Get Long-Term Help for Your Breathing Problems.
Daily management medicines (also known as maintenance medicines) are long-acting breathing medicines used for ongoing treatment of COPD. They're inhaled every day — no matter what your symptoms are or how you're feeling — to help keep breathing problems under control. The goal is to help manage the symptoms of COPD so you can breathe easier longer.
How daily management medicines work.
There are two types of daily management medicines: bronchodilators and corticosteroids. They both help to open up your airways to make breathing easier. But they work in different ways. Bronchodilators relax the muscles around your airways, making it easier for air to get through. Corticosteroids reduce the swelling in your airways, creating more space for the air to move. Your doctor may advise a combination of these medicines to get the best results.
To get the best results, you have to stick with it.
Some people stop taking their daily management medicine because they don't think it's working. Just remember, daily management inhalers work over time to keep your airways open — so you can breathe better longer. But you have to give them time to do their job. And for them to work properly they have to be taken every day.
Here are a few ways to keep with it:
- Make it part of your daily routine. Take your daily management medicine at the same time each day — such as when you wake up, at mealtimes, or before bed
- Ask a family member (or set an alarm) to remind you to take your medicine
- Keep your medicine in the same place, where you'll remember it
- Ask your pharmacist if they have a refill reminder program
- Mark your refill dates on a calendar. Choose a date one week before your current refill runs out
When breathing problems are more severe and require immediate relief, talk to your doctor. If your doctor has not already done so, it might be appropriate to include a prescription for rescue medicines within your therapy.
