[Webcatcher]

I must use a budesonide inhaler - 200mcg - apparently for a 'very long time'... Anything that includes the word 'steriod' makes me jump as I am a non-hodgkins lymphoma survivor and I've already put in the several years of feeling like a beached manatee. I'm at last back to normal and not to ready to start again if I have any alternatives... or am I just over reacting?

[edhead2000]

Inhaled steroids don't have the same degree of side effects as oral/injectable steroids. For one, the inhalable steroids mainly just make it to the lungs and there is only a small chance that it will be absorbed and make it into the bloodstream. Of course there's always a chance that it will cause weight gain, but a much smaller chance. For the most part, think of inhaled corticosteroids as "topical" treatment.