Hello all of you, I am new to this particular forum, but in general, I have been looking up a lot in forums and about it. I have had a respiratory problem ever since I was 17 and am 69 now. Though I have quit smoking now, I had been a very heavy smoker for about 40 years. So all I can say is that I can only blame myself for the conditions that I have brought upon me. When I first had a respiratory problem it was diagnosed as Bronchitis but as years passed, it developed into Asthma and I suffer seasonal and territorial allergies too. I have been dealing with it for quite some years now. I take Prednisone when things get out of hand and share the same feeling as many others who are using it, in the sense that it is a drug that does wonders but all the same its adverse effects are not easy to bear with, making you sit up and wonder whether it is really worth everything you are going through. I have a nebuliser that I use whenever necessary and the Albuterol inhalers have been my friend for ages. My asthma is brought on by the allergies I mentioned earlier and as we do a lot of traveling spending our winters in the south where I tend to get some of the most terrible flare ups then. Neither the Albuterol nor the nebuliser work every time and even the Singulair has no effect at times. The one thing that helps me is Advair 500/50 which is supposed to be the highest dose. My Pulmonologist has of late added Spiriva to my list of medications. I thought that this was meant for COPD and though the doctor has not mentioned that I have COPD, it is quite apparent that I am on the borderline but he has told me that I do have emphysema and this was something my old doctor had told me many years back. Well, the Advair-Spiriva combination is doing real good for me and along with a Zyrtec for the allergies as and when necessary I am comfortable. Has anyone ever used Spiriva?
