Anyone using Symbicort?

[jenanoelle]

Oof, me too.. I've been on the stuff for a week now, I thought it'd end at the shakes, but now apparently I'm getting some full blown vertigo..

[ImagineLennon]

Oh no ! That sucks. I actually haven't been using it regularly ( bad girl). I still have to ask if it's okay to just take it at night, too.

Another doctor I work for said that his patients really like Symbicort...maybe they don't notice the side effects.

What about Advair? Have any of you tried that? I didn't have much luck with Flovent (kept forgetting to take it ) and that is the only other controller I've tried. I really like Atrovent though ! Only problem is it's not a controller.

[jenanoelle]

Well, here's the story, ever since I was little, i've had asthma.. I'd been given a "normal" inhaler, and that was really it. From time to time when I was really bad, I was given an oral steriod, and eventually even a Nebulizer. After a while, my asthma just seemed to fade away! About 5 years later, my life's completely different.. new place to live, new climate, even a new country! I was doing completely fine until I got a couple of kittens (who I love dearly, and refuse to part with, my doctors have always, and will always hate me for my stubbornness..) So, I've developped allergies with them, and along with my allergies, asthma comes along as well. It came to a point where I was simply taking my inhaler (Ventoline/Albuterol) every night before bed to *prevent* an attack (minor) that I knew was going to come. After 3 months of that, I went to a new doc who said "hey, this is no good, get off of that", so.. I'm in the process of trying, with symbicort. It helps, but the side effects have been between absent to quite disagreeable. I don't approve of the vertigo at *all*, the jitters, I can deal with, I'm fairly used to them. I wish I knew the names of the things I used in the past.. I remember one steriod pill and one liquid that tasted like strawberries that I used at one point when I got really bad (all because of having to take gym class ), I remember not having any problems while I took them, but it was a very short treatment.. after that, I think I remember Flovent, actually.. it was a very disagreeable thing.. I got very jittery on it, and the taste was *horrible*..

Honestly, I'm hoping my best that my body'll get used to the kittens (who are now nearly cats!), and simply fade away, as usual.. (well, that, and I've made a pledge to keep my apartment a lot more clean, change my sheets more often, have the bf do anything I know I shouldn't do.. vaccuuming, cleaning the litterbox, anything *too* dusty..) I suppose my body can handle one allergen, if I try to minimize the rest.. have you heard anything good about those anti-allergy/asthma trigger shots? I've always been curious to try.. with asthma, one can tend to feel a bit limited, as if they're not *truly* living..

So, long story short, in my little experience with the non-emergency type asthma medications, Symbicort is.. okay. I'd love to find something that doesn't leave my dizzy/lightheaded, and that won't leave a sour taste in my throat, though.. any recommendations?

[ImagineLennon]

Originally Posted by jenanoelle

Honestly, I'm hoping my best that my body'll get used to the kittens (who are now nearly cats!), and simply fade away, as usual.. (well, that, and I've made a pledge to keep my apartment a lot more clean, change my sheets more often, have the bf do anything I know I shouldn't do.. vaccuuming, cleaning the litterbox, anything *too* dusty..) I suppose my body can handle one allergen, if I try to minimize the rest.. have you heard anything good about those anti-allergy/asthma trigger shots? I've always been curious to try.. with asthma, one can tend to feel a bit limited, as if they're not *truly* living..

I am also allergic to cats (i've known this since 1988 when i got my first cat, who passed away in 1995), but I currently have three of them. I love my babies and wouldn't trade them for the world! I've had Church since he was 6 weeks old; he'll be 8 years in April. We got Sadie in November 2001; she'll be 4 years in August. Edie is the newest addition. I was working as a receptionist in a vet clinic. She came in with three siblings, abandoned by the mother (whether by mom's choice or that of some higher power is unknown) at about 3 weeks of age. I fell in love with her on first sight and did a lot of begging and crying to be allowed to bring her home. She turned 1 year this past October. Church and Edie both have short hair, Sadie has medium hair. I had some troubles with each one when I first got them, but my body has grown accustomed to their dander and I don't have much problem with my allergies or my asthma on account of the cats.

I'm hoping to get a Pug soon, even though I am allergic to those, too. I love animals so much I don't care about my health. Kind of silly, but oh well. If the symptoms are bad I take antihistimines. There are also liquids you can get in pet stores or possibly from your vet that you put on the animal to control dander. I've used one brand on my cats and found it to be helpful.

[jenanoelle]

What I've found works well for me (especially in the summer) is to give my cats frequent baths.. nothing big, just a bit of a rinse, but it does wonders for me. (I've had them since they were just 7-8 weeks old, so they've sort of grown up with the habit, and don't mind at all.. I haven't watched them too much this winter, because I don't want then to catch cold! :P) ..come to think of it, that's around when I started having asthma problems again.. Do you have the name of the product you can put on them? I'm always hesitant to bother them with chemicals.. I've heard of horrible things happening with those flea drops that people put on the back of their cat's necks.

As for an antihistamine, do you have any recommendations? I took Zyrtec (fairly successfully, I might ad.) Until they discontinued it here, after that, I got something called Cetrazine, which doesn't do 50% of what it should.. lately, I've been on a trial with "Xyzall", but the problem with it so far is that it doesn't *last*, I'm always "sniffley" in the morning, before I take it, and at the end of the day.. Next time I'll ask for "Reactine", I think.. it's either another generation of Zyrtec or atleast by the same company.. then again, I think Xyzall is, too.. mm..! I've also tried Claritin/Claritin D, but it never seemed to be strong enough.. have you heard anything good about Allegra?