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<div class="HwContainer HwElement" id="HwContainer"><a class="HwMainSkipNavigation" href="#HwContentTitle"><span class="HwAccessibilityText">Skip Navigation</span></a><div class="HwBlock" id="HwMain" role="main"><div class="HwRow"><div class="HwColumn" id="HwColumnSidebar1"><div class="HwCustom" id="HwCustomSidebar"> </div></div><div class="HwColumn" id="HwColumnContent"><div id="HwContentTop"> </div><div class="HwTypeFocus HwContentWrapper HwElement" role="article" id="HwContentWrapper"><div class="HwCustom" id="HwCustomContentTop"> </div><div class="HwContentHeader"><p><a name="top" id="Hwtop"><span class="HwAccessibilityText">Top of the page</span></a> </p></div><div class="HwContentTitle"><h1 id="HwContentTitle" tabindex="-1">Asthma: Overuse of Quick-Relief Medicines</h1></div><div class="HwContentTopNavigation"> </div><div class="HwContent"><div class="HwNavigationSection HwSectionSpecialSection" id="sec-ug2494_sec"><h2 class="HwSectionTitle" fingerprint="b4cb0a40" fingerprint-exact="e7c3d1bb">Overview</h2><p fingerprint="01bb8908" fingerprint-exact="e6d30212">Quick-relief beta2-agonists quickly reduce symptoms. For this reason, people sometimes overuse them instead of adding the slower-acting, long-term medicines. Overuse of quick-relief medicines may be harmful. </p><p fingerprint="c383770b" fingerprint-exact="f0a66143">If you overuse quick-relief beta2-agonists, you may feel that your asthma is under control. But, in fact, inflammation in your airways is becoming worse. This can put you in danger of having a severe, deadly attack (<a class="HwLinkDefinition" data-hw-type="Definition" data-hw-document-href="ug2646" data-hw-section="ug2646-sec" rel="Definition" hw:document-type="Definition" hw:document-href="ug2646" data-hwid="ug2646" hw:section-href="ug2646-sec" href="?id=ug2646#ug2646-sec"><span class="HwLinkText">status asthmaticus</span></a>). </p><p fingerprint="8386c292" fingerprint-exact="ecaa65de">Overuse:</p><ul fingerprint="82858037" fingerprint-exact="201d6109"><li>May delay medical care. </li><li>May increase your chances of having a severe asthma attack. </li><li>Can make quick-relief medicines less effective in the future. </li><li>Treats only the early narrowing of bronchial tubes without treating long-term inflammation. </li></ul><p fingerprint="e21c56aa" fingerprint-exact="cbc547da">In general, you may need more long-term treatment if you are using quick-relief medicines on more than 2 days a week (except before exercise). Talk to your doctor if you are using your quick-relief medicine this often. Using these medicines often may mean that your symptoms and inflammation are not well controlled.</p></div><div class="HwNavigationSection HwSectionRelatedInformation" id="sec-ug2494-RelInfo"><h2 class="HwSectionTitle" fingerprint="d5f858e0" fingerprint-exact="c0ffe04b">Related Information</h2><ul fingerprint="5628ac37" fingerprint-exact="aaa35667"><li class="HwOptionalAny"><a data-hw-type="Major" data-hw-document-href="uf4629" data-hw-section="acp0119" hw:document-type="Major" hw:document-href="uf4629" data-hwid="uf4629" hw:section-href="acp0119" href="?id=uf4629#acp0119">Asthma in Children</a></li><li class="HwOptionalAny"><a data-hw-type="Major" data-hw-document-href="hw271348" data-hw-section="acp0087" hw:document-type="Major" hw:document-href="hw271348" data-hwid="hw271348" hw:section-href="acp0087" href="?id=hw271348#acp0087">Asthma in Teens and Adults</a></li><li class="HwOptionalAny"><a data-hw-type="Focus" data-hw-document-href="ee1002" data-hw-section="ee1003" 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