long life

[yaf_user681_24194]

i was diagnosed with asthma cough variant i am so ignorant about it tried talking to doctor very unimforative he put me on ovar 100 after i ended up in casulty with trouble breathing but after reading messages from you guys i feel a bit of a wimp.........my question will ovar 100 damage me in later life as it is a steroid or is their another option out there and does asthma affect your life span sorry if i have submitted silly qeustions paul

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I think I am right in saying that the amount of steroid in the inhalers is not significant to cause any real problems later in life- and indeed not being able to breathe is probably not good for you either! Um.....I dont think there are any real alternative preventers to inhaled corticosteroids but I'm sure someone will come along and explain it all much more clearly in a minute (medical minds where are you!!!)

Just wanted to put your mind at ease that you are unlikely to be suffering long term damage from taking your inhaler.

A good browse round the resources on this site might be helpful as well.

xxxx

ps as far as i am aware asthma doesnt affect your life span.

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Don't know if this is relevant but my mom had a problem with me taking lots of meds back in the day and told my consulant, he responded with something along the lines of ""Lots of people die from asthma each year, but I have not yet heard of anyone dying from their meds""

Cheers

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Hi Paul,

Don't worry, there are no silly questions, please feel free to ask anything that you are wondering about. The chances are that someone else will have been wondering the same thing!

Firstly, I'm a bit concerned that you feel like 'a wimp' after reading some of the messages on here! I'm not sure specifically what messages you're referring to, but it's important to remember that a board like this one attracts severe asthmatics in disproportionate numbers. As you've probably realised, many of our members have asthma that is very difficult to control, and often post about frequent symptoms, large amounts of medication, hospital admissions and even intensive care admissions. These sorts of experiences are not typical of asthma! The vast majority of people with asthma can be controlled almost completely, with little or no interferance with their day-to-day life, once the right combination of medication is found. There is absolutely no reason to think that your asthma will fall into the much rarer difficult to control catagory. Equally, though, you should not feel that you are 'a wimp' or silly for being concerned about your symptoms, just because you have not experienced the more extreme side of asthma. Asthma can be scary, whether it is mild, moderate or severe, especially when you are first diagnosed. This website is here to provide support to everyone affected by asthma, not just those at the severe end of the spectrum.

To try to answer your question: Qvar 100 is a steroid inhaler in the class of steroid hormones called corticosteroids, which are very similar to your body's own natural steroids which are produced by your adrenal glands. These steroids are completely different from the anabolic steroids abused by some athletes. These are very safe drugs. When a steroid inhaler is used, especially at the comparatively low dose that you are using, almost all the drug ends up being deposited directly in the lungs, with very little getting elsewhere in the body. This means that there are very few side effects associated with steroid inhalers. With standard doses of inhaled steroids, there are no real long term health problems seen. You may notice some local side effects from use, such as soreness of your mouth or throat, hoarseness, and oral thrush infections, and these can be mimimised by washing your mouth out after using your inhaler and by using a spacer device, available from your doctor or pharmacist.

There are no real alternatives to inhaled steroids in the treatment of asthma - if you need some form of preventative treatment, then a steroid inhaler is the only treatment that really addresses the underlying inflammation that causes the asthma symptoms. There are many other treatments that can be added in, in addition to inhaled steroids, if they are not effective on their own, but there are none that can really be given instead of inhaled steroids. Taking other drugs to try to control your asthma without using steroids to address the underlying inflammation has been shown to possibly increase the risk associated with having asthma.

In answer to your final question, well controlled asthma should not affect your life span. Asthma should be taken seriously, as it can be life-threatening, but provided that it is under control, you should be able to lead a normal life.

Hope this helps

Em H