Hi, I have been dignosed as having asthma
from 2 years of age. I am now 24 years
old and off all medication but for 19
years of my life, I was taking 2 puffs
each of ventolin (bronchodilator) and
pulmicort (cortisone steroid preventer)
both morning and night. That was 8 puffs
a day. I was never really interested in
my condition until I read a book about 2
years ago which said that u should never
take a reliever regularly, especially if u
are on a preventer anyway. I am now
worried that I was taking way too much
ventolin over those 19 years coz each
morning and night, I never felt like I had
to take them. I was feeling fine and I
think I should have only taken them when I
needed to.
Did anyone else have these dosages
prescribed to them? Does anyone know if
theres a valid reason for such doses or
should I confront my doctors with my
medical records???
It is okay to use meds like ventolin
regularly to prevent symptoms, however
there are newer meds that have the same
exact mechanism of action, but last 12
hours. These include serevent
(salmeterol) and foradil (formeterol).
If pulmicort works for you, ask to try
serevent or foradil, which you would take
twice daily. Then you should only use
the ventolin every 4-6 hours as needed.
As a general rule you should only use your
rescue inhaler 2x a week or less. This
means you should only need it that often.
Taking it to prevent symptoms is ok.
Discuss your concerns with your physician
and ask about one of the long acting
bronchodilators. You may wish to try
advair, which has a different steroid than
you are on, but it combines the steroid
and long acting bronchodilator into one
inhaler.
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yourazlmt
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Dec 2003 Posts: 11 Location: Mesa, Arizona
Posted: 12-18-03 21:11pm
I too have had asthma since I was 2 and
now at 26 am still suffering badly. The
good news is that you haven't been having
trouble for a couple of years right?? If
something comes up and you think it may be
because of the meds... Then tell the Dr.
Otherwise, the high doses may have saved
your life. As a massage therapist, I
always say "it's easier to prevent than to
correct". Good luck
