Beconase

What is Beconase?

Beconase is a nasal spray that’s used to treat and prevent inflammation in the lining of your nose caused by allergies like hay fever. Common hay fever symptoms include blocked, itchy, runny nose and sneezing a lot. These symptoms are caused when your body produces a chemical called histamine when it detects something that it (incorrectly) considers a threat. Histamine then binds to receptors around your body, such as in your nose, and produces these frustrating and uncomfortable allergy symptoms.

How does Beconase work?

Beconase is a type of medicine known as a corticosteroid. The main thing that corticosteroids do is reduce swelling and inflammation. So when you inhale a corticosteroid through your nose, it gradually works its way into your cells and reverses the effects that histamine has caused, allowing you to breathe more freely and comfortably. ^[1]

What doses of Beconase are there?

There’s only one dose of Beconase per spray, which is 50 micrograms of beclometasone. You may, though, be advised to use different amounts of the spray each day, which will change your ‘dosage’.

How to use Beconase

You should always use Beconase exactly as your clinician has advised you to. The usual starting dose is two sprays into each nostril, twice a day, which you might be asked to lower to one spray in each nostril twice a day.

Before you use Beconase, or if you haven’t used it for a while, you’ll need to ‘prime’ it. To do this:

• take off the dust cap
• with the nozzle facing away from you, hold the bottle with your index and middle fingers either side of the nozzle, and your thumb underneath the bottle
• push down with your fingers to pump the spray, until a fine mist comes out

To use the spray:

• shake the bottle and take off the dust cap
• gently blow your nose
• close one nostril with your finger and put the nozzle in your other nostril, holding it with your middle and index fingers either side of the nozzle and your thumb underneath
• start breathing gently through your nose, and as you breath in, push the collar down to release a spray of the fine mist
• then breathe out, and repeat the above step if you’ve been advised to
• switch to the other nostril, and repeat the above steps after using the spray, wipe the nozzle clean with a tissue and replace the dust cap

How long does it take Beconase to work?

It might take a day or two before you start feeling any better from using Beconase, but it doesn’t usually reach its full effect until you’ve been using it for a couple of weeks. For this reason, you might want to start taking it a few weeks before you’re due to develop symptoms if you’re using it for hay fever (some people notice that they start getting symptoms around the same time each year).

Don’t increase your dosage in order to try and make it more effective if you’re not feeling the benefits. It probably won’t work and might give you some unpleasant side effects.

What should I do if I make a mistake when using Beconase?

If you’ve used too much Beconase, contact your clinician for advice. If you’ve forgotten a dose of Beconase, use it when you remember (as long as it’s not too close to your next scheduled dose). If it is, simply skip that dose and carry on as normal. Don’t double up on doses to make up for missed ones.