Yet another question...sorry!

Sorry for asking yet another question, but what is Atrovent? I hear people mention it and I'm confuzzled :S

Emz x

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atrovent

atrovent is another type of inhaler. my 15 year old daughter is on it as well as taking montelukast and ventolin and serotide.

apparantly the nurse at my doctors practice said its more commonly used with elderly people with lung problems.

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So is it a reliever? I am on ventolin, seretide, and montelukast too and have chronic lung problems. My asthma nurse hasn't mentioned it and nor have any doctors, so i was jst wondering what it was and what it does as the meeds im on at the moment aren't helping much

thanks for the reply!

Emz x

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Atrovent (Ipratropium bromide) is a type of medicine known as an antimuscarinic bronchodilator. It is used to open the airways and assist breathing, in lung diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. Ipratropium works by blocking receptors, called muscarinic receptors, that are found on the muscle surrounding the airways in the lungs. Stimulation of these receptors by a natural chemical called acetylcholine normally causes the muscle in the airways to contract, and this makes the airways narrow. Depending on how much the receptors are stimulated, this can cause difficulties breathing, as is seen in asthma and bronchitis. As ipratropium blocks the receptors, it stops the action of acetylcholine and allows the airways to open, making it easier to breathe. Atrovent is used to prevent bronchospasm attacks but will not treat bronchospasm while it is happening.

I use Spiriva which is a similar drug -Tiotropium, it is used regularly each day to keep the airways open and help prevent breathing difficulties. The medicine works over 24 hours so it is best to always take it at the same time of day. When I am unwell I use Atrovent nebullisers regularly instead of Spiriva.

Hope this helps

Sarah

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I am on ventolin, seretide, and montelukast too, and have also had atrovent mentioned, can it be taken aswell as? any info greatly appreciated!

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atrovent

Hi,

Well my daughter takes 1 atrovent capsule in her inhaler 4 times a day. We have noticed a slight improvement but her serotide was also increased to 250mg twice daily so her hospital consultant is still trying to balance things out. Unfortunately the increased seretide gave her horrendous oral thrush so she has gone back to using a spacer for it. She has also just gone through skin prick allergy testing and has positive reactions to cat, dog, horses, silver birch, house dust mite and grass pollen so she is thoroughly fed up at moment as she is finding all these are having a negative impact on her usually active life.

sorry went slightly off track

Nic

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Yes you can take it as well, I take Salbutamol, Seretide and Montelukast as well as numerous other meds.

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Yes you can take it as well, I take Salbutamol, Seretide and Montelukast as well as numerous other meds.

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Yes you can take atrovent in addition to a steroid preventer and a protector inhaler. I take flixotide, serevent, and atrovent as well as using salbutamol as a reliever. I'm not sure if atrovent can be used as a reliever inhaler, I take it twice daily as part of my morning and evening meds but I have been given it as a nebuliser in a + e too.

mellers - has your daughter tried rinsing her mouth or brushing her teeth after using her seretide? I had lots of problems with oral thrush over the summer but it's improved since I've been more consistent with taking my flixotide before brushing my teeth. Also its wise to always use a spacer when taking steriod inhalers as it can help prevent thrush and makes sure the maximum amount of med gets into the lungs!

Sparkly Fairy

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atrovent

Hi Sparkly fairy,

Thanks for you reply yes my daughter has just this week been given a new volumatic spacer. As she is 15 she has found this quite annoying and sees it as a bit of a step back but after suffering the nasty thrush attack ive convinced her she must use it.

She does rinse her mouth out and uses a mouth wash im concerned at the moment because she usually copes quite well. However she has been really down this week not helped by having a virul infection which has affected her breathing and she has had a few panic attacks causing her to hyper ventilate.

So are there anymore 15 year olds who would share their experiences on her for Hannah to read as im sure that would help her a lot.

Thanks again for the support.

Mellers

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Hi mellers

I'm a a few years older than your daughter at 21 but having being diagnosed at 18 just as I went to university I can understand her frustrations with asthma. I found it hard to begin with as I'm a very active person playing lots of sport (when I can) and socailising with friends.

re. spacers, please assure hannah that it is definitely not a step back and all asthmatics who have a steroid inhaler should use a spacer to prevent thrush attacks and ensure they get the best dose of medicine from their inhaler, even if it is a bit annoying. You say Hannah has a volumatic spacer and I'm wondering if she had one of these when she was younger and therefore associates it with her childhood? There are smaller spacers available such as the aerochamber and the able spacer which are much more portable (about the size of a small water bottle) and fit most bags. Maybe you could ask your gp for one of these?

Also you mentioned allergies to things like animals and pollen? I have allergies to pollen, dust and moulds and take anti histamines and a nasal spray all year round to control my symptoms along side my inhalers. You may have already tried this but I thought I mention it!

Perhaps your daughter could have a look at the kick asthma messageboards on this site? There are lots of people her age on there who post regularly to share their experiences.

Sparkly Fairy

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Hi- I have just turned 16 in september.

I have been Plagued By a bad chest since I was 2 but Only recently diagnosed in December. I have severe asthma and Hate it. I have several attacks a year and my cons don't know what to do with me! On the bright side, My asthma is at the minute-Reasonably well controlled and I can get on with most things. I don't let it stop me playing sports! I give out at my lungs but they listen! (most of the time!) I play sports for school and love it! I will do anything and not let my asthma stop me! I know using spacers is not the coolest thing in the world, But I have had 3 throat infections Because I didn't use mine and had to take a week off school each time!

Hope this helps!!

pm if you need me!

Vicky

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Hi Mellers

I note that your daughter uses a mouth wash. I do too, but have had lots of thrush recently. On Thursday, when I bought yet another tube of DAktarin gel, the pharmacist suggested that the Oraldene I was using as a mouthwash might actually be 'stripping' my tongue and making me more susceptible to thrush. JUst thought you might be interested in this. Has anyone else had this problem?

Kathyx

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hey

feel free to pm me too im 16... oranother idea would be the kick asthma website... it has a message board too kickasthma.org.uk on there there are auite a few teens with various experiences ect.

hope that helps

Emma

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atrovent

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your replies, i will ask Hannah to respond, should i be able to get her off MSN of course.

With regards to the anti histamine and nasal spray yes she is also on citrizine and fluctisone nasal spray but still not helping much.

Her consultant has mentioned injections over quite a while to de sensitize her, dont know much about these so any more info would be great.

Thanks

Mellers

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hey mellers

if you change your personal settings to recieve pm's i@ll send you my email addy for hannah

hope you both ok

Emma x