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Janice of King City CA (04/14/08)
PLEASE HELP THE NEW HFA INHALERS ARE NOT WORKING ON ME THEY ARE JUST MAKING MY ATTACKS WORSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ! PLEASE HELP ME. THE Small amount of CFC's that come out of these inhalers are not doing anything to the ozone. MOST of it is going in my mouth this is absurd!
I am having very bad asthma attacks due to the new inhalers. I am unable to work and function due to these wonderful new inhalers.
Georgia of Lisbon OH (04/09/08)
My daughter has activity induced asthma. She was given the new Pro Air Hfa inhaler. She took it 30 minutes before a basketball game. She then had an attack, took two more puffs and still wasnt working by this time she was panicking. Thought I would have to take her to an ER but she did have a CFC warrick inhaler left over so she took 2 more puffs of that. Now I was worried she would over dose. These HFA inhalers dont work. She used HFA inhaler before about 6 months ago and she had to go back to her warrick inhaler, but we thought we would try Proair again. It is useless. She may never be able to play sports again. She has 2 more years left of H.S. Basketball that we have put alot of money into to increase her performance and now its all down the drain.
Jennifer of Bohemia NY (04/05/08)
The new HFA inhalers are a joke. They're completely ineffective. I've been on them for a year and my asthma is worse now than it was when I was a child. The propellant they use now releases the medicine at a slower rate so you have to breathe in deeper and longer to get the full dose, which is not something someone having an asthma attack can do. I woke this morning to an asthma attack at 4 a.m. and ended up having to take about five shots of Proventil HFA before it even made a dent in my airways. Not to mention the horrible side effects that I get now on the new inhaler. Heart palpitations, racing pulse and fabulous nausea. How the FDA and the rest of the world can lump in medically essential devices with unnecessary household products like hairspray and room sprays is beyond me. An issue like this shouldn't be put in black and white. There needs to be an exception to the rule. Let's get the old CFC inhalers back and give asthmatics the relief and peace of mind we so desperately need.
I've landed at the doctor's office several times now because the new inhalers couldn't stem the attack. The new inhalers will bankrupt me as I don't have health insurance. $40 roughly, compared to the $15 I was paying for generic albuterol. And it's impossible to properly manage my asthma so I don't have to rely on rescue inhalers when the maintenance inhalers like Advair cost $200 for a one month supply. That's insane. So I suppose I have to suffer and wheeze and have no life because I no longer have a medicine which I can rely on and trust to open my airways, God forbid I should have an attack.
Michael of Groton CT (04/03/08)
Does anyone know of a class action suit reguarding the cfc inhalers. I need mine back. I have been on albuterol for about 10 years now. After the switch my heart rate has changed dramaticly, my breathing overall has deteriorated quite a bit. I want the old cfc inhaler back. I know one person does not constitute a change, but when millions of people can not tollerate these inhalers, there needs to be a change.
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Ellen of Livonia MI (03/27/08)
I have asthma; specifically, COPD and I've been using Albuterol for many years. Just recently, the albuterol has been replaced by a product called Pro-Air.
As opposed to the delivery system of medication afforded me by Albuterol, the Pro-Air DID NOTHING@!! If anything, I had a worse reaction and was gasping for breath as a result of inhaling this medication!!!
I am on Medicare and had to pay MUCH MORE for this PRO-AIR than i ever had to pay for albuterol. It even came in a much SMALLER inhaler (smaller dosage) than the original albuterol.
Physical damage? It DID NOT--in ANY WAY--resolve my problem with any asthma attacks that I suffered. I was forced to utilize both my oxygen tank AND my NEBULIZER that I filled with Albuterol !!! in order to get relief.
This was a necessary action in order NOT to have to call 911 and go to the EMERGENCY ROOM for relief!!!
Michelle of Montrose CO (03/06/08)
I have been taking warrick albuterol for my asthma. I got diagnosed with walking pneumonia and received a inhaler which supposedly is the same thing as my warrick albuterol...its an HFA inhaler and I almost died.
This stuff made my asthma worse and I thought I was dying...came close to going to the ER twice and then my husband thought maybe it was the new inhaler...this stuff made my asthma worse, I was dizzy, nauseated and felt like passing out...I was gasping for air. This is crap...we need to discontinue the HFA albuterol inhaler and keep the warrick one...there are going to be many deaths from this inhaler...and I am terrified that it is going off the market...what will I or anyone be able to use instead...we will just keal over and die thanks to the manufacturers of this HFA inhaler.
Andrea of Toledo OH (03/03/08)
I went to Sam's Club to pick up my prescription for my inhaler, not knowing the change went into effect. I had my exact change of $6.16, and they told me the charge was today was $43.50 or something like that. I was stunned. I asked why, and they told me that the new medication was being dispersed now. Well, I paid for it and left, completely upset. I do not have insurance so it cost me almost nine times as much. I see how it goes: you take something out and raise the price. That was the just the start of the problem. After trying it, I realized it worked nowhere near as good as my Warrick inhaler; and since my other inhaler worked great and was cheap, it worked out well since I had to buy one monthly. Instead of needing them monthly, I went to need a new one about every 2 weeks. But, of course, with the price I am not able to afford it. Does any one remember Primatene mist that was/is on the market? Just my opinion, but I have tried it, and it is very similar to the new pro air inhaler. It doesn't work that well, either, but at least is a lot cheaper, Ibelieve. It used to be around $15.
With all the problems of these new prescriptions, as well as office visits, it's no wonder people cannot afford health coverage or prescriptions. With as little as it costs to make some of these medications, we the consumer get cheated all around.
Michael of San Antonio TX (02/11/08)
I recently switched to ProAir HFA, and not only is this medicine four times more expensive than the CFC version, but it also gives me serious nausea after taking it. So do I breathe--or have a tremendous stomach ache for a hour or so? The FDA needs to get the CFC version of the Albuterol inhaler back on the market. If the government was so worried about the ozone then why start with hair spray and inhalers? They should have started with the automobile. I'm sure the amount of CFC propellant in a MILLION canisters of asthma medication doesn't even come close to the amount a hummer throws out on a basic commute.
I get terrible nausea and possibly even stomach aches when I take this medication. It might be due to the ethanol used in the canister.
Becky of Charlotte NC (01/12/08)
The Proair inhaler does not work and is more expensive than old inhalers which are banned.
Gary of Berkeley CA (12/31/07)
I used the new Exubera inhaled insulin according to all the rules and it never worked as well as my regular insulin injectons. I was told to increase the dosage which I did and it still did not work well. I developed a sore which turned into a wound which was infected on my right ankle/heel and it still won't heal up completely after over four months.
The result is that I have had very poor control of my diabetes while on Exubera and then developed this sore which is now an open, infected wound that it taking many trips to the doctor and much medicine, bandages, etc to take care of.
Ischer-Dike of Manassas VA (12/09/07)
Not only did the HFA inhalers worsen my asthma, I broke out with a rash which almost looked like a chemical burn on my hands each time I made the switch (3 different times), experiencing extreme nausea at the same time. I am apparently allergic to the new formulation. Proventil HFA did not relieve my 14-year-old's Asthma attack in PE last year. I made an emergency run to the school. How can the FDA make such changes and put our kids at risk?
Difficulty breathing, rash, nausea and fear of death!
Cheri of Greenfield WI (12/04/07)
I live in Milwaukee and I have asthma. Recently my inhaler was abruptly changed without my knowledge or consent to ProAir HFA. After researching why the change happened, I found that the CFC propellants in medical inhalers such as mine are being banned. I cannot tolerate the ProAir HFA and it actually made my asthma worse. I fear that others who have been switched to HFA propelled inhalers are having increased asthma symptoms, and may not even realize why. I want to help spread the word that many people are finding these new inhalers seriously inferior. There is a petition that Id like to make asthma patients and those who care about them, or care for them, aware of.
Linda of Oxford NC (12/04/07)
I guess I am one of the people who cannot use any HFA product when I am having an asthma attack. I have been on all of them and thus far, they don't open up my airway. I've tested them knowing that I had my CFC Warrick Albuterol at hand. I've given them the best and most honest try that I am able to.
Proventil especially is going to kill me one day. I have to use five to six inhalations to get my airway open enough so I can get a nebulizer treatment in. In the meantime, my doctor has increased my alprozolam to 5, one mg. tablets each day because the HFA inhalers give me terrible anxiety.
Additionally, my blood pressure has increased substantially and I have begun to have heart rhythm problems that will have to be addressed in the near future.
I recently found out that some of what I was trying in HFA's contained alchohol and that is an absolute no-no for me. I now realize that some of what I have been feeling is because of that. I am highly sensitive to alchohol. I cannot drink anything with it at all; not even the slightest amount.
I had wished and almost just assumed, that when I was swithed to an HFA inhaler that all would be well. I never gave a second thought to my inhaler not working. The first two I returned to my pharmacist knowing that they were defective. As time went by, I realized that they probably weren't defective and that it could be the medicine itself. So I started doing some research and found out that my Warrick Albuterol was going away because it had CFC in it.
My pulmonologist had me start another brand, then another. Nothing seemed to work. I was also getting an Rx for a CFC brand called Armstrong. That one didn't work near as well as the Warrick CFC but at least it did work after 2 puffs, and then a nebulizer treatment.
I feel safe leaving the house now with the Armstrong in my pocket. I would never leave my house with an HFA product because once my airway begins to close, I need a product that will open it up.
Taste, feel, washing, etc., none of that matters to me at all. The only thing that matters is me getting my airway opened up. Three HFA inhalers that I have tried, simply don't do it. Again, I can't emphasize how much the taste, feel and that matter nothing to me. When I am gasping for an open airway, nothing else matters.
I am convinced that the claims made stating that the new HFA inhalers are as effective as the CFC one's, is a complete scam. I went to the links in the petition to save cfc medical inhalers and after reading all of that material, I now realize that HFA is not effective enough and that CFC albuterol is being taken off of the exempt list because of dollars, not the Treaty.
It's difficult to come to terms with the fact that my government is currently damaging my health and will continue to do so with HFA products, and that they are condemming me to be a home-bound person forever more because I will never be able to leave my nebulizer.
Lynn of Manassas VA (06/09/07)
This inhaler did not relieve my asthma systoms-made it worse, caused severe nausea and chest pain. Proventil HFA did not relieve my daughter's asthma attack during PE at school-had to rush to school with old CFC inhaler.
Having more tests done because of chest pain-EKG and now Stress ecko!
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