Does anyone else panic about accidently overdosing on their inhaler?

[MaryRaynauds]

Ok, so I know that this is going to sound completely ridiculous but I'm on Flutiform and I always panic as to whether I've taken too many puffs! Now, admittedly, I do suffer from anxiety, which tends to make me panic about most things, but I find myself, mostly in the evenings, obsessing that I've inhaled three doses instead of two because I wasn't paying attention or whatever and then freaking myself out and obsessing over any bodily twinge in case it's a side effect.

Does anyone else worry about this or is anyone else as distracted/ as absent-minded as I am when it comes to taken their inhaler? Does anyone have any tips when it comes to keeping track?

Thanks in advance!

P.S thankfully I never have as some reasonable part of me makes sure I don't but I still worry!

[stone-UK]

Hi

If it is a metered dose, take the odd number in the morning and the even number at night.

It also works if you take two in the morning and two at night.

After taking you required dose it should show odd number.

Example first no one, second no two left showing no three.

[mmzetor]

if you took an extra puff once in a while wouldn't hurt you, wouldn't recommend it every day ,

[cofdrop-UK]

If it is worrying you to this extent you might want to write down on paper after each dose.

lovecx

[FarmerD]

Hi Mary,they tried me on flutiform but it did,nt do anything for me so I insisted they put me back on seretide.One in the morning and one at night,I,m sure I occasionally take two puffs at night because take one then drift off thinking about stuff while I,m gargling only to forget whether I have or have,nt .It won,t hurt now and again,It is a tiny amount of powder we inhale.I have so many meds have a system.All things in a box,pills,eyes drops even Oramorph,I write on the box date and if necessary time.On my azithromycin I write Mon,We'd,Fri and underneath the date when I take one,with my weekly Alendronic acid I just write the date once I have taken it.Once we get into this sort of habit it,s easy not to get it wrong.Oddly enough seretide is the only med I don,t monitor because I know it won,t do me any harm to double dose now and then.I do dread getting any new meds though I,m running out of places to put the damn stuff.Hope this helps a wee bit,regards D. 💐

[laffer]

no problem with remembering but sometimes I can't hear spiriva 'spinning,' and worry if capsule is empty or faulty . Anyone else noticed this ?

[andmikel in reply to laffer]

I check my Spiriva capsule afterward for the two holes and then pull the top off and tap each part on the back of my hand to see if there is any powder left before disposal. I fill in a spread sheet with columns for night and morning and tick off each item of medication as I have taken it. I still get the occasional blank column where I have missed altogether when my routine gets interrupted!

[Hidden in reply to laffer]

Yes I have. I am on another copd site and someone there brought this up and a lot of us have noticed empty capsules, and not just the odd one but it can be several. It seems to be worldwide. x

[jackdup in reply to Hidden]

Do you mean empty capsules before you inhale them as one would expect them to be empty after inhaling them?

[starveycat]

My biggest bugbear on the inhalers I use is there is no measure and I wonder if sometimes I took one or two puffs. Do it in the kitchen so I put 4 teaspoons on the worktop and each time I puff I put one away, then I wonder if I remembered to put the teaspoon away. Oh the wonder and joy of asthma

[emmo]

I have written a chart with everything I take x the number of times to take

each one, I then tick them off immediately. It works for me so might be

worth a try. Panic is also part of our diseases so ...........don't panic...take

deep breaths. Hope it works for you. Take care

[Joy123]

Hi Mary, I only take one puff of seretide morning and evening and I occasionally have a second puff and just as I've done it think 'I've already done that'! I'm sure the odd assitional puff won't cause you any harm but if you're doing it on a regular basis how about putting two items down, say two coins, chocolates/sweets (you could reward yourself with those afterwards) and remove one with each puff. Just a suggestion (maybe silly, haha!!) or you could put a couple of ticks on a piece of paper and cross them out as you 'puff'. Good luck and don't worry too much. Joy x

[Magpuss]

Have a piece of paper and a pencil with you whenever you're ready to use your inhaler. Immediately after the first puff make a diagonal line on the paper, after the second puff make another diagonal line across the first one, like so...first line / and then second line.....X. This way, you get a kiss for getting it right.😊

[Jaysha]

You can increase your dose up to 4 times a day if you need to. What type of inhaler are you using. Mine are the round ones with 60 puffs in and much easier as you can only take 1 puff at a time. If you are worried ask your doctor or do you have someone at your surgery who just deals with respiratory problems. I always google if unsure there is always help. Hope you sort it. Take care.

[Dragonmum]

I used to put Seretide on the shelf of the kitchen dresser then after morning puff demote it to the flat part, back up after the evening one. Not visually pleasing, but it worked. I really don't think the odd extra puff would kill you though.

[asia1980]

Keep a medicine journal and write down every time you use your inhaler. Then when you are worried, you can just check to see how many times you've used it.