Steroid inhalers

Steroid inhalers are maintenance medication or asthma "preventers." They are usually effective and have minimal side effects if used properly. A person usually has to take them as prescribed for at least a week or two before they will even start to work. Then the person with asthma needs to stay on them every day, usually twice a day, for them to continue to work. After several weeks of using inhaled steroids, if the asthma is well controlled, usually the person will find they can greatly reduce their use of the emergency "rescue" medications such as an albuterol inhaler. Also, once the asthma is under control, one can try to gradually reduce the dose of inhaled steroid to the lowest possible dose that maintains control (i.e., keeps the symptoms from breaking through).

As a general matter, it is very important to keep one's asthma under control so as to minimize asthma exacerbations because recent research indicates that each time a person has an asthma exacerbation, it may cause permanent structural changes (i.e., damage) in the lungs which is not good. This is why it is very important to use the inhaled steroids daily as prescribed even when the person with asthma feels fine.

Good luck.

Thank you for your responses. I started my son back on the Asmnanex yesterday and even though his attacks are mild, it seems to be working already.

It is true for children as well. When I was first diagnosed at 4, the gave me a steroid inhaler which i used for a long while, an recently i was sick and needed to take 2 puffs twice a day for about a month, and i haven't had any side effects at all. It's unfortunate about that ER thing, because with the steroid inhaler, my doc told me that you should use if for a little while after you get better because otherwise it might just come back.

Which inhalers are the steroid ones? All these meds are confusing. Is advair a steroid and can you use a steroid inhaler with advair? Summer is coming and I am terrified! Thanks:)

Its time for some tough love as well, take him to the doctor tell the doctor he's not in compliance with his medications and have the doctor give him a stern talk to. He's going be and adult someday and he needs to get his asthma under control by himself so your not worrying 24/7. Sorry, if this seems harsh but even young kids should be able to grasp this concept pretty fast, especially if it comes from a doctor. (kids always say but mom and I've had to butt a head or two with my daughter) it hard to be a parent of a child who gets sick but you must not always baby them either. My daughter has a heart condition so I've been there.
The Asmanex is his maintence medication and the albuterol is his short term rescue inhaler, you might want to ask his doctor about a longer lasting rescue inhaler and take this question in to his doctor and talk more with the doctor. Make sure you understand what the medication is and how he isto use it before you leave the doctor office. Just trying to help you out. Lots of Hugs and take care

Yes, you can find out everything about meds these days simply by using Google and spending some time reading about them.

Advair is a combination of two medicines, Fluticasone (brand = Flovent) and Salmeterol (brand = Serevent). Fluticasone is a steroid. Salmeterol is a LABA (long acting beta agonist) which acts to relieve constriction in the airways, but it comes on more slowly than albuterol and lasts much longer (8 to 12 hours vs 3 t 4 for albuterol), hence it is not intended to be used as an emergency rescue med. The steroid component, if used regularly, helps to reduce or prevent the inflammatory aspect of asthma from occurring.

So if you are taking Advair, you don't need any additional inhaled steroid since Advair already contains one.

There is some controversy about whether the LABA in Advair is safe for long term use. The general consensus seems to be that it is safe when used along with an inhaled steroid, which of course, Advair contains.

Personally, I'm using just Fluticasone (Flovent) in the morning and Advair at night which is when my asthma is usually worse. This seems to be working out OK for me for the time being. I'm doing this in an effort to limit the use of the LABA (Salmeterol) to when I really need it, which is a night. But, if you've followed this discussion so far, then you will see that I am still getting the same amount of inhaled steroid twice per day that I would be if I was just using Advair twice per day.

I take asmanex and it has to be on a daily basis to have any effect. It is a corticosteroid and like other similar inhalers such as advair, flovent, and asmacort it takes at least a few days to kick in if not longer.