At my last Asthma review, it was suggested to me by the nurse that I try living without using the preventer inhaler for a while and see how it goes. Over the last week, I've not been using it, and while there has been a slight increase in feeling out of breath, the reliever has helped. However, after waking up today, I've come to the realisation that, really, I need to start using the preventer again. Which is a bummer because I'm not a fan of taking drugs every day.

At least I've rediscovered the speed at which Ventolin can clear the tubes quickly.

What colour is the preventer? I only know them by the colours. I assume that it is the brown one?

There was a medic on TV recently complaining that many people relied on Ventolin when prevention is the better option. This was specifically in places where people can buy it OTC, but I imagine prevention is generally better if it's a chronic condition.

Shame it's chronic of course, but on the bright side it sounds like it's manageable.

There are many preventers and they come in a wide variety of colours, but yes the brown one is a preventer.

However, I believe Paul uses Symbicort:

Oh FFS. Please kick the nurse next time you see her. Asthma is not only a chronic condition, it's inflammatory. What you need are steroids to suppress the inflammation. The aim should be that you need to use the reliever only once or twice a week. Any more and you need steroid inhalers or a change in medication.

People rely on Ventolin/reliever because it gives immediate relief whereas steroid inhalers apparently do nothing. Combine this with peoples' fears of "steroids" esp as "anabolic steroids" and it's a recipe for disaster. The icing on the cake is the fact that people will now be able to buy Ventolin with a prescription, which means they're more likely to rely on it rather than the steroid inhaler they should be taking.

The sensible asthmatics I review know exactly what to do with their inhalers when there's a flare and when they need oral steroids or antibiotics. Unfortunately they are very far and few between.

Paul, please make sure you have a flu vaccine this season.

You - that's the one, and one dose a day keeps everything under control. In the USA, I understand that this is licensed for relief as well. It has kept me off the Ventolin for months at a time. Usually, I have to get a nearly full Ventolin inhaler replaced as they expire before I use them up.

So, apart from the odd chest infection and agricultural activity (a few farms nearby, which can affect the breathing), the asthma is pretty much under control for most of the time.

Lesson learned.

I'm on Symbicort too, it's wonderful stuff and has reduced my dependence on Salbutamol/Ventolin massively. It has also helped improve my peak flow. At my last asthma review my nurse tried to get me to try something else as Symbicort "is very expensive to the NHS". Beclometasone doesn't do anything for me so I politely declined.

Why flu vaccine?

What's the difference between Symbicort and Beclamethazone?

I've found that worse food and more stress require prevention. In Lanzarote/Italy/Colorado I NEVER need prevention and have used Salbutamol on literally a handful of occasions. It's this stinking cold, wet, [LIFTED] country.

My father was recently diagnosed with asthma. Apparently there is a surge in numbers of pensioners who now have asthma. It struck him first on the golf course.

http://www.asthma.org.uk/about-asthma/c ... u-vaccine/

The difference between the two is the active ingredient(s).

What medication works for you, and how often you require your reliever inhaler depend on both your triggers and the severity of your asthma.

I've never had the vaccine and to my knowledge, I've never caught the virus.

As an "attack" is less than a once a year event for me (in fact can't remember the last one off the top of my head, but at least 2 years ago) I'll skip extra drugs/antibodies/dead virus bits/whatever else they put in it.

I really think everybody in the UK that's been diagnosed, should try living somewhere drier/warmer for a bit as an experiment. Cured me, for all intents and purposes. Although I still get symptoms with intense aerobic excercise if I don't warm up first.

There are various causes for asthma that have been postulated. One of the studies looked st the differences between east and west germany. There were various things like pollution which could be a factor.

Flu vaccine because asthmatics are at risk if they have the flu itself - can cause a flare of asthma which can be mild enough to require more inhalers or severe enough to require hospitalisation and in extreme cases intubation and artificial respiration.

Symbicort = steroid + long acting version of ventolin. Normal ventolin provides relief for minutes whereas long acting version can provide relief for hours.

That is the one I got, after I had a bad attack in the summer. I haven't used it for several weeks now and I think I've used the reliever 4 times in 3 months.


When I had my attack in the summer, my reliever had run out 2 years before, was still over half full.

The attack in summer seemed to be weather related. I had problems after it was sunny, then suddenly cold and wet. The it was warm again and the problems went away, then it went cold and wet again and I had the severe attack, which caused me to go to the doctor.

Now the weather had slowly gotten cold and wet, I am not having any problems.