Travel tips for asthma sufferers??

[Jimsy10]

Hello everyone! My elder brother suffers from asthma and he is going to Brazil for further studies. I am here to ask the forum members what are the precautions that asthma sufferers should take before or during their travel by air? My brother has never been abroad before this is why we are all worried about him, especially mum. She told me to look for all pharmacies and hospitals in Brazil so that he can phone if ever he falls in some difficulty. I have already found a very nice Brazil pharmacy directory where all the pharmacies in Brazil are grouped by city. I need to look for the hospitals now. Your advices and suggestions are most welcomed.

[borneng]

I would recommend your brother to get himself a portable nebuliser. Then go to your GP and ask him to prescribe the medicines to be used with the nebuliser. I have my nebluiser (Omron U22) for over 3 years now and I would not travel without it. It's compact, light and quiet (unlike the conventional nebuliser which always sounds like a diesel generator). Also bring extra sets of inhaler in case of emergency. Make sure to take non-aspirin based pain killers with him (not all pharmacy abroad have non-aspirin based pain killers). In Europe it's called paracetamol, in US it is called acetaminophen (spl?). Take digestion tablet (such as tums or any other calcium based). Caffeine often gives some relief affect in my case and also with couple of other people I know. Having said that, too much caffeine can also trigger asthma due to access acid in stomach.

I hope the information is not too late for the travel and can help your brother.