What improves breathing at night? (pressure & tightness) - Asthma Message Board

02-18-2004, 10:38 AM

Is there an over the counter medication that helps to loosen up a tight chest to breath easier (pleurisy, pleuritic pain & pressure) I don't want to take an antihistimine that will cause palpetations or restlessness but do want to breath easier. Aside from using an air filteration unit, keeping an open window, sitting up in bed, I'm very uncomfortable and not sleeping. Any Ideas?

ps-last night tried an old combivent inhaler but had palpetations.

PinkBanana · 02-18-2004, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemi

Is there an over the counter medication that helps to loosen up a tight chest to breath easier (pleurisy, pleuritic pain & pressure) I don't want to take an antihistimine that will cause palpetations or restlessness but do want to breath easier. Aside from using an air filteration unit, keeping an open window, sitting up in bed, I'm very uncomfortable and not sleeping. Any Ideas?

ps-last night tried an old combivent inhaler but had palpetations.

Well..if you don't want palpitations your kind of limited on choices here.
Do you know what the pleurisy is from? Asthma? If so..a bronchodilator is really your only choice. I find that nothing works better for pleurisy caused by asthma than xopenex till the pain is gone, a pred burst & regular advil. Yes your heart will race. Welcome to the wonderful world of asthma. LOL

hc85 · 02-19-2004, 01:21 AM

Yeah...Most bronchodilators can cause cardiac side effects. You may consider asking your doctor to try atrovent. Your combivent contains both atrovent and albuterol. The albuterol and most other bronchodilators are beta agonists. This means that your heart may race. The atrovent is an anticholinergic. It may not make your heart race and still provide some relief. It's a drug USUALLY prescribed for COPD patients, but I find I get some good results with it. The propellent bothers me so I have to make sure and use a spacer.

dolphins · 02-20-2004, 04:55 AM

Hmm, do you have dust mite proof covers/doona? Aside from the prescribed meds this is what was recommended to me ~3yrs ago by an A&E Dr. I had a lot of probs with my asthma back then, and was told to get rid of my feather doona to a dust mite proof/low allergen doona cover, dust mite proof mattress cover, dust mite proof pillow - I think that's about it. Plus every 3-4 months my Dad vacuums my bed/doona/pillows & sprays with dust mite spray (??) like fly spray except it's designed to kill dust mites. I'd suggest not using the spray yourself in case it triggers an asthma attack.

Anyway just a suggestion. What works for one may not work for another.

jp3892 · 02-20-2004, 07:13 AM

Beta-agonists may make your heart race but in the majority of cases it really has little if no effect on the heart. Try Ventolin anyway to see if you are one of those susceptible to its cardiac properties. Remember the body gets used to it very quickley so effects may wear off.
Taking two puffs before u go to bed is one effective method but u may still wake up after 3 or 4 hours when it wears off. If that happens the best medication is slow release theophylline which opens the airways for up to 16 hours.