The purpose of the asthma care service is to empower patients with asthma to manage their asthma appropriately and safely. This means evaluating and offering treatments that minimize asthma symptoms that interfere with their lives, decrease how often asthma flare-ups occur, and also minimize medication side effects.

When appropriate we can give you a prescription for either preventive inhaled corticosteroid inhalers, short acting relieving inhalers like albuterol, and other medicines.

We can prescribe two types of asthma medicines - preventive medicines and quick relief medicines. The vast majority of these medicines are inhaled. Preventive medicines are typically inhaled corticosteroids which treats the inflammatory aspect of asthma. These medicines are important to be taken every day, particularly for patients with moderate to severe asthma or those who use their quick relief medicine, like albuterol, more than 3 times per week.

Other medicines can include an oral medicine called montelukast and long acting beta agonist inhaled medicines like salmeterol.

We recommend patients see a doctor in person if their asthma treatment requires daily prednisone, desensitization injections, or biologic medicines in addition to using inhaled asthma medicines.

Asthma is an inflammatory lung condition that can be triggered or flared up, results in hyperactiveness of the airways causing wheezing, shortness of breath and/or difficulty breathing. Symptoms can be intermittent or daily.

No one really knows. It appears to be an inflammatory response that can be intermittent or constant which results in the airways being hyperreactive or sensitive.

In many cases, the triggers may be known. In some cases, there is a family history of allergies, alergy to aspirin, eczema, and/or asthma.

You can use our service if you're between the ages of 18 and 60 years old, you've been previously diagnosed with asthma, and you do NOT take prednisone every day to keep your asthma in good control.

Patients who have not been previously diagnosed with asthma or patients who require daily prednisone, desensitization injections, or biologic medicines in addition to using inhaled asthma medicines.

If you’re currently experiencing significant shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, wheezing, or chest pain, this can be a life-threatening emergency. Please contact 911 immediately or go to your nearest emergency room or hospital.

The medicines we prescribe are effective when taken correctly and when the right combination is prescribed depending on your severity and how often you have asthma symptoms.

We recommend all patients use a spacer, like an Aerochamber, when using inhalers. We also recommend all patients use a peak flow meter to monitor their breathing. The asthma medicines are most effective when a patient has a spacer and a peak flow meter to check how their lungs are doing.

Ideally asthma is under excellent control when patients use the quick relief medicine like albuterol only 2 or fewer times a week and have 2 or fewer asthma symptoms at night over a one month period.

Although many patients with asthma have triggers for flare-ups, not all patients do. Typical triggers can include: dogs, cats, mold, pollen, cold air, smoke, viral illnesses and many other triggers.

Avoiding the triggers is the first most important step. If you smoke, quitting smoking is a great first step! Second step is prescription medicines if avoidance alone still produces symptoms. If those medicines do not work adequately, you'll have to see an allergist for other forms of therapy which can include desensitization with weekly injections or other medicines delivered by IV, known as biologic medicines.

A peak flow meter is a very affordable device that a patient blows hard into to see how her lungs are functioning. It's an important part of asthma treatment as patients can monitor how their lungs are doing before an asthma attack. Knowing your peak flow is also very important for creating a personalized asthma treatment plan.

We recommend all patients with asthma have a peak flow meter.

Learn more at - https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/asthma/treatment/devices/peak-flow

An Aerochamber is a very affordable attachment that connects to your asthma inhaler. It doubles the amount of medicine that goes to a person's lungs than without an Aerochamber.

We recommend all patients with asthma have an Aerochamber or spacer if using inhaled asthma medicine.

Learn more at - https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/asthma/treatment/devices/chambers-spacers

It’s very easy to use our asthma care service. Most people complete the process in 15 mins.

Complete our simple health questionnaire

Create an account (make sure you do this to save your answers)

Make payment with a credit or debit card (we won’t charge your card until after your consultation)

Short video consultation with a GoMDUSA doctor or nurse practitioner.

We'll send you a secure message a month after your consultation to make sure the medicine is working. If you want to speak to us sooner, you can message us anytime.

Yes. It's safe to use our asthma care service as long as you answer our health questions fully and accurately. A member of our medical team will decide if it's appropriate to give you a prescription based on our strict medical guidelines.

Please read the information we provide about the risks and benefits of treatment and only take the medicine according to the instructions. If you have any side effects with the medicine, let us know. It’s important that you make an informed decision about whether to use GoMDUSA and take the medicines we prescribe.

If you are currently experiencing severe problems or difficulty breathing or severe asthma attack, this can be a life-threatening emergency. Please contact 911 immediately or go to your nearest emergency room or hospital.

Yes, doctors diagnose asthma primarily based on your history and symptoms. Our medical team will ask you the same questions they’d ask if they saw you in person.

However because of our commitment to safety and strict medical guidelines, we ask that you see a doctor in person for a full evaluation of your breathing if you’ve never been diagnosed with asthma before.

If for any reason our doctor or nurse practitioner thinks it’s not safe to treat you, we’ll ask you to see a doctor in person.