After several months of aggro and general anxiety I have finally got to the bottom of the use of salbutamol with regards to drug testing, and the rule change which came in on 1st Jan, 2010, is also going to save me lots of money!
Last year I had some TUE (Theraputic Use Exemption) forms half filled out (£25 to the GP) prior to the Europeans and essentially didn’t use my blue inhaler for several months. However the day in Israel when the start was next to a field of horses put paid to that and I would have had to risk a post drug test provocation test if needed.
I never completed my TUE application as I was struggling to find someone to do the 
required provocation tests for a sensible amount of money (one quote over £300) and have been trying to persuade the GP to refer me for some NHS tests with no success.
Since Christmas I have been making a renewed effort to get it sorted for the new season and eventually found an approved testing facility in Newcastle that would do it for £150, but today Dr. Martin from Leicester responded to a request for a test quote to say it was probable I didn’t need a test as the rules have changed.
I’m not going to try and explain the new rules here and anyone this affects should really get some professional advice but essentially if you only use brown (Beclometasone) and blue (Salbutamol) inhalers you just need to make a declaration on 100%me and then use them within certain defined limits.
https://www.ukad.org.uk/forms/declaration/
Dr Martin was very helpful on the phone giving me lots of advice about my asthma in general and if you are under the age of 35 he would be happy to consider you for inclusion on his trials. “There is a lot of confusion out there about the new WADA rules and I am always happy to recruit new test subjects,” he said.
Dr. Neil Martin
Clinical Research Fellow, Institute for Lung Health
Glenfield Hospital, Leicester
nmartin@doctors.org.uk