What is ciclesonide?

Ciclesonide is in a family of medicines called corticosteroids. Ciclesonide is a medicine that you breathe in to help reduce swelling in your lungs and airways. This helps to prevent symptoms of asthma, such as coughing, difficulty breathing, tightness in your chest and wheezing. Ciclesonide cannot treat asthma symptoms once they begin, so for an asthma attack you need to use a fast-acting asthma medication (a rescue inhaler). Ciclesonide is usually used at the same time each day. Two to five weeks after beginning ciclesonide use, you may notice a change in your asthma symptoms. Ciclesonide is available under the brand name Alvesco. Ciclesonide is also available as Omnaris, a nasal spray used to treat the symptoms of allergic rhinitis.