What Type of Inhaler Do You Have?
What's the difference between daily controller medicine for asthma and quick relief (rescue) medicine for asthma?
Everyone with asthma needs a quick-relief or rescue medicine to stop asthma symptoms before they get worse. An inhaled short-acting beta2-agonist is the preferred quick-relief medicine. It acts quickly to relax tightened muscles around your airways so that your airways can open up and allow more air to flow through. You should take your quick-relief medicine at the first sign of any asthma symptoms. Your doctor may recommend that you take this medicine at other times, as well–for example, before exercise.
Long-term control medicines are used to prevent asthma symptoms from coming on in the first place. These medicines work more slowly than quick-relief medicines, and you may need to take them for several weeks before you feel their effects. Once your asthma is under control, you may be able to cut back on some of these medicines.
The most effective long-term control medicines are anti-inflammatory medicines. They reduce the inflammation in your airways, making the airways less irritable and less likely to react to your asthma triggers.
WARNING!
Quick-relief medicines are very good at stopping asthma symptoms, but they do nothing to control the inflammation in your airways that produces these symptoms. If you need to use more quick-relief medicine than usual or if you need to use it every day, it may be a sign that you also need to take a long-term control medicine to reduce the inflammation in your airways. Discuss this with your doctor as soon as possible.
(Source: So You Have Asthma, NIH Publication No. 07-5248, March 2007)
Find out more about the types of inhaler by watching the video "Asthma QuickTake: Medications":