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Asthma Management Guidelines

Comparative Dosages of Inhaled Steroids

By Vincent Iannelli, M.D., About.com

Created: November 23, 2003

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Is your child taking enough medicine? Use the asthma guidelines to figure out your child's asthma classification and then review the goals and treatment recommendations and compare it to what your child is currently taking. Keep in mind that if your child is in good control and is meeting the goals of the current asthma management guidelines, then no change will likely need to be made, even if he is taking less medication than indicated below.

Examples of inhaled steroids and their comparative daily dosages include:

Low Daily Dose (Child):

  • Beclovent 42 mcg/inh - 2 to 8 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - 1 to 2 inhalations a day
  • Pulmicort Respules - 0.5mg a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - 2 to 3 puffs a day
  • Flovent 44 - 2 to 4 puffs a day
  • Azmacort 100 - 4 to 8 puffs a day

Low Daily Dose (Adult):

  • Beclovent 84 mcg/inh - 2 to 6 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - 1 to 3 inhalations a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - 2 to 6 puffs a day
  • Flovent 44 - 2 to 4 puffs a day
  • Azmacort 100 - 4 to 10 puffs a day

Medium Daily Dose (Child):

  • Beclovent 84 mcg/inh - 4 to 8 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - 2 to 4 inhalations a day
  • Pulmicort Respules - 1.0 mg a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - 4 to 5 puffs a day
  • Flovent 44 - 4 puffs a day to 4 puffs of Flovent 110
  • Azmacort 100 - 8 to 12 puffs a day

Medium Daily Dose (Adult):

  • Beclovent 84 mcg/inh - 6 to 10 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - 2 to 4 inhalations a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - 4 to 5 puffs a day
  • Flovent 44 - 4 puffs a day to 4 puffs of Flovent 110
  • Azmacort 100 - 8 to 12 puffs a day

High Daily Dose (Child):

  • Beclovent 84 mcg/inh - more than 8 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - more than 4 inhalations a day
  • Pulmicort Respules - 2.0 mg a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - more than 5 puffs a day
  • Flovent 110 - more than 4 puffs a day or more than 2 puffs of Flovent 220 a day
  • Azmacort 100 - more than 12 puffs a day

High Daily Dose (Adult):

  • Beclovent 84 mcg/inh - more than 10 puffs a day
  • Pulmicort Turbuhaler - more than 6 inhalations a day
  • Aerobid 250 mcg/puff - more than 5 puffs a day
  • Flovent 110 - more than 6 puffs a day or more than 3 puffs of Flovent 220 a day
  • Azmacort 100 - more than 20 puffs a day
If your child is taking a combination product, such as Advair, you can compare the strength of the steroid component to figure out his comparative daily dosage. Advair is available in three strengths, 100, 250 and 500. For comparison, a dose of 1 inhalation twice a day of Advair 100 would be considered a low daily dose, while the 250 and 500 strengths would be a medium and high dose respectively.

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