Inhaled corticosteroids

Inhaled corticosteroids are used to help:

• You breathe better.
• Prevent and improve your asthma symptoms.
• Reduce asthma attacks.

These medicines are commonly used to treat asthma. They work well and are considered very safe. They are the preferred medicines for controlling asthma over the long term. There are also other types of controller medicines.

Here are some examples of inhaled corticosteroids. For each item in the list, the generic name is first, followed by any brand names.

• beclomethasone (QVAR)
• budesonide (Pulmicort)
• fluticasone (Flovent)
• mometasone (Asmanex Twisthaler)

This is not a complete list of these medicines.

Some parents worry that children who use inhaled steroid (corticosteroid) medicines may not grow as tall as other children.

• A very small difference in height and growth was found in children using these medicines compared to children not using them.
• And one study showed a very small difference in height (about 1 cm) in adults who used inhaled steroid medicines as children compared to adults who did not use these medicines.

But the use of inhaled steroids has important health benefits for children who have asthma. If you are worried about the effects of these medicines on your child, talk with your doctor.

Cautions for inhaled corticosteroids for asthma include the following:

• For controller medicines to work, you need to take them every day.
• Controller medicines don't help right away when you're having an asthma attack. They act too slowly.
• Always rinse your mouth after you use a corticosteroid inhaler. This can help you avoid thrush, a fungal infection in the mouth.