#6 – Best time of the day to use your inhaler?

In this 6th episode of the Top Lung Health podcast I discuss about the best time of the day to take an inhaler.

Does it matter if you are using it in the morning, afternoon, evening? Some inhalers only require once daily use, while others can be twice daily. Some inhalers have a faster onset of action compared to others. All these details are important and your doctor will usually take them into account when giving a prescription.

As most people are normally most active during the day, the morning is likely to be the best time to use inhalers which are only taken once daily, although there is no strict rule around this. This is because the peak concentration of the active substance in the airways will be in the hours after inhalation and this concentration will then slowly decline throughout the day.

If your inhaler is taken twice daily (i.e. one puff in the morning, one in the evening), this suggests that the maximum effect of the inhaler will last for around 12 hours. There is no sharp cut-off however in some instances a twice daily inhaler may only be prescribed once daily (if your doctor believes this would be enough in your case).

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