ALBUTEROL

What is Albuterol?

Albuterol can help a person to treat the shortness and wheezing of breath due to asthma or breathing problems. This is considered to be a quick relief medication that belongs to the class of the bronchodilators that helps to open the breathing passages as well as relax the muscles. This medicine is prescribed by the doctor and doses are mentioned in it. There is several warning or side effects of this medication and hence you should always stick to dosage and it is not mandatory that it will help you in relieving your breathing problem so in such condition you may have to switch to another medication. AS this is an effective medicine so make sure you are doing a medical checkup prior to the use of this medicine to check if it is going to show any kind of adverse effect on your health or not.

An Overview on Albuterol for Treating Asthma

Albuterol is a medication that treats an asthma attack. This medication is suitable for the patients from the age of 4 to older. It is also used to reduce exercise-induced asthma. This medication is taken via an inhaler. Albuterol is also available as syrup, nebulizing solution and tablet. However, if it’s inhaled, it works more efficiently and works faster if taken by mouth.

Albuterol inhaler for treating asthma attack

How Albuterol Works

The muscle around the airways becomes smooth and it relaxes in a way so breathing gets easier. This helps in opening up the airways. It affects from the large trachea to all the way to bronchioles. It works within 5 to 8 minutes and lasts 3 to 6 hours. Much for your comfort, you can carry it with you. It will provide you 3 to 6 hours of comfort, and you can work with ease.

The Usage of Albuterol Inhaler

If you’re wondering about the usage of the Albuterol inhaler, just make sure that you’re following the instructions on your medication. As each inhaler is different from the other, ask your doctor about the appropriate usage of the Albuterol inhaler.

Before starting to use the inhaler you have to follow these steps:

• Prime the inhaler
• Shake it for some seconds
• By pressing the canister down, release a puff into the air
• Rewind this three times
• Prime it again if you haven’t used it for over one week.

The Steps of Using the Inhaler

• Before using the inhaler shake it well
• Empty your lungs by breathing
• Keep the mouthpiece in your mouth and close your mouth around it.
• Always breathe deeply, but slowly. Press the canister down to release a “puff” as you breathe the medicine in. Press till canister stops moving.
• For 10 seconds, you should hold your breath. Exhale gradually.
• If your doctor has instructed you to take more than 1 puff. Wait for 1 minute and shake the inhaler again and repeat.

Tips to Follow

• Follow the Patient Information on the pack of the inhaler to check out the entire information.
• You can use your inhaler best in the room temperature.
• You can also usethe spacerthat holds a chamber with a metered dose inhaler. Through these devices, the medicines can directly go to your lung instantly.

This medication is taken to treat asthma attacks or to prevent asthma induced by exercise. Always make sure that you don’t run out of Albuterol when you don’t know when you might need it. If the counter on the inhaler shows you have only 20 doses left, this is the time you fill the counter immediately, and obviously following your prescription.

Doctors do not recommend using Albuterol on a regular basis. Studies have shown that the regular use of Albuterol, can lead to the condition of asthma towards a worse position. It can also end up in an uncontrollable state. The medication should be used two days per week; it will be enough to control your poor asthma. If you need to control it properly, talk to your doctor about the changes in the doses of Albuterol.

Are There Any Side Effects of Using Albuterol

Albuterol can choke your airways all of a sudden. This complication can show up right after you use your inhaler. It can happen when you use a new canister with the inhaler. You must begin with an alternative therapy and consult your doctor.

There can be a feeling of shakiness or nervousness after taking the medication. It can also be the reason for a sudden chest pain, increased heart rate, and palpitation. A headache might show up, runny nose, sore throat, dizziness, muscle pain, unexplained colds and so on.

Positive and negative effects of Albuterol

Asthma is a lung disease that causes obstruction and narrowing of airways. There is an allergic and inflammatory component which swells the bronchial structure of the lung. The worst part of asthma is it is present inside your body and it will become a problem when the asthma attack occurs. It doesn't come with any certain cause but it is linked with the heredity. So to be precise you cannot avoid having asthma but you can save yourself during asthma with the use of proper medications or inhalers. Asthma can be treated with the oral and inhaled medications like albuterol sulfate but with also comes with certain side effects which should not be overlooked.

Precautions to be taken while using Albuterol

Albuterol is considered to be a very effective medication in terms of curing the symptoms related to asthma or any disease related to breathing. But it is true that a person can develop some side effects towards this medication and can show itching, hives or rash. Moreover, if you are taking excess amount of Albuterol then it can lead to fatal conditions by causing paradoxical bronchospasm. It can also increase your heartbeat, nervousness, mood changes, chest pain, tremors, insomnia, and nosebleeds. It also has the capability of interfering with several medications which include medications of blood pressure, antidepressant, epinephrine, and diuretics.

Other uses of this medication

The Albuterol is also used for treating and improving the muscle paralysis in the patients who have been attacked with paralysis and are unable to move certain body parts. But you should contact the doctor prior to using this medication for such purposes.

Why the doctor prescribes this medication?

Albuterol is effective in treating and preventing difficulty in breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and several lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. It is also used for people who find it difficult to breathe after or during exercise and they preferably use the powder or aerosol. It can be used in children who are over 12 years old. It relaxes the muscles and opens the air passages in order to make the breathing possible.

Conditions treated by Albuterol

• Bronchospasm
• Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
• Exercise-Induced Bronchospasm Prevention
• Asthma Attack
• Bronchospasm Prevention

Things you should be aware of before using this medication

• You should always seek medical help before opting for this medication because it may cause you to suffer from some allergies.
• Having rhythm disorder of heart can be highly affected by the use of this medication So the heart patient should not use it.
• If you suffer from seizure disorder due to epilepsy then you should not consider this medication for treating your asthma.
• Check about the safety of this Albuterol meditation before you are applying it on yourself.
• If you have diabetes or an unbalanced sugar level then you should not take this medication.
• It can also react to the overactive thyroid or hyperthyroidism.
• If the potassium content in a blood is very low then you should not use this medication.
• IT is not suitable for pregnant women to have this medication as well as breastfeed their child while taking this medication.

Treating and Preventing Difficulty in Breathing

So this is a small overview on the positive and the negative aspect of Albuterol. There are several substituents of Albuterol available in the market which you can choose. Even if you are missing a dose of Albuterol do not used maximize the next dose in order to make it up. The effect of Albuterol dose will remain for 4-6 hours and doses will be made according to your age. If you are using the medication due to the breathing problem during exercise then you should take it within 15 to 30 minutes. It is very important to keep your inhaler clean and mouthpiece properly in order to maintain the hygiene of the inhaler. All the instructions will come with the medication. You will also have to perform the priming of the inhaler so be sure that you are doing it before using it. Do not use this medication for a long time because this medication is a temporary solution and not a cure for asthma or breathing disorder. The job of Albuterol is to dilate the blocked air passage so it won't get you rid of this hereditary asthma disease.

Always ask your physician to write the proper dosage according to your condition and never try to alter it. One should not be completely dependent on this medication and if you are experiencing any kind of minor side-effects still you should report it to your doctor. It is completely forbidden to use the medication if you are suffering from certain conditions so make sure to check that list too. This information will help you in deciding whether this medication will show good or negative effects on you.

Albuterol Restraint

There are people who should not take Albuterol at all. Such people who have heart complications should be cautious while using this medication. Albuterol can end up changing the blood pressure, heart disease symptoms and increased heart rate. Although these are rare occurrences, if the doses are followed by the prescription, you will not have to go through any of these problems. Inform your doctor in details, if you have any complication regarding heart or blood pressure. He or she will prescribe you Albuterol accordingly.

Also, contact your doctor, if you’re suffering from low potassium levels, thyroid, diabetes, and seizures. If you don’t tell your doctor all of these, Albuterol can prove fatal for these particular conditions.

Inform about any other prescribed or non-prescribed medication you take. There are some medicines that do not let the Albuterol work properly or can cause some problems. Medicines such as other medications for asthma, some other inhaled medicines or beta blockers and so on.

However, there is no evidence that Albuterol is bad for pregnant women. Studies have shown that pregnant women can use this without any fear of side effects. It’s also seen that women can take Albuterol doses even though they are nursing their baby. You must contact your doctor about your doses of Albuterol in case if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Also, if you’re allergic to this medication, you should not take Albuterol at all.

Albuterol is a medication that heals so many patients who get sudden asthma attacks. People who are suffering from acute asthma can get relief from these attacks, and go on with their daily life. A regular use of Albuterol is never recommended, as it can create so many problems. However, using it two times a week is enough to keep yourself safe from asthma attacks. If you think that you need to talk about your doses of Albuterol, do talk to your doctor, and inform them of every detail of your health history so that the doctor can prescribe you accordingly. Make sure you keep your other medical conditions in check and take the doses according to the prescription, and also to fill your canister if the doses have less than 20. Always know that there is no generic alternative to Albuterol.

• Draft Guidance on Albuterol Sulfate PDF file (106 KB)