Steroids for Asthma

Hi all.

Is anyone taking Steroids for their Asthma?

What side effects are you having?

I am going to make an appointment at my GP as I have the following:

Coughing badly all day and night especially at night.
Feeling weak.
Sticky Mucus.
Sore Throat.
Rumbling in my chest and stomach.

And its all driving me and everyone else mad, I've been like this for years but its getting really bad now.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

If your having chest problems and especially breathing problems you need to see your doctor asap.
People don't realise how important this is.
I use a Symbicort inhaler and an Eklira inhaler both for prevention and a Ventolin inhaler for fast relief when I'm having problems breathing. When its at its worst I have a nebulizer using Ventolin in liquid form.
I always have an emergency kit at home of a generic antibiotic and prednisolone steroid tablets which I take if I start with a chest infection.
I haven't noticed any side effects with steroids but have had to increase the dose to 8 per day for five days from 6 last year.
When I did the COPD rehab course we were told that if we used our emergency kits for more than 3 days and were still very bad not to bother making an appoint with doc but to call for a paramedic who would judge if you needed to go into hospital straight away. That seemed to be a bit drastic to me and a waste of the NHS resources but then again last time I was bad and had been basically living/sleeping on the sofa for 2 weeks and it took a lot of persuading of receptionist to get to talk to the doctor over the phone I could see their point.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Thank you MC.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Yes Susie darlin' I echo that - you need urgent medical attention. If you are Asthmatic, you may be given an inhaler, some of which actually contain a steroid. The usual one is Clenil (its brown in colour). Each type of inhaler has a different colour!!!

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Susie, l am prone to getting Asthma at night when l go to bed or if l come in contact with heavy perfumes and aftershaves. The perfumed household air freshners are the worst!
You didn't mention wheezing? This is what l get if l get Asthma.
Every night, I use a Pulmicort preventative turbohaler before l go to bed and this controls my symptoms. I have a Ventolin inhaler to use as and when necessary.
The amount of steroids contained in my Pulmicort is small and l always rinse my mouth/clean my teeth thoroughly after use. I have been using them for forty years.
On the few occasions when my Asthma has been bad, l have been prescribed Prednisolone oral steroids but l have never taken them as l don't want a 'moon face'. I have controlled my Asthma myself by using extra Pulmicort or Ventolin.

Susie, I hope you will soon get some relief for your symptoms as having an Asthma attack can be very scary.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Susie I know you are diabetic but not sure if you have asthma. I don't have asthma, but when I have a bad chest infection, my doctor will give me Ventolin, to help open my tubes and allow me to cough up the mucus that lodges in them. This means I don't always need anti biotics and can manage deeper breaths.
I use the inhaler twice a day for no longer that a week, but the last time I had a chest infection I didn't need any anti biotics and the infection was cleared by my own immune system.

Speak to your doctor because, when diabetics become dehydrated the mucus on the chest becomes so thick that they can't always hear that your chest is infected, you just find it a bit harder to take deep breaths. It has taken me and my doctor over 10 years to discover why I have such an awful cough, when my chest sounds clear, and the short term Ventolin really helps.

Don't forget to inhale steam and drink lots of hot steamy drinks if you have similar symptoms to me. I also find that a couple of drops of Olbas oil, on my pillowslip, help at night!

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Hi Susie what kind of steroids, there are oral steroids like prednisone which are used for short time acute flareup, then there are inhaled steroids for long term use.

I use Seretide twice a day which is a 'preventer' containing a long acting bronchodilator and a corticosteroid . I don't have any side effects that I am aware of.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

I have COPD and for that I use an Anoro inhaler. It is much better than Ventolin and Becotide as it is an all-in-one inhaler. The device is in measured doses used once a day. No need for shaking it, I just remove the sliding lid and the dose as ready. It has a counter on it too, so one knows exactly how many days use is left. A very convenient device but not advised for asthma.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Thank you all for all your information, you are a lovely lot of people on here.

I have had this cough for many years and no Doctor has cured me yet, I have tried numerous different inhalers and sometimes they make me worse, but I will go and see my GP again.

Re: Steroids for Asthma

Susie the ad on TV says if you have been coughing for more than 3 weeks you should see your doctor because it can be caused by many things. When you see him/her why not ask which possibilities they have ruled out, and why, and how many more possibilities there are to test you for.
As I said, it took 10 years to discover why my cough could only be cleared by several courses of anti biotics... so don't let them put you off with "it is just a slight cough that will clear on it's own" because it hasn't!