Ventolin use.

Hi, I've just recently been diagnosed with asthma. My doctor put me on Flixotide and Ventolin to start with but needed to keep upping the strength as we weren't achieving the hoped for results. Recently, my doctor changed me over to Seretide and Ventolin and I've definitely seen an improvement as I was needing to use my Ventolin every day but since switching have been able to reduce it back a bit. My doctor says I need to get it back to using Ventolin maybe once a fortnight. Is this even possible?! Thanks so much. Very sorry for the long post for such a little question.

[huggs]

Hi Michael-Ruth, what a lovely name. Please don't be sorry for saying you have a long post. You should see some of mine, they are more like essays!!

I was diagnosed with asthma around 10-12 years ago and like you I was put on Flixotide and Ventolin. Last year the Flixotide was dropped and I started on Seretide 500 at 2 puffs a day. Then things became rapidly worse and to cut a long story short was told that I also had copd and was started on another inhaler called Spiriva. I still have to take the other two but the Spiriva has made such a difference to me that I hardly ever need to use my ventolin. Like you, when first diagnosed I had to use the ventolin regularly until the flixotide got into my system properly and things stabled a bit. My answer to your question about is it possible to get it back to once a fortnight or so (ventolin) is that it all depends on your own circumstances, where you are , what you are doing etc. If you feel you need to use it then use it. Its your health after all. It is certainly possible to go that long without using it as I use to be able to do regularly. Always carry it with you though. I always have a spare so that there is one in the house and one in my bag. If you feel that you need to use it, then you must use it. However, you probably have to distinguish between a little bit of breathlessness that you can recover from quickly and an asthma attack. I hope this answers your question. If not then pm me or post again. Take care and you will be absolutely fine. hugs xx

[Hidden in reply to huggs]

Hi Huggs! Thanks so much for the quick reply, I really appreciate it! Well, I had an appointment with my doctor this morning and she told me start taking 2 puffs of the Seretide twice a day, as I was just having 1 puff twice a day. Just to clarify, I'm only on the 125/25 strength. So we'll see if that helps. I've just found that my doctor can be a little bit unclear about some things and even tends to contradict herself or say something completely different to what she has said in the past, from visit to visit. Or maybe it's just the way I'm taking it. But, does anyone else find this with their doctors? That's why I joined this site. Just looking for a bit of advice from others who have more experience than me, hehe. I must admit, I've been a little confused by some of things my doctor has said, then seemed to say something completely different. Anyway, thanks so much for your help!

[huggs in reply to Hidden]

HI again, I understand your point about some doctors completely! If this happens again you can either phone him/her to clarify your problem, talk to a pharmacist or phone the BLF nurses at the British Lung Foundation. Just click on the red balloon and a helpline number will appear if you scroll down the page a bit. You will get excellent advice from them if needed. Hope all goes well with you. hugs xx

[Hidden in reply to huggs]

Thanks once again for your wonderful help! I hadn't really thought to ask a pharmacist so I'll remember that.

[Offcut]

I have had ventolin for too long Many people have problems using them correctly and a spacer will make a great deal of difference to the impact of ventolin, if you do not seem to get immediate relief.

In my early years I overused it and got the night time twitches in bed which kept waking the wife as I kicked or knocked her in bed.

I learnt to lean forward on a chair and control my breathing instead of using Ventolin. Which I know you cannot always do! I have a heart condition which is not helped by ventolin so that has become another reason to ease up on it for me.

Not sure if you know but Ventolin and other salbutamol inhalers can be bought from Chemists in the uk now if you find you have gone out with an empty or forgotten it.

I have one in the car glove compartment and pretty much every jacket I have.

My Ventolin Tip of the week is make sure that there is nothing in the inhaler before use. Nothing worse than sucking a bit of a tissue into your lungs from your pocket/purse I know I have done it.

[Bryju124 in reply to Offcut]

Hi off cut I had to have a giggle cos nearly choked myself a couple of times forgetting to check my inhaler b4 using it

[Hidden]

Hi Offcut, thanks very much for your tips. I'll keep that in mind! Also, just to explain a bit further as I completely forgot to mention this in my first post..I've actually been using the ventolin for around 2 years. I started having trouble with asthma then, but was too scared to go to the doctor about it. My father in law was an ambulance officer and also has asthma as do others in the family and he recognized some of the symptoms I was having and suggested I try the ventolin to see if it helped at all. It did! So I just kept using it as I was just so happy I'd found something to help it without having to go see a doctor. But obviously I wasn't using and preventer so I was using the ventolin way too much. And yes, I do realise how utterly dumb that was of me. I absolutely hate going to the doctor and I know how silly it is but it's a fear that really gets the better of me if I let it. And in this case it did. Anyway, my family gave me a lot of help with it and still do. But after a few too many scares because of it, the fear of dying from asthma related issues overpowered my fear of going to the doctors, so I finally went earlier in the year and was officially diagnosed then put on the preventer. I've been using a spacer since I first got the ventolin a couple years ago and it definitely helps me. I've also had allergies and been on different medications for that since I was around 2. I had a lot of asthma symptoms as I child as well, but they weren't substantial enough for a doctor to worry about it. As I've gotten older, it just seems to have gotten worse and worse and that's why I had so much help from my family over the last couple of years. Also, a few people have mentioned to me about learning how to control my breathing so that when my chest gets tight, I can fix it without using the ventolin...how does that work and it sounds very hard to do?? I tend panic though I tell myself over and over not to. Once again, sorry for the huge message! I just thought I'd better explain myself a little better. Thanks so much!!

[Offcut in reply to Hidden]

My consultant said that a lot asthma sufferers have problems even after taking ventolin because of panic breathing. Hence the slow deep breath in and out gets you back in command of the tightness.

Be Well