384 Where There Is No Doctor 2011 Green Pages
FOR ASTHMA
To help prevent and manage asthma correctly,
see page 167. Persons who suffer from asthma
should keep asthma medicines at home. Start using
them at the first sign of wheeze or chest tightness.
Salbutamol (Albuterol)
Name:__________________ price:________ for_ ______
Often comes in: “Rescue” inhaler for breathing
(100 mcg. in each puff); syrup with 2 mg. in 5 ml.
For relieving and preventing asthma
attacks
Dosage for salbutamol inhaler:
For mild wheezing, use 1 to 2 inhalations,
every 4 to 6 hours until the wheezing
stops. Use more if the wheezing is worse.
For exercise for people with asthma,
starting ½ hour before, use 2 puffs every
15 to 30 minutes.
For an emergency, use 2 to 4 puffs every
20 minutes.
Dosage for liquid oral salbutamol: 2 mg. in 5 ml.
adults: 10 ml. 3 times a day
children: 1 to 12 years: 5 ml. 3 times a day
babies: 2 ½ ml. 3 times a day
If you use salbutamol very often, your body
will get used to it, you will need to use more and
it will not work as well. For people with chronic
asthma, it is important to use a controller inhaler
(beclomethasone) regularly and use salbutamol
less.
If you are pregnant, it is better to control and
treat your asthma than to have asthma attacks.
Salbutamol can be used while breastfeeding, but
use the minimum amount you can.
Salbutamol can cause trembling, nervousness,
dizziness, fast heartbeat and headaches. The liquid
form can cause stomach aches and vomiting.
If you have asthma and heart problems, do not
take “Beta Blocker” drugs like Atenolol, Metoprolol,
Propranolol or other “olol” ending heart medicines
without consulting a doctor.
Beclomethasone
Name:__________________ price:________ for_ ______
Often comes in: “Controller” inhaler for breathing
(50 or 250 mcg. in each puff)
A steroid medicine for asthma that lessens
swelling in the breathing passages in the lungs and
prevents attacks.
Dosage for beclomethasone inhaler
For children and adults:
2 to 4 puffs 2 times each day of the
50 mcg. inhaler. If you use the 50 mcg.
inhaler more than 4 puffs twice a day, it
costs less and works better to instead use
1 to 2 puffs of the 250 mcg. inhaler.
It is best to take your beclomethasone after
your dose of salbutamol because the salbutamol
will open up the breathing tubes so they will better
absorb the beclomethasone.
Beclomethasone does not cure asthma, but it
will help prevent asthma attacks if it is used every
day. You will begin to see an improvement after 3 to
7 days of use.
If you are pregnant, it is better to control and
treat your asthma than to have asthma attacks.
Beclomethasone can be used while breastfeeding,
but use the minimum amount you can.
If you get thrush or candida in the mouth
(see p. 232), treat it with nystatin or miconozole
(see p. 372). Remember to use a spacer and rinse
your mouth after each treatment.
Use a spacer with your inhaler. If you do not use
a spacer with your inhaler, most of the medicine
blows onto your tongue and throat, and does not go
to your lungs where you need it most. Taking a deep
breath through a spacer allows more of the medicine
to reach your lungs. If you did not get a spacer with
your inhaler, here are 2 ways to make one:
1) Tape two thin plastic cups
together at their wide ends.
Cut a small hole for the
inhaler on one end, and a
larger hole for your mouth
on the other.
2) Cut a hole large enough for your mouth in the
bottom of a plastic soda bottle. Put the inhaler in
the other end of the bottle.