Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Generic: budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate

I just picked it up from the pharmacy. Don't see it listed as a problem drug, but wanted to check with those who might be using it. My doctor thinks I have exercise-induced asthma, so he's prescribing one puff per day which I will do at least 15 minutes before exercise.

Thanks for your help!

I do not recognize either of those meds, but I have mild asthma and was on quite a few over the years until I was put on montelukast sodium (aka Singulair). That allowed me to stop taking all of the others. My doctors keep insisting that I have a rescue inhaler, but I honestly haven't used one for asthma for years. I used to use it 20 minutes before one of my track races because it not only insured my lungs were at max availability, but it also increased my max heart rate, which I felt allowed me to run a little faster and a little faster was the difference between placing well and coming in last.

I am prescribed the green inhaler for COPD and the usual blue one (rescue) for asthma. Sorry I don't have them to hand to provide the full names but just want to say I am unaware of any negative issues.

I used Symbicort for a while. I also have (had) exercise- and cold-induced asthma, which developed in my 40's. I had no problems with it as far as my WED/RLS goes, but I think it caused some minor growth of facial hair(downy stuff, but still). I switched back to Advair and it went away. My doctor had seen a seminar on how great Symbicort was for adult asthma, which is why she switched me, but it offered me no advantages over the Advair and salbutamol combination that I had been using.

fyi - I had heard that stopping dairy products in the diet could make asthma go away for some people. I had also heard anecdotal stories of people whose WED/RLS was improved or eliminated by stopping gluten. Events combined in my life to lead me to try a gluten-free diet and it did seem to be improving my WED/RLS after 3 or 4 weeks, so my doctor suggested I stop dairy as well. I also stopped foods with added sugar and highly processed foods, and cut way back on grains and starchy vegetables while increasing greens, colored vegetables, and cruciferous & other vegetables.

That was Feb-Mar 2014. After 3 months, I made the first reduction in dose of my WED/RLS medication. Altogether, over two years, I reduced from 18-21 mg hydromorph contin daily to 9 mg. I've stalled at 9 mg (except after my iron infusion, I was down to 6 mg, but it's worn off and I can't get another infusion right now).

Since this story is about asthma, I'll get to the point. All this time, I was hoping my asthma would go away, but it didn't, so I gave up on that idea. I would stop the Advair in the summer if I could, and just use the salbutamol inhaler if I needed it when exercising. So, summer 2019 I stopped the Advair, and I never went back to it. Winter 2020-21 rolled around and I didn't need it. I didn't seem to have asthma anymore. I still carry my salbutamol puffer around, and I used it once last winter, and I have felt as if perhaps I might be having a touch of asthma 2 or 3 times since then, but not bad enough to actually use the inhaler.

So now I'm wondering - did stopping dairy take 5 years to have an effect on my asthma? Or was something else involved? Regardless, I think I will continue to avoid dairy even tho I LOVE cheese. (I had been planning to re-introduce cheese just before I realized I hadn't been using my puffer at all)

Making a major change in diet like that is a big commitment, and I don't think I would have done it if events in my life hadn't conspired to push me in that direction. But I thought you might want to know the story, just in case you might want to try it some day.