Known brand names include Flovent, Armonair, Arnuity, and Flonase.
An inhaled corticosteroid used twice a day to control asthma and prevent attacks in people 4 and older. It does not relieve a sudden attack, which needs a rescue inhaler such as albuterol. Rinsing the mouth after each use helps prevent thrush.
Fluticasone is a strong man-made steroid that binds tightly to the body's steroid receptors. In the airways, it calms many kinds of immune cells, such as mast cells and eosinophils, and the chemical signals, such as histamine and leukotrienes, that drive inflammation. With less inflammation, the airways become less swollen and irritated, which makes breathing easier.
It acts locally in the airways, and almost none of the part that is swallowed reaches the bloodstream. Symptoms may start to improve about 24 hours after starting, but the full benefit can take 1 to 2 weeks or longer, so it does not help during an attack. It can let a yeast infection grow in the mouth and throat, and because steroids dampen the immune system, it can make some infections more serious. With long-term use, it can also lower bone density and slow growth in children.
Fluticasone is an inhaled steroid used every day to keep asthma under control. Asthma is a condition in which swollen, irritated airways cause wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and trouble breathing. It is meant to prevent those symptoms and the sudden attacks that come with them. It controls asthma but does not cure it.
Adults and children 4 and older breathe it in by mouth from an inhaler, and they keep using it even when they feel well. A fast-acting rescue inhaler is kept on hand alongside it for sudden symptoms. It is not used to relieve an asthma attack that has already started, because it does not open the airways quickly.
Colds and other upper respiratory infections, throat irritation, sinus infections, hoarseness, thrush in the mouth or throat, cough, bronchitis, and headache are the common side effects. The label warns about worse infections such as chickenpox or measles, adrenal problems when switching from steroid pills, and, with long-term or high-dose use, bone thinning, slower growth in children, and glaucoma or cataracts. It also warns about sudden wheezing right after a dose and serious allergic reactions.
A clinician may order these while someone is taking it.
Sources: [1]