:)

[terri01p]

 

[hellokitty86]

What is everyone else doing for their asthma???? I'm really sick of just being sick??? Any over the counter help??? I really need something cheap, and I'm up for trying anything, please let me know what your trying that has worked.

OP, I would like some suggestions too.. Sorry I can't be much help with the advice, I'm in the same boat as you.

I had the same problem with Singular- it is just so expensive! I really wish a generic would come out. The one suggestion I have is to ask your doctors office for samples. That's what I do to help offset the cost, because Singular really helps my asthma so I want to continue taking it, but it is just so expensive!!

 

[KristaTX]

Contact your doctor's office and see if they have samples. I work in an allergy/asthma clinic, and we are seeing many more people these days who are also struggling to pay for their medications. We don't want to see any of our patients get very sick (or worse) simply because they can't afford their medications for a while. Maybe you could still get your medications filled yourself, but ask them if they can give you samples, too, to help spread out your out-of-pocket costs.

Also, check with the manufacturer to see what they might be doing for patients having trouble paying for their medications.

Are you on a daily controller / inhaled medication (e.g. Advair, Symbicort, Asmanex)? If not, it sounds like you might need to have your asthma re-evaluated.

 

[freckles and boo]

Please don't stop taking maintenance medications. That is why you are using your inhaler so much. There is no cheap answer, but ask your doctor for samples or if there is a program available to help you pay for your medications. I get just about every other Advair disk from my doctor as a sample, which really helps the bottom line. Do you know what your triggers are? Can you be better about avoiding them? I HAVE to keep my cats out of the bedroom at night.

My husband's cousin died a completely avoidable death because she didn't follow her action plan. Please call your doctor to see what they can do.

 

[terri01p]

 

[Lars624]

I find that Advair controls my symptoms better than Singulair ever did. The Advair website has a place where you can sign up to receive coupons & they give you the first month free. The mail me coupons every couple of months for $25 off.

 

[Lisa_M]

I don't have Asthma, but DD was recently diagnosed. I need to take her to the specialist to get more information, but currently she is using a nebulizer a few times a day.

What is this maintenance medicine about? I don't know anything about Asthma other than DD's constant wheezing and difficulty breathing.

 

[KristaTX]

Do you see an asthma specialist for your asthma, or just a family doctor? A specialist's office should have tons of samples from the drug companies, and if they aren't giving them to patients, something is wrong.

 

[freckles and boo]

Here is a resource link.

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=5&sub=105&cont=677

 

[freckles and boo]

What is this maintenance medicine about? I don't know anything about Asthma other than DD's constant wheezing and difficulty breathing.

Is it the little one in your photo? Poor baby! I have no idea how they treat asthma in little kids (I didn't have problems at all until I was an adult), but I take a maintenance medication (Advair) and if necessary I use my emergency inhaler. The Advair does a great job of keeping the asthma controlled so I only have trouble when I am not diligent about using it or if I do something dumb like let a cat sleep on my bed pillow.

 

[KristaTX]

The goal of a daily maintenance (aka controller) medication is to prevent the symptoms (wheezing/coughing/shortness of breath) from occurring in the first place. It's sort of like taking a blood pressure or diabetes or any other chronic-illness medication - you take it every day at the same time(s). The right asthma medication will control the chronic inflammation of the lungs (which is often there even when there are no obvious symptoms) and mucus production. That inflammation and mucus production are the physiological goings-on that lead to asthma attacks. These medications also often have a long-acting bronchodilator as an ingredient. A bronchodilator does just what it sounds like - dilates the bronchial passageways.

Fast-acting/short-acting bronchodilator medications (not to be confused with the long-acting medications I mentioned above) include albuterol (brand names include Pro-Air, Ventolin, Proventil) and levalbuterol (brand-name Xopenex) and pirbuterol (brand-name Maxair). These are the types of inhalers (and nebulizer solutions) you typically see people using at school, in movies, etc. These are good medications, but they are NOT maintenance medications. They are used for shortness of breath/wheezing/coughing to stop those symptoms (as opposed to preventing the symptoms in the first place). The only time that they sort of serve as semi-preventive medication is when asthmatic people know they are about to be exposed to one of their triggers (e.g. exercise, allergens during lawn work, fumes, cats) and that they are certain to start having asthma symptoms.

Depending on a person's age, she may be taking a controller medication (e.g. Pulmicort) through her nebulizer. If she is pre-school age or older, then she would most likely be on an inhaler instead of just the nebulizer. The nebulizer would then primarily be used with albuterol during acute flare-ups (coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath).

It is also possible that a doctor may determine one's asthma is not yet bad enough to need a maintenance medication. However, if a person is needing her fast-acting medication often, then I would keep a record and then let the doctor know soon exactly how often that is.

If someone has asthma and all they are doing is frequently taking any of the fast-acting bronchodilators I listed above - either through an inhaler or nebulizer several times a month or week or even a day - then the asthma is not under control and it is advisable to be re-evaluated.

The doctor should do a thorough interview and physical assessment to determine if a person needs to be on a maintenance/controller medication.

Also, just FYI - respiratory allergies, eczema, and asthma in children often go hand-in-hand. Not always, but often. Determining what one's allergies are (e.g. pollen, grass, cats, smoke), and then avoiding those, can help tremendously.

If anyone has any questions about your particular case, contact your doctor . And if you or a loved one have asthma, I highly recommend seeing an asthma/allergy specialist. I don't say that because I work for one. It's just good advice when it comes to any chronic illness.

 

[KristaTX]

Here is a very simple but to-the-point handout about asthma:

http://www.ginasthma.com/Userfiles/GINA_PatientGuide2007.pdf

 

[DisGirlAllie]

My gym teacher used to be under the impression that asthma was psychological and would tell me this when I had one every gym class after running. However, that mindset was erased when the nurse came and yelled at him. For an hour. Now, I don't get points off when I go get my inhaler!

 

[Aristomommy]

Both of my children suffer from asthma and allergies. I am a childhood asthma sufferer and during allergy season I will use an inhaler still as an adult. The medications my DD10 uses: Advair, Singulair and Zyrtec/Claritin as different combinations depending on allergies/season. During an exacerbation we will add either Albuterol inhaler or Xopenex via nebulizer and also may add prednisone to really open airways. DS4 is on Singulair and Zyrtec as maintenance. Xopenex and prednisone during an asthma attack.

Advair has helped DD more than any other maintenance medication. Our Pulmonologist is a double board certified in pulmonology and allergy. He stresses the importance of maintenance medication as it lowers inflammation and irritation to airways. When an asthma attack does occur, it will be less severe and shorter duration if maintenance medication is appropriate.

OP- asthma medications are very expensive and for the most part you need the name brand. I would say that an albuterol inhaler is the cheapest generic you can get. Many people don't like Singulair, but it has to be taken correctly to work. I believe it's before going to be for asthma and in the am for allergies. Some of the drug companies offer coupons and offer assistance to those with low income.

Using your inhaler 7 times a day is a sign that your asthma is not under control. If you Dr. doesn't offer other options, find another Dr. You may need a short course of prednisone to stop the ongoing wheezing and then start something like Advair for maintenance. Recognize that asthma can be fatal when not under control or can permanently damage your lungs. Please take care of your health even if it is expensive.

 

[Aristomommy]

I don't have Asthma, but DD was recently diagnosed. I need to take her to the specialist to get more information, but currently she is using a nebulizer a few times a day.

What is this maintenance medicine about? I don't know anything about Asthma other than DD's constant wheezing and difficulty breathing.

Lisa, both my kids were diagnosed at 10 months old. Younger children take their maintenance medication with a nebulizer. The most common medication is Pulmicort 1-2 times daily. Xopenex is a common albuterol based medicine that is taken during an asthma attack. Your Dr. may add an allergy medication such as Zyrtec or Claritin which is now OTC. Technically asthma is not diagnosed in babies, but around here they call it "reactive airway disease" until a child is old enough for lung function tests.

I can't stress enough the importance of checking into allergies as many people with asthma have many environmental irritants. Both my kids are allergic to dust mites for example. I bought hyper allergenic mattress and pillow covers, our cats are forbidden in the bedrooms, we have hardwood in 90% of the house and I keep dust to a minimum. This has helped them so much and we just went through our first winter without any asthma attacks Of course just last week with pollen count up, both were wheezing, but that is the hardest thing to control.

I hope you have found a good specialist to help you navigate this. It can be so scary when your baby can't breathe. I have spent so many sleepless nights worrying if we would make it through the night without going to the ER or calling 911 once again. Once you find what works for your child, it does get better.

 

[LaraK]

My son does Flovent, Xopenex and Arbuterol, but now he and I have both been switched to that rotten ProAir. I don't care what anyone says, the new inhailers DO NOT WORK WELL. You have to take a "long deep breath"...HELLO! I am in the middle of an asthma attack...I CAN'T BREATHE!

Sorry, rant over. Flovent has been a good "first defense" medication in our house when we go into the early yellow zone.

 

[golfgal]

My doctors office is basically useless, they don't give free samples out and if I go in for a visit they write me a high cost inhaler ( which I always downsize because of price) and Singular so I'm always in the same boat.

Your dr isn't writing those meds because they are expensive, he is writing them because you need them. You need to find a way to take a maintenance med and have a good rescue inhaler available. You aren't doing yourself any favors by not taking what is prescribed. Have you looked into a better medical plan that covers meds better so you can afford them? I think you need to see a different dr if this current one isn't helping with your situation. Our kids' old asthma dr ALWAYS had samples to give out and gave them out on a regular basis.

 

[EthansMom]

I don't have Asthma, but DD was recently diagnosed. I need to take her to the specialist to get more information, but currently she is using a nebulizer a few times a day.

What is this maintenance medicine about? I don't know anything about Asthma other than DD's constant wheezing and difficulty breathing.

I highly recommend seeing a Pulminologist.

Both of my kids have asthma. After dealing with them developing bronchitis and pneumonia from every other respiratory virus they picked up, I finally took them to a Pulminologist. He was able to give me much better information about asthma, including treatment options.

The best thing he did was switch my kids from the nebulizer to inhalers with a spacer. Breathing treatments went from 20-40 minutes (with nebulizer... we were running two of them!) to 12-18 breaths with an inhaler. Plus, the inhaler doesn't need electricity (we lose electric with lots of our winter storms here in the NE) and is quiet. Also, no lugging the nebulizer along every time we travel!

We see the Pulminologist once in the Fall and once in the Spring for check-ups. Very easy and both kids are doing better!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I am on Advair. For awhile I took Advair and Singulair but tried to wittle down my medications due to cost and tried not taking Singulair for a few weeks and found it didn't make a difference in my breathing.

However, if I am not taking that Advair daily then I am sucking on the Proventil inhaler (and I agree that they are NOT as good as the old Albuterol inhalers and I am still very bitter about that change!) or using the nebulizer.

Advair is not too pricey; I take the 500/50 (Krista - do you know what exactly do those numbers mean? I know there are a few different ones). I get 60 "sucks" on each, depending upon my allergies I can usually get away with 1 suck a day so it lasts almost 2 months. I pay $30 for it through insurance. So, about $15 a month. Not too bad, though of course I wish it qualified as a $4 med! =)

I have yet to find a stinkin' allergy med that did a lick of good. Right now I do a combination of Benadryl (because hives are a regular occurance for me and it clears them up) and Zyrtec. My allergies DO trigger my asthma, though, so I try everything I can to cut those down.

If you have never seen a specialist, you should. If your doctors office isn't willing to at least talk about your budget issues with the meds they are prescribing, then I'd get a new one.

 

[Goofy05]

I use Advair, atm. I have used Symbacort, and it works just as well as the Advair, but it's a twice a day inhalation. If you can't get samples from your doctor (ASK!!!), then please try for a written prescription and check out some Canadian pharmacies. You will save a TON of money, seen as how you don't seem to have prescription coverage. I've done that in the past and never had problems with customs, but check the local laws where you live. Definitely check out the website for low-income deals, I know that Glaxo-Smith-Kline offers discounts as well as AstraZeneca (Symbacort). Both have worked at keeping my breathing regulated. Here are some links that may help. PLEASE find a doctor willing to give you samples! If you are using your albuterol inhaler more than once/twice per week, you are using it too often. Your asthma needs to be better controlled.
HTH
https://www.advair.com/asthma/coupons-and-special-offers/coupons-and-special-offers.jsp
http://www.mysymbicort.com/c/prescription-savings.aspx