# Asthma sufferers - a question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065 "2010-10-23T02:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065/21 "2010-10-23T16:15:16Z")
Well, for me personally, my health insurance completely covers the cost of my medication (which, fortunately, I don’t even require daily - I have mild, intermittent, and very well controlled asthma). However, there are millions of other Americans for whom the unavailability of generic inhalers could be a definite financial burden. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065/22 "2010-10-23T21:42:57Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > My mother uses Advair as a preventative, but I’m not convinced she’s using it right. I know that at least one nurse has told her that she was doing it wrong and my mother now believes that she is doing it correctly but I’ve watched her do it and I’m not convinced. > > She can’t seem to grasp the difference between sucking and inhaling. I wonder how many people have this problem. I had to go through the motions of both before I understood what you meant. I’d have to say that if she’s sucking, she’s definitely doing it wrong. I just asked my boyfriend if he inhales from the lips or the throat. He had to go through the motions too and said from the throat. He said his last doctor watched him use his advair and told him he was doing it wrong. The doctor made him do it multiple times until the doc was convinced he was doing it right. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065/23 "2010-10-24T03:07:53Z")
The inhalers that use a powder-containing capsule are the worst. Often the first puncture doesn’t let any powder out. Another puncture can produce a large hole in the capsule, releasing all the powder at once and producing a coughing fit. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065/24 "2010-10-24T04:12:55Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > I had to go through the motions of both before I understood what you meant. I’d have to say that if she’s sucking, she’s definitely doing it wrong. I just asked my boyfriend if he inhales from the lips or the throat. He had to go through the motions too and said from the throat. He said his last doctor watched him use his advair and told him he was doing it wrong. The doctor made him do it multiple times until the doc was convinced he was doing it right. The difference seems obvious to me, but I guess that’s just me for some reason. Sucking is like what you do with a straw in a soda, you’re drawing into the mouth, not the lungs. Inhaling is drawing into the lungs. I’ve watched her and I can’t say with 100% certainty that she’s not inhaling but it doesn’t look like it to me. She gets angry if you try to correct her so I’ve pretty much given up. I’m not often at her house at the times she does it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065/25 "2010-10-24T04:15:02Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > The inhalers that use a powder-containing capsule are the worst. Often the first puncture doesn’t let any powder out. Another puncture can produce a large hole in the capsule, releasing all the powder at once and producing a coughing fit. That’s the type my mother uses. I’m really not convinced it’s doing her much good at all. Even if it does release the powder I don’t think it gets into her lungs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asthma-sufferers-a-question/558065.md?page=1)