Asthma Note

do you find the Qvar makes that much difference? Have you been taking 8 puffs of symbicort before you started the Qvar? I still am waiting for my appointment with my specialist, to see what she suggests next. I find using 8 puffs/day of symbicort working not bad, except for the chest tightness, cough and mucous is still present.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Qvar, but it actually has helped quite a bit.  My Pulmonary Specialist told me that it works a little differently than other corticosteroids.  I think I like the Qvar, especially in combination with Symbicort.

I had been taking only four puffs of Symbicort each day, then I increased to between six and eight.  Now I am back down to four as daily maintenance with a maximum of eight puffs, along with four puffs of Qvar.  I'm also using Theo-24, Guaifenesin, and Nebulized Saline with CPT.

I'm off of Prednisone for the time being, and only using Xopenex as needed.  So far, I'm feeling much better!  :)

Interesting. I think I will bring it up about Qvar to my specialist when I see her next. So you also take Guaifenesin? Does that help with your excess mucous? Is there a reason that you produce a lot of mucous, outside of asthma, from your lungs that you take it? And the nebulized saline with CPT (what is it?) is to help with what in your lungs? Is it to help keep you lungs free of infection?

Guaifenesin can help with excess mucus, but only if you drink a lot of water with it.  I take it every evening to help with my coughing.  On days I am experiencing a lot of extra mucus, I will take it during the day as well.

Basically, I take the Guaifenesin, then drink water for about a half an hour.  If I am wheezing at all, then I will used Nebulized Xopenex.  If I am not wheezing, I will start with my Nebulized Saline.  I use a mask with my nebulizer, that way I can do my CPT, (Chest Physiotherapy), that the same time.  This helps me to cough, and clear my lungs of the excess mucus.

You can ask your doctor to set you up with a Respiratory Therapist to show you the best CPT techniques for you.  Basically it is just a special way to cup your hands, and hit your chest, sides, back, etc.  There may also be special postures, and devices like the Flutter Valve.  The Flutter is a device that you can blow into that vibrates to help loosen the mucus in your lungs so that you can expel it more easily.

Theo-24, (Theophylline), makes a huge difference in night asthma symptoms!  It requires blood tests for leveling, so it can be a bit of an annoyance.  It's been really helpful to me though!

So you produce regularly excess mucous? Do you take all of these extra measures to reduce the mucous to prevent infection from developing in the lungs? I got a lung infection 2.5 months ago, because of excess mucous in the lungs. It got to the point that I could feel it rattling, then after three days of that it turned into a lung infection. Do you feel mucous rattling regularly in your chest? I don't have it rattling anymore, but I do cough up bits of it. Maybe with this warm weather it will finally go away. I have to see the specialist yet, to see what is causing the extra mucous. Hence why I had to do the barium swallow test recently to test for Gerd. She figures that is maybe what is causing all the excess mucous. I thought that doing chest therapy and taking guaifenesin is not reccomended for asthma? But I guess I shall see what comes out of this. But thank-you for the info on clearing out the mucous.

My lungs seem to produce excess mucus quite regularly.  I have tried medication for GERD in the past, but it hasn't at all helped me.  Keeping my airways clear seems to be the only way I am able to remain free of bronchitis though.  Otherwise I seem to catch it in the matter of a couple of days.  It kind of feels like breathing in sandpaper under water.

Also, whenever I do start to get any kind of chest infection, I immediately start taking Prednisone.  That in of itself seems to have eliminated most visits to the Emergency at the hospital.

Thanks for your note. I was tracking both my morning and afternoon peakflows on paper, then when I signed onto Medhelp. I've been using the online tracker. It suggested to use your highest peak flow for the day, so I went with that. I do prefer tracking twice a day, as  my peak flows are not necessarily always lowest in the mornings. I sometimes have it where i stay persistently in a range that straddles being in the green and the yellow. Not bad, but symptomatic. And I don't even realize it. Hence why I started tracking my peak flows. So you prefer to track your morning readings? I presume they're lower. Does this give you a more realistic picture of where you're at? I don't tend to have large diurnal variations. Just tend to go bad and stay bad. My specialist is  on holidays, and I don't see her till end of August, but I think I will bring up some of things you have mentioned. My family doc never knows what to do with my asthma as I present so differently from others. No wheezing can be heard till the asthma is at some bad state.. The previous specialist didn't want to consider me as asthmatic, but didn't know what else was causing all the lung problems. His recommendation was to take lots of inhalers, and don't ever go off from them. Nice! I imagine with your autonomic condition, it must make it complicated to treat your asthma. Nice chatting by the way.

I basically use my morning readings for the tracker, but I don't always remember to use my meter before treatment.  I'd imagine that having some readings before, and other readings after morning treatments would hinder accuracy.  Overall though, I think that taking readings at approximately the same time, and under similar circumstances has been helpful.

I hope that you, and your specialist will be able find a treatment that works well for you!  I know how frustrating it can be to find just the right treatment.  I wish for you lots of asthma-free days!  :)

Dysautonomia does complicate my asthma treatment, but there have been many new treatments available for asthma in the past few years that have been really helpful for me.  I especially like Symbicort, and Xopenex.  Neither of those were available ten years ago!  :)