Albuterol Inhaler works for my cough but I dont have asthma????

serenityseeker
  • By serenityseeker · October 19, 2008 at 10:23 am · 9 replies
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Hello everyone,

I have a question maybe someone can help me with. I have had two PFTs done. One without Methacholine and one with it. Not only were both "normal", the one with Methacholine was "abnormally" normal (story of my life). The dr said that most people even if they dont have asthma have some reaction by the last dose of the medicine. I had NO reaction....

But, my dr gave me an albuterol inhaler anyway....and guess what? It works fantastic...I can be coughing up a storm day and night and two puffs and I am good to go for 24 to 48 hours.....since I definitely dont have asthma this is confusing me as to why it works so well.

Has anyone else had this work for them without being asthmatic? Or better yet, can someone tell me why it works so well?

I just had my first gallium scan done last week (i am still not dx)...I get my results in a couple days. I can feel my lymph nodes throughout my entire body...even in my stomach...I hope I get an answer...either way dr has finally agreed to do a biopsy, I am just not sure where yet. Cant do the hilar ones in the chest because they would have to open me up but they have plenty of others to choose from..lol

thanks to all for being there for me...I dont know what I would have done without this site over the last several months.

God Bless,
Marlies

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9 replies   

stephg113

I am not a doctor by any means, but here's my take.

The sarc is an inflamitory disease and when it is in your lungs the swelling makes it hard to get oxogen into the lungs. The inhaler reduces the swelling and in turn the coughing subsides.

Steph

serenityseeker

Thanks Steph - I guess I always thought of steroids as the reducer, not albuterol.....I am very new to all this and learning.

God Bless,
Marlies

MandieJo

I could be wrong but I thought the Albuterol was a steroid?? I tried it when I first had breathing problems (Sarcoid in my lungs) but it caused my heart to race and that scared me so I stopped using the inhaler. I'm glad it works for you, please check out the side effects & don't over use the inhaler because the doctor told me that could be dangerous. Who knows????

jkr2

my dr put me on advair 500/50 twice a day, it is a steroid, oh ya i have pulmonary sarc. and it has really helped with my breathing, it feels like it just clears up my lungs.

serenityseeker

Thanks Guys,

Duh!!!! :) I guess I did not realize albutirol was a steroid. It makes sense now. I only have to use it once every several days to control my cough...roughly 2x per week.

God Bless,
Marlies

ReenG

Heya Kids,
Albuterol is a bronchodilator, meaning that it blows your airways open when you need it to. It's a common treatment for bronchospasm, which a good coughing fit can certainly induce. Think of it, roughly, as a charliehorse in your air tubes that the inhaler allows to open wide. (Make a fist, around someone else's hand, then have them open their hand, forcing yours open.)

Some folks get a bit lightheaded when they use the inhaler, but many can cough themselves unconscious if left untreated, so a bit dizzy may not seem so bad.

My 2 cents...well, 1.25 cents in this economy!

Be well.

RuthfromOz

As ReenG says, Albuterol is a bronchodilator - it works by relaxing the muscles in your airways which tighten up and go into spasms during a coughing fit. But it's important to remember that it's not just the muscles in your airways that are affected, which is why it can cause rapid heartbeat, dizziness and sometimes headache, and uncontrollable trembling and shaking.
Albuterol is not a steroid. It is not a long-term treatment, but gives short-term temporary relief from wheezing and coughing caused by tight or spasming airways during a coughing fit or asthma attack. It will not work to prevent an asthma attack or coughing fit. Albuterol is classified as reliever medication.
Advair on the other hand IS a steroid. (Actually it's a steroid which has been combined with a bronchodilator to increase the effectiveness of both of them.) Advair is a long-term treatment which works to reduce irritation and inflammation of the lungs and airways, to prevent asthma attacks and coughing fits. It doesn't treat severe or acute attacks and coughing fits once they have started. Advair is classified as preventer medication.
Naturally, like any drug the effectiveness of either one will vary from person to person, so the amount of albuterol needed to relieve an attack in one person may not affect another, or may result in the racing heart & trembling that MandieJo experienced. And while Advair really helped jkr2 to breathe better, when I used the same medication under a different name in Australia I only got chest pain.

Lottie

Hello and I'm on the inhaler also but I can't tell you why it stop the cough but it does and it has become my best friend but I also think the steroid in the inhaler get to your lungs so quickly that's why it work so well, but that's my opinion.

serenityseeker

Thanks Everyone. My last puffs were on Monday so that was 6 days ago and I have coughed maybe 6 times since then. I have been coughing for over a year, so I think it has been a miracle for me. Either that or its a huge coincidence...lol

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