Is Advair diskus still the best you can get ???!
Question: Advair is a combination of two drugs - an inhaled steroid, fluticasone, marketed as Flovent and a long-acting-beta-agonist bronchodilator (LABA), salmeterol, marketed as Serevent.
There are several inhaled steroids and LABAs to choose from. None is really more effective overall, but individual patients may do better on one combination or another.
For asthma add a short-acting-beta-agonist (SABA) bronchodilator as a rescue inhaler. There are also oral medications the doc may want to add.
For COPD/Emphysema, and sometimes asthma, you may also want to add Spiriva (tiotropium). Normally you don't use this with Atrovent (ipratropium) or Duoneb (it contains ipratropium). It's not an overdose problem, so don't stop taking anything without talking with your doc. Your body just can't absorb both at once. If the doc is convinced you need both, take the Spiriva first or wait at least two hours after the Atrovent/Duoneb.
Answers: Advair is a combination of two drugs - an inhaled steroid, fluticasone, marketed as Flovent and a long-acting-beta-agonist bronchodilator (LABA), salmeterol, marketed as Serevent.
There are several inhaled steroids and LABAs to choose from. None is really more effective overall, but individual patients may do better on one combination or another.
For asthma add a short-acting-beta-agonist (SABA) bronchodilator as a rescue inhaler. There are also oral medications the doc may want to add.
For COPD/Emphysema, and sometimes asthma, you may also want to add Spiriva (tiotropium). Normally you don't use this with Atrovent (ipratropium) or Duoneb (it contains ipratropium). It's not an overdose problem, so don't stop taking anything without talking with your doc. Your body just can't absorb both at once. If the doc is convinced you need both, take the Spiriva first or wait at least two hours after the Atrovent/Duoneb.
It works for me. I haven't tried anything else like it so don't know if it is the best. There are several problems however. First, it costs almost $200 per month without insurance. Second, it can cause some really horrible foot and calf cramps, so I had my dosage reduced. Third (probably won't happen to you), it sometimes throws off the balance between natural bacteria and fungus (yeast) in the mouth and that has to be handled. I eat yogurt after each dose to prevent this third problem.
That being said, these are small problems to correct compared to the upper respiratory infections I no longer have to deal with since I started taking Advair.
who?
Advair didn't work for me. There are other inhaled steroidal medications on the market. If your syptoms are not well controlled talk to your doctor about switching to another product.
Pulmicort twisthaler-used to be turbohaler
Sybicort inhaler- steriod and a long acting bronichial dialator
spireva-steroid used when a person has fluid build up in the lungs or emphazema