Should I be taking Symbicort

[triathlete330]

I am a 46 years old triathlete.  I was diagnosed with asthma when I was in high school and had a cold and exercised. It wasn't a problem and I only used the inhaler a few times. I have been training for 1/2 ironman triathlon race and went to see an allergy doctor.  I found out I am allergic to quite a few trees/bushes etc -- hayfever.  While there the doctor tested my air flow a bunch of times. She said I was quite a bit lower than expected, especially for the amount of exercising I do.  She gave me albuteral and symbicort (plus some hayfever meds) and asked me to use the peak flow meter. I generally have been at about 450 on the flow meter and for my size and weght (6' tall and 160 lbs) it says I should be about 650.  I don't seem to see any real improvement when I use Albuteral. The Symbicort keeps me awake at night when I take the 2x spray/2x a day. The doctor mentioned I need to use Symbicort for a few weeks consistently before seeing the results.

Do I really have asthma if I don't really notice a difference using Albuteral? Should I reduce the dose of the Symbicort to 1 spray 2x a day? Are there other reasons why my peak flow would be so low? I will be calling my doctor about this tomorrow, but I would love a second opinion. Thank you.

[caregiver222]

You should vit an asthma clinic. They have a flow meter which will measure your response to various medications. The lungs sometimes become acustomed to the albuterol when it is overused and it becomes ineffective. Ask your physician to prescribe Ipratroprium Bromide HFA, and see how that works out.

[triathlete330]

Thank you. I haven't used the albuteral much because it didn't seem to do much -- I've only used it a total of about 25 times (all within the last 8 months).  She dropped the symbicort dose to 2 puffs 1x per day to see if I slept better.  I'll ask the doctor about the medicine you mentioned and I'll look for an asthma clinic. Thanks again.