Im not sure if fostair inhaler is working as well for me as flutiform inhaler did , anyone else had same experience with this ?

[Polly44]

Im not sure if fostair inhaler is working as well for me as flutiform inhaler did. I don't feel wheezy as such but just a general asthma feeling in my chest now and again which passes but I did not get this on flutiform. Asthma nurse put me on to try fostair as its more eniromentally friendly. Ive only been taking fostair for nearly 2 weeks so maybe not giving it a good enough chance yet but i would have thought my asthma is controlled on flutiform the steroid inhaler would just work the same. Any advice wellcome , thanks

[Homely2]

It took me a couple of months to settle with fostair. It suits me.

I have done fostair 100 and fostair 200, my favourite is fostair 100 on a mart regime, with an occasional use of fostair 200 when my systems get overwhelmed

[Polly44 in reply to Homely2]

ok thanks, maybe need stick with it a while see how I go

[peege]

You may already know so ignore me if you do

1, it can take 2-3 weeks to settle in.

2. if it's spary type (MDI) then you must wait 30 seconds between each puff.

I'm on 100/6 MDI Fostair and it's fantastic for me using the MART regime as I generally better in summer than winte however, we're all different. P

[Polly44 in reply to peege]

hi ya thanks for that, yeah its only been not quite 2 weeks on same as you 100/6 2 puffs twice a day using the Mart regime (although not used it yet as reliever one because my doctors only gave me one inhaler didnt do as resp nurse requested and 2 Im still getting my head round using steriod inhaler than my Ventolin as a reliever (feels strange to me also worried could it effect weight gain or skin thinning that steriods do).

[peege in reply to Polly44]

I've still got ventolin on my prescription but use it rarely. I still reorder every 3 months as I'm extremely worried that they'll remove it. I really needed when quite poorly for a few weeks in January, still not right. Can you ask if they'll prescibe you some whilst you're 'getting used to' the new inhaler ? Maybe have a word with the respiratory nurse to see if she can wrangle you some. My skin has improved so much since being on Fostair, before whilst using Seretide it was appalling.

[Polly44 in reply to peege]

I have some hope and no hope of keeping the Ventolin they took it off my repeat scrips and refused me one when i said was going away on holiday and was worried i would run out, The in house pharmacist refused ,said i have a high usage .Then i couldn't get it anymore.. (never mind I had untreated lung bacteria for 2 yrs missed by the doctors themselves. when i finally found out took months to get rid of it then now im prone to lung bacteria or chest infections and resp consultant has put me on an antibiotic every 3 days to prevent further ones (seems to be working ) (only had it cos my sister kept giving me one of hers. so now resp nurse from hospital given me fostair as a reliever no way Im getting Ventolin now. Resp nurse was going to tell them they had to give me it but then decided on fostair instead.

[peege in reply to Polly44]

Hopefully the Fostair will kick in. Its always been a bit annoying that ventolin doesn't have a counter so you can tel, how much is left. I've just remembered that a year or so ago I had a call from my surgery asking me about my use of ventolin. I said I rarely needed it with Fostair, occasionally when having exacerbation & luckily they left it on. Nowadays it's called Salamol since they made it CFC free (because it was contributing to climate change)!

[knitter in reply to Polly44]

One of my daughters was over reliant on her blue inhaler , her gp she had to take a brown one daily as well as she was using too much Ventolin

I am better with separate preventer and reliever , the blue one I hardly use now

ALUK has a helpline open tomorrow office hours ….they can help

[GintyFerguson]

There is a 100 and 200 Fostair inhaler . I've found a combination of both better than becloforte . It has finer particles, reaches the parts other inhalers don't!

[Polly44 in reply to GintyFerguson]

yeah im on the 100/6 one

[SuziElley]

I’ve found Fostair much better than Flutiform. I also take Spiriva in the morning and Montelukast in the evening. Quite a load but it’s working!

[Polly44 in reply to SuziElley]

HI yes im also on the spriva in mornings and montelukast in evenings too, shall give the fostair time to work properly eh, only been 2 weeks so as others of said will give it time to work.

[Patk1]

Sounds like youve had a tough time Polly.id sprak to gp or consultants secretary if u need salbutamol.Going back to basics,do use a spacer with fostair,breathe in very deep + slow and hold for cpl secs b4 exhaling - its made of much smaller molecules which make it more effective.it does take time to reach full potential.do rinse yr mouth after using it x

[Polly44 in reply to Patk1]

HI yes it wasn't great and i only finally found out after a training doctor asked had they ever tested my phlegm. I replied no never in the 2 yrs , he said i had all the symtoms of lung bacteria , the last permeant doctor had told me next step was copd drugs even tho i didnt have copd, then to find out I could of got meningitis or pneumonia from the hi i had for 2 yrs untreated, it was then made even tougher by finally finding out had the HI and finally and months to get rid of it /several different super strong antibiotics back to back and hadnt even got rid of it and then picked up Moraxella Catarrhalis and then covid hit and no testing and i had to guess lung bacteria or chest infection . doctors over the phone was making me guess and doing prescriptions based on what i guessed. (until then phlegm was tested and they gave antibiotics based on what got rid of that strain at the time so was a mine field. Yes will give this time to work and am using spacer and holding breath and rinsing after too.

[Polly44 in reply to Patk1]

ps my doctors are shocking and no way giving me the ventolin back, in the middle of the 2 yrs of no air feeling constant thick /choking phelgm /wheezing, they stopped my monteluask right before christmas and in house pharmacist even asked how did i know i even had asthma when i hadn't had a lung function test I had it all my life tried to say i maybe had had childhood asthma (didnt even go onto monteluask until i was 19 yrs old, but i had been well controlled since going on mon,,,,teluask until 2017-2019 when i picked up the HI that they never looked into properly, It didnt show up on chest xray ,