I Just Found Out The Fda Pulled Asthmanefrin Off The Shelves (Page 4)
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I've been sitting here crying because the pharmacist just told me that AsthmaNefrin was taken off the market. I look on the internet and it's been recalled by the FDA because it has caused chest pain and has many complaints. This decision by the FDA will kill people like me because I get a paradoxical reaction to Albuterol and Levalbuterol. They work completely different. Different drug. If I go to the emergency because I can't breathe, they save me with ephinephrine, the same drug that AsthmaNefrin is. And look in any drug book, Albuterol and Levalbuterol has worse side-effects than Epinephrine. I have to have my rescue inhaler with me everyday. The Primatene tablets are horrible, causing extreme anxiety and don't mix with my antidepressant. I was on cortisone for years and now I can't tolerante at all. I've stayed healthy and my lungs are good using Singulair and AsthaNefrin. Singulair can't stop an asthma attack. This is really going to ruin my life! What am I going to do?

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I would like other ppls opinions abt a possible solution bc while I despise that the FDA is keeping ppl from being able to help themselves with OTC asthma meds (it's a business and its all abt money-shame on them, they keep pulling these OTC products for BS reasons- but I also have an issue with Nephron for allowing the atomizer to be pulled for a recall but didn't just fix the defect and sell the product again) I also understand some concerns. A. If u use OTC epinephrine and it doesn't solve the problem and u have to go to the ER, there's not much they can do for u immediately cuz they can't give u more epinephrine. There r other therapies but they take longer and by that pt, some ppl dont have that kind of time. But also B. Ppl r irresponsible. They overdose on the OTC meds which can cause a lot of other problems. Aside from all the obvious side effects- racing heart, high blood pressure, jittery feeling- it can do real damage to ur lungs and make ur asthma even worse. It's not meant to be used every day and when ppl use it wrong and cause all these other probs, it makes it harder for the rest of us to continue accessing these products. I wish some Dr would come up with a viable alternative. I'm just not even sure the best solution bc it would need to be something that would at least alleviate some of the concerns abt an OTC asthma med. It needs to be done tho bc ppl who can't afford to go to the dr (or just don't want to, whether for religious reasons or any other), still need to be able to breathe. I just abt lost it at 3a.m. when my husband started having trouble breathing and I practically flew to Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart looking for the atomizer only to discover no one sells it now. I am so grateful for these forums where I can learn what's worked for other ppl. Fortunately, for this time, the AsthmaCare homeopathic spray was adequate. It isn't always. (And I have some concerns abt homeopathics anyways bc they r not well regulated.) Also, has anyone had any personal experience with this one: I read a guys post who said he uses his e-cigarette as a delivery method for his AsthmaNefrin. I wonder if heating up the med changes the efficacy or causes side effects in any way...

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KenP..Thank you so much for the information! I always hope each month that I can still find Asthmanefrin! I can't live without it since Albuterol products actually give me asthma. I have had to order it from Wal-Mart over the internet in the past but lately, Walgreen's have been selling it along with a small nebulizer. When I asked the pharmacy if they will continue to sell it, she said she doesn't know. And Wal-Mart hasn't had it in their store for a long time. It's good to know there is something else to rely on!

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I have tried Prime Asthma Relief from DrNaturalHealing. It didn't work well for me as it is an inhalable powder form that made me gag and dried out my lungs. I had been using Asthmanefrin in the EZ Breathe atomizer which turned out to be defective. The Uniclife Mini USB inhaler from Amazon worked great as a replacement atomizer and is inexpensive (about $26). However, lately I haven't been able to find Asthmanefrin anywhere so I experimented with dissolving the powder in the Prime Asthma Relief capsules in about 5mm of distilled water and dispensing it from the Uniclife. Seems to work fine so far (4 months) without clogging the mesh up. You may have to adjust the dosage according to how much will work for you. Hope this helps.

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Hi Paul, never heard of a powder epinephrine. Let us know how it worked. The Asthmanefrin works great for me but it's not portable, has a plug and you can't store the medicine in the nebulizer. So in the middle of the night, when I can't breathe, I have to put the whole thing together and then clean it after. Not fun when you can't breathe. It would be great if this powder worked!

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Hi All,

As a lifelong asthma sufferer and Primatene Mist user I have read this column with interest. I also tried Asthma Nefrin. While it is better than nothing it leaves a lot to be desired. In searching for info as to if/when a new Primatene Mist would be available I came across another product called Prime Asthma Relief. This one is epinephrine in powder form. It is used in a device that doesn't need batteries. Has anyone tried this product? I am thinking of ordering it but would like some unbiased opinions if possible first. I hope this helps...

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To Mac: All is well. Still healthy and breathing. Sounds like you are too. That's great! I will try the Eucalyptus. Didn't know it also had antibacterial properties. I've been putting Frasier tree wax cubes in my wax burner and it opens my sinuses. Most of the strong smells will give me asthma but this helps. It's similar to the smell of pine. I got the idea after Christmas because I noticed the pine smell from the scented candle was helping me.

My wonderful atomizer is clogging up no matter what I do, so I will be using my little nebulizer again. It works great, just takes a lot more time. Glad you found one that works good. It does cost about $200 to get an atomizer over the internet. Ridiculous. I get my Asthmanefrin from Walgreens and recently they are selling a nebulizer very similar to the one I got over the internet. Finally! I love Walgreens now. Walmart tells me they have never heard of Asthmanefrin, like I am crazy.

Thanks for the info! Take Care!

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Hope all are well! Just wanted to give a quick update. I noticed that Asthmanefrin refills are still for sale at my local CVS pharmacy! I haven't seen their inhaler for sale for many months now, though I see the old models available on Ebay on occasion, sometimes selling for hundreds of dollars. I tried getting my two EZ Breathe Asthmanefrin inhalers working again, but after many attempts with vinegar and distilled water to clean and flush them out, they both became completely inoperable. I even took one apart to try and clean the insides by the mesh, but the debris and residue clogged the mesh and surrounding parts beyond repair.

The good news is that I bought a new inhaler / nebulizer on Amazon, a Uniclife, for only $26. The design is very different from the EZ Breathe, in that the medicine and the water are housed in two different sections, and come together to make a mist, so that there is much less potential for clogging. So far it seems that this design is a much better option than the EZ Breathe, especially because of the clogging problems of Asthmanefrin. After you add a vial of Asthmanefrin to the medicine cup, you must fill the cup half-way with distilled water for it to work, so you essentially are diluting the Asthmanefrin solution (which only takes up about a 1/8 of the cup), and so for this reason I find that I have to take in a few more inhales than I would with the old EZ Breathe design. However, the I also feel that the large volume of vapor that delivers the medication, which is much, much larger than what the EZ Breathe design delivered, is more helpful because it helps loosen any mucus and phlegm, and lubricates the breathing passages. I would imagine that larger amount of vapor also prevents potential clogging or buildup of medication residue.

The inhaler comes with a mouthpiece, similar to the EZ Breathe design, and also two masks for inhaling through the nose, a large one for adults and a small one for smaller children. The model I have runs off an outlet, but I've also ordered an additional battery powered one. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've also been using aromatherapy (lavender, eucalyptus, and peppermint essential oils), which has helped me a great deal, and what's great about this inhaler is that its also designed to be used for aromatherapy as well. For the past few months I was just rubbing the oils underneath my nose, but with the new inhaler I can place a few drops of essential oils into the medicine cup and then fill the cup half-way with water, and then I can breath in the mist of vaporized essential oils. If anyone has ever dissolved Vicks in hot water and breathed in the vapor when they were sick, its a similar idea! The good thing about essential oils like lavender and eucalyptus is that they are natural antibiotics that can kill colonies of bacteria lodged in the lungs, which are behind alot of the inflammation that causes asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia. I've been researching this recently and it looks like some doctors believe that lingering, persistent lung infections are one of the main contributors to chronic asthma and respiratory problems, much more than other triggers like allergens. For this reason, some doctors have observed that antibiotics can be very effective anti-inflammatories, especially for asthma and lung problems. I've found that when I have been on antibiotics, its much easier for me to get over bronchitis and asthma symptoms. Hope some of this info helps!

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I got 2 Mabis 'mini-breeze' and they put out like a fog machine at an alice cooper concert.
You need to have a couple vials in the cup, though, because it doesn't get the last few drops to nebulize.
It's really low maintenance. I changed the water (it uses water to transmit the energy to the contents of the cup) a dozen times as it discolored, but now it stays clear.

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Try the Omron Micro Air Nebulizer NE-U22. It's electric and small/portable. It's been working for my bf for months. ~$150ish.

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I used the Ultrasonic Nebulizer, which is a lot more time consuming. It worked great but I really missed my EZ-Breathe Atomizer. So my husband found one on Amazon and I recieved it in August. The cleaning instructions were different than ever before. You have to air dry after the 3 minute soak in the cleaning solution (1 part distilled vinegar to 3 parts distilled water) and then rinsing with distilled water for 30 seconds. After, you air dry, then you fill the medicine cup with the vinegar solution and spray for 30 seconds, rinse with distilled water for 30 seconds and air dry again. Then it is ready for the asthmanefrin medicine.

It still works like new after about 5 months now. This hasn't happened before and I wasn't using these instructions with the other EZ-Breathe atomizers I had. The last one actually lasted for 2 years but the quality of the spray was diminished within a month. So I am hopeful. This thing is so much easier to use. Hope it lasts. And now I have been able to buy Asthmanefrin from Walgreens instead of ordering it from WalMart. I also read a letter written by the makers of Asthmanefrin and they wrote that the FDA wasn't going to ban the Asthmanefrin (Racinephrine) any time soon. It is used for many different situations and has been for many years. Yay!

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If you need a portable non-electric nebulizer and don't want to spend alot try the DeVilbiss 45. I gave up on the junk Asthmanefrin inhaler a couple years ago and now just use the old-fashioned type with the Asthmanefrin solution. Keep in mind, these produce more of a mist rather than a nebulizer vapor but they still work.

Also, if you have a worn out Asthmanefrin inhaler, Nephron will send you a free replacement. You just call them and tell them the serial #s. I got three free replacements this way but they still broke in a few weeks.

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UnicLife mini rechargeable inhaler.
Found it on Amazon. Works with asthmanefrin vials.

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Hi,
Can you please advise what atomizer you bought and if you are happy with it?
I am desperately seekiing one...

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Mac, thanks for the information! So glad this is helping you this much. I hope others read this because we need to get the word out. I will check this out. I have used some of these remedies and they worked a little. I think my asthma is worse than yours. I had been on steroids for many years before I, all of a sudden, couldn't tolerate it. Always needed a rescue inhaler for emergencies and at night. I always get asthma at night, rarely during the day. I am very glad that I don't even need the steroids after all. Blessing in disguise, also!

After they took the Asthmanefrin atonomizer off the market, I found something called AsthmaCare. It is a spray and it has 16 homeopathic ingredients in it, including, Eucalyptus globulus. It works for about 10 minutes for me. I take it with me just in case. I got it at Walgreens.

My husband found an atonomizer over the internet. It WAS expensive! I am taking really good care of this one! If it breaks, I'll use the small nebulizer that came from China. It takes a lot more time to use and you can't take it with you but it does work. It will be interesting to see if I can continue to find the raceinephrine over the internet. I will find out soon.

Thanks again! So happy this is helping you so much!

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Hi again Saphrona, its been a little while since this post but I wanted to post an update on my asthma issues, because I thought my experience might help some people. When I first read your post about Asthmanefrin being pulled, I was so upset that I bought an extra inhaler and 3 boxes worth of refills. I was able to get them for the normal price, but now, a few months later, I see Asthmanefrin inhalers selling for $400 and $500 on Amazon!!! The FDA should be ashamed of themselves for what they are putting asthmatics through. Anyway, there are some happy results from all this that I wanted to share with you. I was so upset about Asthmanefrin being pulled that I went to a Whole Foods supermarket to see if they had any natural treatments which could help me. The person working that day was really knowledgeable, and I ended up learning more from him in 20 minutes than I've learned from my ENT doctors in 20 years! He explained that asthma is not really a disease but a debilitating and dangerous symptom of an overactive immune response. He suggested treatments to not only treat the actual asthma symptoms, but normalize my immune response which was the true underlying cause of the asthma. Its basically a stress response that's made worse by fatigue, negative emotions, pollutants, and allergens. Allergies are a big asthma trigger for me, so he suggested a homeopathic medicine called Histaminum Hydrochloricum. For both the asthma symptoms and to also help my immune response, he gave me Eucalyptus oil, which he told me to rub under my nose 3x a day. This is actually one of the active ingredients in Vicks rub. He also gave me a little Eucalyptus nasal inhaler for extra help. I can't tell you how much these things have helped me. I used to need the Asthmanefrin inhaler 2-3 a week, but in the last month, since I started with the natural treatments, I've only used it once, and that was on an extra stressful and tiring day. Overall my breathing has improved alot and I just feel alot more calm and energetic. I've also started also using Lavender and Peppermint oil with the Eucalyptus oil, and they all work together very well, I just rub a couple of drops of each under my nose, its that simple. There are alot of other great medicinal oils out there too, made from plants we use everyday. You can get the essential oils at a store like Whole Foods or from Amazon and and many natural health sites. So as bad as I felt about Asthmanefrin being pulled, its been good because it inspired me to check out new treatments I never would have tried before. I encourage people to try these things because I think they can not only treat the symptoms of asthma but also their underlying causes, unlike prescription inhalers, etc. The only caution I would give is that you have to make sure you have always have your doctor-directed regular asthma medication, like Asthmanefrin & / or prescription steroid and rescue inhalers, on hand, because at least for me, these seemed to work best on the day I had really severe wheezing and felt close to a full blown attack, because I was overexerting myself. The over the counter natural treatments seem best to deal with less severe symptoms, and to help keep symptoms from coming back on a daily basis. The natural treatments also seem to work really well as a supplement in addition to the pharmaceutical treatments when one is in really bad shape. What happened to me was that the natural treatments helped me so much in the first week that I stopped taking the Asthmanefrin, but then I felt so good that I also stopped taking the natural treatments, and when I was overexerting myself one day, I began to experience such severe wheezing that the natural treatments weren't enough to treat it alone, & I needed to break out my Asthmanefrin. I then began using both the Asthmanefrin and the natural meds for a few days, and together they got me feeling great again.

I wish that medical doctors were more open to and knowledgeable about natural treatments, because I think if they tried using them together more often they would make a great combination that would take care of both the worst short term symptoms and also help cure the underlying problems. So I'll keep using the natural treatments along with pharmaceutical inhalers as needed, and hopefully I will get 100% healthy again!

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Electronicsnut,

I have been wondering if my reaction to Albuterol wasn't so unusual. I agree with you. Part of the reason I am so passionate about this is because I did have a doctor for about 20 years, who kept me on steroids until the side effects became intolerable. After the horrible transition of getting off the steroids, I was very surprised and angry to realize my asthma was a lot better with just the epinephrine rescue inhaler, Primatine Mist.

My new doctor actually agrees with me and told me, for my level of asthma, I should never have been put on steroids. It's only a last resort for people that can't live without it. And for doctors to claim that steroid inhalers don't have these same side effects, is very misleading. After time, they too gave me horrible side-effects. So when I had to go on Albuterol, after Primatene Mist was discontinued, and I had a bad reaction to that right away, I wasn't going to be railroaded by what the "so-called" healthcare experts were telling me about MY asthma again.

On July 5, 2015, my local newspaper released an article titled: "Drug, device makers pay docs". It states: "U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals got $6.49 billion from drug and medical-device makers in 2014 according to new government data on the financial links between the compaines and the people who prescribe their products." It also stated: "If we have a financial incentive to believe something or conclude something, we kind of trick ourselves into thinking it's true, and we are not always aware we're doing it."

There is a blog doctor on the internet, named Dr.Matthew Mintz, who is a perfect example of this. He thinks he's right even though he is contradicting himself. He has a blog called: "Goodbye Primatene Mist". I found out he was being paid by GlaxoSmithKline to promote Advair. Incredible that this is happening! We need to get the word out.

Thanks for your reply! Very much appreciated!!

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You are not alone. Almost everyone I know with asthma using Albuterol has to keep using it frequently, and the prices have exploded making it very expensive option. For me, the drug made my lungs actually more raw, causing liquid to fill up, like it's damaging the cells in my lungs. When Asthmanefrin became available, I used it for a few months, and it gradually allowed me to live without any drugs. Every action the FDA has taken makes it seem they are forcing all sufferers to move to prescription options, which doesn't work for me as I'm healthy otherwise and don't have to seek medical care other than occasional attack. It makes zero sense for me to continue to see a doctor for this if it is not persistent, so having to make an appointment when I'm well just to obtain a rescue inhaler is ridiculously inconvenient. I hope Primatene Mist will be available OTC soon...

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Mac, I agree! It's great to know I'm not alone with this! It feels like it, when I can't even get a response from the American Lung Association. I think many doctors are on the "prescription drug" band wagon also! Makes me mad but I still have a lot of hope for Asthmanefrin. They have a letter on the internet about this situation, that explains why the FDA are not going to get rid of this drug any time soon. Sorry you have asthma too. It's a huge drag on life. I feel like I've had to beg to the FDA, just for the right to breathe. Thanks for your reply! Good luck to you.

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Saphrona, I understand how you feel. I've used pretty much every asthma medication on the market and Asthmanefrin has not only been the most effective for me, but it has given me none of the side effects of the others. I've found that with other medications, I have terrible heart racing and palpitations, anxiety, disrupted sleep, and problems reading and concentrating. Basically other medications, including albuterol from my rescue inhaler, turns me into a zombie. I agree with your comment about the FDA - they have been bought and paid for by the major drug companies, and they have no problem causing further harm, including death, to asthmatics by pulling inexpensive and safe over-the-counter meds off the market (made by smaller companies), while keeping dangerous prescription drugs on it. The official explanation given for pulling Primatene Mist (to protect the ozone layer, while billions of people drive cars, use air conditioners, paint with spray cans, etc) would have been funny if it wasn't so unethical and absurd. What a country the USA has become! I hope that both the Asthmanefrin inhalers and also Primatene Mist and can saved and reintroduced as soon as possible.

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You're most welcome Saphrona! And thank you very much for the kind words, including updates on the medication's current availability. I will be sure to keep a bookmark on this page to see how things are going down the road!

Best wishes to you! :)

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