Does anyone else use their blue puffer before inhaling their other meds?
Sometimes, I use my blue puffer (with a spacer, yet!) a few minutes before I inhale my Symbicort, just so that I don't spend a long time exhaling to make room for the meds.
I don't always need my Symbicort. I go by peak flow and the sensation in my lungs to determine when to start using it.
I have found that when my lungs are tight, it can take a long, long time to exhale enough air to make space for the Symbicort. I try not to huff the air out forcefully because I read somewhere that one's lungs could react to a hard exhalation by tightening up even more. So it is a gentle exhalation.
But sometimes I don't come close to getting the air out before I desperately need to inhale (or, on more than one occasion, before my vision starts to go black).
Is my approach a rather belt-and-suspenders one? Am I wasting time and meds? Should I just exhale 'some' air before inhaling the meds?
- Hello and Thanks for posting! You've posted a unique question here and I hope others join in to leave their expertise and/or experience. Has your treating physician recommended this way to use your inhalers when necessary? From what I understand you can take ventolin (blue inhaler) along with Symbicort, leaving a one-minute window open between intake of inhalers. Although I've not heard of this technique it would seem as though it could be a way to open up the lungs with ventolin so you can get in all the Symbicort medication, ensuring its efficacy. Is this what you are trying to do? I'm a little confused about the way you are taking meds. Do you sometimes not use the Symbicort because the blue inhaler works initially? I am hoping to get a little more info - thoughtfully, Rebecca (team member) If my lungs are functioning well, I don't use the Symbicort. I resort to the ventolin when I wake up coughing, and occasionally before exercising if I sense a little tightness.
But there are times I'll get the sense that my lungs are overall less efficient i.e. less roomy (inflamed? mucus-y? spasm-y?). My peak flow at these times often gets weird. That's when I start with one inhalation of the Symbicort twice a day. I go from there.
Hi. I hope you are doing well today. I also would like to respond to the query/ discussion that you started here -- and it is a good one. First, I would like to say that it is perfectly fine to use your rescue inhaler before your Symbicort if that is what you prefer -- or what your doctor prescribes. In fact, some doctors order it this way.
However, Symbicort itself acts as a rescue inhaler, opening your lungs and making breathing easier within minutes. Likewise, Symbicort is a rescue inhaler that is generally prescribed for 2 puffs twice daily every day even when you are feeling well (especially when you are feeling well). The goal here is to keep your lungs open long term. In this way, you shouldn't need to use your rescue inhaler.
Did your doctor recommend you only use your Symbicort when you are experiencing symptoms? Wishing you all the best. John. community moderator.Hi. Again
I want to make a correction to my previous comment. Consider the following "Likewise, Symbicort is a rescue inhaler that is generally prescribed for 2 puffs twice daily every day even when you are feeling well (especially when you are feeling well)." I meant to say controller inhaler in this paragraph, not rescue inhaler. It acts like a rescue inhaler, but it is generally considered a controller inhaler. I hope this makes sense to you. All the best. John. community moderator.
Yes, the doctor told me to use the Symbicort when I feel my lungs getting tighter.
If something in the environment is annoying my lungs, but I don't have a cold or some such thing, I'll start out with 1 puff twice a day. Otherwise I get hoarse. I've even taken 1 puff 3 times a day (with the respirologist's blessing) for a spell to get more meds but less hoarseness. If it's not enough medicine, I'll go for 2 puffs twice a day. However, at the first sign of a viral infection, I'm right in there with two puffs twice a day.
Symbicort vs rescue inhalers: The way the drug has previously been described by its own manufacturer, one would think it's a fast-acting inhaler. But I read the "literature" more closely, and it warns that Symbicort is _not_a rescue inhaler, and should not be used for sudden or severe symptoms. In any case, you need to rinse your mouth after using the Symbicort, making it impractical for fast response in the middle of nowhere.Symbicort's monograph lists three different "treatment approaches," one of which is for "mild persistent asthma," (taking the stuff as needed), the other two being for moderate to severe asthma (taking the stuff daily as well as using either the Symbicort or a SABA for relief when needed). I fall into the mild, persistent category most of the time. Once my lungs have been provoked (pollution, dust, dust mites, particulate matter, some virus), I start taking it daily.
My bone mineral density is such that I endeavour not to stay on the corticosteroids all the time, however mild they might be.
If Toronto's air quality were what I endured in northern China in the late 1990s, I would be on this stuff _all the time_ ... at least until I had moved somewhere else far less polluted.Good morning. Thank you for the thorough update. Based on what you describe you are well attuned to both your asthma and the medicine you use to keep it under control. It also sounds like you have a good doctor to help you manage your condition. In a sense, your asthma sounds similar to my own, as my doctor also describes mine as mild persistent -- except when I have a cold. How is your asthma doing during this spring season? John. community moderator. So glad you've jumped on and explained in detail your situation,
. Because asthma is highly individualized it can be confusing to understand one's asthma journey. As Lauren states, you do sound extremely well attuned to your treatment regimen for your asthma. I wanted to jump on and say that I too use Symbicort, but I am in the first example you shared above - I use Symbicort 2 puffs twice daily when needed - when I get an infection, a virus, when my allergies act up such as in the Spring or fall, reacting from the weather, or when exercising or exerting myself such as walking up the stairs while doing laundry a couple of times daily. I use it when I begin to feel tight in my lungs over a period of time and ventolin isn't enough. I understand extremely well. I do start with the ventolin. If this fails me, I jump into the Symbicort regimen. Hoping you are feeling better - Wishing you well. Rebecca (team member)
