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Long-Term Control Asthma Medicine (also known as preventive medicine)
You should be taking long-term control asthma medicine every day if you have any of the following symptoms or signs: * feel asthma symptoms more than 2 times a week, * awaken at night due to asthma symptoms more than 2 times a month, * cannot run far or play due to asthma symptoms, or * have been hospitalized for treatment of bad asthma attacks. Long-term control medicines include: Inhaled steroids (Flovent, Pulmicort, Asmanex, QVAR, Beclovent, Aerobid, Azmacort) Salmeterol (Serevent), Formoterol (Foradil) Combination Medicine (Advair, Symbicort) Leukotriene modifiers (Singulair, Accolate, Zyflo) Theophylline (Theo-24, SloBid, Theodur, Quibron etc.) Cromolyn sodium (Intal) Nedocromil (Tilade) These medicines can help you by providing additive benefit when 2 or more medicines are taken together. None of these medicines cause addiction, that is, they will not become a habit. These medicines will not clear wheezing or coughing. You should NOT take these medicines to clear asthma symptoms. All of these medicines will prevent exercise-induced asthma symptoms. If your asthma is well controlled, you should not feel asthma symptoms at all after playing or running. Prevention works better and easier than trying to clear the symptoms after they appear. The severity of asthma can change from time to time and your need for asthma medication will change. See your doctor regularly even while you are not having asthma symptoms to adjust medication. Usually the side effects from these medicine are not as serious as prednisone. When you develop a bad asthma attack, you will have to take prednisone to clear the attack. These long-term control medicines will help you to avoid the attacks that will necessitate prednisone therapy. When your asthma is well-controlled you should expect: * no wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, or chest tightness * to be able to exercise as much as you wish, including running * to not wake up at night or early in the morning with cough or wheezing * not to be very sensitive to weather changes or other asthma triggers
Pediatric Allergy and Tel: (312) 996-6714, Fax: (312)413-8694 |
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