Im an adult woman, diagnosed with asthma in my late teens. Had several hospital stays in my life with an ICU admission under my belt too!
I want to share my experience of taking the wrong inhaler when I should have stopped, I don’t want to put anyone off - I’ve read some people (more infact) that have had great experiences with the culprit. Unfortunately my asthma has always been a bit of a pain to treat and I am really prone to side effects from other medications.
my last medication was the clinel modulate (brown inhaler) 200mg x two puffs, twice a day and the Serevent 25mg two puffs, twice a day (green inhaler, long acting reliever) and a blue Salamol. All of my inhaled meds have been taken through a spacer with tidal breathing.
I was moved onto fobumix following an emergancy GP appointment. The GP didn’t explain that it was a powder inhallation and I didn’t realise until I got home and went to use it. I ended up watching some videos online to work out how to use it.
The first week was fine. I wasn’t convinced by it.
The second week my throat started to become a bit sore, I started gargling salt water and mouthwash and thought I was comming down with something.
Third week, throat is very, very sore. Feels raw. I’ve started drinking lots and lots of water to offset it. If I take another cough sweet I think I’ll be sick. My sleep started to become disturbed. No other cold and flu symptoms so I start to think that it might be the inhaler.
Fourth week, I have an appointment with the asthma nurse at the surgery. I’m eager to speak with her because I’m sure something is wrong. The appointment was awful, honestly it felt like a sales pitch for this inhaler, she was telling me that she’s an asthmatic and she loves it, it’s so much more convenient and I don’t need a spacer! She did a very dramatic demonstration of how she uses it. She tells me that if I keep taking this medication eventually I’ll be able to stop the asthma medication all together (??? No one has ever said that before, only that I’d be able to control it). She upped the dose and told me to come back in a year. She said the sore throat was definitely not caused by the powder inhaler and I likely had a viral infection that would clear up on its own. I was so tired the whole appointment I just couldn’t fight her, I left feeling really lost and confused. I remember texting a friend that night saying I started to feel like I was living in the twilight zone because of the lack of sleep.
I started taking the increased dose. I cannot express how painful my throat became. That night I barely slept and spent most of it pacing the lounge. I worked from home the next day, completed all my phone calls before taking the next dose, I called the asthma uk line and spoke to an amazing nurse who confirmed that it likely was the inhaler but there’s a big push on GP surgeries to move asthmatics onto powder inhalers as they have low CO2 emissions, she said most asthmatics get on well with the powders but unfortunately some don’t. At some point an admin called me and when I answered the phone, no sound came out. I had to use so much pressure to get my voice out that I just sounded like I was making squeaks. I decided to go to the pharmacy - it was gone 2pm and I knew the surgery would be useless. I must have looked such a mess in the pharmacy, crying at this poor old pharmacist who couldn’t understand a word I was saying, I had to write on paper. He called the surgery and kept asking to speak with the GP but there’s a big receptionist said I needed to call 111 or call tomorrow for an appointment. The pharmacist said he was half tempted to tell me to go to A&E.
I spoke to my dad that evening who was worried as I sounded really breathless - though I felt okay. He took a look at the inhaler and asked why on earth they gave me this, he talked about how years ago after an admission to hospital I was treated by respiratory in out patients and that they had tried then to get me on powders and it hadn’t worked, he did unlock a memory of those appointments and what happened when I moved onto the spacer with the tidal breathing techniques. I’ve been prescribed them a couple of times and almost always taken right back off them - it’s frustrating that no one ever explains why. My understanding is that some of us just don’t have the respiratory strength to pull the powder inhaler into the lungs.
That night I didn’t sleep at all. I worked from home the next day and texted my boss to say I couldn’t take any calls. I managed to get the surgery to get a GP to do a telephone review (I wasn’t allowed to have an appointment as I’d been seen two days prior). I was explaining the situation and had another speech about how the powder inhalers are better for the environment. My voice was so hoarse I’m sure I sounded absolutely rabid on the phone but I did manage to get her to move me back to MDI inhalers. She prescribed the luforbec and made a follow up appointment with a different nurse at the practice.
through the day I felt the effects of the previous inhaler wearing off and my voice getting better. I was so exhausted I don’t remember what I did at work that afternoon. That night when I finished work I went to bed at 6pm. The next thing I knew it was 11:15 the following morning. I’m fairly convinced the issue was the steroid sitting on my throat as I’ve had insomnia on steroid tablets before.
I do have a pretty gnarly cough on the luforbec and from reading some of your comments I think I have a fair but in common with some of you that can’t tolerate the powders (I feel so vindicated that people out there agree with me that the Ventolin is different to the Salamol! I’ve been convinced for years I could blind pick ventolin out of a lineup!) I’d love to try the Fostair and see if that deals with the cough issue but the luforbec is night and day compared to the fobumix and I don’t know if it’s a war I’m willing to wage on the GP surgery over it!
Do take my situation with a grain of salt, I am someone who does seem to be particularly sensitive to medication! This is not the first time I’ve reacted to meds!
Frustrated with new gp’s
Luforbec
First inhaler
first COPD review & change of inhaler
After seeing new Consultant last week
