Can You Use Your Albuterol Inhaler With Symbicort?

Yes, it is perfectly fine to use your Ventolin (albuterol) inhaler with your Symbicort. While they are both inhalers used for asthma, they have very different purposes and are often used together.

Ventolin contains the drug albuterol and is known as a 'rescue' inhaler. It should be used immediately if you are having trouble breathing. It works within 5 to 15 minutes after using it and should always be kept on hand if you have asthma since it will quickly relieve the symptoms of an asthma attack.

Symbicort, on the other hand, contains two drugs:

• Budesonide (a corticosteroid)
• Formoterol (a long-acting beta agonist)

It is not a rescue inhaler, but rather, a maintenance inhaler. It is used consistently (usually twice a day) to help prevent asthma attacks from occurring and improve your overall lung function.

How Rescue And Maintenance Asthma Inhalers Fit Together

As mentioned, Ventolin is purely a 'rescue' inhaler if you are having an asthma exacerbation or otherwise having trouble breathing. Even if you are on a maintenance asthma medication, like Symbicort, it is still recommended to have albuterol on hand, just in case something triggers your asthma.

I imagine your doctor prescribed you Symbicort because they decided that your asthma is getting to the point where you need a maintenance inhaler. This can be determined by a number of factors, including your reported symptoms, lung function tests, or how often you have been using your Ventolin inhaler.

Many medical professionals follow the 'rule of 2' when it comes to albuterol use. If you fit any of the below statements, you likely need a maintenance inhaler to better treat your asthma.

• If you use albuterol more than twice a week
• If you wake up at night with asthma symptoms more than twice a month
• If you need more than two refills of your albuterol per year
  

With you starting on Symbicort, hopefully, your asthma symptoms start to improve, and you won't need to use Ventolin as much. That, after all, is the purpose for your doctor to start you on Symbicort, to better control your asthma and reduce the frequency in which you experience asthma attacks.

It is important that you take your Symbicort consistently, every day, and only use your Ventolin as needed for asthma attacks.

If you find you recently took a dose of Symbicort, and are having an asthma attack, you can use Ventolin at that time. It is safe to dose them close together.

Final Words

I hope I have shown here that it is perfectly fine to use albuterol and Symbicort together, and it's actually recommended in your situation.

If you find, having started Symbicort, that your asthma is not improving, and you are still needing your Ventolin as often as you were before, be sure to talk to your doctor. You may need a dose adjustment of your Symbicort or a different maintenance inhaler.