COPD & Emphysema Support Group
COPD is a progressive disease characterized by airflow obstruction or limitation. Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli and of capillaries feeding the alveoli. Both have symptoms that include shortness of breath, among other respiratory troubles. If you are a COPD or Emphysema sufferer, join...
My Dr. wanted me to try Breo and stop Advair and I have been on the new medication for a month now. I have started hiking again and its making me feel great.In fact I feel like a new person.I hope it continues.
Keep us informed if this keeps working so well.
My thoughts & prayers are with you!
:D
i'm just curious because when I 1st started spiriva, my 02 went up 2% also. Now i have been on it so many years that I feel that it is still helping, but not sure.
I also didn't know you could take breo and spiriva together.
does breo have a steroid component to it?
(i can't find info when i search breo---does it have another name?)
gosh, aren't i full of questions LOL but always interested in what works for others :)
http://www.mybreo.com/about-breo.html
I too had trouble finding anything that specifically stated whether Spiriva was a LABA or not, so therefore without any concrete statement it is perhaps can be assumed that it does not. However, ALL documentation for these medications make it very clear that your Pulmonologist must be made aware of ALL medications and supplements the patient is currently taking so that possible interactions can be known.
spiriva is not a beta antagonist (LABA) it is in the class of ;
Anticholinergic a "Muscarinic Receptor Antagonist" (MRA); so I assume it is okay with a LABA.
I watched a webinar that talked about findings that a mixture of these medications is being found to be more beneficial (also okay to mix ones of different "classes" to get the benefits of what each does)
I have had such a bad reaction to oral, IM & IV steroids that i'm hesitant to try a steroid in my lungs; even though my old Pulm said that it would be different because it isn't going into the blood. Too chicken to try it though.
I wonder if spiriva & some other LABA may help more though. Something to ask my dr about when I see him :)
I think your doctor was over-simplifying the issue when he said it isnt going into the blood everything, either the primary ingredient or component is going to end up in your blood the actual issue is a matter of how much material reaches the preferred target. Inhalation defiantly provides more products where it is needed. So I recommend you try them over-all history (clinical trials) supports better performance.
However, even there the debates continue sprays seem to be an obvious choice over powders but then not everything reaches the deeper recesses powder tends to provide a sort of time release, blah, blah, Maybe a mix is better than a single product, then maybe not.
Actually there is still far too much that isnt known. All the articles seem so authoritative, so full of facts I read them all and a year ago I considered myself semi-informed reasonably informed, but now after reading all the posts, listening to everyone during rehabs - Only one solid fact remains one person takes something and is ready to train for a senior marathon, another with almost identical pathology is coughing and gasping for breath.
We know a ton more than we did but a few years ago but still it seems there is more alchemy and guess-work in treating COPD than hard chemistry and physiology than most pulmonologist would have you know. (Smile)
(((HUGS)))
Michelle