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Medications: had to try many inhalers till I found one that one worked
Asthma & Allergy | Last Active: May 12, 2025 | Replies (14)Comment receiving replies
Wow! Paying for Symbicort as a rescue inhaler out of pocket must cost you a small fortune. Breyna is the generic of Symbicort. Costs less but still pricey and I have issues with the mechanism of activating it.
While we’re on this subject, I’ve been using Breyna for over a year now. It seems this is the top choice of maintenance inhalers for many. It keeps my lungs clear but I still have a heavy feeling to my rib cage. Are there others out there who’ve switched to something that works better than this Budesonide / Formoterol combo?
Replies to "Wow! Paying for Symbicort as a rescue inhaler out of pocket must cost you a small..."
@britelite
I use a inhaler that is designed for every day usage. So I believe it is classified as a maintenance inhaler. It is called Wixela. The active ingredients are; Fluticasone propionate and salmetero inhalation powder.
I have been through many tries of different inhalers and found this works the best although takes about 1/2 hour to work for me. Probably why would be a maintenance inhaler.
I had been having epiosodes of mucus build up in sinus and bronchial tubes I think in response to allergies.
I do Sprint Triathlons. Over the years my swimming portion was getting harder and harder for me until the last 2 at around 10 minutes in I was getting short of breath and feeling like I could not bring enough air into my lungs. This caused me to breath much faster, shorter breaths and then coughing would start. I had to stop last two races because coughing would be so bad.
I can mentioned all the other inhalers put on if you want and we used them prior to races and during other episodes. The rescue inhalers I was told to use it prior to starting race. These did worked and would not reach become short of breath/coughing around 10 minutes in. Only to
find the shortness of breath and sustained coughing would start again toward end of swim. I went through a lot of diagnosis including CT, pulmonary function test, pulmonary stress test that could not duplicate the episode even have me inahaling known irritants.
I was working with my pulmonologist and PCP and about 6 months ago was put ask to try Wixela. It was to be used as a daily prevention inhaler. I found I did not need to do it on a daily basis and could go for weeks sometimes without issues. I went to using in as needed and my PCP and pulmonologist agreed that was okay for me to use it that way.
Sprint Triathlon season coming up and will have several races this year. It will be the first time using Wixela in a race. However in really worked well and sustained relief when I would have episodes of extreme coughing, coughing up mucus from bronchial area. I am looking forward to being able to finish the swims again. Will just use inhaler 30 minutes prior to race.
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It is not inexpensive, but I only need to buy one every two - three months and if I average that out over the months it makes me feel better! I didn't know Breyna was the same ingredients. I'll ask my pulmonologist and see if that's more cost effective. I tried AirSupra but that did nothing for me (which is good because its new and not covered by most insurance).