can someone tell me what rescue meds are - Lung Conditions C...
can someone tell me what rescue meds are
Hi, usually steroids and antibiotics given to you by the doctor to keep at home so you can start taking them as soon as the need arises without waiting for an appointment.
Yes you need to be able to recognise the early signs so you can start on the anti's and Preds at an early stage before the infection takes hold so you should always have a spare set near to you rather than waiting a few days before going to the docs. Always tell your doc what you have taken though.
Also have a specimen sputum pot handy to take to the surgery when an infection occurs. If you are unsure when to take, speak to the respiratory nurse.
I had thought rescue meds were meds like salbutomal, also called reliever meds - i.e. the ones which you take when you are suddenly breathless, as opposed to PREVENTATIVE medication which is stuff like symbicort which is a combination of inhaled steroids (budesinide in this case) and long acting beta agonists - these are not taken in an emergency but regularly, e.g. 2 puffs twice a day to prevent attacks and achieve your best functioning.
Antibiotics and oral steroids are usually known as STANDBY medication, i.e. not taken regularly, but to be taken as linsabout says above when your get a flare-up in consultation with your GP. But you can start them yourselves if you know what to do - very useful at the weekend when doctors aren't around and, wouldn't you know, that seems to be when most flare-ups tend to start.
But please let me know if I've got these definitions wrong. 
That's catch 22
I've seen reference to rescue meds here which can be confusing, some are referring to the reliever meds and others may be referring to the emergency pack given to some patients to have at home in case of emergency. I personally have just been familiar with the following terminations:
Reliever meds are those that relieve symptoms (salbutamol, ventolin etc these can be known as broncho dilaters)
Preventer meds are those that help prevent symptoms and exacerbations, mainly corticosteroids (steroid inhalers)
Emergency pack prescribed to some patients to self medicate in cases of emergency when they are unable to see a doctor quickly and the patient is familiar when they have a lung infection / exacerbation occuring. The Emergency pack consists of Anti biotics and oral steroids (prednisolone).
I've just googled this and there is some ambiguity.
Rescue packs are as Bengunn says for exacerbations when you can't see a doc - what my GP calls standby meds.
But some sites refer to reliever meds as rescue inhalers.
No wonder there's confusion.
These are your stand by ab's in case you get really poorly over a weekend or bank holiday and you start your course in good time before seeing your DR , however I normally go to the Dr or Hospital daily and they listen to my chest before I go for the AB's if I am in any doubt.. Its a fine line do I or don't I but last time the Hospital said no infection today but could be close so we decided to start them just in case as I was not getting on top of the cold.. That's my fist course in 2 years..Always could to keep them though at home like others.
In my husbands case ( as some of you may know he has IPH - very rare ) Home rescue pack in his case comprises of two Antibiotics ( Amoxycillin & Clarithromycin plus Prednisolone - higher dose than his normal daily dose ) .This is for emergency use ie. out of hours / weekends etc . We were at our son's in Connecticut for Christmas & Mike was unwell so he started his emergency meds . This meant we didn't have to resort to hospital & we were able to fly home . Really reassuring to have this & from experience we know when it' s time to use it .
hi all well thanks to this great site i started of with a head cold sneezing, runny nose, and cough then the cough got much worse what i brought up was always clear started feeling more tired than usual after working my 3 hours felt really rough on friday driving home from work made up my mind to call in to my surgery at 9am got to c the nurse at 9.20 checked my chest no wheezing or crackling so she gave me antibotics to take if i cough up green saturday afternoon it turned green. If i hadnt been on this site i would never of thought to go to the doctors until it was much further down the line so thanks for all the information marian xx
Thank you so much everybody
josy,
As pergola mentioned. have a sputum pot at the ready, so you can cough up the sputum and have it analysed before you take any antibiotics, as you need not to affect the sputum with antibiotics for it to be effectively analysed.
what I found is that I have series of antibiotics on my repeat prescription. This means that it's not really a rescue pack, but it's always there. I have Rifampicin and Clarithromycin as permanent drug. but I also have cyprofloxacin on standby just in case pseudomonas shows. I also still have on standby some Colomycin for the nebuliser. This is also for pseudomonas whichiI used to catch frequently.. Quite honestly, each individual is a bit different and has its appropriate medicine. Prednisolone are useful to stifle an infection in the lungs, but it usually needs to be accompanied with antibiotics
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