Ventolin!?

Hi all, As some of you probably know I have just been diagnosed and given a brown steroid as well as the blue. The brown does not seem to be working yet (I was told it could take up to 2 weeks to start working) but I am worried if I am overusing my blue in the meantime. At the moment I am using it at least 3+ times a day. Can anyone shed light on this for me?

Thanks for the continuing support from all of you and I hope people in Costa get out soon!

Rhys

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If you need to use your ventollin, use it. What I would say is give it a little time for your preventor medcine to kick in, if things do not get any better go back to your GP or asthma nurse as you may need medcines adjusting to get better control...

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Ok thanks its just i think im using it too much but I know what you mean. If you are on brown steroids how long did they take to start working for you?

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I would leave it 3-4 weeks for the preventor to start to work, obviously if you are struggling see your GP sooner... To be honest my consultant always leaves new medcine for three months... but I normally know well before this time if its not working...

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The 'too much blue' is more 'too much' because it indicates a lack of asthma control. So if you're still taking it 3+ times a day in a month, then the brown isn't doing its job, but yep the steroids do take a while to kick in so if you were already on that much then it's not going to start going down yet. Just keep an eye out and notice how much you're using.

Of course, the other situation in which you'd have taken too much Ventolin is if you've had say 10 puffs in 10-15 mins and it's not helping - that's when you need to be making moves towards Costa or out of hours drs at the absolute minimum (you probably have already, but check the asthma attack guidelines).

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OK, Thanks for the advice!

yeah i have only been on steroids for a few days and if it gets that bad i will be going to costa (although its a form of hell)

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After my asthma attack in October, i was not coping just on ventolin inhaler, i was given ventiolin nebs as well until the preventer kicked in this really really helped. I would either phone OOH docs or see your gp on Monday to see whether they will give you some.

hope this helps

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Thanks again for the advice! My asthma is not bad enough to warrant a neb and hopefully it never will (mainly because i dont really have anywhere to put it!)

At the moment I am relying on it a lot and was hoping to be able to do PE on monday but im thinking it may be safer not to. What do you all think?

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I think the original question on Ventolin has already been answered here.

In regards to PE, have a look at the Asthma UK info under 'All about asthma' e.g. Asthma & young adults > Exercise tinyurl.com/7eum64f

Lola, to clarify were you given a nebuliser for home use by your GP after having just a ventolin inhaler? Recommending a nebuliser could be dangerous and lead to a false sense of security when someone should be in hospital. Most people have strict instructions how to use theirs. They are generally only prescribed as a last resort for people with severe asthma on maximum medication to minimise frequent hospital admissions.

TJ (moderator)

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Thanks for all your advice!

I have made a decision that I am not going to do PE tomorrow as I still feel like poo and I dont want to make it worse!

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hi tj

i was not reccomending nebs, i was just pointing out the fact thats what i was given for me and it is up to people to see their gp or go to a&e and do whats right for them.

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Thanks for the clarification Lola. It could be seen as recommending nebs as you posted similar several times. It is not standard in many areas hence why I answered as it may have given others the wrong impression. Research has shown that in most cases, multiple doses of reliever medicine through a spacer are at least as good as a nebuliser at treating most asthma attacks in children and adults. See here for Asthma UK factfile on nebulisers tinyurl.com/6n43g95