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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

What order should I take asthma medicines?

Every day at MyAsthmaCentral.com we get lots of asthma related questions. Below are some questions I thought my readers at the RT Cave would enjoy.

Your Question: I am on albuterol aerosols TID, spiriva QD and Advair BID, when and how should I take these drugs

My humble answer: 1. When should you take these medicines?

This is just me, but I would try to spread the albuterol aerosols out through the course of the day. I'd take one when I woke up, one sometime in the middle of the day, and one before bed. Any asthma medicine that is once a day -- like spiriva -- I'd take right before bed. I say that because night time is the most common time for asthma to act up. Advair I'd take in the morning when you get up (before you brush your teeth), and just before you go to bed at night (just before you brush your teeth). This way you keep it simple as possible, and you make it so you don't have to take your medicine at certain times.

2. How should you take these medicines? I discuss proper inhaler technique and provide some useful links if you want to learn more about your specific inhalers and how to use them here.

If you have any further questions email me, or Visit MyAsthmaCentral.com's" Q&A section.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was told by my RT that if I need my salbutamol around when I need to take my control medicine, I should take the rescue med first, wait fifteen minutes for my airways to open, and then take my control medication, so that the medication gets deeper into the lungs. Is this accurate?

Rick Frea said...

Yes. Rescue medicine opens up your lungs and then once your lungs are open you can give any other medicine. That way it all works better.