At my last appointment with the asthma nurse, she suggested reducing the Seretide but didn't really give me any advice.
Any suggestions how I should go about it and how long the process should take?
I normally take 2 puffs twice a day, so yesterday I had 2 puffs in the morning then 1 puff in the evening so was gonna do this for the week then next week reduce the morning one to 1 puff. If the reduction of drugs is gonna make my symtoms worse, how soon would I notice? If it doesn't get worse should I come off the Seretide altogether and just stay on Singulair? I wouldn't mind but I've only been under control for less than two months!!
i was going to say you've basically got the right idea, just leave it a little longer maybe couple of weeks before trying the next steep, so reduce to one puff at night and two in the morning and leave it at that for a few weeks, then reduce the morning to one puff all being well. If like me I tried it in the past but within about 3 days I started to notice a dip in PF's but by the 3rd day I just started to notice symptoms, so if you give it more than a week you'll be certain that each reduction is suitable for you.
I would question trying to reduce the seretide right now though, two months isn't very long to be controlled, the guidelines do state at least 3 months for control. If you can reduce it to zero then great but really doubt especially this time of the year you'll manage it. One option would be split the inhalers into Serevent and Flixotide and just reduce the Flixotide down to the minimum if you can.
Hi woody-som and thank you for your reply.
Ha ha ha its funny, on only day 2 of reducing my seretide I have used my blue three times today, have the silly cough back and am getting all my symptoms back again! I will leave it a day or two more just incase today was a bad blip otherwise I'm back up to normal dose! Just shows how much even 1 puff of the good old magic purple can do to you, and how close I am to the minimum control dose!
I did think it a little strange she suggested reducing, as at the time i'd actually only been under control for a month, thats why I waited another month before trying. Especially as I was only diagnosed middle of this year so I have no idea how I will be through winter.
Oh well I'll see how i go, thanks again xxx
think you're like me and just on the border between excellent and acceptable so you my not be able to reduce it during the winter. Don't mess around and let things get a problem, go back to normal and get through the winter and then have another go in the spring, I can reduce it in the nice summer only just though, and that's just the steroid, I still need the two puffs of Serevent.
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