Spiriva respimat

I used to be on it for several years. I stopped taking it about 18 months ago as I believe it simply dried secretions in my lungs...meaning it was difficult to breathe deeply. About thus time I discovered the Lung Matters Facebook page and have been following their protocol. It is a lot of work, but essentially is not about steroids cough suppressors or Spiriva type inhalers...rather they rely on preventative measures such as 2xdaily ACTs, and other measures. I have bronchiestases but have recently been diagnosed with MAC too unfortunately. I am now boiling my water.

Best wishes

Thank you narelled23, I also feel as if I cannot breath deeply, it feels as if my chest and belly are too small to take a deeper breath. I also have bronchiectasis and I am also treated for Mac, and have pseudomonas ( colonized) so there are many factors that can possibly contribute to how I breath. I hope to find answers at my next visit in two weeks at NJH. But thank you for sharing and your precious time

Somewhere in this forum here I've commented on my trial of Spiriva. It dried my secretions and made lung clearance next to impossible. Airway clearance is already challenging enough! At first, my chest felt good as Spiriva is a treatment for asthma. After about a week I stopped it. It seems any pharmaceutical/inhaler etc that dries up secretions is counter to airway clearance. The list is long. If you have asthma it's likely necessary to use some sort of combo steroid/ bronchodilator inhaler. The smallest effective dose of inhaler steroid as discussed with your doctor.

Thank you scoop. I generally don’t cough up a lot so it’s even hard if spiriva affects me this way. But it makes me breath with more effort and I have less strength. I hate changing the inhalers every month but somehow my body cannot accept any. The NJH doctors did not want me on any except albuterol but my local pulmonologist insists that I need one so I am going to discuss this with dr Griffith in two weeks. Thank you for sharing your experience

I have a cavity. NJH put me on spiriva respimat 20 months ago. No side effects for me. I was also on Symbicort and taking both was a problem. I tried both one at a time and responded better to Spiriva and I took myself off symbicort. A fungal infection was setting in. I then discovered that steroids can fuel fungal infections. Multiple Doctors then concurred.
I will never take a long term steroid again.
For me, it is the lesser of two evils.

@rstel7272 Do you have asthma?

Sorry to hear it scoop. I have mild pulmonary obstruction which according to NJ did not require symbicort. But in february i had sinus infection and coughed and had prednisone and my pulmonologist here thinks I do need a laba so we decided for spiriva. I don’t know if it’s spiriva or something else but I definitely breath with more effort. I used to walk easily two miles now I puff and huff every step when I do my daily walk although my oxygen level is pretty good, 95-97%. It is all very confusing.

No, primarily bronchiectasis, emphysema, aspergillus and cavitation. Extensive testing last year did not detect Mac but it still shows on CT. NJH originally gave me the asthma dose samples which was great but the later script was full dose.

My mistake. Spiriva is not laba but lama. There are no steroids in it and it only opens the airways. It does not reduce the inflammation, am I right?

My understanding is that Spiriva dries up secretions (reducing coughing) and unfortunately blocks the smaller airways which then causes more difficulty breathing.