Medication

[ked1941]

I have had my spiriva handihaler changed to Eklira Genuair inhaler, has anyone used this and how have you found it.

[freefaller]

Not heard of either of these. There must be so many different inhalers.

[Hidden]

I use the handihaler, but never heard of the other one.

[jimmyw123]

i had used the eklira genuair many years a ago, instead of spiriva.

it was only for a short while.its a green and white container.with the "press" button being green and the mouthpiece cover green.

i found it left a gritty, or sandy taste in my mouth.

at the time i was changing gp,s then for some unknown

reason found myself back on spiriva.

to be honest i couldn't say it helped any better than spiriva, but just having it such a short time would have been hard to tell.

but i did prefer the spiriva to this gritty taste in my mouth of the eklira genuair.

[Shocked1]

I'm using eklira. Apart from the awful griitty taste it's brilliant for me. As I rinse my mouth after inhaling it makes no difference to me. It's a twice a day medication spiriva used to 'run out' for me after 12 hours so this ones perfect. Been on it a year now. Good luck and keep us informed as to how your getting on with it. X

[rogerbaldy]

Tried it and swapped back to Spiriva after one week. Spiriva is pretty good for me as have been taking it for several years now.

[gazman]

When i was told that I had COPD, the doctor gave me spiriva to inhale one a day, along with Ventolin. I rarely used ventolin. I later asked my GP if it was necessary to use spiriva daily. He said no. I have not used spiriva for over a month but have used ventolin on and off. It is much cheaper and seems to do the same job as spiriva.Check with your GP first.

[FarmerD]

I must say the last post by Gazman is very misleading.Ventolin is not the same as spiriva.Ventolin/salbutamol is an every day reliever to be used when short of breath from exertion.Spiriva is a long acting medication that relieves the long term affects of Copd and should be used as directed by doctor/consultant.These are powerful drugs and should not be messed about with .Check with your doctor or Copd nurse.Try and monitor the effects of your new medication if it has better results than the other one stick with it if not ask doctor to go back to the other one.Good luck D.

[Fennella02]

I too used Eklira for a year and found it to be very effective. I had to take 2 puffs twice daily and simply hated the bitter powder. I asked my Consultant for a powder-less equivalent but he told me that the powders are preferred for environmental reasons. I am now on Anoro Ellipta which seems to be equally effective but is just 1 puff once a day 😀