Struggling - any advice?

[Mogget]

Hi all,

I've had a constantly tight chest (to varying degrees) for six weeks now. I've been off work for most of that time and struggle with basic daily tasks. I'm due to see a specialist on 31 July so am hoping they have some answers but in the meantime I'm really struggling, especially at night, and have come close to calling 999 a few times over the past week.

I've had a few courses of prednisolone but it hasn't done anything.

My current meds are:

- Salbutamol

- Fostair 200/6 (4 puffs per day)

- Montelukast 10mg (one tablet per day)

- Fexofenadine 180mg (one tablet per day)

Today a GP prescribed an additional inhaler - Clenil Modulite 50 - to take alongside my Fostair. My question is, is this correct? It would mean taking 8 puffs in total per day (4 Fostair and 4 Clenil) and the medication appears to be the same as the Fostair - i.e. beclometasone dipropionate. Will it have any effect? Is there something else I should be trying? The GP did actually ask me what I wanted to do so am sure would be open to other suggestions. I guess the specialist will have the most knowledge though.

Thanks all!

[Chip_y2kuk]

Giving you fostair and clenil seems counter productive... you can take 8 puffs of fostair a day... I'd be doing that the formoterol in fostair starts to work in 90 seconds and lasts for 12 hours... the steroids (beclomethasne) start to work quickly but take time to reverse the inflammation

From there I went to braltus (made a massive difference to me)... consultant got it switched to spiriva (same ingredient but different form)

It may be that fostair isn't working for you anymore I was taking puffs and ended up in a nasty way... It had to be changed I spent a short stint on seretide (gave me insomnia badly) before switching to duoresp and been on that for a while now

Do you have any Allergy symptoms?... runny nose itchy eyes... my thoughts are it could be pollen and the dry hot air...you can take more than 1 fexofenadine a day but if your not having any breakthrough allergy symptoms then it's unlikely to make a difference (I find 1 a day covers me 90% and I rarely need more)

Some of the above might be worth speaking to your gp about

Chip

[Mogget in reply to Chip_y2kuk]

Hi Chip, thanks so much for your reply. I agree, it doesn't make sense. I'm seeing a different GP tomorrow and will mention braltus, spiriva and duoresp to them. Which one has been most effective for you? Will the GP be able to prescribe things like that or does it need to be the specialist?

I suspect it may be the pollen causing this (I know I'm allergic to grass pollen) but it's never really affected me in previous years and my asthma has always been quite mild and well controlled. The only symptom I have is a stuffy nose. Guess I could try taking more fexofenadine and see if it makes a difference.

Many thanks, Jess

[Chip_y2kuk in reply to Mogget]

Braltus and spiriva are technically almost the same thing... tioptropium bromide..the braltus is a powder capsule and the spiriva is a liquid form spray

The tioptropium bromide made a great difference and surprisingly quickly.. but it's expensive for the nhs to prescribe

The duoresp is good but to be honest if I could have tolerated it I would have stuck with seretide 250... but I didn't sleep a full night for 6 weeks (it worked a bit too well)

But I've gone from 6 courses of steroids last year to Just one this year for a chest infection... so something is working

If you've got allergy symptoms still I would take another fexofenadine (might be worth running it by your gp first) but my gp prescribed the 1-3 tablets a day not the consultant