Zyflo® is a prescription medication used to treat individuals who suffer from chronic asthma. As it is used in the management of a long-term illness, it does not act in the same way as an inhaler to stop sudden asthma attacks. Instead, it is taken regularly in the form of a time-release tablet that acts throughout the day to help prevent asthma attacks entirely.
Most medical professionals will instruct an individual to take the tablets twice a day. As they are a slow release form of medication, they must be swallowed whole in order to work properly. Taking the tablets approximately 12 hours apart will keep a steady amount of the medication in the body, maximizing effectiveness.
While taking Zyflo®, there is still a chance that an individual can suffer from asthma attacks. In these cases, regular asthma inhalers are typically safe to use alongside the tablet medication to manage individual attacks. If the number of asthma attacks does not decrease or the attacks themselves become worse, there is a chance that the prescription will be changed to a different type of medication. Some types of medications can interfere with Zyflo®, however, so medical professionals will generally request information on other types of medications including prescription, over the counter, and herbal medicines an individual also may be taking.
Zyflo® works by interfering with the production of certain chemicals in the body that can result in asthma attacks. A chemical called leukotriene can be responsible for some forms of asthma. The presence of a high level of leukotrienes in the body can trigger a response that causes the airways to become swollen and irritated, which can interfere with breathing and cause an asthma attack under certain circumstances. With a regular level of Zyflo® in the body, production of this chemical is either lessened or halted completely.
There have been some side effects associated with taking the medication, and a medical professional may decide against prescribing it to a patient who has another condition that has affected the processes of the liver. Minor side effects that typically disappear soon after starting to take the medication include headache and muscle aches, and irritation of the respiratory system and of the gastrointestinal system. Other side effects can be more severe, and should be reported to a medical professional. These include fatigue, jaundice, discolored urine, and pain in the abdomen. There is also the chance of an allergic reaction to Zyflo®, which generally results in the prescription being changed to another type of medication.