emergency inhalers

[music]

Hi everyone

Hope you dont mind but may i ask has for a reason how much of the blue top ventolin or other has and when inhaler will last you.

I mean just the emergency inhaller, how many puffs do you have to have a day or how long do a bottle last you with this COPD.

Thanks

Music

[stone-UK]

Hi

Ventolin as 200 metered doses.

At four times two puffs daily will last twenty five days.

The daily dosage will be set by your GP and written on box.

[music]

Sorry dont think i made myself clear, i just really wonderd and was interested to see how much emergency has and when inhallers do other people use in say a week or a month and how many puffs do you others sometimes take in a day.

At the moment i seem to only need a puff in the mornings and that is only sometimes if wheezy or a little short of breath

music

[Hidden in reply to music]

Everyone is different music so it doesn't really matter that much. By emergency do you mean the blue ventolin reliever? I use just less than 1 a month. I also use symbicort as a preventer around 2 puffs a day at 400 level. Because this also has a reliever in it I have been told by my nurse to double it up if I am extra breathless rather than use the blue ventolin more.

I hope this answers your question. x

[2greys]

A little like asking "how long is a piece of string", everyone is different. I can only tell you about my own experience.

To start with it was the only inhaler I was given by the hospital, it was essentially my lifeline at the time. Each time I coughed it caused "plugging" which left me gasping for air, Ventolin opened up the airways allowing the mucus plug to move so I used it a lot. 1 puffer in 2 weeks.

I was then given an additional red puffer, Fostair, by the GP and after seeing the chest consultant given an additional third puffer, Spiriva , both of these "preventer inhalers" started to work their magic after a couple of months and with my lungs clear of mucus "and the gunk from when I used to smoke" found that I needed it less and less. Finding out about "Pursed Lip Breathing" and learning to do it also helped a lot, more so when I learnt how to recover from being short of breath using the technique.

I now avoid it like the plague since realising that it is Ventolin causing the night cramps that I have been suffering. I have used it a few times more recently with the colder weather, caught SOB outdoors in the rain. Add in the fact that I am also about to finish my Pulmonary Rehabilitation classes. At this rate one Ventolin puffer is going to last me 3, maybe 4, months.

So that is my length string

[music in reply to 2greys]

Hi 2greys

Sounds a bit like me i sometimes use just one bottle of blue ventolin inhaller that can last me 2 months or more and if wheezy in the mornings once i stand up and walk about and doing some breathing exercise it clears up.

When i was first diagnosed with COPD 4 years ago i was given seratide 500 by my gp but after a year i ask him if i could try see how i get on without useing seretide inhaler has was getting bad husky voise and cramps.

That was 3 years ago and still just on the blue top has and when needed inhaller but i think the not smoking and exercise really helped me.

its so strange how everyones lungs is differant with this COPD

best wishes

Music

[knitter]

I only use my Ventolin when my chest feels really tight....I try the pursed lip breathing first and try to calm and slow my breathing, sometimes I only need a few puffs a month.

But I do use my preventer regularly....mine is Clenil a steroid only one as this suits me best.

I have two ventolins , one in my bag and one at home.....the last one went out of date before I used it all. I always keep my Ventolin inhaler near me though.

But as coughalot and 2 greys say, we are all different....some people need more .

[Dragonmum]

My medication is exactly the same as 2greys (above) and condition the same too, including night-cramps. I once asked my doctor the same question as you ask music, he looked vague and said it was "well-tolerated" and 8 puffs a day was average. When you have yearly spirometry you are given a massive inhalation so I think "How long is a piece of string" a pretty good guideline. I take it when needed, which could be 3 times a day or once in a week.