Can salbutamol cause tremors? I am taking 3-4 doses from a metered dose cartridge, about twice a day. I dont think I am taking too much, but I get, I wouldnt quite call it tremors, but my arms arms shake, and I cant keep my legs still. I read that tremors is indeed one of the side effects, but I wouldnt quite call what I am having, tremors. Is this the salbutamol, or not?
Many of these asthma inhalers have medications that are similar to adrenalin, so the side effects are similar to those you get from physical activity or a good scare. Generally the tremors tend to be less noticeable- usually shaky hands and fingers. Shakes in the legs would not be typical. Did your doctor recommend that dosage for you? The recommended dosing for the drug sold in the US (called albuterol) is 1-2 puffs every 4-6 hours as needed, so the dosage that you're using is double what we would prescribe in the US.
I have the same kind of tremors when I take quite a bit of salbutamol. Those kinds of tremors aren't uncommon on rather high doses I think. I just have one other question: did your doctor advise taking that much each day? Unless you are having two asthma attacks a day, then that's fine, but then you should probably be on a preventer as well. Hope your asthma isn't too bad though. I have pretty bad asthma as well and it's a pain.
I couldnt tell you how much my doctor recommended, I dont know myself. My brothers one says '2 puffs every four hours only if needed', but mine doesnt have a thing on it telling me how much to take. It has a little blurb of text on the canister, but I dont have the instructions from my doctor about it. I havent been to my doctor about it for a while, so I dont know exactly. My Seritide (I think its just a brand, a Fluticasone and Salmeterol concoction), has 'Shake well and inhale 1-2 puffs my mouth twice a day'. I dont take that as regularly as I should though. I have a chest infection at the moment, I dont know if that effects how much I should be taking. But I am taking around 3 puffs, twice a day, of my Asmol inhaler. Need to start taking my Seretide one more often though.
The two drugs - salmeterol and salbutamol are drugs in the same class. So, taking both of them together will make your side effects worse. Call your doctors office and ask how much of these drugs you're supposed to be taking. Take the recommended dose- my guess is that you've been using about twice as much as was originally prescribed to you. If the drugs aren't working for you, then you should let your doctor know so that they can prescribe appropriate treatment for you. It doesn't help to increase the medications unless you've been told to do so. It sounds ike it's time for an appointment with your doctor to talk about your asthma and how to manage it better. Asthma is one of those things where a little preventation can save you a lot of pain and trouble in the long run. Getting on a better prevention program should also help stop a lot of the side effects that you've been having.
