If you have asthma, there's a good chance that an underlying allergy —whether it's to dust mites, pollen, cockroaches, or cat dander—is playing a key role in your breathing problems. (About 60% to 90% of people with asthma have allergic asthma.)
The first step is to avoid the allergen, but that's not always possible or sufficient to stop symptoms, like coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
That's where medication comes in. Here are some common drugs used to treat allergic asthma.
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Side effects of short-acting bronchodilators : For a full list of side effects, ask your doctor or pharmacist
If you are using your short-acting bronchodilators too much (more than three times a week besides with exercise), it may mean your asthma is not under good control. It may mean that you have lots of inflammation (swelling and redness) in your airways that need to be treated. Use your asthma action plan and follow the instructions. You may need to increase your asthma preventer medicine until your asthma is under good control.
Not always. You will probably take more medicine when you begin treatment to get control of your asthma. After a while, you and your doctor will learn which medicine(s) control your asthma best and how much you need. Once your asthma is well controlled, it may be possible to reduce the amount of medicine you take. The goal of this step-down method is to gain control of your asthma as soon as possible and then control it with as little medicine as possible. Once long-term, anti-inflammatory therapy begins, your doctor will want to monitor you every 1 to 6 months.