can someone tell me

what is atrovent my son is in hospital due to his asthma and they are messing around with his meds to see if this helps and they have started him on this inhaled drug and is due to start on another inhaled drug as soon as possible i cant remeber what it is called (long name) as soon as they can get ahold of it as it is hard to get apperently it does begin with a c but tht is all i can remember he is also on high dose steriods again just as we got him down to just 10mg a day grrr also he is on bryicnal sub-cut methotrexate septrin an anti-histamine and other stuff it is just iv not heard of atrovent be4 ty in advance

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Hi there Owensmum,

I'm sorry to hear that Owen is in hospital and struggling with his asthma. I hope the changes in medication improve things and he picks up soon.

Atrovent (ipratropium) is an alternative long-acting reliever that can be given by inhaler or nebuliser. It's not so commonly used these days, but it can be a useful addition to treatment in some people. It's not a beta-2 agonist like salbutamol, terbutaline, salmeterol or formoterol; instead, it works on a slightly different part of the autonomic nervous system (the autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that controls how wide the airways are). It generally has a slightly slower mode of onset than salbutamol or terbutaline (30 - 60 mins) so it's not suitable for use as a reliever on its own, but it can help when given with salbutamol. The effects should last for 4 - 6 hours so it is usually given four times a day. The side effects are usually fairly minimal; the most common ones are dry mouth, nausea, and headache. It can occasionally cause eye problems but these usually resolve quickly when it is stopped.

The other inhaled drug that you are talking about is probably ciclesonide (brand name Alvesco). This is a relatively new inhaled steroid that is similar to budesonide (Pulmicort). At the moment, not enough studies have been done to really know if it is going to prove any better than the other inhaled steroids, but some consultants think that it may be. I would think that the hope is that a more effective inhaled steroid will allow Owen to reduce his oral steroids more effectively.

I do hope this helps and that poor Owen feels better soon.

Take care

Em H

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thank you for the reply

i think it is cicl thingy (lol) you are on abt tht they are going to give him a try on as if its a new drug hence why its gona take a while to get a hold of it thank you for letting me know what atrovent is,,,,, this means hell be on 4 inhalers instead ov 2 but if it is gonna help him then im all for it .....