I guess the title says it all. I’ve heard some nightmare stories about Primatene Mist. Yet, this is the only asthma drug sold over the counter. Is it safe?
What sort of dangers are you worried about? Will it kill you? Probably not if you use it correctly.
Will it relieve your asthma well? Sort of, but not as well as the stuff that needs a prescription.
It’s best to ask a pharmacist about it when you buy it. That person can tell you what to watch out for. If you have high blood pressure, you should avoid it, but it says that on the box.
But really, ask the pharmacist. They know about over-the-counter stuff.
Primatene Mist is aerosolized epinephrine, or adrenaline. It’s a mediocre rescue drug for asthmatics, and better than no rescue medicine at all when one has bronchospasm. Prescription rescue medicines like albuterol and pirbuterol are more effective with fewer side-effects when used appropriately.
But the prescription medicines can cause more significant problems when used inappropriately. Usually such problems are not life-threatening, but in certain instances they can be. Primatene Mist, while not as effective as prescription rescue inhalers, is somewhat less likely to cause serious problems when misused. But they can all cause fatal arrhythmias in rare circumstances.
The problem with Primatene Mist is that any asthmatic can obtain it and use it to treat their asthma without seeing a physician. And treating significant asthmatic disease requires other medications besides just a rescue inhaler like Primatene or albuterol.
If an asthmatic needs a rescue inhaler more than once a week, they need to be on an anti-inflammatory medication to reduce inflammation in their lungs. If this is not done, the risk of future, more severe attacks goes up, along with the risk of lung damage.
Krissy Taylor (sister of model Niki Taylor) was managing her own asthma with Primatene for over a year. She died of an acute attack. Had she been getting seen by a physician, the chances are that she would have been on proper maintenance medicines which would have reduced the frequency and severity of her attack. This is how many claim that Primatene killed her.
I am of two minds on this. It’s good that there is some medicine out there that an asthmatic can get without a prescription at need. I hate to think of someone wheezing desperately at a drug store counter, only to be told that they couldn’t get a replacement for their lost albuterol inhaler because they didn’t have a prescription. Yet most asthmatics need to see and work with their doctor to manage their asthma successfully.
QtM, MD
I don’t understand the question. Primatene Mist has no abuse potential. It very well could kill if used inappropriately. However, the same can be said for aspirin and acetaminophen. Used appropraitely, Primatene Mist isn’t particularly dangerous as drugs go.
Many in the US economically have no ability to get access to a doctor. In a perfect world asthma is sufficiently serious that it should be managed by a doctor. However, many lack this luxury.
Having been poor an asthmatic (and yes, having used Primatine) I’d say the problem is less a matter of going to the doctor (whic is not to say this is entirely without difficulty) than of of paying for the prescriptions. Many doctors are willing to negotiate fees for the destitute, there are free clinics, and so forth, but I’ve yet to encounter a situation where the cost of prescription drugs are less for the truly poor. Receiving a prescription does absolutely no good if you haven’t the money to buy the medication.