Hi, I was born with Asthma too and used my Albuterol inhaler 'as needed'; probably more than 8 times a day. I was having a hard time getting 2 inhalers per month and have been put on many different ones intended to reduce my reliance on albuterol. While chatting with my PM doctor (I take morphine for my bone and joint disease), I found out that her friend is an Asthma researcher. The friend is also supposed be be writing a paper on the addictive qualities of albuterol inhalers, so maybe there is some merit to your thought. I was supposed to contact her to share my thoughts, but never did.

I can't tolerate Prednisone, so I usually take Dexthamesasone (Decadron is the generic). I had a severe attack in late 1995 wich ended with me having been on Decadron for months, and I gained over 30 pounds. Last year I had pneumonia and while I did get Decadron for the entire week I was in the hospital (3 days in the ICU and 4 in a regular room), I quickly tapered myself off when I got out. I've also lost most of the extra weight, but rather unhealthily - a loss of appetite side effect from Actonel and Fosamax (I have osteoperosis).

Luckily, Advair has been a lifesaver. When I was given a sample to 'try out', I decided to give it a serious try and now, I take a single puff every day. It has also dropped my reliance on Albuterol down to almost once a day. Some days I even skip it and I only seem to need it if I sneeze or laugh too hard. Before, doing either of those would almost give me an attack. I'm sorry it doesn't work for you though.