Question:

I was diagnosed with asthma at the age of twenty-two.  A few years following that diagnosis, my asthma went out of control.  I was placed on oral prednisone, theophyline and several inhalers.  The medication seemed to make my attacks more frequent and more severe.  A few years and several doctors later, I was able to eliminate just about all medication.  I am thirty-three years old today and have not been to the hospital for my asthma for about two year.  Cold air and exercise seem to be the main triggers for my asthma today, but I no longer have severe attacks. During the winter months, I seem to have the most trouble.  I am currently taking Uuniphyll and use a Ventolin inhaler.  My doctor prescribed Aerobid-M about two months ago.  I am a little apprehensive about using steroid medication again, but I take my dosage. Can anyone tell me about their experience with Aerobid-M? Any problems associated with it? Also, I have read that the Ventolin inhaler may cause lung damage.  Can anyone provide information to support this? Thank You!      

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was diagnosed with asthma at the age of twenty-two.  A few years following that diagnosis, my asthma went out of control.  I was placed on oral prednisone, theophyline and several inhalers.  The medication seemed to make my attacks more frequent and more severe.  A few years and several doctors later, I was able to eliminate just about all medication.  I am thirty-three years old today and have not been to the hospital for my asthma for about two year.  Cold air and exercise seem to be the main triggers for my asthma today, but I no longer have severe attacks. During the winter months, I seem to have the most trouble.  I am currently taking Uuniphyll and use a Ventolin inhaler.  My doctor prescribed Aerobid-M about two months ago.  I am a little apprehensive about using steroid medication again, but I take my dosage. Can anyone tell me about their experience with Aerobid-M? Any problems associated with it? Also, I have read that the Ventolin inhaler may cause lung damage.  Can anyone provide information to support this? Thank You!

I tried the Aerobid(flunisolide) one time but didn’t like it. It has a bad taste and can cause nausea. Also didn’t control my asthma on a twice a day schedule. I don’t know what the M version is. The inhaled corticosteroid I use is Vanceril(beclomethasone). A newer inhaler worth checking out is Flovent(fluticasone p.) from GlaxoWellcome, a twice a day drug.The advantage of the corticosteroid is it treats the swelling thus directly treating the asthma. Ventolin(albuterol) is safe up to 8 inhales/day. A better bronchodilator is Serevent(salmeterol) which lasts for 12 hr and is expecially good for nocturnal asthma. You still need Ventolin for exercise and rescue. The Uniphyl is theophylline, I have used the Theodur version as a 3rd or 4th line drug. Theophylline is not used much anymore.

Response:

I was diagnosed with asthma also at age 22.  Since then I have been on immunotherapy for several years (currently on it) with a few year hiatus.  I use Aerobid regularly twice a day (4 puffs x2), and only use my Ventolin when my asthma is out of control.  Although I have never been hospitalized for an attack, I have been put on prednisone a about 4-5 times (3 times in the past year due to extreme humidity/mold, and not upping my aerobid or ventolin when I should have). According to everything I’ve read, my allergist’s and family practitioner’s clinical experience over many years, and recent research, athsma as an inflammatory disease benefits best from preventive use of inhaled steroids that work on the large airways on a regular basis (e.g., Aerobid), and use of medications that work on small airways (e.g, Ventolin, or the generic Albuterol, or the twice a day Serevent) if the asthma is not under control.  When I do have to use both, as I am now after just finishing 15 days of prednisone because I waited 3 weeks thinking that it was just a bad cold, I use Serevent twice a day, and Aerobid 2-3 times a day.  (I was told to use the ventolin or serevent first, wait several minutes, then inhale the Aerobid). Since using the Aerobid (Aerobid-M is the same with mint added to reduce the bad taste, which has never bothered me in either version), even though I’ve had a few attacks, my breathing is much better, and my chest has felt much less tight or not at all on a daily basis. Hope this helps!   Aneil Aneil K. Mishra, Ph.D.               Assistant Professor of Management The Pennsylvania State University    Phone:     (814) 863-0642 University Park, PA  16802           Fax:       (814) 863-7261

Response:

I also found Aerobid to be extremely bitter, and the bitterness persisted longer with each use.  I went back to Azmacort which caused minor tightness in my chest shortly after use on occasion.  At least I can stand to take it.   I read in an old copy of Drug Evaluations (Vol ?) that tasting Aerobid was a rare occurance less than 5%, I am interested to know how common this response is with the readers of this newsgroup. Alan

Response:

I also found Aerobid to be extremely bitter, and the bitterness persisted longer with each use.  I went back to Azmacort which caused minor tightness in my chest shortly after use on occasion.  At least I can stand to take it. I read in an old copy of Drug Evaluations (Vol ?) that tasting Aerobid was a rare occurance less than 5%, I am interested to know how common this response is with the readers of this newsgroup. Alan

My Aerobid tastes terrible and causes minor tightness for the first several minutes if I don’t use Albuteral first. After that however, it seems to help me better than Azmacort did. I haven’t noticed any increase in the persistance of the bitterness with each use. — Blevins Enterprises, Inc.                       http://bei.moscow.com

Response:

At one point I also started to notice a tightness in my throat and down into my chest after using my Aerobid-M.  I kept complaining to my doctors about it but they really didn’t know what to make of it. After awhile it became evident that despite rinsing my mouth after using the Aerobid-M, I had developed thrush.  I have had recurrent problems over time with the thrush.  And it never fails that the problem of feeling tight in my throat and chest proceeds the thrush by a few days to weeks.  Also, there are times now when I get the throat tightness but never actually develope full blown thrush.   Kathy

Response:

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