Hi, i was just diagnosed about a week ago with reactive asthma. I stopped smoking but what brought mine on was long term exposure to bleach in my bathroom.
I'm 31 and never had any asthma before this so it's all new to me.
I had some trouble the 1st 3 days keeping it under control because I didn't know how so I was in ER and urgent care off and on those 3 days.

They have me on levalbuteral .63mg for nebulizer (i weigh 104 pounds but they said i could double up on that dose if I needed to), also had a steriod shot plus they gave me a steriod inhaler to use 2x daily called Qvar 80mcg.
I've been doing the xoponex (spelling?) levalbuterol every 6 to 8 hours and the steriod every 12hrs.

I rinse and gargle my mouth clean after with water a few times but my throat is getting kind of raw/horse feeling. I've been drinking warm tea w/honey to try and help with the dry throat feeling but it's not working.

For a couple of days I felt pretty good, had it under control but last night and today I have been feeling tight in my chest as if i need the levalbuterol sooner than 6 hours. I also have an albuterol inhaler as back up but I haven't used it since I got the levalbuterol/nebulizer.

Albuterol makes me VERY shaky and feel like anxiety which doesn't help my breathing... It also seems to take up to an hour to open my airways which the levelbuterol was working almost right away to open my airways. Now today and last night it has not been helping so quickly.

I can breathe right now but I'm having to work a little hard at it cause of the tightness and raw/dry feeling (i guess?).

NOW, my question is:
Which meds are best to open the airways w/o too much jittery feeling and w/o making your airway opening feel raw/dry?
Also, which steriod inhaler seems to work best for you? I'm on Qvar, have any of you tried it before? Did it do the job or is there something better?

feel so tight in my chest right now, I can't get comfortable and I just had about 94.5mg of xopenex levalbuterol which is 1 - 1/2 of the tubes of med. this was about40 minutes ago so, what gives? Why am I not opening up now?
I'm pretty scared and don't wanna end up in the ER again tonight. I have to get this right cause I have to go on a flight tomorrow.
HELP!!!!
Thanks!!!!

t_panic411-

Like you, I developed asthma as an adult (35 y.o. in my case) and it sucks, and I'm wondering whether I am doomed to be always worrying about my breathing for the rest of my life. But, the right combination of meds can make a significant difference. I think your situation can be improved by seeing an asthma specialist to get your meds straightened out and a comprehensive treatment plan based on monitoring your peak flow put in place.

You can get levalbuterol (Xopenex) in a standard inhaler now. I carry one around everwhere that I go. For me, the levalbuterol causes MUCH less shakiness than albuterol. The reason for this is that albuterol is actually a mixture of two compounds: levalbuterol and its enantiomer (dexalbuterol). Roughly speaking, levalbuterol is responsible for the good effects (relaxing smooth muscle in the lung and allowing you to breathe more easily) and dexalbuterol causes the side effects (shakiness, elevated heart rate, etc.).

I think you need to give the Qvar more time to work. It took at least two weeks for the inhaled steroid to really damp down the inflammation in my lungs. The effects of inhaled corticosteroids come on so slowly it is hard to notice day-by-day. However, after a couple of weeks you will feel better. I haven't had any problems with yeast infections, but I rinse thoroughly and brush my teeth after inhaling.

I'm no medical doctor, but I think your meds aren't right. You are nebulizing levalbuterol as a "daily control" med, but essentially using the same med (albuterol) for your "rescue" medication. There is only so much good that you can get out of a short-acting beta-agonist like albuterol.

The more standard combination is a "long acting" beta agonist like salmeterol as the "daily control" med and albuterol or Xopenex as the "rescue". This is in addition to a corticosteroid (like Qvar, Pulmicort, Asmanex) taken for long term control. Many people are on Advair which is a mixture of salmeterol and a steroid in one inhaler. Beta agonists and corticosteroids can work together, so the combination is more effective than either drug alone.

Like I said before, I think you need to see an asthma specialist to get your meds straightened out and put together a comprehensive treatment plan.

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