Caught Short With Your Asthma Meds? Get an Emergency Prescription Supply

Oct 31, 2022 Asthma

 

Being caught short without your regular medications can be a worry, especially if you are asthmatic. Our pharmacist is now able to offer select asthma medications on an emergency prescription. These will be sent out directly to you. 

With many conditions, regular treatment is a must. Asthma is one of those conditions as you don't want to be without your reliever or short-term inhaler.

 

What is Asthma?

 

Asthma can affect anyone at any age. It is a chronic respiratory condition that makes it difficult to breathe. A GP will diagnose asthma which is caused by inflammation and the tightening of the bronchi in the lungs.

Typical treatments include a long-term preventative inhaler and a short-term inhaler. We stock short-term inhalers for emergency prescription use. These are used to deal with immediate symptoms, i.e breathlessness, coughing and more. How asthma affects people and what treatments are suitable depends on the individual.

 

What Can Trigger Asthmatic Episodes or Make Asthma Worse?

 

There are many factors that can worsen asthma symptoms. This is not an exhaustive list. Some asthmatics have very specific triggers which affect their breathing.

• Seasonal changes to the temperature and the outside environment. This includes extreme hot and cold weather.
• Allergens such as pollen (very common), animal fur (cats/dogs/birds), dust and more.
• Exercise is a common trigger, particularly if you over-exert yourself/are not used to exercise. 

 

Many of these triggers are environmental and you don't have control over them. With this in mind, it is important to have your reliever inhaler with you at all times.

 

How is Asthma Treated?

 

Most asthma patients use inhalers to open their airways. Reliever inhalers or "Short-Acting Beta 2 Agonists" are the most common treatment. The most often prescribed short-term inhaler is Salbutamol (Ventolin). We stock Ventolin here at  SimplyMeds Online and it is available on emergency prescription.

As well as standard Ventolin inhalers we offer Easi-Breathe inhalers.  Easi-Breathe inhalers are breath-activated inhalers. These are useful for those who struggle to use a standard inhaler.

 

Emergency Prescriptions for Asthma

 

Why would you need an emergency prescription for asthma? Our emergency medication service makes sure that you have what you need when you need it. We don't offer emergency prescriptions for all medications or conditions.

Here at SimplyMeds Online, our pharmacist can issue selected prescriptions for conditions. This includes conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and, of course, asthma.

Our emergency prescription service is for the times you find yourself without your asthma reliever inhaler. We find that most often this happens when someone has forgotten to order their prescription before:

• Going on holiday
• Going back to University
• Running out and not being able to get their prescription in their normal place in a timely manner.

 

How to Order an Emergency Prescription For Asthma Medication

 

To issue an emergency prescription, our pharmacist needs to see proof that you are usually prescribed this medication. Acceptable sources of evidence include:

• A copy of an NHS or Private prescription
• A repeat prescription copy
• A hospital letter
• A copy of your medical record
• A picture of your labelled box
• Or any other evidence you think may be relevant 

You can find out more about how our emergency prescription service works here.

 

In Conclusion

Finding yourself without your short-term inhaler is not ideal. If you find yourself away from home and in need our pharmacist may be able to send you a reliever inhaler via our emergency prescription service. 

One way to avoid forgetting your prescription is to sign up for NHS prescriptions with Simply Meds Online. Nominate SimplyMeds Online as your NHS prescription provider and order prescriptions as usual. Your medications are sent to you from our pharmacy. Find out more about setting yourself up for regular NHS prescription ordering with us here.