Hey guys,
I've been on advair now for 3 or 4 months after having a stubborn chest cold and i've been doing really well, but just recently my GP decided to take me off advair because of the LABA in it. I continued taking flovent 100 mg 2x a day (i was taking advair 100/50), but it's not really doing it for me. My peak flow readings dropped from 560, which is my top, to 510, which isnt to bad but i like to do my best :], and i can't really get it any higher.
My asthma is basically mild or at the worst moderate when i dont have a respiratory infection. I've taken corticosteroids when i was much younger as well and they didn't do anything then either.
Can asthma be caused solely by airway constriction and have basically nothing to do with inflammation(which the corticosteroids reduce)? If that's the case i understand why the salmuterol in advair helped me so much.
So basically what i wanted to ask you guys is my above question about asthma with lack of inflammation, and also is it bad to take advair 100/50 at such a young age (18)? Cause my GP acts like it's a death sentence to take a LABA.
P.S. I know about the research which connected Asthma related deaths with LABA use, but i'd rather breathe free and live now then never breathe and live forever.
WEll, if you have asthma you should be seeing a pulmonologist for it, not your GP. So my advice is to get to a pulmonologist and get a proper treatment plan.
By definition asthma is an inflammatory condition, so there's no such thing as asthma without inflammation. The steroids and beta agonists accomplish the same thing (opening up the airways) via a different mechanism but ultimately both work to reverse inflammation so that your airways are more open.
It's not a bad thing to take Advair at your age but there are some risks - based on your peak flow readings it sounds like you're doing pretty well with just the Flovent so it's probably not something to spend much time worrying about unless you see a decline in lung function that starts to impact your daily activities.
You might also ask your doctor about a slightly higher dosage of Flovent to compensate for the lack of a long acting beta agonist - that might do the trick for you.
Alright, i'll ask about a higher dosage if flovent, right now i'm on 100, which might be kind low. What do most people take?
Also are theyre other steroids like QVar and things like that that may work better for me? or are they all the same thing?
You don't say how many puffs you do only that you use it time a day. Is that 2 puffs twice a day or one? I started out on 2 puffs twice a day and am now at 1 puff once per day as my asthma is now well under control.
I really wish they would get rid of these peak flow meters. You ought to know whether or not your breathing in under control on your own. What happens is that in the normal course of things, your peak flow will vary but you will have no problems with breathing. But if you are using that meter all the time, you'll start to question things - like oyu have - when there is a change in your peak flow rather than relying on how you feel, your ability to be active, etc. and that should be the determining factor - not if your peak flow went from 500 to 480.
Well it is 50 mg 2 puffs, 2 x per day. So in essence 100 mg 2 x per day. But now ive been told to increase it to 100 2 puffs 2x per day. Complicated haha.
As for the peak flow things, when my peak flow is at it's top i can tell that im breathing more air in and out then when it is lower, even if it is only by a few points. And when asthma is controlled doesnt that mean that there peak flow reading is at the absolute top?
I also don't really know what constitutes being active, cause being young i can be pretty active even if i can't breathe haha. I used to run track and run miles and miles while having a pretty good attack from exercise induced asthma, but i still did it.
No, that's not what being controlled means. Having your asthma under control means that you can go about all your normal activities (whatever is normal for you) without experiencing an attack, with one exception being medicating with albuterol before cardio. Mine is well controlled. I haven't used my albuterol, except for my standard 2 puffs before jogging, since last August when we had 10 days straight of over 100 degree weather here along with the drought. Too dry and too hot. So, I upped my Flovent from 1 x per day to 2 x per day for about a week and when all was well I went back to 1 puff a day.
All this is per my doctor's written plan designed for me. That's why I say you need to go to a pulmonologist. I went to my GP in the beginning for my asthma and never could get it controlled. I probably know more about it now than he does. Anyway, this keeps me controlled except in those rare weather circumstances like last summer so I'm happy whether my peak flow is 375 or 350....which is my normal range at age 62, 5'2", 110 pounds.
Well thats great that yours is so controlled,
I used to have a great pulmonologist but he left so ive been without one. Guess i should grab a new one huh.
Everyone is different. You have to find the right combination for you. And a GP, frankly, can't stay up on all the info on all conditions. That's why I keep saying you need to see a pulmonologist. That's all he does - lung problems.
So he/she will be better equipped to test and evaluate you.
I've started with the buteyko breathing method and i've been having some really great results. I havn't stopped taking the steroid but my peaks have gone back up just from the buteyko breathing.
