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Asthma medicines fall into two groups. Your doctor may prescribe one or both:
- Long-term (preventative) controllers. They help to prevent asthma symptoms and control the disease.
- Quick-relief (rescue) medicines. You take them when you have an asthma attack for quick relief of symptoms.
Long-term controllers
Even when you feel fine your asthma is not gone. Your airways are always inflamed. You need medicines that treat it. These medicines can help prevent symptoms and control your asthma. They can help you use your quick-relief inhaler less, too.
Several types of medicines can help prevent asthma symptoms. Many of these are medicines that you breathe in (inhale). Take them every day. They are not for quick relief during an attack.
The medicines can work in different ways. They may:
- Make airways less inflamed.
- Relax airway muscles.
- Block chemicals in your body that can cause airways to tighten and swell.
- Block chemicals in your body that can cause allergy symptoms.
It may take several weeks for you to see an improvement.
Quick-relief medicines
National asthma guidelines recommend that everyone with asthma have a quick-relief medicine that relaxes the muscles around the airways.
These medicines relieve sudden asthma symptoms. They are not meant for long-term asthma control. If you need to use quick-relief medicine more than twice a week, then it means your asthma is not as well controlled as it could be.
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