Inhaler causes pain

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janewhite1

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So you know how, when you use the rescue inhaler, it opens up your lungs, but they still kinda hurt? In fact, sometimes they hurt more than they did before?

That's not normal at all, is it? I seriously thought it was, until I borrowed my friend's and it didn't happen! I've been using Corabivent, she uses Proventil. It felt fantastic. Like I didn't have asthma.

I'm now slapping myself for putting up with feeling awful for so long when I could have been feeling better.

Arrg! Hopefully I can get a script for the other stuff soon. Meanwhile I'm using Primatene. Which also works much better for me than Corabivent did.

ARRRRRG!
 
Jane, Jane, Jane...read the mfg's info. I know: boring, boring...but it states that in some people it can cause the spasm it's meant to treat and you should stop use and call your doctor.
 
I read every word on every drug I am prescribed.

The "adverse events" didn't list anything that sounded like what was happening to me. It doesn't cause spasm, it actually does open the lungs and stop the panting and tightness, it just makes them hurt more.

The first day I had the inhaler, I used it five or six times, and I was up until like 5 am because my chest hurt so badly. Air was going in and out, it just hurt. (And I was super-wired, obviously.)

For a while there, I couldn't even tell if the pain in the center of my chest was my trachea or my esophagus. (The beta-agonists do cause me some acid reflux.) I did figure out the inhaler was bad quite a while ago and I stopped using it, and I did mention to my doctor that I was refusing to use it, but I don't think I fully explained why.
 
That might be a good idea! Also, look into costs from Canada as it might save you some money depending on your insurance plan. I get my Flovent form Canada. It's generic there but not here and I have horrid insurance when it comes to drugs. You just have to work around till you find the right corabination.

I'm 64 and first went to an ENT for allergies when I was 11 years old. Spent half my childhood in the hospital with upper respiratory problems. My sister remerabers vacations by what I didn't get to do with the rest of them because I was sick. So I have been fighting them all my life and I live in one of the worst places for folks with allergies. Then at 50 after a bout of walking pneumonia, I end up with asthma. Great, just great.

Anyway, hope you get it sorted out soon.
 
Haven't I taught you anything after all this time? Online information has "chest pain" right after bronchial spasm. #2 on the list. Package inserts don't say nearly what you can find in a Google search.

Sweetie, I've had two different doctors prescribe meRAB that said not to take if you are allergic to sulfa drugs (actonel and bextra). Well, sulfa drug allergy is right there in red on all my medical charts. In NEITHER case did the nurse or doctor realize the contraindication! "Sisters are having to do for themselves!" They don't pay attention. We have to. I read everything I can find on a med before I take it. These people might end up killing me if I don't!
 
Lord, if I lived in the Southeast, I don't think I'd ever go outside at all. In May my area was extraordinarily bad allergy-wise, but lately it's not so bad, and I get worse when I travel. My job made me travel to Jacksonville recently. It was hilarious, like a cartoon. The cabin doors opened on the plane and I started sniffling. I live in fear of them making me go down there in late February or early March.

I determined that the OTC inhaler does the same thing to me. Used it a couple times yesterday, woke up and my chest still hurt. Then again, allergies have been bad the last couple days. At this point, I was pretty frustrated. I mean, if bronchiodilators don't work on me, I'm going to have to be a lot more careful about a lot of things.

I talked to the nurse line at my health insurer, though, and she pointed a couple things out to me: The first was that both my Corabivent and the Primatene were CFC inhalers, maybe my body will like the HFA better. And of course, it'll be straight albuterol, which worked well the one time I tried it. And if none of the regular inhalers work well for me, maybe I can get a portable nebulizer, which would be a whole different drug delivery method.

Or, of course, I could go back on the Advair. And be horribly sick all day, but alive at least.

So there are still options. Just have to keep at it.
 
Yeah, I figured that one out at seventeen, when I was prescribed antibiotics for a rash (which I knew wasn't an infection, but I was stupid and took them anyway) then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. Since that day, I do not take a doctor's word for granted.

Still, I get chest pain as a normal part of my asthma symptoms. It took using the inhaler on a day when I wasn't feeling that bad to begin with, and also using my friend's inhaler, to understand that what was happening wasn't normal.

Arrg. Now I need to contact all my doctors and the local hospital and make sure that "don't use ipratropium bromide" is in my recorRAB.

I almost don't want to get the albuterol inhaler. I mean, what if I use it for a week and decide that doesn't work for me, either? Sometimes I have to use something a few times before the bad side effects show up, and then I've wasted money on a drug I can't use. Again.

I'm just frustrated. I keep changing my med regimen, and I still have yet to find something satisfactory. I still have yet to go one day feeling like I did before I had asthma. I'm not happy with the fact that my lungs are apparently triggered by humid heat and environmental irritants as well as pollen, either, because that means I've got to deal with this year-round. (Please don't let cold air be a trigger, winter sports are so important to me and my family!)

I think the next time I see the doctor, I'm going to ask him for a short script for anything I haven't tried yet. Then I can continue my experiments without having to come see him all the time, and when I find something that works, I'll go get a full prescription.
 
Jane,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I've been lucky in that the asthma meRAB I've been on haven't caused me the same side effects you've had.

Still wondering if they are affecting my cough though.

It's like playing detective to figure things out isn't it?

Take care,

MountainReader
 
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