Powerful asthma medicine! from doctor's prescriptions to natural ingredients

Asthma is an incurable condition. However, asthma treatment still needs to be done routinely to help control asthma symptoms so that they don't recur easily or come on frequently. The following are various asthma medications that are prescribed by doctors and that you can buy over the counter.

Choice of asthma medication from a doctor

Asthma treatment at doctors is generally divided into two categories, namely long-term and short-term treatment. Make sure you always follow the doctor's instructions so that the medicine can work optimally and prevent side effects.

1. Long-term asthma treatment

Most people with asthma, especially those who are chronic, are advised to follow long-term drug therapy.

This is important to control the severity of asthma symptoms, prevent recurrences on an ongoing basis, and reduce the risk of developing asthma complications.

Several types of long-term asthma medications include:

Inhaled corticosteroids

Corticosteroids are drugs to inhibit or reduce inflammation in the airways that can trigger asthma symptoms, such as coughing and shortness of breath. With this medicine, the frequency of asthma recurrences can be reduced and you can breathe more freely every day.

Inhaled corticosteroids are recommended as a long-term treatment of asthma because they are less likely to have side effects than oral corticosteroids.

Corticosteroid drugs commonly used in the long-term treatment of asthma include:

• fluticasone
• budesonide
• flunisolide
• ciclesonide
• beclomethasone
• mometasone
• fluticasone furoate

You may need to continue using this asthma medication for a few days to a few weeks for the effects to take effect.

Although generally very rarely cause side effects, sometimes inhaled corticosteroids can cause mouth, throat irritation, and a yeast infection in the mouth.

Leukotriene modifiers

Ipratopium

Ipratropium is more widely used to treat emphysema and chronic bronchitis. However, it can also be used as a fast-acting bronchodilator therapy.

Its function is to immediately relax the airway muscles that tighten when an asthma attack recurs. So, you can use this medication when new asthma symptoms start to appear.

Oral and intravenous corticosteroids

If your asthma symptoms cannot be controlled with inhaled drugs, your doctor may prescribe oral steroids, such as prednisone and methylprednisolone.

Oral steroid medications should only be used for a short period of time, and only to treat severe types of asthma attacks. Usually doctors will prescribe oral steroids for only 1-2 weeks.

This is because oral steroid drugs can cause serious side effects if used long term. The risk of side effects can include weight gain, hypertension, muscle weakness, easy bruising, and so on.

If you think you need to take short-term medication more than 2 days a week, talk to your doctor right away. Your doctor can change your asthma action plan to suit your current condition.

3. Medication for allergic asthma

This treatment is devoted to dealing with allergies that trigger or cause asthma. So, this drug is usually given only occasionally or when the body reacts with a certain trigger (allergen).

The types of drugs given to treat asthma-triggering allergies are:

Allergy injection drugs (immunotherapy)

Immunotherapy is a class of asthma drugs that works to increase or suppress the immune system to reduce the body's sensitivity to allergens.

For the first few months, the injection will be given usually once a week. Sometimes, it can also be given only once a month. It can take several years for the immune system to become more resistant to allergens.

If you can't avoid your asthma triggers, talk to your doctor about the possibility of taking immunotherapy as a medication to control your asthma symptoms.

Other allergy medications

Apart from injections, allergies that trigger asthma can also be treated with sprays and oral medications. These drugs include antihistamines, decongestants, corticosteroids, and cromolyn.

Apart from being effective in relieving allergic reactions such as hives, antihistamine drugs can also be used as a way to treat coughs due to asthma. This drug works by blocking the effects of histamine release.

Histamine is a chemical that produces an inflammatory response in the body, including in the airways.

Cetirizine, diphenhydramine, and loratadine are some of the most common types of antihistamine drugs. However, please note that most antihistamine drugs have side effects that make you drowsy after you take them.

Therefore, make sure you do not operate machinery or drive after taking this asthma cough medicine.

This allergy medicine can be purchased without a doctor's prescription at a pharmacy to relieve symptoms of asthma that appear. However, it is not recommended to replace the main drug prescribed by a doctor.

4. Biological treatment

Reporting from the Mayo Clinic page, biological drugs are usually given in conjunction with long-term treatment therapy. The function of biologic drugs is to treat diseases or other health conditions that cause inflammation of the lungs that trigger your shortness of breath to appear.

With the use of biologic drugs, asthma that is severe and caused by other health conditions can be treated. One of them is omalizumab.

This drug is used to treat asthma that is triggered by air allergies. Omalizumab is usually given by injection every 2-4 weeks. This medicine is not recommended for children under 12 years of age.

Types of inhalation media for introducing asthma drugs

The use of inhaled asthma medication is considered more effective because it can send the drug directly into your respiratory tract.

However, inhaled drugs, both short and long term, require the help of special tools to convert liquid drugs into vapors. That way, the drug can directly enter the lungs.

The most common breathing aids used by people with asthma are inhalers and nebulizers. Inhalers and nebulizers both act to control symptoms and relieve recurring asthma attacks.

Here are the steps on how to use an inhaler and nebulizer as an asthma treatment.

1. Inhaler

As an asthma medication, inhalers have many types with different dosage strengths and different functions. But basically, how to use an inhaler correctly and more effectively is as follows:

• Sit or stand straight while using the inhaler.
• Shake the inhaler well before inhaling it.
• Immediately inhale slowly as soon as you press the inhaler.
• Hold the breath for at least 10 seconds after inhaling.
• If you need to use more than one sniff per dose, wait a few minutes between puffs. If you are using a fast-acting bronchodilator, give a 3-5 minute break. For other types, give pause 1 minute.
• Slowly inhale and exhale between each inhale.

Mouthpiece the inhaler (the funnel where you place your mouth) needs to be cleaned after each use. Dry naturally. Don't use a cloth to wipe it dry.

As long as you use this tool as instructed by your doctor, the inhaler is very effective in controlling asthma and has minimal side effects.

2. Nebulizer

If the inhaler is a small spray breath aid, the nebulizer is a machine powered by battery or electricity.

The nebulizer usually comes with a tube that has a mask at the end for you to use while inhaling the medicine.

Nebulizers are more commonly used as a treatment for chronic asthma or serious cases of asthma, both in children and the elderly. This is because the vapor produced by the nebulizer is very small so that the drug can more quickly penetrate the targeted lung area.

In general, how to use a nebulizer is as follows:

• Wash your hands with soap under running water to prevent germs from entering your lungs through the hands that touch the nebulizer.
• Prepare the medicine to be used. If the medicine has been mixed, pour it directly into the nebulizer medicine container. If not, enter one by one using a dropper or syringe.
• Add saline if needed and the doctor prescribes.
• Connect the medicine container to the machine and also the mask to the top of the container.
• Put the mask on the face so that it covers the nose and mouth. Make sure the edges of the mask are well sealed against the face, so that no medicinal vapors can escape from the sides of the mask.
• Start the engine then inhale with your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth.
• You can end this when no more steam escapes. This is a sign that the medicine has run out.

How to use the nebulizer on average takes approximately 15-20 minutes.