So, I have inhaler now..

Last weekend I helped my sister look for something in her closet. Shortly thereafter I started having trouble breathing - an obvious dust allergy. As Saturday turned into Sunday the issue didn't correct itself. I grew more and more weak and my breathing remained labored. By the time Monday came along there was no denying that I had to see a doctor.

My blood oxygen level was 94 and there was definite wheezing in my lungs. My doctor let me borrow her nebulizer and gave me a prescription for a rescue inhaler.

Now every time I cough someone at work asks me where my inhaler is or suggests I use it. I don't actually have asthma but my understanding is that a rescue inhaler is just that - for rescue. Is there such a misunderstanding of what an inhaler is for or are they so overused that people think you need them for every little thing?

---

Updated On: 6/9/14 at 01:59 AM

I have nothing useful to contribute, Eris, but just wishing you good health!

Thanks. Other than lingering fatigue I was back to my old self after my first nebulizer treatment

---

Yeah 94 isn't so bad. And I agree, talk to your doctor not a web board but I bet you'll KNOW when you need to use your inhaler.

I am not a doctor.

I do have asthma, though, and to answer the general inhaler questions (again, just from my experience as a patient. not a doctor.) there are basically two kinds of inhalers, rescue and daily. I have both. So, the daily inhaler I use daily, it's preventative, and the rescue inhaler I use either during an asthma attack or also before any type of cardio based workout, to open my lungs and prevent an exercise induced asthma attack. And I would never use either just because I'm coughing.

I see my allergist every 6 months, and we adjust my inhaler(s) accordingly if needed, and my inhaler prescription has actually dropped by half since I started seeing her. I've never really thought about overprescriptions of inhalers - not that it doesn't happen, but I've never really seen/heard about it?

For some people coughing can be a symptom of asthma. In those people, they might be told to use their inhaler if they start coughing and aren't otherwise sick. The person who mentioned that probably knows somebody with that type of asthma. I was taught that if you use an inhaler too much it wont work as well in a time of emergency. I was taught if you are repetitively using it, you need to see your doctor to make sure you aren't having a dangerous attack and to get a preventive inhaler if they feel it is appropriate.