Part of having Brittle Asthma means quite a strict daily medication regime but also the constant quest for the magic inhaler, pill or nebuliser which might just be life changing or not even life changing but give you that bit more freedom and better quality of life.
A common theme between brittle asthmatics when first meeting someone is to ask about what medications they take. Not to be nosy but for that inhaler they take that you might not have tried or something different which might help!!! I have a page where it has my medication but I thought I would do a post about the regime I follow and why I do this and what the point of each medication is.
During a normal day I have four medication sessions so to speak: breakfast, noon, dinner and before bed! As I take several medications more than once a day I am going to explain each medication after my regime.
Breakfast: Salbutamol and Atrovent Nebuliser and a saline nebuliser if needed. Seretide and Flixotide inhaler, Nasonex nasal spray, Prednisilone, Theophylline, Fexofenadine, Citirizine, Calci Chew D3, Lanzoprazole, Cyclizine, Nefopam, Co-Codamol, Laxido,
Noon: Salbutamol and Atrovent Nebuliser (if needed. I don’t always feel the need to take this set of nebulisers), cyclizine, nefopam and co-codamol.
Dinner: Salbutamol and Atrovent Nebuliser, Cyclizine, Co-Codamol, Lanzoprazole and Calci Chew D3
Before Bed: Salbutamol and Atrovent Nebuliser along with saline if needed, Seretide and Flixotide Inhaler, Nasonex nasal spray, Theophylline, Chlorophenamine, Co-Codamol, Nefopam, Amitriptyline and Montelukast
When my asthma is a bit better I substitute the atrovent nebulisers with a once a day inhaler tiotropium and my salbutamol nebulisers with salbutamol inhaler however I rarely don’t take salbutamol nebulisers except during the day when at work.
The nebulisers I take:
I take Ventolin aka salbutamol in either 2.5mg or 5mg doses. Salbutamol is a short acting bronchodilator which helps to relax the smooth muscles in the airways which have constricted causing wheezing and the feeling of breathlessness. I also take Atrovent aka ipatropium in a 500mcg dose if I am not taking my tiotropium inhaler aka Spiriva. Both Atrovent and Spiriva are drugs commonly used in COPD but are becoming more common in the treatment of difficult asthma. It is an anticholinergeric drugs which blocks the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the smooth muscles and stops the bronchi from contracting due to inflammation.
I have two nebuliser devices depending on where I am. I have a mains powered nebuliser called a Pari Turbo Boy which is fantastic but not possible to use when out and about so I use a Beurer IH50 portable nebuliser which runs of batteries and much handier than needing to find a plug for the Pari!
As well as the nebulisers I also take 2 different inhalers regularly and then a ventolin inhaler as and when I need it. The main 2 inhalers are known as preventers. The first is Seretide 500 2 puffs twice a day increased to 2 puffs 4 times a day when unwell, which is a combination inhaler made up of fluticasone and salmeterol. The fluticasone is an inhaled cortico steroid which dampens down the inflammation in the lining of the airways in the lungs. The inhaler works locally on the lungs and very little of the steroid component is actually absorbed in the circulating system. The salmeterol is a long acting bronchodilator which has a 12 hour working duration compared with the 4-6 hours of the salbutamol inhaler. I also take Flixotide 500 2 puffs twice a day can be increased to four times a day, aka fluticasone which is part of the Seretide inhaler. Due to the doses of inhaled steroid I need I was taking a higher dose of Seretide however was suffering with a lot of cramp due to the higher dose of the salmeterol so I have a second inhaler with only flixotide.
Twice a day I use a nasal spray due to allergic rhinitis associated with my asthma. The nasal spray is Nasonex aka Mometasone which much like the inhaler is a steroid based medication which acts locally on the inflammation in my nose and sinuses.
Along with my nebulisers, inhalers and nasal sprays I also take numerous tablets.
The most important one is Prednisilone. This is a steroid tablet which again dampens down the inflammation in my lungs. The dose I take varies depending on how well my asthma is controlled. If I have an acute episode I will be given 40mg and then reduce as I see fit normally by 5mg every week down to my maintenance dose of 14mg. This drug is one I love to hate. It is really good for when my asthma is really bad but it does with some awful side effects which I need other medications to control. These are and anti emetic Cyclizine 25mg three times a day, a proton pump inhibitor which protects my stomach from too much acid called Lanzoprazole which I take 30mg twice a day, I also take Calci Chew D3 Forte twice a day which helps t protect my bones as one of the side effects from prednisilone is bone thinning. The D3 Forte part increases the vitamin D level in my blood which many asthmatics can lack. Prednisilone also gives me very bad restless legs which I take Amitriptyline 20mg at night as my restless legs are worse at night.
Other tablets specifically for my asthma are Theophylline (Uniphyllin) which is a slightly old style drug which requires close monitoring as you need to adjust the dose to get a therapuetic dose. Too much can make you toxic and very unwell and subtherapuetic will result in less asthma control. I take 300mg twice a day as it is a modified release tablet and taken every 12hours to maintain your blood serum level. It is difficult to explain how it works. It also has some adverse side effects which I take the above tablets for. Another one is Montelukast (Singulair) which is leukotriene receptor antagonist. It works by blocking a substance called leukotriene, which helps to decrease certain asthma and allergy symptoms.
A big part of my asthma is allergies associated with it and hay fever. I take three different anti histamines. Fexofenadine (Telfast) 180mg once a day in the morning, Citirizine 10mg once a day and at night I take Chlorophenamine 4mg. I take this at night as it has a bit of a sedating effect which is not good during the day.
I also take painkillers everyday at the lowest dose possible although this has to get increased when I am struggling with my chest. I get a lot of pain in my lower left lung where I have had repeated infections and have a lot of muscular pain as well as previous cracked ribs. For this pain I take Nefopam 30mg three times a day. This can be increased up to 90mg three times a day but I don’t want to take a high dose. I also take CoCodamol. During the day I take Co-Codamol 8/500 x2 three ties a day as it can make me feel a bit dopey but at night I take 30/500 x2 at night. I need to take Macragol (Laxido) sachet either once or twice a day as co-codamol can cause you to become constipated.
Its quite a lot of medication. I m really lucky that i have a fantastic pharmacist who has set up a dosette box for me so I don’t need to have boxes and boxes of pills. I just collect a tray once a week from my chemist and it has all my pills in it ready for me!
Every three months I have a Depo Provera Injections which maintains my hormones at a constant level as we worked out my periods made my asthma worse so by keeping hormones at a constant level this helped.
I regularly require antibiotics such as Amoxicillin or Doxycycline for chest infections and if presenting with an acute attack am given IV Magnesium, IV Hydrocortisone and IV Aminophylline or Salbutamol.
Just now I am at the end of my tether with my health and have asked my consultant in a desperate plea to see if I could try Methotrexate as a steroid sparing agent. I don’t care about the side effects I just want some life back. This medication is known as a steroid sparing drug which can help people come off prednisilone. I need to wait and see if she thinks this is a good idea or not. I need to do something as I can’t stay as I am.
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 