Asthma is a long-term, chronic health condition that occurs when a person’s airways become inflamed and narrow. In this case, the airways will swell and start producing extra mucus, which makes breathing difficult. Asthma is incurable and affects roughly 6 million people in the United Kingdom. While you can’t cure this disorder, there are a few effective asthma medications you can buy to keep your symptoms at bay. A good example is the Ventolin inhaler.
But here’s a burning question; is a ventolin inhaler blue device effective for treating asthma with the flu? Read on to find all Ashcroft Pharmacy wants you to know about the use of Ventolin inhaler (UK) with flu.
Understanding how Flu works with asthma
As you already know, asthma is a type of long-term condition that causes inflammation and narrowing of the airways of the lungs. Allergies, cold air, and exercise are a few factors that can trigger your asthma symptoms.
Asthma is pretty common during childhood and teen years. However, certain people can also experience this disorder during their adult period.
The flu, on the other hand, is a result of by the influenza virus. Unfortunately, this influenza virus is a popular asthma trigger. Without asthma, the flu can cause different health conditions, such as fever, headaches, body aches, sore throat, fatigue, and loss of appetite. With asthma, these symptoms become even more severe.
The flu does no good thing to asthma sufferers other than worsening their symptoms. Instead of experiencing the typical asthma symptoms, the flu will cause you to experience more severe symptoms, such as chest tightness, wheezing, breathing difficulty/shortness, lung infections, and increased cough (usually with green or yellow phlegm). In case you don’t know, the flu can always last about 2 to 5 days in the body. As a result, if you have asthma with the flu, you can expect these severe symptoms to last for up to 5 days.
Steps to follow when you have flu with your asthma
As an asthma sufferer, if you start noticing any flu symptoms, the best thing to do is visit your doctor immediately. This is especially true if the flu is having a bad effect on your asthma symptoms.
By visiting your doctor, you’ll get helpful advice on how to manage your asthma symptoms, preventing them from becoming severe. You certainly don’t want to experience chronic symptoms of asthma, which could result in hospitalisation.
Will Ventolin asthma inhalers work with asthma?
As you already know, Ventolin asthma inhalers are reliever inhalers that help any time your asthma symptoms surface. But can you use this asthma medication with the flu?
The simple answer to this ventolin-related question is yes. You can always use your Ventolin inhaler if your flu is making your asthma symptoms a lot uncomfortable for you. Matter of fact, you will need to use your inhaler blue device correctly and regularly during this period.
Without asthma, it’s not advisable to use Ventolin to cure your flu symptoms. As of the time of writing this post, there’s no medical evidence to back it that inhalers can address flu symptoms alone.
Other treatment options
Of course, there are several other treatment options you can consider when you have the flu as an asthma sufferer.
- Lifestyle modification is a very effective treatment option for you. In this case, you need to stay at home and rest a lot. In addition, you need to drink fluids and take the right drugs. Acetaminophen (Tylenol), naproxen (Aleve), or ibuprofen (Advil), can always help to reduce your flu symptoms.
- Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is another effective drug your doctor may prescribe if your flu is quickly diagnosed (usually within the first two days your symptoms surface).
- The use of a nebulizer alongside your asthma inhaler may also be recommended by your doctor. This will help you better deliver your asthma medication directly into the lungs, where they work.
