As many people do every year, I made a New Years resolution to start a workout regiment in hopes of losing weight. When I began working out, I noticed that I had trouble breathing while doing so and even after it was all said and done. A quick trip to the doctor lead to my diagnosis of exercise induced asthma. My treatment was not going to include the termination of my exercise regiment, but rather it involved an Albuterol Inhaler.
As always when I get a prescription, I ran to my local Walgreen’s pharmacy and filled my prescription. I received a nice little pamphlet that included all of the side effects of using this inhaler. I didn’t pay much attention to it though as many of the side effects are the same as other medications. But you truly live and learn.
I went after work to the workout center and with my trusty Albuterol inhaler by my side, I began my exercise regiment. Again, the tight throat feeling struck me like a ton of bricks. I stopped what I was doing and used my inhaler. I had this longstanding belief that using my inhaler was going to make everything better and I would be right back to working out, however, this belief was quickly squashed by the few side effects that I had experienced afterward.
Using the Albuterol inhaler did bring relief to the trouble I was having while exercising. However, after using it, I felt different. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I felt a bit lightheaded and it felt like my heart was beating a million times a minute. Of course, I just attributed that to working out. Each time that I had to use my Albuterol inhaler, I had the same symptoms, I felt very shaky and light-headed and my heart just seemed to pound away.
I discussed this with my physician at a follow-up appointment to see how things were working out for me and if my inhaler was working. I had discussed the incidents with her and my experiences after taking my Albuterol Inhaler and she said that these are all normal side effects of using the inhaler.
If you are using an Albuterol Inhaler, you may also suffer from some similar side effects, such as:
1. The feeling of your heart pounding or beating very fast.
2. Nervousness
3. Tremors
4. A feeling of “a frog in your throat” and/or an itchy throat
5. Lightheadedness
There are also some side effects that you would want to report to your doctor immediately after using an Albuterol Inhaler, including:
1. Rash, itch, hives, etc, which may indicate an allergic reaction to the medicine
2. Anxiety (now this is different from being nervous, if you’re on the verge of a panic attack after using the Albuterol Inhaler, then consult your doctor immediately)
3. High Blood Pressure
Of course not everyone is affected in the same way by each medicine. The best thing to do is consult your doctor and report and findings or experiences that you have after taking your Albuterol Inhaler. It’s better to bring your concern to light, than to let it go and pretend like it is nothing. As the old adage goes, better safe than sorry.
