inhalers

i have never been in hospital because of an asthma attack yet have been on inhalers fo r 20 years (female 52)
i have copd. never smoked never been near asbestos or similar. had to take prednisolone in small dose for all those years also because of problems with adrenal glands. no family history. my problem now is i am weaning off my prednislone and producing a lot of phlegm. sometimes i have noticed tiny green tadpole like strands in mucus what are these called. i find i use my releiver  inhaler one puff every two hours rather than two puffs evry 4 hours as i dont seem to notice any difference on my second puff. i think this is because my asthma is excersized induced. am i doing right or wrong      

[Victoireh]

Producing more phlegm means that your asthma is less controlled. Are you weaning off the prednisone with your doctor's advice? Perhaps you should go back to your doctor and decide how to proceed on your treatment plan. When mucous starts turning colours, such as yellow or green, it is a sign of infection. You want to keep your airways open as much as possible,especially with COPD, where excess mucous is already a problem. It is best that the mucous keeps moving out from your airways, if enough accumulates, then it sets up the environment for the bacteria to grow. Once an infection is present, your asthmatic airways only respond by tightening up even more, creating more problems for the removal of the excess mucous.