I have had exercise induced asthma since middle school... Recently my dr did a test (PFT?) and diagnosed severe asthma. I started on Advair, but it made me cough. Also the insurance would not pay for the Singulair my dr prescribed. So now I take Serevent, Accolate, Zyrtec (changed from Allegra to go with these others), Pulmicort, Rhinocourt Aqua, plus Ventrolin HFA as needed (not often). Problem: Ive had coughing and trickle early and at night which is bothering my family as well as me. My dr prescribed Tessalon Pearl drops, but they dont seem to help much. What can I do? Should I take my Ventrolin for these attacks? Is this normal? I also suffer with anxiety, so I confused the tight chest with that and was unaware I was having trouble breathing, but the meds have helped me breathe better and easier. I had no treatment prior to now and took no meds. I did not know that I needed meds, and so many is a bit overwhelming. I hope someone here can help me understand more about asthma and dealing with it.

Depends, was it huge and convoluted and involved a computer? Or was it a plastic tube with a hole in one end? PFTs are long and involved.

Well Accolate and Singulair are the same thing, mostly, so if your insurance doesn't cover Singulair but they cover Accolate you're not missing out, really.

Are you talking about Airomir? Ventolin's HFA is marketed under the name Airomir, by 3M.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, take your ventolin. Take it before you go to bed, take two puffs, give yourself a chance to loosen up and hack up some of the gunk before you go to bed. Laying down makes gunk (the trickle) pool around your carina, which is where your cough reflex is. Try to cough as much out as you can. Until your anti-inflammatories start working to the best of their abilities this trickle will be rather noticeable.

What you're taking is actually very structured and makes a lot of sense. I'll run through some of this very quickly so I hope you understand some of them.

Zyrtec is a prescription antihistamine. I'm assuming they think you have allergies that are making your asthma suck.

Accolate, Pulmicort, and Rhinocort are all drugs to deal with the inflammation that is secondary to asthma. Accolate works by blocking a certain substance (leukotrienes) that are known to cause problems with asthma. Pulmicort and Rhinocort are the same drug, practically, as they are both corticosteroids that are administered locally, either inhaled or with a nasal spray. These are some of the most common drugs used for asthma.

Your Ventolin and Serevent can also be lumped into the same category, as they are both bronchodilators. These work by relaxing the muscles in your airways that make your asthma worse. Serevent is taken twice daily and lasts for 12 hours. Ventolin is usually taken on an as-needed basis and lasts for 4 hours. Ventolin is useful when there's gunk in your lungs you can't cough up, as it helps to relax the smaller airways and gives you more room for a bigger breath to generate a stronger cough, as well as freeing secretions trapped behind constriction.

Nearly all asthma can be controlled.

Your pulmicort and rhinocort may take up to 2 weeks to work fully, but your serevent and ventolin will work almost immediately. (within 15 minutes.) The other drugs, I'm not certain, as to onset and duration of action.