Bronchitis is a respiratory infection that affects your sinuses, nose, and throat. This infection spreads to your lungs. This can be viral infection that incorporates a bacterial infection. People who smoke a lot, who have heart and lung diseases, and who have weak immune systems (infants, children, and elder people) are very prone to acquiring this condition. If your mucus-filled cough lasts for at least 3 months, then that is usually diagnosed as chronic bronchitis. Bronchitis is a type of COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This respiratory condition could worsen if the patient is exposed to allergens, air pollution, and other secondary infections. Some known symptoms of bronchitis are wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, cough with yellow-green phlegm, and chest discomfort.
Your physician could auscultate you to hear if your breathing sounds are normal. A series of tests that include lung function tests, arterial blood gas (ABG), sputum samples, and chest x-rays to be sure of the diagnosis. Self help like cessation of smoking, drinking increased amounts of fluids, taking a lot of rest, taking fever medications, and setting up a humidifier in the room should be done alongside the treatment. Your doctor may prescribe you albuterol inhalers for bronchitis that may really help you cope with your condition. Here are some of information about albuterol inhalers for bronchitis:
1. General information
In bronchitis, the air passages are constricted because of certain inflamed areas brought about by the infection. If bronchial passages are constricted, then the patient experiences shortness of breath and wheezing. Albuterol inhalers for bronchitis are medications that dilate the air passages. These allow you to breathe better. Albuterol is also helpful for patients with emphysema because it helps in the lung spasms. Proventil, Proventil-HFA, Ventolin, ProAir,  AccuNeb, and Vospire are some of the brand names of albuterol that your doctor may prescribe.
2. Dosage and Precautions
The prescribed dosage for albuterol inhalers for bronchitis is one to two puffs every 4 to 6 hours. If you exercise, you should take two puffs about 15 minutes before you start. If you are you using a nebulizer, then you should take in 1.25 mg, 2.5 mg, or 0.63 mg, three to four times in a day. Albuterol inhalers for bronchitis interact with other stimulant medications. This may cause complications for patients with underlying heart diseases because of the increased heart rate and blood pressure. These inhalers are not prescribed for pregnant women because of the teratogenic effects that it could give.
3. Side Effects
Like any other medications, albuterol inhalers for bronchitis have side effects. These include increased heart rate, tremors, headache, high blood pressure, nausea, dizziness, nosebleeds, throat irritation, aggravation of diabetes, decreased potassium, and allergic reactions. If you experience these, it would be much better to see your doctor on a regular basis so that these side effects could be dealt with properly. If you just let these pass, then it is most likely that your condition will worsen. This means more frequent hospital admissions.
You have to pay attention to the symptoms that you have. You should also coordinate with your doctor so that complications will not happen. Some complications of bronchitis are emphysema, pneumonia, right-sided heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension. These are much harder conditions to handle so you have to really make sure that you undergo the right steps to battle it. Albuterol inhalers for bronchitis help you deal with this medical condition better, making you do all your regular activities without difficulty. You should have a handy means of communication with your doctor if you have recurring coughs, if you cough up blood, if you experience high fever, if you have slight fever for at least three days, if you have shaking or chills, if there is shortness of breath, if there is chest pain, if there is an underlying lung or heart disease.
Prevention of bronchitis can happen, especially if you are determined to eliminate this condition from your life and family. Learn how to change your lifestyle. If you are willing to change your old, unhealthy lifestyle into a healthier one, then this would mean that you should give up your smoking habits, you should exercise more, you should eat healthier, you should wash your hands regularly, you should avoid being exposed to air pollution, and you should also get your annual flu and pneumonia vaccine from your doctor. Doing all these changes in your life for a better level of health is much better and easier than having to use albuterol inhalers for bronchitis.