Salmeterol and Montelukast

Just got some new medication for my asthma from the docs , the asthma nurse has given me Salmeterol 25mcg instead of my usual preventer inhaler since i didnt feel that it wasnt working well enough and most times found it would bring on my tight chest and breathlessness and would reduce the effectiveness of my inhaler

And given me Montelukast for my sinuses because im all bunged up and have a constant sticky throat.

Just wondering whats everyone's thoughts on these how how well did they help in terms of allergen based asthma?

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I've found montelukast has really helped me. It's been great for the allergy side of my asthma, but also my exercise tollerance. After starting it I was also getting better peak flows and a new personal best.

I have salmeterol in my seretide inhaler and when I started using it it made a big difference to my symptoms.

Salmeterol is not normally prescribed ""instead of usual preventer inhaler"". The preventer is an inhaled steroid and salmeterol an LABA should not be used without an inhaled steroid.

Also thinking that it's unusual to start two different meds at the same time as they like to know if one's working before adding something else.

I hope the meds work for you and you're feeling better soon

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Right well first of all im quite concerned about my Montelukast because ive just checked the symptoms im fine with... all of them apart from one;

-upper respiratory infection ( very common )

when i checked what that mean in terms of frequency it equals to at least 1 in 10 people !!!! i cant believe that!! considering im using this for my sinuses i feel this is quite ironic these are suppose to be used in helping get rid of my sticky throat why on earth give them to me if its this common to get infections? Because all its gonna do is mean im going to spend money on antibiotics aswell , i already spent £23 point on my new prescriptions today .

Not only that i don't want to make my asthma worse i mean at the moment my asthma nurse is very optimistic about my control over it because yesterday i managed to get 800 in the peak flow and my symptoms are very mild but just persistent , she told me its due to my sinuses being blocked up .

i would like to think im over reacting but at the end of the day the risk is too high just for me to stop the feeling of getting a sticky throat

By the way im getting these values just from the leaflet inside my medication box.

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Are you looking at the side effects part of the patient information leaflet? If so, I believe that while trialling the drug the company have to note any symptoms that apear to the patient while trialling the drug. So, naturally these people would have picked up common cold/upper rispiratory tract infection, so it would have to be noted in the side effects list. Anything on the side effects list could well be coincidental (and the trialed people would have had these symptoms anyway).

You're unlikely to get side effects from the montelukast and if you do, you might be able to minimise these or stop taking it. I possibly got a few weird dreams from it at first, so now I take it earlier in the evening rather than at bedtime when the leaflet recommends to prevent this. Give it a fair trial and see if it works for you, if it doesn't, fine, stop taking it. If you looked at the side effects list of every one of the meds you take you'd never take anything.

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well i always look at the leaflets because i always like to understand about what im taking and what its actually doing in order to help me . i also look at the side effects and tbh that is the only one that concerns me because its pretty much how i got these asthmatic symptoms in the first place.

I just don't want my condition to get worse from using the drugs if im getting infected sinuses which is why im taking them

Im just trying to look at this in a rational manner , i got a flu and got head ache , block / runny noise the whole shebang then got diagnosed asthma , so why would i start taking something that puts me back in that position.

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sorry for the double post but in the end i just started taking montekulast last night obviously i having taken enough for the drug to kick in but i noticed seretide work almost the same day i took it i haven't had to use my reliever inhaler since tuesday now and its only 50mcg im consuming its strange im gettin more benefits whith only 1/4 of the dose !!