Fostair/Montelukast

[Selmar]

I have been asthmatic for 25+years and was advised at my last asthma review a year ago to use Fostair and told to take one Montelukast at night. However, these have gradually made my asthma worse so until I see my doctor in the morning I have not taken either of these medications for 5 days. Although I have been short of breath since stopping, I can clear my trachea of mucus a lot easier and once I do this I can breath normally. Before I had a dry irritating cough that I had not had before and I can only put it down to either the Fostair, Montelukast or both. I will write again to let everyone know how my doctor's visit went. I am going to ask to be put back on my brown inhaler (the name I have forgotten!) as I faired better on it and I will be letting the doctor know that I won't be taking the Montelukast tablets either. Too many side effects in my opinion of both of these medications and none of which I would recommend. Of course this is only my opinion and base on my own experience whilst using them so please take notice of your own doctor's advice!

[Paula1602]

Hi Selmar, - like you I was put on Montelukast which also made my cough much worse, I am on an Inhaler in the morning, and the Montelukast in evening - which I stopped taking after 5 days, I felt terrible, headaches, back ache, cough was so much worse ! I am waiting for my Nurse to contact me as I have just had enough of being messed around and want to feel Good !!!!!!

Good luck, let us know how you get on , Paula

[Selmar in reply to Paula1602]

Hi Paula. Thanks for you comment and I will let you know how I got on. I too am fed up with being messed about! My peak flow used to be 450+ but has dropped down to around 300-350. Still, I must be ok as I'm still well enough to write this to you! Lol! Regards ~Selmar

[lakelover]

Hi, I have a problem with all mdis, so Fostair wasn't as good for me as Symbicort. You don't say what your brown inhaler was, but could it have been a dry powder inhaler?

[Selmar in reply to lakelover]

Hi. Thanks for your post. I have had Symbicort and another brown one, the name of which escapes me! I think it may have been called Becontide or Benazole or similar. I had another that had a 200 dose scale on the side that counted down to 0 when it was empty. The Fostair was recommended by my asthma nurse and she always seems to have my best interest at heart so I guess you have to try different inhalers etc to find one that suits you best. Unfortunately, like many on this site Fostair isn't one of them and Montelukast certainly is not a medication that does me any good. I'll report back after my visit to the doctors tomorrow.

[joycie1801 in reply to Selmar]

Hi, Selmar, I was put on Montelukast a few weeks ago as my asthma had got worse after a particularly stubborn chest infection, which lasted from the end of Feb to a few weeks ago!! Goodness knows where that came from! I only took them for about a week....I almost lost my voice, my throat was so sore and they affected my moods. I was using Seretide before the infection and my asthma was well controlled, but I've now been given Fostair and I've coughed so much, I now have costochondritis in my ribs...wasn't sure whether it was Fostair causing it or whether I had picked up a bug again but after reading about other people's experiences, I'm inclined to think it's the Fostair...might ask if I can try Seretide again as it suited me before.

[Taztarr]

My brown preventer inhaler is a QVAR Beclometasone dipropionate, more simply referred to as a QVAR inhaler.

[Selmar in reply to Taztarr]

Hi Taztarr. Thank you for the information! I remembered last night that I have had Beclometasone, Beclazone (I think these are the same) Budesonide, Symbicort Turbohaler another one that you had to load by pulling down on the mouthpiece and finally the dreaded Fostair! I have written a list of all my medications and the inhalers I have used during my asthmatic years and will be taking it with me today at my appointment with my doctor. I hope between us we can reach a better solution! I'll post my findings later or asap.

[Selmar]

Hi to all those who replied and made comments to my post re- Fostair/Montelukast! I have just returned from my doctor and after a lengthy discussion I have agreed to drop the Montelukast and to keep using the Fostair for a month to see if it was the Montelukast that was causing all my symptoms. I am a bit sceptical as you can imagine but I had to agree that it was worth a try. The last 6 days of not using any medication doesn't appear to have given me any problems, except for this morning at 03.00 hrs when I was a bit short of breath and was tempted to use my blue reliever inhaler. I didn't use it so let's see how I get on with just the Fostair. I will keep everyone posted and thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Keep well and I'll be back as Arnie would say! Lol!

[Selmar]

Hi everyone! I was told by my wife this morning something that I had misunderstood whilst in the doctor's surgery yesterday afternoon. When I had requested to be given an inhaler I'd had in the past I thought the doctor was having problems doing just that either because there was a problem with the computer or because she was a locum. What my wife actually heard was that the Becanzole inhaler was too expensive! I'll be bringing this up with my asthma nurse on the 25th of September. Furthermore I had a worse coughing fit than ever last night and I spent two hours downstairs unable to settle down to a good night's sleep. If money is more important than our health then no wonder at the state of the NHS! I'll keep you all posted!

[Selmar]

Just a quick comment re-Fostair. I may have to change my view on Fostair, as at my doctor's request, I started using it again and I must admit I felt better only an hour after taking the first two puffs. I had in total 6 puffs before deciding that I should have stuck to my position on leaving it off but surprisingly when I did my asthma reverted back and was quite severe. I hardly slept during that night and reluctantly, but with hindsight, for the better, I took two puffs of Fostair and the relief was pretty much immediate. I have come to the conclusion that the biggest culprit, as far as myself is concerned, was the Montelukast tablets. I will not be waving flags just yet, but I have to concede that going back to using Fostair, for the moment at least, seems to be working. I don't advocate this to any other member of this site because as with everything medical, it is base on an individual person's experience. I never thought I'd be writing this, but I am glad I can breathe more freely. I will still be monitoring my asthma symptoms until I see the nurse on the 25th of September. Did I say this was a 'quick comment?' Lol!

[Selmar]

Following on from my last post, I have just done three peak flow tests and the results were amazing! I have gone from 300-350 to 400-450! Seems Fostair is working for me at least!