Asthma

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

very interesting.!

i use morning and night
Seretide 500 - Salmeterol/fluticasone propionate
- Salmeterol helps relax the air passages
- Fluticasone is a Steroid to reduce inflammation

Atrovent - Ipratropium bromide Inhalers
- which also relaxes the air passages

+ 1 Montelukast sodium tablet at night
- used to prevent wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and coughing during exercise
- allergic rhinitis ( sneezing and stuffy, runny or itchy nose]
note: contains lactose

NOW - some weeks ago i ran out of Meds and my online renewal application was 'On Hold' by my local GP annual checkup needed i believe
anyway one thing and another i didn't make an appointment........
suddenly realized 2 weeks have passed - only meds being taken was Atrovent Inhaler 2xday

and I felt OK - even on my 12mile circuit every other day

but have had attacks of the 'sneezes''......

thanks to your notes above - I'll see if my meds can be decreased or changed due to the lactose.......
BTW i switched to goats milk years ago

john

take care ....sleep well.!......

I started off with the 'switch to goat's milk' about 20 years ago and went over to goats' butter, yoghurt and cheese as well before finally having to rule out all dairy about 8 years ago. I was until quite recently able to tolerate small quantities of cooked dairy (such as cheese & butter but not milk) but about 3 years ago, even that became impossible. I find now that I will start a coughing attack after the 1st mouthful of something if there is dairy in it (usually when someone has sworn blind there is no dairy in it and there is, "oh but I didn't think butter counted" that sort of thing,).

Seretide was something I was on for years until I started getting heart problems that were occurring more and more regularly - its a known side effect of the inhaler and eventually the heart flutters were happening 8 or 9 times a day and my GP decided enough was enough...

Montelukast is an interesting one.... some of the generic versions are really bad for their higher dairy content and one has actually left me in A&E in anaphylactic shock! But I can tolerate the brand name 'Singulair' if and only if it is the UK version of it - I don't know why but I am able to - I guess they have processed the dairy enough for me not to be allergic to it. but I do find that tablet useful and can only miss 1 or 2 doses before problems return.... so it is on my repeat as Singulair and once a year we play the game of it being put back to Montelukast without me being told and then me having to make an appointment to get it put back...

Atrovent - is the alterative for the new version of tiotropium that I have been put onto and is my 'backup' and all I respond to if I need 999 for an attack.... but I need to take a lot of atrovent (4x4 doses a day) daily to get the same relief as I (used to get/got/hopefully will continue to get) from tiotropium... I am now on Spiriva respimat rather than the Spiriva handihaler... so 2 doses verses 16 doses.

Regretfully a considerable number of medications contain dairy - it is used as a tablet filler (and unnecessarily so - it is simply a cost exercise). It is not uncommon to find dairy in even capsules which shouldn't need a filler/bulker at all!

Luckily my phyllocontin does not contain any dairy... but my steroids (hydrocortisone) does and there are no alternatives for that (apart from IM/IV) so I have the strongest tablet I can and cut it up! Luckily the Spiriva respimat is actually a liquid and I am pretty sure that the 'inhaler' is actually a mini nebuliser because it looks like my ultrasonic portable nebuliser with a metal plate in it and even the fine mist is similar!

Are you aware that a lot of bread and margarine contains cow's dairy products as well?
Pure is about the only brand of marg that is dairy free although I think there is now another one but it is twice the price that Pure is. (I have come across one olive marg (Italian make but not a common one) that is dairy free, but it is pricey!
Bread is hit and miss. Soft fluffy wholemeal is just about the worst for the dairy content.... but certain brands are better than others. Robert's bakery is pretty good at avoiding dairy - that one is local to me which is great. The Village Bakery is sometimes good and sometimes not, but well labelled. The only one in M&S I can have is their seeded baps (both the white and wholemeal baps contain dairy). Hovis Wholemeal is patented, and does not contain dairy, so is usually a good one to aim for! Otherwise it is a label reading contest and a case of learning all the variations that milk or dairy can be called!

Edit: It was serevent I was on, not seretide, but the side effects for salmeterol are still the same

 

[John the Canuck]

thanks for the info
''Singulair and once a year we play the game of it being put back to Montelukast without me being told and then me having to make an appointment to get it put back...''

you're correct - i used to get Singular but now the Pharmacy dishes out Montelukast - didn't realize - will see the Dr soon

didn't know that about bread
Sainsburys have a 'free from'' section - I'll check it out
meantime ''Hovis Wholemeal is patented, and does not contain dairy''

 

[Mapplebeck]

Hi all, just wondering if any of you have asthma and enjoy cycling? Does it make your asthma worse? Have you found cycling helps overall?

I'm just getting into road cycling and have been asthmatic since a boy, generally I find myself able to cope more on the bike as apposed to running, etc.

Hi Timotheog, from my experience, cycling has only done my asthma lots of good - my lungs are much stronger when I've been doing lots of cycling. I always take my inhaler with me, just in case, but rarely use it - unless I stop cycling regularly, in which case I do need my inhaler more often on a ride. I find anti histamines also improve my symptoms in the summer. I also do a lot of swimming, and can recommend it for any asthmatic - I think swimming helps strengthen lungs better than anything else. But cycling definitely helps too, and it won't make your asthma any worse. Just remember to take your inhaler with you, and don't worry about stopping to take it and giving yourself a few minutes to recover if you need them.

 

[ColinJ]

I am booked in for my lung test next week. It sounds like a pretty basic test, not even any exertion involved. All they will be checking is how much and how quickly I breathe in and out at rest, how much oxygen I take in, and my lung capacity.

I will be interested to see what that lung capacity is because I have believed I have big lungs since blowing the water out of a manometer in a physics experiment at school in my teens! (Science teacher: "Oh, you are the only boy to ever blow that hard!")

 

[John the Canuck]

(Science teacher: "Oh, you are the only boy to ever blow that hard!")

buttons lip
buttons lip
buttons lip..........................

 

[ColinJ]

(Science teacher: "Oh, you are the only boy to ever blow that hard!")

buttons lip
buttons lip
buttons lip..........................

It dawned on me about 30 seconds after I posted it!

 

[madpensioner]

(Science teacher: "Oh, you are the only boy to ever blow that hard!")

buttons lip
buttons lip
buttons lip..........................

It dawned on me about 30 seconds after I posted it!

me too about 30 seconds after I read it !

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I am booked in for my lung test next week. It sounds like a pretty basic test, not even any exertion involved. All they will be checking is how much and how quickly I breathe in and out at rest, how much oxygen I take in, and my lung capacity.

I will be interested to see what that lung capacity is because I have believed I have big lungs since blowing the water out of a manometer in a physics experiment at school in my teens! (Science teacher: "Oh, you are the only boy to ever blow that hard!")

Nothing to the lung function tests.... and I too have a good lung volume and the lungs function well when they are 'asthma free'... think that is better phrased that yours!

 

[ColinJ]

Nothing to the lung function tests.... and I too have a good lung volume and the lungs function well when they are 'asthma free'... think that is better phrased that yours!

I was slightly disappointed when I read the appointment letter and saw that there was not going to be a treadmill test. If they happen to do these basic tests when I am not feeling short of breath, then everything might appear normal. If I had to exercise for (say) 30 minutes then it would be pretty obvious that I was struggling a bit for the first 10 minutes until I got warmed up.

Still, they have to start somewhere. They must see lots of people like me and I'm sure they know what they are doing.

I am glad that they are taking me seriously - they could have turned round and said that I must be ok, being capable of doing the hilly rides that I do.

 

[hobbitonabike]

I was diagnosed with asthma after I started cycling but after looking back over problems I have had they all come back to this, just not obviously enough to be diagnosed sooner I guess. Am on an inhaler morning and night and a blue one before/during exercise if needed. I also have a nasal spray and take antihistimines. Pollen absolutely cripples me and flower lined hedges (especially on hills) triggers breathing problems almost immediately. I can't breathe through my nose when exercising as, and this may sound odd, I have really narrow nostrils lol. If I try and inhale deeply through my nose my nostrils clamp shut and nothing gets in. So then breathing through my mouth causes my lungs to dry up more quickly and irritates the asthma! Vicious circle. Am starting to get to grips with it a bit having only been diagnosed a few months ago.

 

[albion]

Yes, the lung function blowing test is quite useless for me too. Inflammation mainly comes after multi repeated tests (or cycling early in the morning up to steep a hill without a granny gear available).

So I wonder why do they do it when you are not having an asthma attack.

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, the lung function blowing test is quite useless for me too. Inflammation mainly comes after multi repeated tests (or cycling early in the morning up to steep a hill without a granny gear available).

So I wonder why do they do it when you are not having an asthma attack.

I had my lung tests done earlier in the week, when I was actually feeling ok. I told the spirometrist (is that what they are called?) that and she said that they were just trying to establish some 'base values' for now.

I wouldn't fancy having to do those tests when I am feeling rough. I got quite light-headed and developed a slight headache with the repeated full exhalations.

I found the tests quite interesting, but struggled a couple of times not to have a giggling fit halfway through. There is something about being told to breathe normally that makes one want to not do it!

I was told that my lung capacity seems pretty big (as suspected). I think I blew out 6.4 litres on one set of tests.

I suspect that my problem is not asthma, but I suppose they have to start somewhere to work out what is going on.

I am having an ultrasound scan of my heart done in a few weeks time.

 

[Matthames]

I have asthma that is exercise induced. I had to do some comprehensive tests to firmly prove that it was exercise induced because the reliever inhaler is on the anti-doping naughty list. The reason I had to have the tests done was I was entering a world championship status event and to avoid any awkward questions I applied for a therapeutic use exemption.

 

[ColinJ]

I am feeling much better now so I don't think asthma was what was troubling me. (I suspect that I probably developed a few more clots when I had my cold but have now managed to clear most of them.)

I will still be having an ultrasound scan of my heart soon to see if I have any obvious problems related to my problems over the past couple of years.

 

[the_craig]

Bump.

A very interesting thread. I myself was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago after going through a spell of waking up most nights short of breath and really wheezy. I remember one particular night when I was ready to phone 999. Sadly, my GP was worse than hopeless and had to take matters into my own hands. I work in a local hospital and spoke to one of my respiratory nurse collegues who arranged spirometry and diagnosed me that day with asthma and started me on inhalers and antihistamines.

No more waking up short of puff. So I'm on 2 puffs of my becolmethazone morning and night and only use a couple puffs my ventolin before a ride or before going to the in laws, where one of their dogs set me off in minutes.

And I find @SatNavSaysStraightOn's story fascinating.