How soon will I start to feel better after I take my asthma medication?

How soon will I start to feel better after I take my asthma medication?

William Berger (Allergist and Immunologist) gives expert video advice on: Can asthma be cured? and more...

One of the reasons people use quick acting rescue beta agonise medications is they feel better right away as it opens up their airways. But that is not the long term solution to their asthma problem. It's the controller medication that actually treat the underlying cause of the problem, which is the inflammation. The hard thing for patients to understand is that controller medication is not going to make them feel good right away. They have to be on it for at least a week or two before they start getting the benefit. So, very often with patients we will give them a quick reliever medication initially, but then we will convert them over to a long acting controller medication such as an inhaled steroid, a long acting bronchial dilator or a lucitron modifier. Just like anything that's worth accomplishing you have to stay on it on a regular basis if you are to feel better.