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cfc free

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Hi i am new just wondered what you all thought about the new cfc free inhalers.

Got a real shock they taste and feel awful. Tried using this Clenil Modulate with a spacer to see if it improved things but no.

Why dont they pick on someone else do not know how i am going to get used to this at all they just do not feel right Feel it is irritating my asthma but what can i do nothing else available right?

Bring back cfc i say how have you all felt about this.

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Not so much of a shock to me. CFC inhaler was my first.

My grandpa used to say if the medicine tastes nasty, its doing you good.

KateMoss profile image
KateMoss

If we bring back CFCs there will be no ozone layer and we will frizzle to a crisp!

The pharmaceutical world will never be alowed to bring back CFCs. They have had many years to convert over to alternative propellants and they have managed it .... mostly! Except if you used MDI bricanyl - that no longer exists so you are stuck with powder inhalers or nebs.

It is more the exipients in the inhalers that make them taste funny sometimes.

I have had no problems with CFC free inhalers as long as I stick to one brand Glaxo.

Clenil modulite is Beclomethasone and available in other forms. Perhaps if you really don't like the taste and it is agravating your asthma (Generics upset mine!) ask about another make.

BTW you should try tasting chloroquin Malaria tablets..... eeeewwww! Anything tastes nice after them! The only way to take them was buried in a spoon of marmite..... but you can't bury inhaled meds in Marmite! LOL!

I used to think Flixotide tasted like old socks. Cyclosporin smells like rubber mixed with weed and doesn't taste too funky either! (note I only know what weed smells like from living in student halls, never tried it lol!)

Kate, if we have no Ozone layer, well fry, then i'm in favour of bringing back cfc's, where have our long hot summers gone that we use to have when I was a child, looking out the window for the 10th day of rain or showers.

Seriously, I've not known anything other than cfc free inhalers, and so can't really comment, but don't find them bad, but it makes me wonder what you use to get that makes them such a huge difference.

CFC as far as i was aware went in my system and not environment but hey thats just what i thought.

My chest is just starting to feel a little freer now from taking meds 7 hrs ago not right.

Sorry about Ozone layer and all that but i am sure they could start somewhere a little more toxic than our inhalers!!!

Lets start with all the poisonous perfumes that are EVERYWHERE.

Sorry but it is hard for me not to panic about this. Asthma nurse basically said thats all there is tough when i questioned her about messing with something that has worked for me for over 20 years so i just told myself not to be silly. But my preventer should not be making me feel this bad and i am so pi**ed that all those stinky people/cleaning products pollute everything and big megga bucks companys spit poison freely and they take something from me that helps me breathe easier it's nuts.

Sorry about Ozone layer and all that but i am sure they could start somewhere a little more toxic than our inhalers!!!""

Erm... they have. The reason inhalers no longer contain CFCs is because of something called the Montreal Protocol, which means that *all* CFCs everywhere will be phased out by 2010. No-one is specifically targeting inhalers, or anything else for that matter. The ""mega bucks companies"" have had to spend millions, if not billions, on changing products that worked perfectly well beforehand into products that no longer contain CFCs - for no extra financial gain, so I'm sure that they would have left things exactly as they were given the choice.

An alternative to Clenil is Qvar, so perhaps that is something you could try? All asthmatics are in the same boat about this, so pharmacies will be fully prepared to advise you - speak to your pharmacist, and your GP, and see what they can come up with.

Well Psteve thanks for keeping me right. Came on here for a little support thought someone else may be experiencing the same problems i am but not sooo. Very glad you are all well enough and happy with your meds.But excuse me if i am not too concerned about the OZONE do my bit but refuse to stop breathing thanks.

Al Gore a real saint of course thats when he is not buzzing around in jets etc.

Oh but thanks for telling me about the other brand had spoken to chemist about this all ready. Wont hold my breath pardon the pun as to its merits but as long as it is not like spraying poison down my throat that will do me fingers crossed.

KateMoss profile image
KateMoss

Doe,

You may have had problems even pre- CFC free inhalers if you were prescribed a generic inhaler. It isn't always the propellant, It can be the other ingredients in the inhaler that cause the problem!

I assume you don't have children (Please correct me if I am wrong) as you don't seem to care about the future of the world we live in!

Kate

Here, here.

I am new too and um..........sorry but I think things are getting a little fraught with this thread.

It obviously touches on issues close to peoples hearts but there are ways of saying things chaps and I think maybe things are getting a little heated and personal.

On the inhaler issue, I find the small inhalers I get from the hospital taste very different to the ones I get from my GP which is a Ventolin (tm) evohaler (tm). I find that the Ventolin one from the GP is much more similar to the old style which had cfc's in it and doesn't taste too bad. Also, if you use your ventolin through a volumatic or other spacer device it doesn't usually taste as bad.

Other than that it may be possible to talk to your GP if the change is causing you difficulties with your asthma and discuss a possible change in inhaler - some of them have different delivery systems and may suit you better.

Hope this helps

Fee

*edit* Sorry, just re-read your original post and noted you were not in fact talking about ventolin and that you have already tried a spacer.....obviously I'm not very observant today! The manufacturer of the inhalers I'm using is Allen and Hamburys.

Hope things improve for you.

Moderator Message

Chill pill time, please.

Doe, you're obviously very worried about this issue but please don't start personally attacking the people who are trying to explain the reasons and facts behind the changes occurring with inhalers - they are trying to help. Simply because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they are not being supportive.

Inhalers are probably one of the very last things that have been affected by the Montreal Protocol to eliminate CFCs from worldwide use. Pharmaceutical companies have put off withdrawing CFC-containing inhalers until almost the last ""minute"", but as the protocol comes into force in 2010, they have little choice but to start complying now.

Any inhaler, not just CFC-free inhalers, may not suit you, or may taste horrible. Some people are actively allergic to excipients/preservatives within the inhaler ""vehicle"" (rather than the drug itself). As with any drug, sometimes it can be trial-and-error to sort out what is the best medication for you.

In terms of beclometasone (the active ingredient in Clenil) - an alternative, as PeakSteve has said, is Qvar. There are other inhaled steroids also, which you could try if Qvar doesn't suit you either. Lots of options - just keep asking your asthma nurse or GP! Hope you find one that suits you.

CathBear

(Moderator)

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