For a complete listing of asthma medications, please see the alt.support.asthma FAQ: Asthma Medications. Allergy medications are listed in alt.support.asthma FAQ: Allergy Medications. They are posted monthly as companions to this general information FAQ.
2.1.1 Are salbutamol and albuterol the same drug?
Ventolin is the brand name of salbutamol, which is the WHO (World Health Organization) recommended name for the medication. Unfortunately, in the US this same drug is called albuterol, leading to endless confusion. In fact, it's one of the few drugs in which the brand name stays the same from country to country, while the chemical name changes! Ventolin is made in the U.S. by Allen & Hanburys, and Proventil is the same drug manufactured by Schering. You can also get this drug in a sustained-action tablet, called either Repetabs (by Schering, again) or Volmax (Muro).2.1.2 Can albuterol be taken while taking salmeterol?
Yes. Quoting from the Product Information Sheet that comes with the Serevent (salmeterol) inhaler, manufactured by Allen & Hanburys:"Serevent Inhalation Aerosol should not be used more frequently than twice daily (morning and evening) at the recommend dose. When prescribing Serevent Inhalation Aerosol, patients must be provided with a short-acting, inhaled beta2-agonist (e.g., albuterol) for treatment of symptoms that occur despite regular twice-daily (morning and evening) use of Serevent."
"When patients begin treatment with Serevent Inhalation Aerosol, those who have been taking short-acting, inhaled beta2-agonists on a regular daily basis should be advised to discontinue their regular daily-dosing regimen and should be clearly instructed to use short-acting, inhaled beta2-agonists only for symptomatic relief if they develop asthma symptoms while taking Serevent Inhalation Aerosol."
"The safety of concomitant use of more than eight inhalations per day of short-acting beta2-agonists with Serevent Inhalation Aerosol has not been established."
So the above quotes seem to imply that it is okay for asthmatics taking Serevent regularly to also use Ventolin (albuterol) as needed, provided one doesn't need it too often.
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