Inhaled Corticosteroids for infections?
First and foremost. Guess who's back...back again... LOL Me! To ask questions to our lovely community of asthma folks. So, I got a new action plan for when I get infections. They want me to start on an inhaled corticosteroid. My asthma is pretty mild and pretty intermittent usually. UNLESS I get a viral infection. Then we see a lot of asthma symptoms, and they are BAD. So They want me to start on a steroid when I do get sick. Is this the case for anyone else? Like you don't need a steroid any other time, but when sick it's necessary? I don't think I'm alone here. Or at least I should hope not, haha.
Steroids can be a double edge tool in treating infections. Steroids are primarily for treating inflammation not infection. Of course with most infections especially in the lungs there is a degree of inflammation associated .I think a general principle is better to leave steroids alone in the early stage of an infection but get on them when your body's defences have cleared the infection and you are left with the inflammatory asthma for days afterwards. This is why Decadron is not used in the early stages of Covid but only if the defence mechanism of the body go hay wire and start reacting too much,the so-called cytokine storm. We have a saying in medicine: Steroids alleviate everything, cures nothing and are sometimes harmful.
this is perhaps a different perspective than what you were looking for, but I think it's totally reasonable to start on steroids if you have a track record of getting really sick. For comparison's sake, my mother does not have asthma but has been put on steroids many times in the past when she would come down with a bad respiratory or sinus infection. Her doctor knew this about her and would get her going on Prednisone as soon as he saw her. Of course that's only one other person treated by one other doctor, but the point is that it's certainly an option. Hope that gives you something to think about. Thanks for always starting great discussions here! Have a good week. -Melissa, asthma.net team well yeah I definitely think it's a good idea with how much I struggle when I get sick.
I already am on inhaled corticosteroids so my asthma action plan is pretty simple. If I use my rescue inhaler more than twice in a week, I have to call my asthma doctor. The last time I was on oral steroids I was miserable so I just do my best not to get sick and to keep my airway healthy. I also find if I treat my symptoms when I first notice them rather than waiting for them to flare up, I can often avoid needing more medications. I think it is important not just to have an asthma action plan but to understand both the plan and our condition.
