Albuterol

Brand Names

Proventil, Proventil Repetabs, Ventolin, Volmax, VoSpire ER

What is Albuterol

Albuterol is a prescription medication used for short-term relief of asthma symptoms. It is type of medication known as a short-acting bronchodilator. It eases symptoms by opening the airways during an asthma flare-up.

Albuterol is usually given with a metered dose inhaler (ProAir HFA, Ventolin HFA, others) and sometimes in tablet or liquid form.

Side effects of Albuterol

The common albuterol side effects included:

• Coughing
• Feelings of a rapidly or forcefully beating heart (heart palpitations)
• Headaches
• An irritated or runny nose
• Muscle or bone pain
• Nausea
• Nervousness
• Shakiness (tremors)
• Insomnia
• Throat irritation
• Upper respiratory tract infections (such as the common cold)
• Vomiting

These side effects may belong not to every albuterol product. Different products may have different side effects.

Indication

This medicine is used to treat bronchospasm or wheezing in patients with reversible obstructive airway disease, such as asthma. It belongs to the group of medicines known as adrenergic bronchodilators. Adrenergic bronchodilators are medicines that open up the bronchial tubes (air passages) in the lungs. They relieve cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, and troubled breathing by increasing the flow of air through the bronchial tubes.

Albuterol is used only with your doctor's prescription.

Precautions

You should inform your doctor if you are:

• Using albuterol more often than usual. Asthma symptoms can become worse very quickly, which can result in a medical emergency.
• Using albuterol alone is rarely the best asthma treatment, especially for adults. Your healthcare provider should consider prescribing additional asthma medications.
• Rarely, albuterol can make bronchospasms (spasms of the airways) worse, which is exactly the opposite of what should happen. Tell your healthcare provider immediately if albuterol makes your asthma worse.
• Albuterol may have a stimulatory effect on the heart and blood pressure. This may result in a fast heart rate (tachycardia), high blood pressure (hypertension), and an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) -- although low blood pressure (hypotension) is also possible. If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, make sure your healthcare provider is aware of it. He or she may wish to use particular caution if he or she recommends albuterol in your case.
• People with an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), diabetes, or epilepsy should use caution when using albuterol, as albuterol can make these conditions worse or increase the risk of side effects.
• Albuterol can interact with other medications.
• This medicine may not be safe to use during pregnancy. /
• Does albuterol pass through breast milk is not known. Therefore, if you are breastfeeding or plan to start breastfeeding, inform your doctor to be sure on safeness of the medicine.

Dosage forms

You should use albuterol only in the prescribed dosage as recommended by the doctor. Albuterol overdose can negatively affect your health. The right albuterol dosage will vary according to the age of the patients. Prescribed dose for infants, children and adults should not be same. In general, the dosage given is low for children to be on the safer side.

Also it is important to note that determining albuterol dosage depends on how severe the respiratory disorder is. In case the severity is high, aggressive treatment is required and the doctor may prescribe higher albuterol dosage to alleviate the condition.

Albuterol is available in the form of tablets and liquids. Even albuterol inhalers are manufactured which provide immediate relief from breathing problems. Obviously, the albuterol dosage will vary depending on whether it is a tablet or a liquid solution.

• Dosage for Children.



Your doctor will decide the dosage considering the age of your child Children who are in the age group of 6-13 years are given 8 mg tablets daily. However, this dosage is also divided and the patient is asked to take one 4 mg tablet in the morning and another 4 mg tablet of albuterol in the evening. In severe cases, the child is given 8 mg tablets two times in a day. However, in the initial days of treatment 2 mg dosage is given 3-4 times a day.

• Dosage for Adults.



The dosage for children over 13 years of age and adults will not differ. Initial dosage begins at 8 mg twice daily, which can go up to 16 mg twice daily for severe asthma problems.

• Liquid Albuterol Dosage.



If it is liquid albuterol dosage, your doctor first checks the weight of the child and then decides the dosage. In general, children in the age group of 6-15 are given a teaspoon of albuterol 3 to 4 times daily. The dosage for children more than 15 years of age as well as adults could be increased to 3 to 4 times daily.

• Dosage for Weight Loss.



Many people use albuterol to lose weight, because clinical studies show that albuterol increases metabolic rate, which in turn helps to lose weight. However, it is not a good option. Although, it has been popularized as a weight loss pill, it has not received any FDA approval. Doctors also do not recommend albuterol to lose fat. It is observed that people literally abuse this medicine and take it in larger doses to lose weight. This can lead to side effects like high blood pressure and put the person in the risk zone of heart attack and stroke.