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HFA Inhalers

Michael of Las Vegas NV (02/16/09)
There is a new asthma medicine I have had to switch to. This medication is a asthma inhaler called HFA MDI, I was used to taking the CFC MDI. I was taking the CFC for over 25 years, since I was first given to me in the hospital when I was 11 years old and now I am 39 yrs old, proving that this medication has helped me and not harmed me.

The problem with this change over is that when I am trying to take the new HFA medication it is not giving the same result as the CFC. Seems most times I have to take like 6 inhalations from the new inhaler for it to work, and even that sometimes it makes my asmtha worse. Not sure what the pharm. companys are thinking but I think they need something better before they discontiue a medication that works well.

Douglas of Taylors, SC February 16, 2009

Douglas of Taylors SC (02/16/09)
I would like to state that, in my personal opinion, the new HFA inahlers, used as rescue inhalers for those of us suffering from COPD, are nowhere near as effective as teh ones we were able to purchase before Al Gore opened his big mouth. Nothing has been done---all of us are using 3 times the amount of inahlant, producing 1/2 the desired results of dilating our bronchial tubes!

Linda of San Bruno, CA February 16, 2009

Linda of San Bruno CA (02/16/09)
I threw up and had extreme nausea when I tried to use the new Xopenex with HFA. I tried it again and then a friend's same medicine and I almost passed out. I use the nubulizer Xopenex with no side effects.

You need to bring back the Warwick CFA inhalers as hundreds of people are not able to use the new HFA

Kathleen of Scottsdale, AZ February 16, 2009

Kathleen of Scottsdale AZ (02/16/09)
This is a travesty of untold proportions. 23 million asthmatics in the US - really! To take away viable effective medication that is vital for SAVING THE LIVES of pulmonary patients is insane, inhumane and criminal. Where is the World Health Organization, the protectors of human beings health, when we, the suffering asthmatics and other pulmonary patients, need them?

This noble but terribly misdirected and politicized effort at reducing CFCs for the good of the environment might be different if:
* this VITAL RESCUE MEDICATION was replaced with a medication that was effective (HFA inhalers are not equal in effectiveness for me and many others);
* had been tested thoroughly on ALL types of pulmonary patients, on vast numbers of patients (HFA inhalers were not tested thoroughly);
* were reliable (HFA inhalers are not - they must be primed, wasting medication, and they run out without notice - SUPER SCARY to those of use who rely on these for OUR LIVES - and they do NOT deliver the same amount of medication and therefore relief into the lungs);
* did not contain known allergens such as the corn-based ethanol -- do you realize how many asthmatics have allergies and how very common it is to have a corn allergy? Maybe next they'll come up with a peanut based inhaler and kill even more of us off...
* were comparably priced and sized (HFAs are triple the price for NON-EFFECTIVE medication and the 200 inhalations they claim per container do not account for the many wasted priming puffs or the extra puffs patients need BECAUSE THE STUFF DOES NOT WORK! A large portion of asthmatics are poor - do you think they'll just tough out the price TRIPLING? No they'll go without and get sick or even die.... And so too will many others not so poor, who already struggle to pay for all the other asthma meds they need to deal with their disease.

Personally, I am coughing my guts out after taking this HFA inhaler and I have to take multiple inhalations to get any kind of relief (only some clearing of the lungs versus the prescribed 2 inhalations of CFC inhaler which would completely clear me). I am actively looking for other options to obtain CFC albuterol inhalers. But that option now carries great risk of possibly receiving bad medication. Remember why our society has advocated for legal abortion? To prevent women from getting back alley botch jobs that might take their lives.... This will be the same, asthmatics desperate to get effective medication will do anything -- it is OUR BREATH, after all, much more everyday and critical than birth control. If I am successful in obtaining CFC inhalers elsewhere I risk even being prosecuted since our government has made it illegal to get drugs from outside this country.

I'm very stressed out by all of this - the problems with the effectiveness, the lack of options for me, the symptoms, the cost, the possibility of finding what I really need but the risk I'll have to take to do that. All this stress triggers even more asthma attacks. A vicious circle, compliments of the FDA. What's next? Shall you (FDA) take away my nebulizer machine too? Maybe the government would like to ensure all of us asthmatics die so as to ease the burden on the medical system?

How many of us must die or have severely reduced quality of life as a sacrifice to the political game playing tactics of our government agencies who ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING OUT FOR THE BEST INTEREST OF THE AMERICAN PATIENT? Why was this mandate ever even considered when the CFCs released by inhalers at the time of the Montreal Protocol was just 1/10th of one percent of the total released worldwide? Isn't this crazy? I mean, when do the crazies at the FDA wake up and realize that the US in 1997 was 63rd of 102 countries in the amount of CFCs consumed? When you look at the amount the US is responsible for, it is MINUSCULE in comparison to the countries that are dumping mass amounts of this into the environment. How can this tiny amount of reduction possibly balance against the lives of 23 million Americans? And more - that is not counting the COPD, bronchitis and other patients that also need to use albuterol inhalers. It might be 50 million counting them...

Why doesn't the FDA assemble a board of 50 pulmonary physicians and 50 diagnosed asthmatics of all types to decide what is best for use in treating this disease? Where is the follow up studies and response? People are in distress. Doctors know this, nurses know this, pharmacists know this. When will something be done about it? I'll bet there are no asthmatics in the FDA to suffer from this terrible tragic mistake of banning albuterol CFC inhalers. And I'll bet if there are any asthmatic employees at the FDA or the drug companies, they have been warned to keep their mouths shut on this topic or else they'll be looking for new jobs.

This degrades my quality of life. I have to use a nebulizer now and be tethered to this breathing machine in order to breathe because this new inhaler does not work. I guess I'll have to get a portable one to carry too because the HFA albuterol inhaler DOES NOT WORK! I cannot believe that our idiotic government has condemned millions to this pain and degradation of lifestyle. We need a rescue from the new Obama administration. I cannot believe they will go along with this debacle and I have faith that President Obama will do what is right for the citizens of this country and let us have the medication that we so desperately need. It's all I have to hope for at this point.

And don't get me started on how the drug companies were thrilled to be complicit in this so they could get back to premium prices for newly patented PROPELLANT formulas, NOT for new medication. I'd better stop now, I feel a wheeze coming on from the stress of thinking this through all over again.

Sue of Marietta, GA February 16, 2009

Sue of Marietta GA (02/16/09)
I have allergy induced asthma. I only occasionally need an inhaler. However when I do need one. I need it to actually work...NOT make my asthma WORSE. The ProAir HFA actually made a mild asthma attack into a bad one. Thank goodness I used it on a mild attack. I will guess if I had used it on a serious one I would have been hospitalized. I am also thankful I had one of my old inhalers still at the time I tried the new one. I am now terrified of having to use one of the new inhalers. I am perfectly aware of HOW to use an inhaler. I do NOT depend on the strength of the puff the inhaler puts out to get the medicine into my lungs.

I think all the blaming it on us for improper use is [wrong]. Though when you are in the middle of an asthma attack and having issues actually getting air into your lungs .. the whole take a deep breath to get the medicine into your lungs thing is. Well that is what the medicine is supposed to help you do...BREATHE! When your lungs close up it is hard to get your breath at all...much less take a deep one. I mean I did not think that breathing was optional though evidently the folks who put out these new inhalers did. Seriously what person on earth could think that Alcohol would be a good thing to put in someones lungs? Ethanol is a form of alcohol. Seriously does that sound like a good idea to you?

The ProAir HFA MADE MY ASTHMA WORSE!

Ryan of Burbank, CA February 16, 2009