Tips for Inhaler Users  

If you have asthma, long-term-control medications can help keep your symptoms under control and reduce your chance of having a flare-up. To be effective, most of these medications must be used daily.¹

Inhaled corticosteroids are one class of inhaled long-term asthma control medicine. A type of anti-inflammatory, this type of drug   helps prevent asthma attacks from starting by reducing swelling in the airways. It also helps reduce mucus production. Corticosteroids are not the same as the steroids that athletes may use to increase muscle mass.²

In some people, inhaled corticosteroids may lead to hoarseness, cough, excessive thirst, dry mouth, or a fungal mouth infection called oral candidiasis. Try these tips to reduce your chance of experiencing side effects:

• Unless you’re using a dry-powder medicine, use a spacer with your inhaler.

• After each dose of your inhaled medicine, rinse your mouth with water, gargle, and spit.³

If you experience side effects from any of your asthma medicines, talk with your doctor. He or she may want to change your dose or prescribe a different type of medication.²

¹ “Asthma: Controller and Quick-Relief Medicine.” American Academy of Family Physicians, July 2004. www.familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/asthma/medications/665.html Accessed 2010.

² “Asthma Medicines.” American Lung Association, July 2005. www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/asthma/living-with-asthma/making-treatment-decisions/asthma-medicines.html Accessed 2010.

³ “The Local Side Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids.” Nicholas J. Roland, M.D., et al. Chest. 2004, vol. 126, pp. 213–19.