual inhaler now!!!
The puffers example budesonide. Atrovent or albuterol it says 122 puffs But to me i dont get that. I onlys have the nebulizer medication as back up budesonide and Atrovent and Albuterol
One time the puff the counter wasnt working told the pharmacist and they said well you have to wait a month if you want it covered by your insurance. This why i have a back up plan
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