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Posted 8/11/2012 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
I use my albuteral inhaler at least ten times a day. I believe that I am dependent on it but if I don't use it I cannot breathe. I have tried long acting inhalers but makes no difference. Anyone have any advice?
Posted 8/12/2012 2:11 AM (GMT 0)
Hi kipper,

Yikes!  Who is writing your albuterol prescriptions?  If you're using albuterol that much you need to be seen by your physician...either PCP or asthma doc.  Be honest with them, or they won't be able to help you. 

If you need an inhaler that much, you have underlying inflammation of the lungs, which need to be treated with inhaled steroid spray.  Albuterol is a rescue inhaler and does nothing to help the underlying reason for your breathing issues.

Please make an appointment with your doctor ASAP.

Best wishes,

Denise

Posted 8/12/2012 5:36 AM (GMT 0)
You need to talk to your doctor, it sounds like you haven't tried the RIGHT preventer.

They're not all the same, some I've tried makes litterally no difference, while others work really well.

When my asthma is REALLY playing up I can use my brianyl 20 times a day, but the goal should be using it no more than twice a week.

I've been on the preventer I'm on for ages, but I'm going to the doctors tomorrow to see if there's one more suited to my current needs, because I'm not happy with how many symptoms I'm expiriancing.

Posted 8/12/2012 1:19 PM (GMT 0)
I have been to my pcp and pulmonologist. He did lots of testing. Cat scan, x-ray, drew blood. Said he couldn't find anything. I tried flovent. No change. Pulm. Dr. Says that asthma is overdiagnosed and it is some kind of infection but all he found was a micoplasma bacteria which half of us probably have. He put me on two antibiotics for over six months and no improvement. he says it could take up to a year. I font think that's the problem. I think using my inhaler so much makes it worse, but it's hard to wean off of it. When your lungs close up you have to. i have no tolerance for exercise and gained so much weight from prednisone that i just stopped taking it. Now it's even worse, but the extra weight makes it hard to breathe too. I don't know what to do. Seems like doctors just don't undersrltand.
Posted 8/13/2012 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
I wonder if you have GERD related asthma?
Do you have heartburn?

Some people have silent heartburn and the acid washes into their esophagus and spills over into their windpipe. I had that happen to me.
Do you clear your throat a lot? Do you feel gunk in your throat or cough up clear liquid? Do you get hoarse a lot?

If so, try taking antiacid for a couple of weeks and see if it helps. Then talk to your doctor.
Posted 8/13/2012 2:02 PM (GMT 0)
It sounds like you need some environmental controls (do you have pets? are you eating dairy? is your house dusty? etc.).  Maybe you could try to take away what is causing your symptoms in the first place...then you may not need to take albuterol so much...after a while the albuterol can't control things. 
Posted 8/14/2012 6:49 AM (GMT 0)
ironmom said...
It sounds like you need some environmental controls (do you have pets? are you eating dairy? is your house dusty? etc.). Maybe you could try to take away what is causing your symptoms in the first place...then you may not need to take albuterol so much...after a while the albuterol can't control things.

Ironmom raised a good point, sometimes it’s up to us to find out our triggers.
Have you kept a diary for your symptoms? I know they’re happing every day, but are they worse after certain foods? Are they worse at certain times of the day? What sets them off the most?

I’m set off by smoke (especially cigarettes smoke) and cold air (especially if it’s damp) even when my asthma is under control. I avoid smokers like the plague, and I up my medication during winter.
Viruses tend to set me off as well. Especially colds.

But when my asthma is playing up too much dairy sets it off (I can’t even have chocolate at the moment), artificial sweeteners can set it off, some yellow colours set it off… Cardio exercise will set it off, and printer toner sets me off. There’s a few more things, but I’ve forgotten what they are.
Thankfully dust and dust mites don’t seem to be a problem, so I can slack off on the housework, lol.

It might even be that the puffer delivery system isn’t effective for you. I have liquid bricanyl for when I just can’t inhale the bricanyl effectively. When I was little and my asthma got to a certain point I would always wind up on a nebuliser, because the puffer (even with a spacer) just wasn’t working.

I had a really nasty flair up as a teenager, and the only way I could manage it was to have both my preventer and my reliever via the nebuliser. I’d have the reliever as soon as I got up, then 15 minutes later when it had taken effect I’d have the preventer.
Then another round of the reliever at lunch, and the reliever followed by the preventer before bed. It was a pain in the butt, but it worked.

My current preventer is in a turbohailer… But I can’t take it when I get up because my airways are to closed and gooey. But if I take some bricanyl, have a hot shower, and THEN take it I can take it.
Posted 8/14/2012 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
Are you sure you have asthma?I have been going through something similar..i had GERD from a huge hiatal hernia & had breathing trouble too..i felt as though sometimes i couldn't pull in a full breath(never wheezed,never coughed with it,none of the typical asthma symptoms!)i had my reflux surgery(had to..i was so sick from the acid)& have done really well w/that but recently my breathing symptoms have returned & i'd hate to think i'm in denial that i have asthma,BUT NO ASTHMA MEDICINE RELIEVES MY SYMPTOMS!I mean c'mon if i do a nebulizer treatment then 5 min later i still feel like i cant pull in a deep breath!!!I'm on advair 250/50 twice daily plus my xopenex & have done the 40mg prednisone..????Do i really have asthma???I do have anxiety but good grief never had it that bad!I know it's not acid reflux cause i don't taste it or have any of those symptoms since my fundoplication..just very disappointed that that didn't get better w/the surgery
Posted 8/15/2012 7:48 PM (GMT 0)
Kipper, go to the ER and say "My asthma is NOT in control, I use albuteral over 10 times every day. I need preventive medications"

There are medications you can use to prevent.... advair, flovent, more and more
Posted 10/11/2012 4:09 PM (GMT 0)

SmurfyShadow said...
Kipper, go to the ER and say "My asthma is NOT in control, I use albuteral over 10 times every day. I need preventive medications"

There are medications you can use to prevent.... advair, flovent, more and more

 

this is the best advice for so many reasons. go to the ER and tell them the truth. emergency medicine specialists have a way of sorting things out, more so than specialists that sometimes can't see outside of their specialty box.

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