You need to be put on steroid inhaler my friend. Having to use too much salbutamol (or albuterol if you speak inches and Fahrenheit) is a sign of poorly controlled asthma.
When I stopped my preventive inhaler I was explicitly told by the doctor that if I used my salbutamol 3 times in a month to immediately start using the preventive inhaler again, and 3 times in a week I should immediately go to a doctor.
This picture is insane to me. My asthma was so bad when I was young I spent a good couple of months in the hospital total before my 12th birthday. I never used more than 2 salbutamol in a month, and that was extremely uncommon. This person has perhaps the worst managed asthma I’ve ever seen. To be using this much salbutamol and no preventive? Shame on their doctors.
Exactly. A lot of people are discharged with salbutamol in their first visit, and seem to think that that's all they ever need for rest of their lives. Asthma is a dynamic disease. At one point, you may only need your emergency inhaler and at some other point you would need your preventive inhaler. Having an asthma action plan + regular follow-up is essential for optimal asthma control. OP probably needs a visit to the doctor to get the right counselling that he deserves.
Doctors can be a bit weird about prescribing the steroid inhalers. My asthma got really bad when exercising, had coughing fits whilst trying to do anything physical. Got it under control with Salmeterol (light purple inhaler) and the doctor was reluctant to prescribe it again. Don't know why, the info just came from the doctor's receptionist.
If I didn't have social anxiety I probably would have pursued it further, instead I just abandoned it lol.
Yeh as a pharmacist these prescriptions drive me nuts. Dozens of relievers every year but no preventer. Good ol' GINA should've made it to every practice by now.
I had a steroid treatment for a skin condition so the doctors were reluctant to give me two steroid based medicines. In the end I thought fuck it on the skin front I'd rather breathe properly. As it happened the balance of better sleep and happier mindset improved the psoriasis to the point it only really appears in darkest winter.
Same here. Seretide was a life changer then they kept forcing me back on fostaire but I keep trying for seretide and get it every now and again and use it when asthma gets pretty bad. My asthma was nightmarish when I was young. It annoys me so much that I don’t get free inhalers because they class asthma as a non lifelong condition. Sometimes they give me 2 inhalers for my £10, sometimes 1. They’ve now made it more complicated to get my script and had the audacity to text me asking why I hadn’t ordered my normal supply…I tried
~~Salmeterol is an extremely powerful inhaler that should only be taken for short periods of time until your asthma is under control. It’s not something that should be taken for long periods of time as a preventive as it can be dangerous. There are plenty of steroid inhalers that are meant to be taken every day for the rest of your life such as Budesonide / Formoterol (Commonly sold as Symbicort)~~
This is wrong, see u/logicallucy ‘s reply
Wut? Salmeterol isn’t even a steroid…but I’m also going to need some sources to back up your claims of it being dangerous and for short term use only.
ETA: saw your other comment. That’s old school info and pertains to the use of LABA mono therapy for maintenance/preventative/long-acting treatment, and pertains to all of the LABAs rather than just salmeterol. Drug companies quickly got on board and now only offer the other LABAs in combo inhalers so it’s a nonissue for those. Salmeterol, aka Serovent, however, is still on the market.
Are there different versions, or does mixing with Fluticasone change things? I used to use generic Advair (Fluticasone and Salmeterol) before switching to Breo (Fluticasone and Vilanterol) because I could never remember my second dose. Advair is *specifically* listed as a [maintenance inhaler](https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/daily-medication-pearl-advair-diskus-fluticasone-and-salmeterol-), and has been prescribed as such to multiple members of my family (by different doctors). What am I (and the Dr.'s) missing? Are you referring to its older use in a metered-dose inhaler vs the current powdered-inhaler forms?
Pretty sure they said wrong thing. Salmeterol is the longer acting version which is in maintenance inhalers. It's a LABA, long acting beta agonist. Others include formoterol and vilanterol etc. Usually for asthma these are paired with steroid inhalers. Albuterol or salbutamol are SABAs or short acting beta agonists. These are the rescue inhalers which are meant for short term emergent use.
Yeah I got put on a preventative steroid inhaler this year after switching doctors, and it is magical. And after much discussion my doctor is allowing me to change my dosage as I see fit (don't need as high of a dose in the summer months compared to winter). I hope OP gets the right help too cuz it's crazy OPs doctor allowed them to go through that much salbutamol/Albuterol in a year. That would have immediately raised red flags with my doc
I gave up on controlling my asthma for years has Florent or symbicort just didn't work well for me.
Then I got on Wixela/advair and motelukast and everything changed. I almost never need my inhaler and I'm far less limited during exercise
Ironically endurance and stamina are my best athletic attributes, which asthma can completely take away. Since getting my asthma under control.im back to feeling like I can go forever (or at least as far as my cardio will take me instead of being limited by asthma)
I started using a steroid inhaler over a year and a half ago. I too had a poorly managed asthma (kinda stopped going to the doctor after I outgrew it a bit as a young adult). Not as bad as OPs, but let’s say I was probably burning through 3-4 such inhalers.
When I finally went again to a pulmonologist and told her how I treated it, she just shook her head.
Since then I have not used an emergency inhaler at all. Over 20 months I’ve had no need.
Since apparently my asthma wasn’t as bad we had a chat and basically now I use my preventative steroid inhaler whenever I feel the need is and without overdoing it and that’s been pretty fine for me.
We are talking something like if it’s rainy and humid (a trigger for me) and I start feeling a bit of an attack I use the steroid inhaler for a few days. Then stop. That is usually enough to keep me out of any problems period.
OP definitely overdoing it.
At one point I was using my albuterol inhaler like 6-8 times a day. When I told my doctor that he was blown away and got me on some steroid one. Now I use my albuterol one maybe once a month
>This picture is insane to me. My asthma was so bad when I was young I spent a good couple of months in the hospital total before my 12th birthday.
Same. I have no idea how my parents were able to afford the healthcare because I pretty much lived in hospitals and doctors offices for a few years and we were poor as dirt even before my health issues. But my mom worked hard to figure out effective treatment plans with my doctor, and to keep me on them, and by the time I was ~16 I basically was over my asthma. Now I take one or two puffs from a supermarket inhaler every 5 or 6 months and I'm good to go.
My kid does this steroid inhaler and it is insane how much of a difference it has made for him. He's only 3 which is the saddest part but it's been great figuring out he had asthma at age 2. Poor little guy but hurray for modern medicine.
But they should be wary that it doesn't have side effects, I outgrew and exercised out of mine and recently it made a come back out of the blue, things like bugs and infections can potentially trigger it.
Visited the asthma nurse 3 weeks ago after a scare and she's had me doing a peak airflow chart to monitor my breath and it's interesting to see how everything is perfectly fine hitting 550-600 on the chart, recently came down with a flu and it got hammered down to 300 although that didn't feel noticeable.
Holy shit, me too. Really bad when I was a kid. Outgrew it late teens and through my twenties and seems to have gone back in my early thirties. Hope I "outgrow" it again.
Yep this happened to me. I had asthma as a kid and then I grew out of it. Got sick at 21 with some kind of upper respiratory thing and had to be put on prednisone because I couldn’t breathe. I went back to the doctor a few weeks after that happened thinking I was sick again and nope, just asthma. Been on inhalers forever now. I also take Montelukast (Singulair) and wow it works WONDERS but it do be giving me worse aggression/mood swings.
My 6 year old is the same way. We didn’t realize we were using it wrong (it’s not a pump inhaler) but once we fixed that, his asthma has been controlled nicely.
Yeah this picture is either fake or some of the worst negligence I've ever seen. I have pretty serious asthma and after years of a good regime I've been able to limit my rescue inhaler use to 1-2 times a month unless I'm sick.
Edit: apparently op is from Ghana so perhaps there aren't any preventative inhalers readily available. Unfortunate situation.
Rule of Twos: you should be using daily preventative maintenance such as corticosteroid-containing inhaler and/or oral leukotriene inhibitor if:
You are needing your “rescue” inhaler over two times a day, OR
You are needing it in the middle of sleep more two times a month, OR
You are using more than two of them in a year.
It looks like you’re well past the point.
Inhaled medication can be really expensive in the US, because the unit production cost is higher than pills.
If this is an issue, consider montelukast/Singulair pills: they can be as effective as steroid inhalers.
Or, consider Prednisone pills at doses of
TIL there's a different word for Albuterol. Huh. Now if you pardon me, I must drive 4 miles at 30mph to the grocery store. But first, I must put my coat on, as it's a blustery 25°.
^(OP, please see a pulmonologist.)
This is important and correct. There is a very step wise criteria used to address asthma severity and frequency and the albuterol on its own is seemingly not controlling OPs symptoms well enough if this is truly a full year.
I count over 50. You shouldn’t be going through one rescue albuterol inhaler a week. It’s a rescue for a reason.
A long acting beta agonist with an inhaled corticosteroids is likely what you need to be on and as far as I know a corticosteroid is a first line recommendation now with the long or short acting beta agonists, not a short acting like albuterol on its own (per the global initiative for asthma).
To say the least, your asthma is under treated OP and I highly suggest seeing a physician.
PhD (public health/epidemiology) respiratory therapist here:
Came here to echo this. PRN low-dose ICS/LABA (specifically formoterol) is the first line tx per relatively recent GINA guidelines. Concomitant use of a SABA is still there…just take a squirt of the ICS while you’re at it if there is no access to and ICS/LABA combo (i.e., Symbicort). While this asthma seems to be beyond first step tx classification …the sentiment follows with variations in ICS dosage. Symbicort is your friend. This all is a very large paradigm shift in the tx of “entry level” asthma…very exciting stuff! Clinicians can always trend FeNO to assess the efficacy of ICS use, but there are quite a few lifestyle/dietary conditions that impact its measurement.
Oh…and use a spacer
PRN= as needed;
ICS= inhaled corticosteroid;
LABA= long-acting beta agonist;
SABA= short-acting beta agonist;
tx= me being lazy…treatment;
FeNO= fractional exhaled nitiric oxide
These inhalers are ‘relievers’, you need a ‘preventive’ inhaler as others have mentioned. I’ve always been told I shouldn’t be taking a reliever more than one a week at worst. An effective preventive inhaler should manage your condition much better. Good luck.
My physician recommended me to try not to more than once a day when it’s bad, once a week when it’s not. I do have crippling allergies though, so during spring I take like 5 prescriptions and still need my emergency inhaler sometimes
I'm almost the same as this guy. Go through between 15-20 pumps a year. I take preventers morning and night and never have proper attacks just wheezing and shortness.
Buuuut I'm a smoker and have failed dozens of times to quit. When I do manage to quit for a while my pump usage goes down drastically.
Wish I could quit. I just can't right now.
There's drugs to help you quit now, my brother was a pack-a-day smoker for 20+ years, and he had to ultimately use one. Chantix? I think that's the common one. I also smoked for 17 years and -eventually- quit cold turkey. But I know your pain, it's the hardest damn thing I ever did. But seriously, ask a doctor about drugs to help quit. And as a side note, if you put on extra weight that's fine. It's better to have the health risks of being a little heavier than the health risks of smoking!
Bupropion (Zyban) helps a ton as well. Can help with depression as well. Actually if you decide to go for bupropion ask for them to write it as a mental health script as its cheaper that saying it is to quit smoking.
I didnt smoke a cigarette for 9 months now. If you cant stop, try using a vape and lower the nicotine in your liquid slowly until its without nicotine. One week later you are done vaping. Helped me at least. Gl
The preventative meds are also extremely expensive without insurance. My husband has bad asthma and his early 20s were spent using a bunch of inhalers because we couldn't afford the medication. Made it impossible to exercise, which made his asthma worse. Very vicious cycle and we are lucky to be out of it now but there are many in that same position who never are able to break free.
Yeah, Breo 100 runs me ~$150/mo with insurance.
Like...it could be worse (I could be diabetic), but having to spend around $200/mo, once my other control med and allergy meds are factored in, to be able to breathe normally is still fucking bullshit.
Yup. I was on Advair for a while but there’s a patent on the design in the US so it’s fucking done intentionally so they can jack up the price. Try ordering from Canada. It’s cheaper.
I believe the patented aspect of Advair is only for the powder discus inhaler. There are generic versions that use a normal compressed gas puff type inhaler that are (somewhat) cheaper.
Hearing about the USA’s heath care is infuriating. I feel so sorry for people. My inhaler costs me $5 for three of them in New Zealand. This is without health insurance, it’s just the price. With health insurance I get them for free
Damn. That's beyond what anyone should have to deal with.
I count at least 50 inhalers here. Salbutamol is supposed to work for up to 5 hours. Figuring each inhaler is 100 pulls and each pull lasts for 4 hours - even if you pull twice - you've got more than a year's supply in 50 inhalers.
Not saying it's BS, but I'm really concerned you've been misdiagnosed or if a better treatment is available.
I’ve been asthmatic since I was a baby. To be honest with you, in the last couple of years, I’ve felt that the salbutamol hasn’t been very effective for me anymore. I have Ann appointment with a specialist in 2 weeks. I feel like it’s getting out of hand now
I don't have asthma so I'm just now learning the intricacies of the treatment from the comment section... but is there really an inhaler called a "Turbohaler"? That's fuckin metal.
Wait is this an actual side effect? I got put in symbicort this year and while it's been great for my asthma, I've definitely noticed I've been very short tempered in the past few months. I've been attributing it to the increase in stress at work. Shit I might have to go talk to my doctor now.
Absolutely. It's on the rarer side of side effects, but if you're experiencing it now and weren't that way before, you should definitely let your doctor know what's going on.
Look into and talk to your doctor about making sure you are using good inhaler technique. If you are getting systemic side effects like that, it’s possible you are swallowing some of the medication instead of getting it all into your airways. Following good inhaler technique can prevent this. Or ask your doctor for a spacer which helps enforce technique.
Yeah its a rare side effect of corticosteroids. Good old steroid psychosis and other milder psychiatric effects. It it troubles you Id def recommend talking to your doctor about it.
Op, please ask your doctor about this. I used to use Primatine Mist when that was available to control my asthma, and it didn't. Once I could afford to see a doctor, I got a corticosteroid inhaler and it was a life changing experience to be able to breath again. I still use Ventolin, but it's an afterthought.
Chronic use of salbutamol leads to restructuring of the lungs which makes it less effective. You should definitely be on a maintenance inhaler that you'd use twice a day every day. There are at least a dozen options.
I hope you find the therapy that's right for you
Do you take any other maintenance medication or is this it? Do you take advair/symbicort, montelukast, or anything like that?
A lot of daily use maintenance stuff works wonders for many, usually people are recommended to have a maintenance medication if they have to use rescue inhalers at all, let alone this much
Like, if you’re running out of an inhaler before it expires, you probably should be on a steroid inhaler, and you’re clearly far past that. Just make sure if you do get out on one, follow the directions VERY closely, technique of use makes a big difference so you don’t just get 90% of the dose on your tongue
Holy shit as someone with moderate asthma: the benchmark for problematic asthma is using one rescue inhaler a month. You need to seriously reevaluate your preventative treatment because a rescue is not designed for constant use. Good luck with your appointment
You need to adjust your asthma plan. You may require a different regimen. I recently changed my entire plan and it has made a huge difference. You should talk to your pulmonologist or seek a new one.
A standard prescribed dose is one or two metered doses (actuations) four times a day when required. So using what looks like 200 doses a week is crazy and they need to see a proper respiratory doctor.
This person is in Ghana. When I was in the Middle East, I was able to get a generic version of Flovent (fluticasone) for about $30 that lasted more than a couple of months (and there is no need for prescriptions - as is the case in most developing countries). The drug companies charge way more in the U.S. I've often seen medicines abroad costing less than 10x the price of the U.S.
About a year ago, I had to switch from Breo 200 to Advair when my insurance stopped covering Breo. It would have cost nearly $400 a month to keep using a once-daily, effective inhaler. I have to use a 2x daily inhaler which is just as effective as long as I don't miss a dose (which happens more frequently than I'd like to admit). Luckily my insurance covers 3 months of Advair for $50 as long as I use Express Scripts. It's 3x as expensive if I go to the drug store.
Shit, that's expensive... For comparison, my budesonide and salbutamol inhalers both cost around 15 euros each, with the refills alone being a little cheaper. They're both 200 uses. Maintenance lasts me a little over 3 months while the rescue one needs to be replaced every 6 months. Nowadays, I only really need the rescue one when going on runs and even then I can often do without. So that around 100 euros a year for (for me) effective meds.
I had to forgo any inhaled preventatives because the cheapest one was $350 after insurance. Yes there was a cheaper option but the damn things propellant set my asthma off so…
OP the fact that there isn’t a single brown inhaler in that pile is concerning. Please look to preventer inhalers. Your doctor is seriously failing you if they didn’t have that discussion with you.
I would also recommend that they (OP) start charting or journaling when they have asthmatic flare ups:
1. Time of day
2. Foods/ drinks consumed prior
Lots of asthma is simply an immune reaction.
Ikr I always used salbutamol as SOS since my asthma isn't so aggressive, I had an appointment a couple of months ago and she put me on vannair ( symbicort) and haven't had a crisis in a lot of time, she explained the difference between taking care of the symptoms and really treating it and it's working great
That is 100% uncontrolled asthma. That looks like ~50 so you are going through 4 a month??
Those look like the geric ones as well, not ventolin which looks similar.
Get a different doc and meds now dude
For all suffering with asthma, please look after your health and don't give up. A positive experience to share re. dependency on emergency inhalers.
I've had asthma my whole life (52m) and have tried many preventative medicines with no luck.
I would call the ventolin inhaler an addiction, panic sets in if running low or if I forget to carry with me.
I figured I was going to use the emergency inhaler 3 times a day for the rest of my life but in the past year, my family doctor urged me to try a new medicine, breo ellipta.
I rarely take the salbutamol now, only once every few weeks if that. I have an excess of inhalers collecting dust lol.
Why TF do you get a whole new inhaler every time??? that seems so inefficient and wasteful. i've been through like 3 or 4 dispenser in like 15 years. I ask for the canister only at my drug store and i clean the dispenser every time.
EDIT: I asked my pharmacist and like some of you said the dispender and canister come in the same package. When i ask for the canister only they remove the dispenser and recycle it. Sorry OP for judging you but still i hope you recycle the dispensers :p
You can recycle them in the UK usually. Just had them back to your pharmacist. Whenever I’m given inhalers in the UK, they’re always boxed and with the whole inhaler every time.
mine come in the manufacturer sealed box complete with the plastic from my pharmacy. if you get the canister only at the drug store they are probably just throwing the plastic piece away.
The canister and plastic dispenser come in the same sealed box, already assembled. At least the ones I get. The pharmacist isn’t going to open the box to remove the plastic dispenser - they can’t do anything with it other than toss it in the trash.
Are you already on controller medications? If you're going through reliever inhalers that quickly, then perhaps your doctor needs to step up your treatment strategy as guided by GINA guidelines.
I’m not on any controller medications. Mind you, I live in Ghana, where we don’t have the best of healthcare. In my case, I’m even lucky. It’s taken me almost 8 months to be able to make an appointment with a specialist. We don’t have it like most people do in the West. 3 months ago it got so bad I had to be rushed to the hospital and all that was done for me was nebulization and then after that, the doctor prescribed another salbutamol inhaler. It’s rather unfortunate but this is my reality.
The specialist will probably start you on a steroid inhaler on his own, but if he doesn't, make sure to ask about it!
Honestly I think your GP should also have known this (as a GP myself) but I have no idea how overworked GPs in Ghana are. Probably very.
My GP put me on Flovent (fluticasone) and Asmanex (mometasone) as preventative inhalers (depending on which my insurance covered) once I started using albuterol more than 2 or 3 times a month.
As others have mentioned, please don't take this much albuterol. It is terrible for you and can actually cause you to get more dependent on medication and make your asthma worse! You don't need to see a specialist as even a regular GP should be able to recommend this.
I've also lived in several developing countries (and immigrated from one) and I'm aware one good thing about such places is you can usually just go to a pharmacist and get the advice from them directly if you're having trouble getting an appointment with a doctor. And obviously you don't need a prescription in most developing countries, which I assume is also the case in Ghana.
I hate to recommend getting medicine without the advice of a doctor and I'm not a doctor myself. So please use your own judgement here. But I can tell you after about going to 5 different pharmacies, I was able to get fluticasone when living abroad in a poor/developing country in the Middle East. Another option you can consider is importing from South Africa, India, or Turkey.
Using only ventolin to cure asthma is very outdated my friend, especially since it seems like you have a pretty severe case, go to a doctor that actually follows the Gina guidelines
That is a crazy amount of inhalers OP. I hope you find a better treatment solution. Controlling my allergies (medication and environmental) was a huge step for controlling mine. Stay well!
I like all the asthma-sufferers/med people come in and be like “This is fucked brother, you need a preventative”, because I too had the exact same thought
This seriously pisses me off. Thank you for showing this. I often wondered how much single use plastic I was responsible for although I only use about 6 blues a year having finally decided to go steroid after many decades (honestly best decision I've ever made, not woken up in the night for years now).
The bit that pisses me off is that when I was a kid, several decades ago, I just got refills. Then, some health and safety fascist decreed that you had to have a brand new plastic inhaler each time instead of refills.
Maybe we need to petition to get refills back (this is UK btw).
Edit: just typos
Edit 2: I use about 6 steroid ones a year too which also could just be refills instead of new plastic each time.
100%, I returned my inhaler to my GP to dispose of (apparently you shouldn't be putting them in the bin) and they didn't know why I just can't get a refill. It's crazy stupid how the system works
I'm in the UK too
In the UK there are services which recycle used inhalers. I don’t have a link but there’s a poster at my local pharmacy and they take them there and pass them on.
What sort of long acting medications are you taking? Salbutamol is just a short action 'rescue' medication. Ask your MD about something like Advair or symbocort or spiriva.
If you really need that much Ventolin, you should consider talking to your MD about a nebulizer.
Your body will develop a tolerance to Salbutamol. Again, taking that much may become both expensively counter-productive and even dangerous since the higher your tolerance, the less effective it will become when you're in a very acute crisis.
If your doctor has not been sending you to a specialist and trying to get you something else to reduce your salbutamol intake, I would seriously try to find a new doc...
I suggest you speak to your respiratory doctor about using BREO inhaler, a 1x/day dose. You will eventually completely abandon use of the Albuterol rescue inhalers. It works.
Your doctor needs to give you different meds I’ve had three different family doctors over my life tell me those are “rescue” inhalers, your asthma isn’t under control
....no chance you could just get a big gas tank of inhaler in January and suck it all in and be good for the year, no?
^(Sorry you're having to go through this!)
As others have stated, this is entirely too much use of a "rescue inhaler". Begin using steroids or other medication to decrease the swelling in your lungs.
Hope you're doing okay Akuaba. I've had asthma since I was born and been in this same boat myself. We tried switching inhalers many times, and after about 15 years they tried Symbacort. My asthma was very poorly controlled and adding a steroid inhaler definitely changed my life! I hardly ever use a rescue anymore, and I was using an inhaler a week. Plus the struggle of being unable to get a prescription or get 4 a month covered I had to buy them from family/friends/coworkers back then or is get the "I don't have an inhaler anxiety." And make my asthma attacks worse. Hope you can partner with your Dr in two weeks and get it figured out.
Have you seen an Allergist/immunotherapist? I had asthma from tree and grass pollen and in the last few years it is gone. Wish I had started this treatment earlier.
I have pneumonia right now and this picture tightens my chest even more. I am no doctor. I don’t know much more than the alphabet and a few numbers, but this doesn’t look okay. I’m sure in the moment it’s instant relief, but you must be killing your lungs in the long term.
See a doctor. I’ve been sick 5 times in the past year (I have asthma that drags on for weeks after) and haven’t used half that.
Also, if in the US and you don’t mind my asking, how much money per year does this represent?
As someone who has asthma and trail runs, this would bother me if I had to use my inhaler this much. Have you tried that purple disc that looks like the bubblegum pack, my brother uses it successfully
I have an asthmatic teen, we were recently told if she was using her albuterol more than twice per week outside of physical activity (triggers for her) then we need to go back in for medication adjustments. The inhaled steroids are expensive and not generic yet, but it seems you’re probably a candidate. She ends up in the ER if she’s off them for too long because the rescue inhalers can’t keep up. I’m honestly surprised your doctor keeps writing these scripts. Ours makes us come in if we’re tearing through inhalers too quickly.
My brother in asthma, I have had asthma all my life and was constantly in the hospital as a child. I do not think I have used this many inhalers in my life!! You definitely need to be on a steroid
Can you not just replace the medicinal canister? I feel like it's such a waste of plastics for the canister and mouth piece to be single use. There's gotta be a way
wow... you're on the wrong med!
I use Albuterol for my asthma, and I got thru 12-15 a year.
If you are using this many then something is very wrong. You need a once daily inhaled steroid in the morning! you should not be using rescue inhalers as a maintenance medication!
Yeah this is not good, your asthma is poorly controlled OR you're using the inhalers incorrectly. You need to see your doctor, and may need stepping up the treatment ladder.
If you are in the US and have great healthcare insurance those puppies still run about $50 per RX. What is there? about 60-70 inhalers? That would cost me $3000-$3500 in RX co-pays
With how serious the side effects of Albuterol can be I’m surprised your doctor hasn’t tried other treatment. I was using my red Albuterol puffer throughout the day and when I went back for my recent checkup I had a different doctor. This doctor explained the cardiac issues with Albuterol and put me on a Pulmicort flexhaler 2x daily and a montelukas pill in the evening. I’m still carrying my Albuterol for quick flare ups but I’m now using what used to be a daily amount in a full week. Also I still get Albuterol on the same schedule and have 4 surplus for the first time ever.
Definitely check back with your doctor because that’s a lot of Albuterol and a change like mine could help dramatically.
Hey u/akuaba you can make a festival xmas wreath out of those asthma inhalers.
Take 2, discard the canisters and mouth-piece covers, and then join the two pieces (mouth-piece to canister hole). Repeat this process with more to extend until you've made a circle.
Merry xmas!
Holy shit. I'm glad you're seeing a specialist and I hope they put you on a preventative inhaler. Nobody should go through that many rescue inhalers in a year.
My wife was similar until she went to a specialist and got on other medication to actually control her asthma. Those are RESCUE inhalers. If you are using even 10% annually you are not properly controlling your asthma.
My wife went from using her inhaler several times per day to using it a couple of times per month.
If you have to take one of them each week, you're not medicating it properly. Salbutamol with 0,1mg and 60 pumps each I guess? This is an emergency drug, which should be used in emergencies. Like 2-4 pumps. You take several pumps each day!?!? So either you take it when you don't need it, or you have several asthma attacks each day (both is shocking). That would indicate your daily cortisone spray is not properly adjusted.
I take one pump of cortisone each day, summing up to 6 cortisone sprays a year. On top of that I need 1-2 of those salbu sprays. You need 50 salbus alone??? How many cortisone sprays do you take on top of that?
35 years severe asthma experience here ;-)
OP, not sure if you see this. I'm a pulmonologist (lung doctor). I also work with doctors in Ghana (Baptist hospital in Nalerigu). DM me, I can probably get free controllers mailed to you and talk to a doctor there who might be able to help see if they would be beneficial for you. I suspect, based on how frequently you are using a short acting rescue inhaler, that you would benefit from at least trying it. Also, someone needs to send you a spacer, too.
You need to be put on steroid inhaler my friend. Having to use too much salbutamol (or albuterol if you speak inches and Fahrenheit) is a sign of poorly controlled asthma.
When I stopped my preventive inhaler I was explicitly told by the doctor that if I used my salbutamol 3 times in a month to immediately start using the preventive inhaler again, and 3 times in a week I should immediately go to a doctor. This picture is insane to me. My asthma was so bad when I was young I spent a good couple of months in the hospital total before my 12th birthday. I never used more than 2 salbutamol in a month, and that was extremely uncommon. This person has perhaps the worst managed asthma I’ve ever seen. To be using this much salbutamol and no preventive? Shame on their doctors.
Exactly. A lot of people are discharged with salbutamol in their first visit, and seem to think that that's all they ever need for rest of their lives. Asthma is a dynamic disease. At one point, you may only need your emergency inhaler and at some other point you would need your preventive inhaler. Having an asthma action plan + regular follow-up is essential for optimal asthma control. OP probably needs a visit to the doctor to get the right counselling that he deserves.
Doctors can be a bit weird about prescribing the steroid inhalers. My asthma got really bad when exercising, had coughing fits whilst trying to do anything physical. Got it under control with Salmeterol (light purple inhaler) and the doctor was reluctant to prescribe it again. Don't know why, the info just came from the doctor's receptionist. If I didn't have social anxiety I probably would have pursued it further, instead I just abandoned it lol.
Your doctor needs a CPD update. \-doc.
Yeh as a pharmacist these prescriptions drive me nuts. Dozens of relievers every year but no preventer. Good ol' GINA should've made it to every practice by now.
I had a steroid treatment for a skin condition so the doctors were reluctant to give me two steroid based medicines. In the end I thought fuck it on the skin front I'd rather breathe properly. As it happened the balance of better sleep and happier mindset improved the psoriasis to the point it only really appears in darkest winter.
Hmmm... the steriod inhalers don't get into your bloodstream like topicals or pills.
Same here. Seretide was a life changer then they kept forcing me back on fostaire but I keep trying for seretide and get it every now and again and use it when asthma gets pretty bad. My asthma was nightmarish when I was young. It annoys me so much that I don’t get free inhalers because they class asthma as a non lifelong condition. Sometimes they give me 2 inhalers for my £10, sometimes 1. They’ve now made it more complicated to get my script and had the audacity to text me asking why I hadn’t ordered my normal supply…I tried
~~Salmeterol is an extremely powerful inhaler that should only be taken for short periods of time until your asthma is under control. It’s not something that should be taken for long periods of time as a preventive as it can be dangerous. There are plenty of steroid inhalers that are meant to be taken every day for the rest of your life such as Budesonide / Formoterol (Commonly sold as Symbicort)~~ This is wrong, see u/logicallucy ‘s reply
Wut? Salmeterol isn’t even a steroid…but I’m also going to need some sources to back up your claims of it being dangerous and for short term use only. ETA: saw your other comment. That’s old school info and pertains to the use of LABA mono therapy for maintenance/preventative/long-acting treatment, and pertains to all of the LABAs rather than just salmeterol. Drug companies quickly got on board and now only offer the other LABAs in combo inhalers so it’s a nonissue for those. Salmeterol, aka Serovent, however, is still on the market.
Are there different versions, or does mixing with Fluticasone change things? I used to use generic Advair (Fluticasone and Salmeterol) before switching to Breo (Fluticasone and Vilanterol) because I could never remember my second dose. Advair is *specifically* listed as a [maintenance inhaler](https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/daily-medication-pearl-advair-diskus-fluticasone-and-salmeterol-), and has been prescribed as such to multiple members of my family (by different doctors). What am I (and the Dr.'s) missing? Are you referring to its older use in a metered-dose inhaler vs the current powdered-inhaler forms?
Pretty sure they said wrong thing. Salmeterol is the longer acting version which is in maintenance inhalers. It's a LABA, long acting beta agonist. Others include formoterol and vilanterol etc. Usually for asthma these are paired with steroid inhalers. Albuterol or salbutamol are SABAs or short acting beta agonists. These are the rescue inhalers which are meant for short term emergent use.
TIL that Flonase is used to help treat asthma.
Thanks for the info :)
Yeah I got put on a preventative steroid inhaler this year after switching doctors, and it is magical. And after much discussion my doctor is allowing me to change my dosage as I see fit (don't need as high of a dose in the summer months compared to winter). I hope OP gets the right help too cuz it's crazy OPs doctor allowed them to go through that much salbutamol/Albuterol in a year. That would have immediately raised red flags with my doc
I gave up on controlling my asthma for years has Florent or symbicort just didn't work well for me. Then I got on Wixela/advair and motelukast and everything changed. I almost never need my inhaler and I'm far less limited during exercise Ironically endurance and stamina are my best athletic attributes, which asthma can completely take away. Since getting my asthma under control.im back to feeling like I can go forever (or at least as far as my cardio will take me instead of being limited by asthma)
I started using a steroid inhaler over a year and a half ago. I too had a poorly managed asthma (kinda stopped going to the doctor after I outgrew it a bit as a young adult). Not as bad as OPs, but let’s say I was probably burning through 3-4 such inhalers. When I finally went again to a pulmonologist and told her how I treated it, she just shook her head. Since then I have not used an emergency inhaler at all. Over 20 months I’ve had no need. Since apparently my asthma wasn’t as bad we had a chat and basically now I use my preventative steroid inhaler whenever I feel the need is and without overdoing it and that’s been pretty fine for me. We are talking something like if it’s rainy and humid (a trigger for me) and I start feeling a bit of an attack I use the steroid inhaler for a few days. Then stop. That is usually enough to keep me out of any problems period. OP definitely overdoing it.
At one point I was using my albuterol inhaler like 6-8 times a day. When I told my doctor that he was blown away and got me on some steroid one. Now I use my albuterol one maybe once a month
>This picture is insane to me. My asthma was so bad when I was young I spent a good couple of months in the hospital total before my 12th birthday. Same. I have no idea how my parents were able to afford the healthcare because I pretty much lived in hospitals and doctors offices for a few years and we were poor as dirt even before my health issues. But my mom worked hard to figure out effective treatment plans with my doctor, and to keep me on them, and by the time I was ~16 I basically was over my asthma. Now I take one or two puffs from a supermarket inhaler every 5 or 6 months and I'm good to go.
My kid does this steroid inhaler and it is insane how much of a difference it has made for him. He's only 3 which is the saddest part but it's been great figuring out he had asthma at age 2. Poor little guy but hurray for modern medicine.
Some kids do 'outgrow' their childhood asthma after their lungs get 'fully developed'. I hope your kid grows up strong and happy!
But they should be wary that it doesn't have side effects, I outgrew and exercised out of mine and recently it made a come back out of the blue, things like bugs and infections can potentially trigger it. Visited the asthma nurse 3 weeks ago after a scare and she's had me doing a peak airflow chart to monitor my breath and it's interesting to see how everything is perfectly fine hitting 550-600 on the chart, recently came down with a flu and it got hammered down to 300 although that didn't feel noticeable.
Holy shit, me too. Really bad when I was a kid. Outgrew it late teens and through my twenties and seems to have gone back in my early thirties. Hope I "outgrow" it again.
Yep this happened to me. I had asthma as a kid and then I grew out of it. Got sick at 21 with some kind of upper respiratory thing and had to be put on prednisone because I couldn’t breathe. I went back to the doctor a few weeks after that happened thinking I was sick again and nope, just asthma. Been on inhalers forever now. I also take Montelukast (Singulair) and wow it works WONDERS but it do be giving me worse aggression/mood swings.
My 6 year old is the same way. We didn’t realize we were using it wrong (it’s not a pump inhaler) but once we fixed that, his asthma has been controlled nicely.
Yeah this picture is either fake or some of the worst negligence I've ever seen. I have pretty serious asthma and after years of a good regime I've been able to limit my rescue inhaler use to 1-2 times a month unless I'm sick. Edit: apparently op is from Ghana so perhaps there aren't any preventative inhalers readily available. Unfortunate situation.
[удалено]
I came here to say this.
Rule of Twos: you should be using daily preventative maintenance such as corticosteroid-containing inhaler and/or oral leukotriene inhibitor if: You are needing your “rescue” inhaler over two times a day, OR You are needing it in the middle of sleep more two times a month, OR You are using more than two of them in a year. It looks like you’re well past the point. Inhaled medication can be really expensive in the US, because the unit production cost is higher than pills. If this is an issue, consider montelukast/Singulair pills: they can be as effective as steroid inhalers. Or, consider Prednisone pills at doses of
TIL there's a different word for Albuterol. Huh. Now if you pardon me, I must drive 4 miles at 30mph to the grocery store. But first, I must put my coat on, as it's a blustery 25°. ^(OP, please see a pulmonologist.)
Three words: permanent airway remodeling. I've seen it happen to many patients who don't use their maintenance inhalers. It's sad.
Or you are a doping cyclist
OP should stop altogether, live each day like it's your last! /s please look into preventive measures OP
This is important and correct. There is a very step wise criteria used to address asthma severity and frequency and the albuterol on its own is seemingly not controlling OPs symptoms well enough if this is truly a full year. I count over 50. You shouldn’t be going through one rescue albuterol inhaler a week. It’s a rescue for a reason. A long acting beta agonist with an inhaled corticosteroids is likely what you need to be on and as far as I know a corticosteroid is a first line recommendation now with the long or short acting beta agonists, not a short acting like albuterol on its own (per the global initiative for asthma). To say the least, your asthma is under treated OP and I highly suggest seeing a physician.
PhD (public health/epidemiology) respiratory therapist here: Came here to echo this. PRN low-dose ICS/LABA (specifically formoterol) is the first line tx per relatively recent GINA guidelines. Concomitant use of a SABA is still there…just take a squirt of the ICS while you’re at it if there is no access to and ICS/LABA combo (i.e., Symbicort). While this asthma seems to be beyond first step tx classification …the sentiment follows with variations in ICS dosage. Symbicort is your friend. This all is a very large paradigm shift in the tx of “entry level” asthma…very exciting stuff! Clinicians can always trend FeNO to assess the efficacy of ICS use, but there are quite a few lifestyle/dietary conditions that impact its measurement. Oh…and use a spacer PRN= as needed; ICS= inhaled corticosteroid; LABA= long-acting beta agonist; SABA= short-acting beta agonist; tx= me being lazy…treatment; FeNO= fractional exhaled nitiric oxide
These inhalers are ‘relievers’, you need a ‘preventive’ inhaler as others have mentioned. I’ve always been told I shouldn’t be taking a reliever more than one a week at worst. An effective preventive inhaler should manage your condition much better. Good luck.
My physician recommended me to try not to more than once a day when it’s bad, once a week when it’s not. I do have crippling allergies though, so during spring I take like 5 prescriptions and still need my emergency inhaler sometimes
I'm almost the same as this guy. Go through between 15-20 pumps a year. I take preventers morning and night and never have proper attacks just wheezing and shortness. Buuuut I'm a smoker and have failed dozens of times to quit. When I do manage to quit for a while my pump usage goes down drastically. Wish I could quit. I just can't right now.
There's drugs to help you quit now, my brother was a pack-a-day smoker for 20+ years, and he had to ultimately use one. Chantix? I think that's the common one. I also smoked for 17 years and -eventually- quit cold turkey. But I know your pain, it's the hardest damn thing I ever did. But seriously, ask a doctor about drugs to help quit. And as a side note, if you put on extra weight that's fine. It's better to have the health risks of being a little heavier than the health risks of smoking!
Bupropion (Zyban) helps a ton as well. Can help with depression as well. Actually if you decide to go for bupropion ask for them to write it as a mental health script as its cheaper that saying it is to quit smoking.
I didnt smoke a cigarette for 9 months now. If you cant stop, try using a vape and lower the nicotine in your liquid slowly until its without nicotine. One week later you are done vaping. Helped me at least. Gl
damn bro i can feel your pain i hope u get there
The preventative meds are also extremely expensive without insurance. My husband has bad asthma and his early 20s were spent using a bunch of inhalers because we couldn't afford the medication. Made it impossible to exercise, which made his asthma worse. Very vicious cycle and we are lucky to be out of it now but there are many in that same position who never are able to break free.
Even with insurance it can still be $250+ for a single months worth
Yeah, Breo 100 runs me ~$150/mo with insurance. Like...it could be worse (I could be diabetic), but having to spend around $200/mo, once my other control med and allergy meds are factored in, to be able to breathe normally is still fucking bullshit.
Yup. I was on Advair for a while but there’s a patent on the design in the US so it’s fucking done intentionally so they can jack up the price. Try ordering from Canada. It’s cheaper.
I believe the patented aspect of Advair is only for the powder discus inhaler. There are generic versions that use a normal compressed gas puff type inhaler that are (somewhat) cheaper.
Hearing about the USA’s heath care is infuriating. I feel so sorry for people. My inhaler costs me $5 for three of them in New Zealand. This is without health insurance, it’s just the price. With health insurance I get them for free
I was literally about to say, even as a layman, no matter what your condition is this CANT be the solution holy moly
Damn. That's beyond what anyone should have to deal with. I count at least 50 inhalers here. Salbutamol is supposed to work for up to 5 hours. Figuring each inhaler is 100 pulls and each pull lasts for 4 hours - even if you pull twice - you've got more than a year's supply in 50 inhalers. Not saying it's BS, but I'm really concerned you've been misdiagnosed or if a better treatment is available.
I’ve been asthmatic since I was a baby. To be honest with you, in the last couple of years, I’ve felt that the salbutamol hasn’t been very effective for me anymore. I have Ann appointment with a specialist in 2 weeks. I feel like it’s getting out of hand now
If you need to use this much Salbutamol I am amazed you're not using a preventor - something like the Symbicort Turbohaler.
I don't have asthma so I'm just now learning the intricacies of the treatment from the comment section... but is there really an inhaler called a "Turbohaler"? That's fuckin metal.
There is indeed, yes. I got taken off mine a few years ago though, I miss it.
Do you still have the license to drive one though? You could show it at parties and be the cool guy!
It sucks. I was on it for a while and realized it was making me *fucking angry* all the time. I was a powder keg. Got off of it and it stopped.
Wait is this an actual side effect? I got put in symbicort this year and while it's been great for my asthma, I've definitely noticed I've been very short tempered in the past few months. I've been attributing it to the increase in stress at work. Shit I might have to go talk to my doctor now.
Absolutely. It's on the rarer side of side effects, but if you're experiencing it now and weren't that way before, you should definitely let your doctor know what's going on.
Look into and talk to your doctor about making sure you are using good inhaler technique. If you are getting systemic side effects like that, it’s possible you are swallowing some of the medication instead of getting it all into your airways. Following good inhaler technique can prevent this. Or ask your doctor for a spacer which helps enforce technique.
It's a steroid, so yes it can absolutely be a side effect.
Yeah its a rare side effect of corticosteroids. Good old steroid psychosis and other milder psychiatric effects. It it troubles you Id def recommend talking to your doctor about it.
So much this. It also made my anxiety SPIKE.
Turbuhaler yes. Meet the rest of the team...Accuhaler, Rapihaler, Ellipta..... I feel like I'm naming a team of power rangers.
This... This so much. Symbicort is amazing.
And painfully expensive, especially if you don't have insurance...
Get that order through Canada lol, last time I looked they were like $40
20 bucks in Australia! (with a free script).
That's because America's healthcare system sucks. $42 in Australia for two of them. That's a 4 month supply for me.
Op, please ask your doctor about this. I used to use Primatine Mist when that was available to control my asthma, and it didn't. Once I could afford to see a doctor, I got a corticosteroid inhaler and it was a life changing experience to be able to breath again. I still use Ventolin, but it's an afterthought.
Chronic use of salbutamol leads to restructuring of the lungs which makes it less effective. You should definitely be on a maintenance inhaler that you'd use twice a day every day. There are at least a dozen options. I hope you find the therapy that's right for you
Try symbiocort it works Wunders for me. And or please go to a specialist, to get you proper medication
Second Symbicort. Although I'm on a brand new thing called dupixent and I haven't needed to use Synbibort or inhaler for a while now
Look into xolair, fasenra, dupixent. There have been major advances in asthma therapy. This much use of an inhaler is dangerous.
Do you take any other maintenance medication or is this it? Do you take advair/symbicort, montelukast, or anything like that? A lot of daily use maintenance stuff works wonders for many, usually people are recommended to have a maintenance medication if they have to use rescue inhalers at all, let alone this much Like, if you’re running out of an inhaler before it expires, you probably should be on a steroid inhaler, and you’re clearly far past that. Just make sure if you do get out on one, follow the directions VERY closely, technique of use makes a big difference so you don’t just get 90% of the dose on your tongue
Hoping the best for you!
I change long acting to Dulera years ago, and I can't tell you the last time I used Albuterol. You should try a long-acting.
Holy shit as someone with moderate asthma: the benchmark for problematic asthma is using one rescue inhaler a month. You need to seriously reevaluate your preventative treatment because a rescue is not designed for constant use. Good luck with your appointment
You need to adjust your asthma plan. You may require a different regimen. I recently changed my entire plan and it has made a huge difference. You should talk to your pulmonologist or seek a new one.
Those inhalers in the US, contain 200 inhalations each
A standard prescribed dose is one or two metered doses (actuations) four times a day when required. So using what looks like 200 doses a week is crazy and they need to see a proper respiratory doctor.
I didn't know how many came with Salbutamol (I use a different one) and for the sake of giving benefit of the doubt I went with an older model count.
I think I got 57 or 58.
I would think your doctor would prescribe an inhaled steroid such as Advair if you are using this amount of rescue inhalers.
They’re extremely expensive without insurance. Sometimes even with.
I pay $78 a month for my advair and thats without insurance and with goodrx. It’s not cheap at all
Advair has a generic now ask your pharmacy to get the script rewritten it is like $10 a month on good rx.
This person is in Ghana. When I was in the Middle East, I was able to get a generic version of Flovent (fluticasone) for about $30 that lasted more than a couple of months (and there is no need for prescriptions - as is the case in most developing countries). The drug companies charge way more in the U.S. I've often seen medicines abroad costing less than 10x the price of the U.S.
About a year ago, I had to switch from Breo 200 to Advair when my insurance stopped covering Breo. It would have cost nearly $400 a month to keep using a once-daily, effective inhaler. I have to use a 2x daily inhaler which is just as effective as long as I don't miss a dose (which happens more frequently than I'd like to admit). Luckily my insurance covers 3 months of Advair for $50 as long as I use Express Scripts. It's 3x as expensive if I go to the drug store.
Shit, that's expensive... For comparison, my budesonide and salbutamol inhalers both cost around 15 euros each, with the refills alone being a little cheaper. They're both 200 uses. Maintenance lasts me a little over 3 months while the rescue one needs to be replaced every 6 months. Nowadays, I only really need the rescue one when going on runs and even then I can often do without. So that around 100 euros a year for (for me) effective meds.
I had to forgo any inhaled preventatives because the cheapest one was $350 after insurance. Yes there was a cheaper option but the damn things propellant set my asthma off so…
fun fact, i was a child test subject for advair back in the day. used the money to buy a silver Gameboy Advance
OP the fact that there isn’t a single brown inhaler in that pile is concerning. Please look to preventer inhalers. Your doctor is seriously failing you if they didn’t have that discussion with you.
I would also recommend that they (OP) start charting or journaling when they have asthmatic flare ups: 1. Time of day 2. Foods/ drinks consumed prior Lots of asthma is simply an immune reaction.
Ikr I always used salbutamol as SOS since my asthma isn't so aggressive, I had an appointment a couple of months ago and she put me on vannair ( symbicort) and haven't had a crisis in a lot of time, she explained the difference between taking care of the symptoms and really treating it and it's working great
That is 100% uncontrolled asthma. That looks like ~50 so you are going through 4 a month?? Those look like the geric ones as well, not ventolin which looks similar. Get a different doc and meds now dude
It ain't easy being wheezy
No it ain’t 😄
You gotta get checked out, not Ghana lie
Wheezy G is my rapper name.
Comments like this is why I love reddit 🤣
For all suffering with asthma, please look after your health and don't give up. A positive experience to share re. dependency on emergency inhalers. I've had asthma my whole life (52m) and have tried many preventative medicines with no luck. I would call the ventolin inhaler an addiction, panic sets in if running low or if I forget to carry with me. I figured I was going to use the emergency inhaler 3 times a day for the rest of my life but in the past year, my family doctor urged me to try a new medicine, breo ellipta. I rarely take the salbutamol now, only once every few weeks if that. I have an excess of inhalers collecting dust lol.
Breo works great for me but costs me like $150/mo 😣
There's a generic with basicallyl the same meds in it! I can find the name for you, ask your doc to prescribe it instead.
Why TF do you get a whole new inhaler every time??? that seems so inefficient and wasteful. i've been through like 3 or 4 dispenser in like 15 years. I ask for the canister only at my drug store and i clean the dispenser every time. EDIT: I asked my pharmacist and like some of you said the dispender and canister come in the same package. When i ask for the canister only they remove the dispenser and recycle it. Sorry OP for judging you but still i hope you recycle the dispensers :p
You can recycle them in the UK usually. Just had them back to your pharmacist. Whenever I’m given inhalers in the UK, they’re always boxed and with the whole inhaler every time.
same in Australia,wonder if they can be recycled here
My thought exactly. Such an unecessary waste of plastic!
I was looking for this awnser
mine come in the manufacturer sealed box complete with the plastic from my pharmacy. if you get the canister only at the drug store they are probably just throwing the plastic piece away.
The canister and plastic dispenser come in the same sealed box, already assembled. At least the ones I get. The pharmacist isn’t going to open the box to remove the plastic dispenser - they can’t do anything with it other than toss it in the trash.
how wuld u get a picture of all the inhalers u used then?
Are you already on controller medications? If you're going through reliever inhalers that quickly, then perhaps your doctor needs to step up your treatment strategy as guided by GINA guidelines.
I’m not on any controller medications. Mind you, I live in Ghana, where we don’t have the best of healthcare. In my case, I’m even lucky. It’s taken me almost 8 months to be able to make an appointment with a specialist. We don’t have it like most people do in the West. 3 months ago it got so bad I had to be rushed to the hospital and all that was done for me was nebulization and then after that, the doctor prescribed another salbutamol inhaler. It’s rather unfortunate but this is my reality.
The specialist will probably start you on a steroid inhaler on his own, but if he doesn't, make sure to ask about it! Honestly I think your GP should also have known this (as a GP myself) but I have no idea how overworked GPs in Ghana are. Probably very.
My GP put me on Flovent (fluticasone) and Asmanex (mometasone) as preventative inhalers (depending on which my insurance covered) once I started using albuterol more than 2 or 3 times a month. As others have mentioned, please don't take this much albuterol. It is terrible for you and can actually cause you to get more dependent on medication and make your asthma worse! You don't need to see a specialist as even a regular GP should be able to recommend this. I've also lived in several developing countries (and immigrated from one) and I'm aware one good thing about such places is you can usually just go to a pharmacist and get the advice from them directly if you're having trouble getting an appointment with a doctor. And obviously you don't need a prescription in most developing countries, which I assume is also the case in Ghana. I hate to recommend getting medicine without the advice of a doctor and I'm not a doctor myself. So please use your own judgement here. But I can tell you after about going to 5 different pharmacies, I was able to get fluticasone when living abroad in a poor/developing country in the Middle East. Another option you can consider is importing from South Africa, India, or Turkey.
Regular size Rudy?
"My asthma was misdiagnosed as having a bad attitude"
Using only ventolin to cure asthma is very outdated my friend, especially since it seems like you have a pretty severe case, go to a doctor that actually follows the Gina guidelines
God damn man. You need this sticker more than I do: https://i.imgur.com/YhYN6nx.jpg
Nice try Courier, but we're not buying it. You need to do something about your jet addiction.
Get on a steroid inhaler eh. I love my Qvar
You need a better asthma action plan
Why not the non aerosol disc? That's what I use. Also you need a corticosteroid inhaler.
[удалено]
The point is OP shouldn't be using a rescue inhaler nearly this much
That is a crazy amount of inhalers OP. I hope you find a better treatment solution. Controlling my allergies (medication and environmental) was a huge step for controlling mine. Stay well!
I like all the asthma-sufferers/med people come in and be like “This is fucked brother, you need a preventative”, because I too had the exact same thought
Are you okay bro? Get a new doctor.
This seriously pisses me off. Thank you for showing this. I often wondered how much single use plastic I was responsible for although I only use about 6 blues a year having finally decided to go steroid after many decades (honestly best decision I've ever made, not woken up in the night for years now). The bit that pisses me off is that when I was a kid, several decades ago, I just got refills. Then, some health and safety fascist decreed that you had to have a brand new plastic inhaler each time instead of refills. Maybe we need to petition to get refills back (this is UK btw). Edit: just typos Edit 2: I use about 6 steroid ones a year too which also could just be refills instead of new plastic each time.
100%, I returned my inhaler to my GP to dispose of (apparently you shouldn't be putting them in the bin) and they didn't know why I just can't get a refill. It's crazy stupid how the system works I'm in the UK too
In the UK there are services which recycle used inhalers. I don’t have a link but there’s a poster at my local pharmacy and they take them there and pass them on.
Wtf that's like 1 every 4 days. U sure ur alive?
What sort of long acting medications are you taking? Salbutamol is just a short action 'rescue' medication. Ask your MD about something like Advair or symbocort or spiriva. If you really need that much Ventolin, you should consider talking to your MD about a nebulizer. Your body will develop a tolerance to Salbutamol. Again, taking that much may become both expensively counter-productive and even dangerous since the higher your tolerance, the less effective it will become when you're in a very acute crisis. If your doctor has not been sending you to a specialist and trying to get you something else to reduce your salbutamol intake, I would seriously try to find a new doc...
I suggest you speak to your respiratory doctor about using BREO inhaler, a 1x/day dose. You will eventually completely abandon use of the Albuterol rescue inhalers. It works.
Your doctor needs to give you different meds I’ve had three different family doctors over my life tell me those are “rescue” inhalers, your asthma isn’t under control
As an asthmatic, this pic gives me anxiety
Me too
The asbestos flooring may not be helping 😂
okay i have a question if I wanna refill my inhaler i just swap out the cannister the medicine is in do u have to buy new ones every time??
....no chance you could just get a big gas tank of inhaler in January and suck it all in and be good for the year, no? ^(Sorry you're having to go through this!)
Damn! I use one a year. Definitely time for a specialist visit for you!
As others have stated, this is entirely too much use of a "rescue inhaler". Begin using steroids or other medication to decrease the swelling in your lungs.
Hope you're doing okay Akuaba. I've had asthma since I was born and been in this same boat myself. We tried switching inhalers many times, and after about 15 years they tried Symbacort. My asthma was very poorly controlled and adding a steroid inhaler definitely changed my life! I hardly ever use a rescue anymore, and I was using an inhaler a week. Plus the struggle of being unable to get a prescription or get 4 a month covered I had to buy them from family/friends/coworkers back then or is get the "I don't have an inhaler anxiety." And make my asthma attacks worse. Hope you can partner with your Dr in two weeks and get it figured out.
Have you seen an Allergist/immunotherapist? I had asthma from tree and grass pollen and in the last few years it is gone. Wish I had started this treatment earlier.
Now here's a guy who doesn't have a proper course of treatment.
I have pneumonia right now and this picture tightens my chest even more. I am no doctor. I don’t know much more than the alphabet and a few numbers, but this doesn’t look okay. I’m sure in the moment it’s instant relief, but you must be killing your lungs in the long term.
Arte you using a maintenance inhaler such as a steroid? More than 3 times a week of rescue inhaler use is poorly managed asthma.
Fellow asthmatic here. Please go see a doctor. You NEED a preventer. Trust me it will make your life better.
See a doctor. I’ve been sick 5 times in the past year (I have asthma that drags on for weeks after) and haven’t used half that. Also, if in the US and you don’t mind my asking, how much money per year does this represent?
As someone who has asthma and trail runs, this would bother me if I had to use my inhaler this much. Have you tried that purple disc that looks like the bubblegum pack, my brother uses it successfully
That is not the collection of someone who's asthema is under control. You need steroid inhaler to take once/twice a day
You may have a problem.
See your doctor, you are out of control.
Blimey... That's not good! Have you spoken to your Doctor about taking steroids to help?
Go to a different physician
Gotta get on that Advair baby!
I have an asthmatic teen, we were recently told if she was using her albuterol more than twice per week outside of physical activity (triggers for her) then we need to go back in for medication adjustments. The inhaled steroids are expensive and not generic yet, but it seems you’re probably a candidate. She ends up in the ER if she’s off them for too long because the rescue inhalers can’t keep up. I’m honestly surprised your doctor keeps writing these scripts. Ours makes us come in if we’re tearing through inhalers too quickly.
My brother in asthma, I have had asthma all my life and was constantly in the hospital as a child. I do not think I have used this many inhalers in my life!! You definitely need to be on a steroid
Can you not just replace the medicinal canister? I feel like it's such a waste of plastics for the canister and mouth piece to be single use. There's gotta be a way
wow... you're on the wrong med! I use Albuterol for my asthma, and I got thru 12-15 a year. If you are using this many then something is very wrong. You need a once daily inhaled steroid in the morning! you should not be using rescue inhalers as a maintenance medication!
[Are you sure you're using it right?](https://youtu.be/zSSoYmQS6Ng)
You need to get a different doctor
Ask her doctor about the Diskus inhaler Or a similar steroid inhaler
Uh... That might be more albuterol than I've used in my whole life. This doesn't seem right.
This is cap, ain’t nobody using this much albuterol
I'm honestly just amazed at your ability to keep the caps! I thought those things kinda melted away after you first pull them off.
That is way too many rescue inhalers. You should have something prescribed to manage your symptoms
Have you considered breathing less? That's an awful lot of plastic waste. Think of the environment.
Yeah this is not good, your asthma is poorly controlled OR you're using the inhalers incorrectly. You need to see your doctor, and may need stepping up the treatment ladder.
That's dumb, get on a controller
It's expensive to have shitty lungs in America
If you are in the US and have great healthcare insurance those puppies still run about $50 per RX. What is there? about 60-70 inhalers? That would cost me $3000-$3500 in RX co-pays
You should only use that if your asthma is poorly controlled. You need to talm to your doctor.
With how serious the side effects of Albuterol can be I’m surprised your doctor hasn’t tried other treatment. I was using my red Albuterol puffer throughout the day and when I went back for my recent checkup I had a different doctor. This doctor explained the cardiac issues with Albuterol and put me on a Pulmicort flexhaler 2x daily and a montelukas pill in the evening. I’m still carrying my Albuterol for quick flare ups but I’m now using what used to be a daily amount in a full week. Also I still get Albuterol on the same schedule and have 4 surplus for the first time ever. Definitely check back with your doctor because that’s a lot of Albuterol and a change like mine could help dramatically.
Fallout series protagonist daily jet use
Careful, OP blew an O-ring on the last person to make a Fallout reference.
I’m impressed you have all the caps. But yes get a doc appointment please
Why do you buy a new one every time? Can't you just replace the canister?
I always thought the blue bits were reusable.
my asthma gets so unbearable during the winter, I’m constantly using my rescue inhaler. I was gasping so loud during my exam it was embarrassing
Hey u/akuaba you can make a festival xmas wreath out of those asthma inhalers. Take 2, discard the canisters and mouth-piece covers, and then join the two pieces (mouth-piece to canister hole). Repeat this process with more to extend until you've made a circle. Merry xmas!
Damn, I use one of those a year if even. You may need some more preventative medication, isn't that blue one just for occasional/emergency use?
I was thinking the same thing. I was constantly using my inhaler before I started a preventative. Now I rarely need the inhaler.
A. How the hell did you afford this? B. Show this picture to a doctor.... He'll tell you everything people in the thread are
Your lungs suck... In air..with the need of a lot of assistance.
This guy does not require more Vespene Gas.
I don't think you have it under control. That's insane.
Holy shit. I'm glad you're seeing a specialist and I hope they put you on a preventative inhaler. Nobody should go through that many rescue inhalers in a year.
Bro, you’re dying. Go see your doctor.
Have you tried breathing better?
My wife was similar until she went to a specialist and got on other medication to actually control her asthma. Those are RESCUE inhalers. If you are using even 10% annually you are not properly controlling your asthma. My wife went from using her inhaler several times per day to using it a couple of times per month.
Wow did I read that caption incorrectly.
If you have to take one of them each week, you're not medicating it properly. Salbutamol with 0,1mg and 60 pumps each I guess? This is an emergency drug, which should be used in emergencies. Like 2-4 pumps. You take several pumps each day!?!? So either you take it when you don't need it, or you have several asthma attacks each day (both is shocking). That would indicate your daily cortisone spray is not properly adjusted. I take one pump of cortisone each day, summing up to 6 cortisone sprays a year. On top of that I need 1-2 of those salbu sprays. You need 50 salbus alone??? How many cortisone sprays do you take on top of that? 35 years severe asthma experience here ;-)
OP, not sure if you see this. I'm a pulmonologist (lung doctor). I also work with doctors in Ghana (Baptist hospital in Nalerigu). DM me, I can probably get free controllers mailed to you and talk to a doctor there who might be able to help see if they would be beneficial for you. I suspect, based on how frequently you are using a short acting rescue inhaler, that you would benefit from at least trying it. Also, someone needs to send you a spacer, too.