My Dynamic Asthma Treatment Plan

• Feeling My Best: 
• QVAR 80- 2 puffs once a day 
• Singulair- once a day at bedtime
• Xopenex- 2 puffs before exercise and as rescue
• Zyrtek the day of allergy shots
• Feeling lung stress, like if I find that I'm using my Xopenex for rescue or starting to feel sick: 
• Increase the QVAR to twice per day, up to 3 times per day
• If I'm still using Xopenex as rescue: 
• Use Xopenex in nebulizer as needed
• add long acting bronchiodialator/steroid combo.
• If still not feeling better: 
• Increase nebulizer to up to every 4 hours
• Call doctor. 
• Try every combination possible before prednisone.
• Feel like death is knocking at my door: 
• Prednisone.

• Note* I use Xopenex or Levalbuterol instead of Albuterol and I avoid bronchiodialators in general because I am very sensitive to them. They cause me to shake uncontrollably, give me heart palpitations and have anxiety attacks. Xopenex still causes some shaking but FAR less.
• Prednisone sucks. Think of your asthma as a "stay away from prednisone" game. If you need it, there is no other medicine like it but the side effects are not good, so avoid it.