Budesonide and Formoterol Oral Inhalation
The combination of budesonide and formoterol is used to prevent and treat difficulty breathing, wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness caused by asthma in adults and children 6 years of age and older. The combination of budesonide and formoterol is also used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD; a group of diseases that affect the lungs and airways, that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema) in adults. Budesonide is in a class of medications called steroids. It works by reducing swelling in the airways. Formoterol is in a class of medications called long-acting beta agonists (LABAs). It works by relaxing and opening air passages in the lungs, making it easier to breathe.
🔔 How should this medicine be used?
The combination of budesonide and formoterol comes as an aerosol to inhale by mouth using an inhaler. It is usually taken as 2 puffs twice a day, in the morning and the evening, about 12 hours apart. Inhale budesonide and formoterol at about the same times every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Use budesonide and formoterol exactly as directed. Do not use more or less of it or use it more often than prescribed by your doctor.
Talk to your doctor about how you should take your other oral or inhaled medications for asthma during your treatment with budesonide and formoterol inhalation. If you were using a short-acting beta agonist inhaler such as albuterol (Proair, Proventil, Ventolin) on a regular basis, your doctor will probably tell you to stop using it regularly but to continue to use it to treat sudden attacks of asthma symptoms. Follow these directions carefully. Do not change the way you use any of your medications or stop taking any of your medications without talking to your doctor.
Do not use budesonide and formoterol inhalation during an attack of asthma or COPD. Your doctor will prescribe a short-acting (rescue) inhaler to use during attacks. Call your doctor or get emergency medical help if your breathing problems worsen, if you have to use your short-acting inhaler to treat attacks of asthma or COPD more often, or if your short-acting inhaler does not relieve your symptoms.
Budesonide and formoterol controls symptoms of asthma and COPD but does not cure them. Continue to use budesonide and formoterol even if you feel well. Do not stop using budesonide and formoterol without talking to your doctor. If you stop using budesonide and formoterol inhalation, your symptoms may return.
If your child will be using the inhaler, be sure that they know how to use it. Watch your child each time they use the inhaler to be sure that they are using it correctly.
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Before you use the budesonide and formoterol inhaler the first time, read the written instructions that come with it. Ask your doctor, pharmacist, or respiratory therapist to show you the right way to use the inhaler. Practice using the inhaler while they watch you so you are sure you are doing it the right way.
After inhalation, rinse your mouth with water and spit the water out; do not swallow the water.
Stop using the inhaler and throw the inhaler away when the dose counter shows zero.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer’s information for the patient.
