Primatene Mist May Be Pulled From Market

Marcao wrote:

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You're towing the party line here. You've got no business making decisions for other adults, accreditation as a respiratory therapist or no. I've read your posts. You have no clue. I hate holier than thou people like you.
I DO, DID have TOTAL CONTROL over my asthma when I can self-medicate as needed, without all the rigmarole and expense of doctor visits and perscriptions. The control is, was in my pocket until people like you took it away. Now the control is in the hands of all you "health care specialists" along with plenty of $$$$money for the expensive perscription stuff.
Have the decency to own up: it's all about money--you-all don't give a rat's ass about Asthma sufferers.

First of all before you self medicate with over the counter steroids without a primary healthcare provider, you should do your research. Yes it saves you money now but the long term side effect of steroid use can surprise you. Why do you think steroid use is tapered down as soon as the symptoms subside?! This is not about the healthcare system, you are talking about your health, don't you think your one and only body deserve the best. And yes I am a respiratory therapist. My primary priority are my patients.

rcp wrote:

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First of all before you self medicate with over the counter steroids without a primary healthcare provider, you should do your research. Yes it saves you money now but the long term side effect of steroid use can surprise you. Why do you think steroid use is tapered down as soon as the symptoms subside?! This is not about the healthcare system, you are talking about your health, don't you think your one and only body deserve the best. And yes I am a respiratory therapist. My primary priority are my patients.

Marcao, RCP or Sue or whatever her name is can't POSSIBLY be a respiratory therapist if she thinks OTC Primatene Mist (CFC epinephrine) is a steroid inhaler. It is not.

Maybe in a hundred years, we might know enough about pulmonary physiology, pharmacology, etc. to understand why some patients do better on CFC epinephrine than on albuterol or any other rescue inhaler, but any physician (or respiratory therapist) who dismisses the comments of large numbers of patients who KNOW that CFC epinephrine provides THEM with the best asthma relief possible for THEIR lungs is just another supremely arrogant fool in a white coat.

Hi all, please hear this,
I am 24 yrs old and have had severe athsma all my life. I lived on proventil like an addict and could not leave my house or do any activities without using my inhaler every 2 hours. I was going through proventils every 2 weeks even though I was taking singulair and all the other “maintenance meds”. However one night in a jam with no refills I bought primatine mist knowing it had killed some people due to serious side effects. However once I started taking it, I needed it barely once a day and was able to join a gym, and do the treadmill for 30min no inhaler!! So now here I am taking it for a little over a year going great hardly using at all, until 3 days ago when I started experiencing severe side effects like tachycardia, nervousness and the whole deal. I have since discontinued use and per my md going back to xopanex until my heart rate stabilizes and my symptoms become problematic again. Ultimately what I am saying is, to each his own, but for those asthmatics who use it regularly just be careful and listen to your body for any adverse reactions bc , primatine does work ,..and can kill you,..good luck and breathe

I'm so tired of people telling asthmatics what the NORM should be. Rarely use a rescue inhaler to be normal ey... I've had asthma for over 20 years you don't think I know my triggers and what works and what doesn't? The maintenance medicines are upwards of 200$$$$$ a month... forget about that!! What averge joe can afford that.. NONE!!! We, as asthmatics are left to treat our attacks as just that, ATTACKS!!! Because most if not all of us cannot afford to do it any other way.

LUVLANI wrote:

Hi all, please hear this,
I am 24 yrs old and have had severe athsma all my life. I lived on proventil like an addict and could not leave my house or do any activities without using my inhaler every 2 hours. I was going through proventils every 2 weeks even though I was taking singulair and all the other “maintenance meds”. However one night in a jam with no refills I bought primatine mist knowing it had killed some people due to serious side effects. However once I started taking it, I needed it barely once a day and was able to join a gym, and do the treadmill for 30min no inhaler!! So now here I am taking it for a little over a year going great hardly using at all, until 3 days ago when I started experiencing severe side effects like tachycardia, nervousness and the whole deal. I have since discontinued use and per my md going back to xopanex until my heart rate stabilizes and my symptoms become problematic again. Ultimately what I am saying is, to each his own, but for those asthmatics who use it regularly just be careful and listen to your body for any adverse reactions bc , primatine does work ,..and can kill you,..good luck and breathe

I wish more would listen to people like you and me. It's been a year since I made my post and have been off Primetine Mist. My asthma has been the best it's ever been and my heart is doing much better! I don't think it's coincidental that my heart problems almost completely go away after stopping the use of P.M.

CVS in my town still has it on the shelfs...

I would like to know if any of the lifelong Primatene users in this group ever experienced these symptoms after using Primatene inhaler:
memory loss
depression
exhaustion, loss of energy
sleep difficulties: excess sleeping, fatigue or insomnia
staring emptily for periods of time
belligerent, stubborn, argumentative,
unreasonable behavior,
slowed thinking
My husband used Primatene regularly for over 30 years. I learned to recognize when he was using Primatene Inhaler too much,
I called him "Primatene Man" and I hated when he came to visit-I was so happy when Primatene was banned because my husband got addicted to it, he did not like giving it up. I have learned over the years to make sure my husband gets regular Chiropractic adjustments on his ribcage when he starts using alot of inhaler. His upper thoracics and ribs get stuck and trigger more attacks. The ribs are supposed to act as a bellows to help inflate the lungs and this system does not operate correctly when there is nerve pressure from ribs and vertebrae out of alignment. He now manages with regular chiropractic and an albuterol rescue inhaler which he uses infrequently. I am wondering if anyone has experienced permanent memory loss from Primatene use long term?

Check on prescription drugs (inhalers) you may be prescribed on the Canadian drug websites. I recently found a generic Advair for $34.95 (full Canadian price) as aopposed to $239.00 (full brand name American price). Even with my top-of-the-line insurance coverage, I still get two for one.

Website is www.northwestpharamcy.com . I have done business with them before, they are very knowledgeable and professional, and have excellent patient and customer service. They ship quickly and you can fax your Rx direct to them.

May be worth a try. Good luck.

If Primatene is banned you can be sure there will be a rise in asthma related deaths unless there is a over the counter substitute. There are many people that depend on being able to obtain it, especially in an emergency situation where they do not or never had a prescription inhaler.
Primatene is actually very bad for you because it works by stressing your cardiovascular system. The prescription stuff such as albuterol works better and is much healthier for you without any real side effects. However either of these are rescue inhalers, and frequent use of these means you are not properly maintaining the disease. Going through one Primatene inhaler every three months is a lot and really shows yours is out of control.
Asthsma is usually the result of an allergic reaction to allergens in your environment (pollen, dander, dust mites, etc) and needs to be controlled by either moving to an area low in allergens, such as by the beach, where winds come in from the ocean, or with a type of 'antihistamine' medication of which is what Singulair (Montelukast) is for. Singulair not only controls nasal allergies, but stops the lungs from overreacting to the allergens. Rather than treat the symptoms, it is better to prevent the cause. However it is extremely expensive and is to be taken once a day. At ~$5 a pill, it is Merck's single highest revenue generator until U.S. patent expiration in 2012. However you can get the generic version from overseas pharmacies now for about 80 cents.
Hugh, I would highly recommend you talk to your doctor about trying Singulair if you haven't already, and keep Albuterol inhalers around if and when you need it. Also consider an allergy test to find out what you are allergic to. Your quality of life will be substantially improve along with a significant increase in your energy level and stamina. Generic Albuterol inhalers can be purchased at Costco for about $35, and you can get generic one from overseas pharmacies for about $8, with CFC propellants, which actually are supposed to work better than the ones that are using CFC substitutes - HFA, which is all you can get in the U.S now. The generic are made by companies such as Cipla in India where I think there are minimal to nil patent laws with regards to pharmaceuticals. If anyone wants to know a reliable site to get this stuff, let me know and I'll look it up.
http://www.drugwebstore.com/primatene_b290.ht...

I have been using Primatene Mist for the past 30 years and at the age of 92, I am still using Primatene Mist and going strong. I have hopes it will remain on the market as it has been promoting my long life.

Primatene Mist is a lifesaver for many adults with asthma. we must be able to make our own decisions. There are many worse over the counter drugs. As for asthma management there is no managing asthma, attacks can and do come on suddenly. for people who cant afford doctor or emrgency visits this drug is a lifesaver Also some of the newer inhalers Suck!

The whole thing is about Rx companies and Doctors making money. I have had Asthma for 30+ years, I have taken everything known to man and even some herbal things just to manage my illness. I changed diets, got rid of animals and pets in my home, had machines to make the air clean. Over all the years I took rescue inhalers and management meds, my asthma just got worse. I had illness all of the time, I was in the hospital here and there with other breathing issues. I was not even able to take phys-ed in school, to do so would send me to the ER and needing to be admitted into the hospital. I was not able to even run 20 feet without throwing up a lung. I had one of the worse cases of asthma that the doctors have ever seen. Then the worst thing ever happened to me I turned 18 and had no insurance at all... So I took Primetine Mist because I needed something to make me be able to breath and it worked, and the funny thing is that it worked better than the prescribed medication. As a matter of fact over the years I needed to up my dosage for both the rescue and for the maintenance meds, but after a couple of weeks of getting the prescribed med out of my system my asthma seem to have gotten better. Odd, right? Well after a few years of not really needing my inhaler all that much, and no maintenance medication at all. Which at one point I was up to 4 prescribed rescue inhalers a month, and then the insurance company came down on me for using so much. They said I didn't have my asthma under control and wanted to try other meds, well all they did was make me dependent on them, the more I had the more I needed. So the loss of my insurance was the best thing for me. Then a few years later and only 12 to 15 Primetine Mist bottles later, not the 150+ prescribed bottles, but only 12 to 15 of the Primetine, the worst thing that could ever happen to my asthma happened. I got insurance again, my doctor somehow talked me into taking prescribed medications again, and wouldn't you know it, I was down the same flipping path again. Within a year I was back to the same pattern, and was getting pneumonia 3 to 5 times per year, back in the hospitals and needing machines to help me breath. Sometimes in for oxygen, or breathing treatment. At one point it was so bad that we had to call 911. Because I passed out and fell through a glass coffee table, I was coughing so hard that I blacked out. Somehow I got worse over the years. Then I lost my insurance once again, yeah it sucks not having insurance, but my asthma is back to a point where I can go to the gym and live my life. I guess what I can do if I don't have something that is affordable, I can get life insurance, die and my family can be without a father and maybe my wife can sue the FDA!

While I agree that Primatene Mist provides instant relief for us asthmatics, it also has very dangerous effects on heart rate. I had a terrifying experience with Primatene Mist last night, my heart rate was VERY high, which led to extreme dizziness, and vomiting. So my opinion is yes it does work and provides instant relief, however the side-effects are too dangerous to continuously use Primatene Mist as rescue inhaler. Asthma is a dangerous condition, and everyone with asthma should use preventative drugs rather than Primatene. Yes advair costs a lot, but to me it is worth its weight in gold, it is much cheaper to pay 50$ a month for advair than paying several hundred dollars a year in unnecessary medical expenses that could have been avoided with the use of a preventative asthma medication.