Hello everyone, I’m a newbie to posting on here but I have followed some of the chats and everyone seems so friendly and knowledgeable, I wondered if I could pick your brains.
I had mild Covid in April 2020 and it left me with long covid, the worst effects of which for me are fatigue and shortness of breath. After many attempts to get a diagnosis of what is causing the SOB I have had since, I had an xray in June 2021 that showed hyperinflated lungs. The GP has diagnosed me with suspected COPD and prescribed salbutamol which I use when I have shortness of breath, that generally happens if I’m walking uphill, moreso in the cold. Bear in mind I used to be fairly active with walking and cycling – in fact I spent my birthday in 2019 walking up Helvellyn!
On the advice of the long covid assessor I was told to again request spirometry from my GP but she has said it is not available due to Covid and it is unlikely to return to surgeries in this area at all. So I am not able to get a diagnosis on what lung disorder I have. Instead she wants me to try Anoro Ellipta 55/22 as a preventer. Having read online the side effects I am very hesitant to commit to taking this every day as my symptoms have currently subsided plus I do respond well to the salbutamol. Whilst I appreciate many side effects are rare there are some common ones such as muscular pain, UTI’s, digestive problems etc that I really don’t want to get.
So my question is, do any of you use this inhaler, have you experienced side effects and how has it helped you. Any feedback would be appreciated.