Advair Diskus and asthma

I promised to write on this board & get the message out in the event that they figured out what was wrong with me after

approximately 4 months of progressive shortness of breath. In April/May 2008, I felt a very slight pain in my chest/lung

area. At first I thought I may have stretched a muscle during basketball, working out or painting a house. I went to my

primary care physician who ordered an X-Ray & a CT Scan. The CT scan showed some consolidation. At this time I had no

shortness of breath and played basketball for hours a day. I merely had a very slight feeling of pain in my chest area when

breathing deep. My primary care physician based on the xray/ct scan results and my concerns, sent me to a lung specialist.

The lung specialist gave me a pulmonary function test, one with and without a bronchiodilater. The specialist indicated that

I have Asthma. I refuted & said that I have never been diagnosed with Asthma and how would that be possible? I ran the 2 mile

in JR High school, played basketball all the time & am extremely athletic. At the age of 32 I've been working out on the

bench with 225 lbs and been playing basketball in leagues forever. In any case, the doctor said that I had exercise induced

asthma and stated that I likely had asthma but never caught it. ----- I did not believe it or agree. I was put on Proventil.

For whatever reason, I got very sick the next day after visiting with the lung specialist for several days & recovered about

10 days after my visit. I believed it was from taking the bronchiodilater or being on their machine or around all the sick

people - who knows to this day.

I failed to mention that my specialist did not view my CT Scan or XRay while diagnosing my problem, he relied solely on my

Pulmonary test. He said he'd get the CT Scan/XRays, review & give me a follow up call. He never called. I started calling a

couple weeks after my visit to see if he had seen my reports, but no response and my condition was not getting better. I

tried taking proventil twice a day, then just 20 minutes prior to my basketball game and even during my basketball game. I

tried everything, but nothing improved.

I dropped off the CT Scan cd for the lung specialist to review, since they stated they never received it from the hospital.

--- I had no problem getting it, why would a doctors office have problems getting it & if they couldn't get it, then why

weren't they calling me?????

Finally in late July, I was able to schedule an appointment with the lung specialist again. The lung specialist did another

CT Scan & Pulmonary Test. The verdict after reviewing these tests - the specialist states that I don't have Asthma. I refuted

again & pleaded with the doctor that I had a serious problem & could not play basketball like I use to. I could no longer jog

50 yards before short of breath. He then suggested I try their bike test with EKGs and measurements of my breathing. I got on

the bike & in approximately 4 minutes I was short of breath and my oxygen levels went from 95 to below 90!!!! I could barely

bike anymore.

The verdict after the bike test, my lung specialist indicated that the results looked odd, but more than likely it's

exercise induced asthma yet again. He prescribed me ADVAIR.

I took ADVAIR as prescribed 2x a day. My condition got progressively worse....shortness of breath even worse... it got to a

point that I could not walk 100 feet with my briefcase without being short of breath. I was starting to get very irritable &

stressed as a result. I read all the online side effects about ADVAIR leading me to this website & was disturbed by the

readings like all the others. I scheduled another appointment with the lung specialist to tell him my feelings & that Advair

was not helping after a month.

He indicated that the report received from my CT SCAN A MONTH AGO showed some calcification in one of my lower left arteries

& that I should visit a cardiologist to take a look. He prescribed 2 months more of ADVAIR to see if I'd improve, because it

takes time apparently.

I met with the cardiologist the next day, they did a Stress Test & Echo cardiogram. The stress test showed up normal & the

echo came back ABNORMAL. It indicated that I had pressure on one side of my heart due to the lungs not receiving or

exchanging enough oxygen for some unexplained reason!!

The cardiologist stated that we'd have to do a Cardiac Cath to determine the cause & treatment. This seemed very major & can

be a risky procedure although done frequently I was told.

Another CT Scan was performed. AND FORTUNATELY, now listen up..... A VQ SCAN was ordered up to be performed before the

Cardiac Cath. During a VQ Scan they inject radio iodine and have you breath-in a radio active substance. THE VQ SCAN SHOWED

BLOOD CLOTTING ON BOTH SIDES OF MY LUNGS!!!!

I am literally now in the Hospital being treated CORRECTLY for blood clotting and on blood thinners. The moral of the story

on this message board for ME is THAT ADVAIR WAS NOT HELPING, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT TREATMENT. I was MISDIAGNOSED and

there was not enough follow up from the doctors in my perception, because it took approximately 4 MONTHS to determine.

If I had stayed on ADVAIR, supposedly treating "exercise induced asthma", then I may have DIED due to LUNG FAILURE or HEART

FAILURE!

DISCLAIMER - I am not a doctor & this is only a synopsis of my personal experience. Again, I promised to share this

information, so others could hopefully benefit.

My recommendation - If you never had asthma are athletic over the age of 30 and the doctor prescribes ADVAIR for ASTHMA, then

I would highly recommend you have a VQ(Perfusion) scan performed. I hope this saves someones misery or life.

I'm still in the hospital, they are treating my blood clots and continue to try to determine the cause of my blood clots. If

anyone has any theories as to where my small blood clots may have come from, then please oblige.

I have had severe asthma since I was 3 years old (25 now). I have been on about every asthma med and for the past 5 years have been on advair. For 5 years I have had chronic hives that can only be controlled by zyrtec and if I try to go off adviar it will put me in the hospital within a week. I have developed a dependency to this awful drug....and now I can't get off of it. I have experienced weight gain and have to eat a very script diet so that I don't become fat. If you have just started this drug I suggest to get off of it ASAP.

I was also on advair and I contracted alopecia universalis. I lost ALL my hair. I am sure there is a connection between these side effects and ADVAIR!! By the way. I stopped taking any steroid inhalers, and my breathing is better. What does that say?? Some of my hair has also started growing back since I stopped the steroid inhalers. Not much, but why is it growing now? This is a very devastating side effect, and I think there should be some legal action taken here. My life performing on stage has been ruined. My image shot. Now, i wasn't a "star", but still, I really can't enjoy performing anymore.

What a Godsend this website is. I am a 48 year old female, and I have been taking Advair (the lowest dose) for about 2 months now, with steadily worstening side effects. Although I have to admit, my first dose of Advair was like a much need "breath of fresh air", the side effects are not worth it. In fact, I just got off the phone with my doctor, telling her I will no longer be taking the Advair. These were the side effects I have experienced: rapid heartbeat, rib pain, joint pain in my legs and fingers, loose bowels, and a noticeable change in weight / body shape. I have always been complimented on my tiny waist and flat stomach, but as of late I have noticed my waist size increasing, despite my usual exercise. In addition, the most serious and most disturbing side effects are insomnia and the onset of severe depression / anxiety / paranoia. I had issues with depression as a young woman in my 20's with anorexia, with no relapse until I began this medication. Yesterday, I had to pull over to a store parking lot to cry for no reason! If it were not for this website, I would have blamed myself for some sort of mental weakness or unhealthy thinking. Also, I have never experienced anxiety in my life, and while on this medication I have had several episodes of intense panic, where I was convinced I should immediately draft a last will and testament. My vision has been blurring in and out considerably, my voice sounds as if I have larynxitis daily, and I have also experienced profoundly increased thirst and urination. I have not had my blood pressure checked, but I feel like what must be an increase in this, as well. Lastly, the past few days I have noticed severe hair loss, which, until I read this website, I attributed to my recent dieting. (I have been desperately dieting and increasing exercise to try to regain my figure that this medication is apparently ruining. Until this time, I have weighed the same and had the same or stronger body than high school school (5'4'', 115 - 120 lbs.) God bless everyone who has contributed to this website to educate others about the horrors of this medication. My doctor wants to see me to "give me something else", but I am going look into alternative therapies (yoga, breathing exercises, teas, etc.) The comment that made the most sense on this website was the person who wrote "break up with your asthma...begin by taking a deep breath and telling yourself you no longer have asthma." Also, I have seen that God / Jesus can heal anything, so I am going to turn to Him in prayer instead of the doctors. After all, Who created our bodies to begin with? I will add you all to my prayers, and that God will help us all heal from this... both the asthma and the suffering created by Advair.

My mother, 70 years, just visited me and is on Advair Diskus, I want to say at least 2 years now. She has COPD with chronic bronchitis. I don't even know this woman anymore. She is depressed and extremely short with everyone. She has a rash that started on the back of her legs that fills with fluid then scabs. She has informed me she has had the rash almost a year now. It has spread to her arms and neck lately. It comes and goes in it's severity. Her Dr. cannot give her a diagnosis. She too, has spoken the words "miracle drug" in the beginning. I just got off the phone with her and she said she would rather risk an asthma attack than stay on Advair. Risk death than stay on Advair? What is this drug doing to people?

After never having asthma in my life I was put on Advair 100/50 at 34 ...
I have been on it for a little over a year but I have been reading these side effects and wanted to try and ween myself off this stuff. I cut back to 1 per day then 1 every other day and now I am down to 1 per week. Hopefully I am going to be off it soon. The side effects are real with the weight problems people are having with this stuff .... My question is does anyone else have the feeling in their throat like there is an obstruction or a lump? or like something is stuck in the back of their throat?? Does this go away ?

I rinsed my mouth and brushed my teeth after every use .... so I am not sure if this will go away with lower use or not

I was on the low dose, 100/50, for 2 years. I had blurry vision in my right eye and lethargy. Last week I woke up and could not breathe AT ALL. I was choking for about 45 seconds with no air coming in. I have read that Advair can bring on sleep apnea. After a couple of days of doing research, I stopped cold turkey. My vision cleared up in a day and my lethargy is gone. I am now using apple cider vinegar for my asthma (brought on by my 2 dogs and cat) and so far, all is well. How that stuff is legal, I don't know.

I am a 44 year old women that has been dealing with asthma almost my entire life on and off.But I started a new job(housecleaning)and I believe it started up my asthma.So after having to use my albuteral inhaler a couple times a day,I decided to see my dr.He put me on advair.The first day I started taking it I was breathing so much better.I thought this is it!I finally found the miracle pill!Well about 5 days or so into it I started getting a really bad sore throat.The kind that is deep down-maybe in your larynax or whatever.And yes-I rinsed really good after every use.Well I ended up in the e.r. at 12:00 at night.I could hardly swallow and it felt like something was stuck in my throat.They gave me an ekg and did a neck xray on me.Dr. told me it was most likely from advair and to stop using it now and he put me on prednisone for 5 days.I called my doctor that put me on it 2 days later and told him what happened.He said huh,I wonder why that happened?Anyways,now he prescribed singulair to me but after reading all the negative comments I am not sure what the hec to try?I have missed 3 days work.I will most likely change jobs.I am real weak and anxious.Probably from prednisone.Anyone have any ideas on what works best for asthma that has few side effects?HELP!

I have had EXTREME hair loss and I did not know what from. I never thought it was my advair. I checked all of my other medications and only one other one said there was a possibility of hair loss (PREVACID) so I went off of that but my hair was still falling out. I have been so desperate that I scheduled and appointment to see a dermatologist tomorrow. Today I happened to google "advair/hair loss" and I cannot believe all of the articles that came up with people expressing the correlation.
I have been so depressed from this hair loss. I had the thickest, shiniest hair and now I barely have a pony tail. I wear hats all of the time because I am embarrassed.It has been totally devastating.
What I need to know is which other asthma medication will NOT cause hair loss so I can switch? Too bad I just dropped $100 on a 3-month supply of Advair and now cannot use it.
Also, those of you who went off the Advair, how long did it take for you to experience hair growth or it not falling out?

I'm now 43, and I've had bad allergy symptoms since about age 17. Perennial symptoms and nearly daily headaches and facial pressure and bad throat drainage. Also, every time I got a cold, I'd get a cough that would not go away for months.

Finally, a few years ago, a new family doctor suggested I try Advair for that cough. Wow. Cough gone in days. Wow. That seemed invaluable to me.

But, I do notice thick mucus in my throat now, and I can't seem to clear it, at times. My voice is affected and diminished, it seems.

I'm not sure that any other side effects are occurring for me. However, after my wife saw a commercial about death risks associated with Advair(naturally the commercial was from a law firm), I decided to do some internet reading. I am curious about the possible heart effects. I had a mitro-valve prolapse in my teens, and am not sure I should be taking medications that can alter your heart rhythms.

I think I'll call my doctor and see what other options I have. I am intrigued by the idea I read below, from April of 2008, about reducing dosage to once a day, or every other day, or once a week, or down from 250 to 100, or all of the above. If it still controls my cough, that's may be all I need.

I've never had bad asthma. Just bad allergies, that have led me to this.
So, I just might try a reduction plan.

I'm a 41 year old female. I was diagnosed with asthma at age 9 and had taken a number of different drugs until the birth of my daughter who is nearing age 7. I had never had problems with my weight or loosing any excess after childbirth. However, after beginning Advair 100/50 over the course of 6 months and after ridding myself of the baby weight, I gained about 25 lbs. 2 years 3 months later came the birth of my son with whom I’d gained nearly 100 lbs after changing to Advair 250/50.

My son was born 9 lbs. and gained 3 more before his first peds visit less than a week later. He has had a number of food and skin allergies since birth and at 4 ½ weighs 98 lbs and is 4 feet fall. His bone age is 8.5 and still growing. Both my son and daughter eat the same things but she is lean and healthy at 170 lbs. and 4’41/2” tall with no food or skin allergies and no other health problems. Therefore, I’m inclined to believe he too was negatively affected by Advair.

My normal weight of 133 lbs. and a perfect size 8 was no more. I actually consume less now than before and with a 4 and 6 year old, I’m quite active and as conscious of my diet as my kids’. However, I’m still tipping the scales at between 195 and 200 lbs. I’ve never had hypertension, headaches, chest pains, muscle spasms, fatigue, feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts but I did...often.

I recently changed insurance plans and tried filling the script only to learn that the rate was so far out of my range that I could no longer afford it. I’ve not taken it for at nearly 60 days and have noticed my headaches are less frequent and far less intense, no chest pain or muscle spasms and I feel more in control able to deal more effectively with my children and colleagues and just life in general. I have to take my Albuterol inhaler far more frequently than I should but I’d rather do that than to feel the way I did taking Advair.

Hello all! My 9 year old son has been taking Advair inhaler for about 1 1/2 years with 2 puffs a day. One at night and one in the morning. He is too young for him to notice any symptoms and for him to explain them to us and we didn't know about any side effects until reading this forum. He has the sniffles all the time which sound kind of stuffy too and some blotched skin on his forehead. He also might have another symptom regarding his bowels, not being able to control them is what I'm getting at and everyday has accidents. I don't know if that's because of Advair or laziness. I would make an intelligent guess and relate it to the Advair under muscle spasms? Does anyone have this symptom and are just too embarrassed to tell your doc? I am at my wits end with this "symptom". Also I heard very strong reports that cow milk is responsible for asthma. Humans were not designed to drink animal milk at all. The Molecules are way too large for us to digest. Almond milk is best and better for you. Now think about it, we are the only species that drink milk after we are nursed from out mothers. The animals do not go back to drinking after they are weened. I've also heard a study that after grown cows drink cow milk they got very sick or died. Anyone else heard that?

I am a 45 year old female, I have been on Advair for about 4 years now. I tried to go off of it once because I was having heart palpitations, I had to go back on it because of my asthma, waking up in the morning feeling like I couldn't breath just didn't work for me. I have less heart palpitations and my asthma is in much better control, however (isn't there always a "however"! I have been dieting and exercising like crazy (ok, all my life, but seriously for about 6 months now.) The scale has not moved...and I mean nothing, not a pound! I could not put my finger on it until now...it must be this drug! What else could it be? So now I have to decide if I want to be thinner or breath! Huh....some choice!

After reading this site I'm so ridiculously upset with my allergist. I was specifically told that the 100/50 dose of advair had such a small amount of steroid that it shouldn't have any adverse effects.
In the 5 months I've been taking advair I've gained 20 pounds, and I've been unable to lose even an ounce of it despite diet and exercise. After reading this page I decided to cut down to one dose a day, and magically I dropped 3 pounds. I'm going to my doctor tomorrow and just let him try to tell me that advair doesn't cause weight gain.
Oh also, I'd been feeling very down and depressed lately, and I'd even considered going to a psychologist. I just attributed my feelings to issues in my personal and work life. Well, as soon as a I cut down on the advair I went back to feeling like myself again. I hadn't even noticed how much I had changed until I suddenly felt a million times less irritable and able to smile and really laugh again.
I'm worried about just quitting the advair (I'm paranoid about side effects) but I feel so much better without it that I don't know if I can bring myself to take my next dose.
What a choice - breathe perfectly and be miserable or constantly suffer with asthma and not even be yourself.

I was prescribed advair diskus (100/50) twice a day, 10 days ago. It was for chronic cough which almost instantly improved 90%, however the medication kept me wide awake at night and caused pain in my chest while I was asleep. I was told to take it only once a day, but when it wore off at night, I had labored breathing and could not sleep. I have hardly slept in all this time and am exhausted. Albuterol does not help, and I have been to urgent care twice in the last two days. They only offer breathing treatment. By the way, except for the cough, my health was excellent. I haven't had true asthma in years. I would rather have my cough back. At least codeine cough syrup worked, and helped me sleep.

My doc assured me that it wasn't possible that my hoarseness was due to a residual build-up of the med on my vocal chords. I raised the question, "If there could not be any build up, why the need to rinse ones mouth after each use." I was told I needed to do that to prevent thrush. That's all well and good but still leaves my query a bit open. It stands to reason that if one could get thrush from the medication being in ones mouth, one could also have other problems from it being in ones system.

I've been doing research on asthma and other medical issues. If you want to do some good reading, look up Dr. Mercola. Also, look up MMS. Interesting stuff. I also found one woman's recommendation that at the start of a wheeze, let some sea salt dissolve in your mouth and then drino a glass of water. (Those with problems taking salt in should be careful about that.) And also, drink more water and check out your overall nutrition and fitness levels. Positively impacting those may make changes you'd be surprised by!

Jack Lalanne spoke against refined sugars and becoming fit way back in the 50's and not many listened. Look at a current photo of him today, a man in his 90's, and think about it. Look up sugars on Mercola's webpage as well. I had no idea the things sugar can do to ones body.

Blessings

I'm a 40 year old female with severe asthma (since I was about 4). I have taken more meds in my life than I can count and nothing has worked like Advair Diskus 500/50. I absolutely LOVE this stuff (so far). I have been taking it 2x a day for two months and no longer need any other meds, not even my inhaler which I always used as my security blanket. I have also had major skin issues since childhood and my skin is now softer and smoother than ever. I don't have any weight gain issues, sore throat, cough, headaches, etc., but I am noticing that lately my body feels TIRED and my legs feel crampy at times, mostly when I wake up after a full night's sleep. I really think this med is well worth it for me, but maybe not for all. Is everyone here rinsing their mouth out after each use? Maybe that is the cause of the sore throat side effect. I wish everyone good health!

hi...........I"ve just finished reading many of the posts on this site and I can't believe how similar my experience has been to others...I went on advair 3 weeks ago for illness induced asthma along with my rescue inhaler. since then I have had horseness/loss of speech altogether,pain in my calfs and thighs, tightness (like a band) across my chest, and itch everywhere. I feel groggy when I wake in the morning and I've always been a morning person! I'm going to try to go off the Advair and just use my rescue inhaler. Thanks everyone for posting.

My father is a 72 y/old man who is being taking Advair for 2 to 3 years. Although his asthma is no longer a problem, his voice is not the same and he continuous loosing weight, so far 25 lbs. His doctor is not able to explain anything at all. Does any one have the same problem?

My 15 y.o. daughter has has first hand experience with weight gain on Advair. About 6 years ago at about 9 y.o., she gained 20 lbs in 6 months - and it started happening exactly when she started the drug. She was very active (swim team, gymnastics, etc) and did not overeat. It is very frustrating that both her pediatrician and her asthma/allergy specialist deny that her small dose of Advair is to blame.

For some reason, and I have talked to others that this has happened to, switching to Singulair did not help her with the weight problem. Seems the people who are hypersensitive to inhaled steroids are also sensitive to Singulair. Concerned about her rapid weight gain, and because she was always so thin, I took her to an endocrinologist to rule out any other problems. After a lot of bloodwork, he concluded that he could not rule out that it was a side effect of the Advair and/or Singulair, and that they may have elevated her blood sugar. I have read tons and tons of postings on the internet about children & adults rapidly gaining weight from inhaled corticosteroids (i.e. Flovent, Advair), along with the round face, bloated stomach, stretch marks, thin skin, easy bruising, etc. but nobody ever says what happens after stopping any of these drugs. Do people ever go back to normal? Do kids look like themselves again? Do any of the side effects disappear?

She is now 15 y.o. and cannot reverse her weight gain no matter what (30 lbs overweight). The last 2 years, she has only been on a small dose of Pulmicort (a different class of corticosteroid even safe to take when pregnant) since she has mild persistent asthma, and allergy shots have helped trememdously. My husband and I have been looking for 6 years now on how to avoid our daughter's weight gain with asthma drugs. If you run into any info., please let us know. Any experiences or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am a 36 year old male in very good physical condition (except for the asthma) and have been on advair 50/100 for 3 months.

I have since experienced:
Decreased asthma- from using my albuterol inhaler nightly to never.
Increased coughing, congestion, and hoarseness from rarely to daily.
Muscle tightness and joint pain from rarely to daily.
Two pulled muscles in my calf, one in my groin compared to zero in the past five years
One severe abdominal cramp resulting in fainting compared to never before in my life.

It appears that doctors are prescribing this without adequate understanding of the the side effects. Pay attention to your body's response to the medicine. Advair may not be for you.

I'm a 37 year old male and I've had asthma since I was a small child. I did the albuterol inhaler for many years but they took that off the market because of environmental reasons, so I had to switch to something. I wound up with the Advair 100/50 diskus. I noticed fairly early on that when I went to take the second prescribed puff at the end of the day, I didn't really feel I needed it. So, the combination of me being strongly skeptical of drugs and Advair being expensive led me to skip taking the second puff. The next morning, when I went to take my FIRST puff of the day, I noticed I didn't feel I needed that puff either, so I didn't take that puff. Long story short, I now take ONE puff of this Advair every 3 to 5 days. It's been working well for me for about 3 or 4 years. I also take many healthy supplements like Omega Fatty acids, multvitamins, Vitamin C, minerals, etc. So my message here is: Try taking LESS Advair... As little as possible. If your doctor figures it out, tell him/her whatever you feel like. Lie if you want. NOTHING (repeat) NOTHING is more important than your health, and unfortunately the ONLY person who REALLY cares about YOUR health is YOU. You have to protect yourself. Don't let your doctor's ego win out over your health. It is your birthright to refuse a drug, even if it does disappoint your doctor. You don't owe your doctor any anything except payment for your office visit.

26/f on Advair for 1 year, 3 mos. Diagnosed with asthma when I was 17. Was overusing my albuterol and my symptoms got worse so pulmonologist prescribed Advair 250/50. After the first week of taking 2 puffs a day, I didn't need albuterol inhalor and was able to exercise for the first time in YEARS without needing emergency inhaler. Advair was my life saver. Also prescribed to me was Protonix- the doctor thought I had acid reflux which contributed to my asthma symptoms. I take that seasonally now, when I notice a hoarseness in speech. I do get headaches every so often, they have been occurring more frequently as with mood swings so I am researching medications. I have no idea if this is tied into my Advair use since I've been on it over a year now. I might try going off Advair to see if it is related. I've also had a weird muscle cramp in my left armpit area which I NEVER would have thought was related to Advair but several people here have reported it. In short, the headaches, mood swings, etc. do NOT outweigh my ability to exercise and breathe normal. I will most likely try to lower my dose of Advair or ween myself off to see how I do, but if my asthma worsens, I'd rather stay on Advair.

I am a 35 yo male who has had asthma since I was about six years old. I have always used Albuterol/Proventil to deal with any immediate concerns. Additionally, I have used the combination of Pulmicort/Serevent as a long term medication. I felt like the initial effects of that combo were spectacular. At some point, though, the doctor moved me off of that combo to Advair, explaining to me that the latter was just a combination of Pulmicort and Serevent. To this day I don't know the validity of that.

I have used Advair off and on for several years and I've never felt like I've gotten the same results as the previously mentioned combo. In the last two or three years I feel like it's done nothing. Additionally, in the last two to two and a half years, I've developed a low-level wheeze that is with me all the time 24/7. My albuterol does nothing for it. And -- it feels like I have a lump or something in the back of my throat. Some kind of constant obstruction.

The current theory of my ENT (my asthma doctor is worthless on this matter) is that I may have acid reflux. So now I am taking Prilosec OTC to see if, after a month or so, the low-level wheeze disappears.

Has anyone else with a history of asthma developed a constant, low-level wheeze that is unaffected by short term inhalers?

I was on Advair for 3 months. I had the following DAILY symptoms: throat constrictions/swelling, loss of voice, difficulty breathing/panic attack-ish reaction, and most recently heart palpitations followed by my heart skipping beats. I am now off of Advair for 5 days now. The first few days were rough - I got every symptom in full force. I am now taking Flovent 110 mcg. I am supposed to take it 2/day, but have started with only 1/day to see if my body will react to this lower dosage. I look forward to becoming healthy again - like I was prior to taking Advair.

Oh, and I went to 2-3 dr appts every week to try and uncover why I was having these terrible symptoms. All gave up on me. Including the asthma doctor that prescribed the medicine. Surprising that the entire GROUP of doctors did not know the side effects of Advair well enough to recognize them in me.

Maybe I'm not crazy after all. I'm a 55-year-old female who has been taking Advair for close to 5 years. I have adult onset asthma and was using Albuterol to control it until my allergist placed me on Advair. It does a great job on my asthma, but at what price? During that time I've gained weight regardless of my diet and exercise regimen. I feel like I haven't slept in years and I'm convinced that it will eventually kill me because that makes everything else so much more difficult to deal with. I'm having major hair loss, hoarseness (I really miss singing), heart palpitations, extreme fluctuating blood pressure, heartburn, lethargy, blurred vision, twitching muscles. I finally decided that I had to change something and I found this website last week. I quit Advair cold-turkey. Probably not the right thing to do, but I was really on the brink. It's been nearly a week and I'm having extreme dizziness, terrible vision problems and awful headaches, but I am persevering.

OMG! This site is awesome! I honestly thought I was going crazy and something else was wrong with me! I quit smoking back in Dec 2007 and early Jan 2008 I was diagnosed with bronchitis. The bronchitis eventually got worse and at the end of Jan dr put me on steroid packs and an inhaler to assist me with the congestions. Early Feb I was diagnosed with Chronic bronchitis and was sent to a lung specialist. My lungs were only expanding 40% capacity due to the infection in my lungs so I was prescriped the inhaler, antibiotics, seven days of seroid and the Advair twice a day. I have now been using the Advair about three weeks and even though I feel a whole lot better my side effects are bad. I have a lot of congestion still, especially in the mornings, I cough almost all day long, I sleep maybe four or five hours a night (if that), my mood swings are aweful, I have a sharp pain under neath my left arm pit every once in a while, my rib cage hurts 24/7, I get headaches at least once a day, my nose is bleeding at least once a day and my hands tingle all the time. I did not realize that all these symptoms were side effects to the Advair dosage... 250/50???? OMG... I have to stop taking it. I've never had allergies or asthma up until the chronic bronchitis but if these are side-effects to the Advair I wonder if I was just not better off fighting the bronchitis through antibiotis only. I have not experianced weight gain though, and I am thankful for that as I do not need to gain any more weight. :-) Thank you all for sharing your comments as I now know that I might be just fine using allergy medicines and an inhaler from time to time instead of using Advair twice a day.

I really felt the need to post my story about Advair. I started having seizures 2 years ago. I have been seeing a neurologist since then. In the mean time, I have been working with a lung specialist for asthma/COPD. I was placed on Advair. Over several months I started experiencing vision changes, muscle pain, muscle cramps, headaches, weight gain, confusion, trouble speaking, constantly clearing my throat, severe pain near my left armpit, with sever muscle tightening. The muscle tightening was so severe that my arms and legs started moving and twisting by themselves. This is called agentatious movements. The neurologist has been putting me through a battery of tests because these symptoms can be from a severe neurological disease. As of now, I have been passing them with flying colors.The neurologist thinks I am faking, or these symptoms are a figment of my imagination because he cannot find a reason for them. That's when I decided to start checking the side affects of all my medications, and found this site. I have printed off all the stories that match my symptoms and will take them to the neurologist to prove I am not a nut case, and them I will see my lung specialist and take care of getting off the Advair. It does work, but there has to be something else in the medical world than can help us breathe without feeling like we are dying other wise. I want to thank everyone for putting their story out there is is a great help to know you are not alone. Good luck!

I am a 35 year old women, with severe asthma. I have had asthma since I was four years old. I have been through numerous meds. Currently I am taking Singulair, Combivent, Advair diskus and thte 7 day Predinsone. In July 2007 i had a severe asthma attach where i almost lost my life. In the past I'd rarely take the Advair, but since that last time in the hospital i have been religiously taking it. Right now i have a severe chest cold and i am taking theraflu and vicks cold meds and i am noticing strange things. Irregular heartbeat, feeling bloated, some anxiety and my weight gain. By reading the other posts and this whole site, i know believe i should ween myself of this Advair again. It is too much to worry about ...

I am very happy I found this website. I used Advair since August 2007. About a month in I was a bit moody and would loose my temper, but at Thanksgiving I went to Bali for a holiday and fell into an awful depression. I had no idea what was wrong but cried and was very irritable. Also thought everyone didn't like me and they were all mad at me. Paranoia I guess. I saw my GP when I came home and she gave me Lexapro, then Wellbutrin. I couldnt sleep, eat, sobbed all the time and never wanted to leave the house. I looked up Advair and saw a lot of others who had went into a depression on it. I have been off a week and I can only say that it has gotten so much better. I came off all the meds and I am eating normally, sleeping a lot better and the sobbing has stopped. I really think that the Advair was the factor. Hope this helps anyone who feels/felt like that.

Ive only been on Advair for almost a month. I couldn't believe how quickly my asthma disappeared. I was using my inhaler daily and tried other things but nothing helped. I went to a pulmonary specialist and prescribed Advair for a month. I'm so glad i have to go back and see him this Saturday b/c I want to tell him I will no longer take this. I'm 26 years old and had developed asthma when I was 7 years old. It went away when I was 14 and just came back full force 3 years ago. I would have tried anything to be able to breathe normally again.
I've had the hoarseness in my voice and a bad cough where I'm spitting up mucus everyday since I've been on Advair. I figured if this was what I had to live with to have the chance to live a normal life asthma free that id take it, it wasn't so bad. But this past week I've had blinding headaches non-stop. Ive been nauseous, sweating, coughing, I've been sore like I just finished a long workout, chest pains, tightness in my chest and my legs have felt so weak. This morning I woke up with the worst cold too; which I know Advair weakens your immune system but this is crazy. I stopped taking Advair this morning & I'm going to tell my doctor I need to try something else.

I am 37yrs old and have been on Advair for years, I use to weigh 110pds. now I weigh around 165, I have chest pains all the time,
pains in my legs and chronic back pain, also
pain in my leg's. I have mood swings and feel sluggish all the time. I have headaches a lot as well. I am still on the Advair, never realizing that the Advair was the cause.

I have mixed feelings about Advair. Quick history-at 30 I was dx with Asthma, at 32-COPD. I went on Advair after the COPD dx. Primarily-it certainly helped my breathing-gloriously. I have since gone on and off Advair periodically. Before last year (Pneumonia)-I had not been on the Advair for more than four months. BUT the Pneumonia combined with the COPD reduced my lung capacity by 25%. I allowed my Dr. to prescribe it indefinitely. However within a year I had gained thirty pounds. I started reading more, and found out that the AMA recommends only a six month duration of Advair therapy. My asthma symptoms had worsened over the last three months of that therapy. My untrained hypothesis is that if you exceed the recommended six month treatment-you will suffer the above outlined side affects. I simply quit it. Granted, my asthma symptoms increased for about three weeks-so I kept my handy little inhaler nearby, and gave myself one month to see if the asthma symptoms would decrease. They did. The long term-I have now been off of the Advair for nine months, and I rarely use my inhaler (knock on wood). The long term benefits of the extended Advair use has been a decreased problem with SOB- yes upon exertion(that is one of the symptoms of COPD), it is still present, but I can usually ride that out with patience, and rest. In conclusion-I would not hesitate to go back on the Advair upon my next COPD exacerbation, but I will absolutely stay within the six month suggested period. And, this time I will eat a lot of lo cal foods. Smile. It is always nice when people with chronic illness can smile over their disease. This has been my experience over the last five years that I have been introduced to Advair. One more suggestion-see if you can get your doctor to try you on the 250/50 before jumping right on the 500. The 500 is noted to have the side affect of increased SOB, and Asthma attacks-more often than the 250. One more note-although your doctor might forget to mention this-Advair is a steroid- and, steroids are known to cause weight gain. What can be done to reduce this affect-I do not know-Prednisone will do it too,now a combination of the two-which I have, of course, utilized a half dozen times or so in the last five years of my dx- is almost a guaranteed weight gain. If you manage to find out how to avoid that particular side affect-please let me know, and suggesting a vigorous work out to a patient with COPD in a bit insensitive, but if you have any other plausible ideas-I am anxious to hear them.

I am only eighteen years old and my doctor told me a few years ago that I had developed asthma and began taking Advair. I developed a cataract shortly after, then stopped taking the medicine and just had eye surgery this week. I know that this is a side effect and it had to have been from this medicine because I am too young to have a cataract otherwise. Make sure that no one takes this and has to suffer with these problems!

I have always been extremely active. I surfed every day, was swimming, I worked out at the gym several times per week. I am now 34 years old. In my 20’s I used an inhaler maybe one every few months if I got really sick but never ever needed it as a crutch to live. When I was 30 after going into a doctor for bronchitis I asked for an inhaler but they prescribed Advair in addition to an inhaler. They said this would help me to heal faster and stop the symptoms. Well I started taking Advair twice as prescribed. It did relive my shortness of breath but now I felt shaky, couldn’t sleep well and 3 weeks into it I started feeling dizzy all the time. I never had a asthma attack before. If I was sick I might use an inhaler but never did I feel my life threatened until now. After feeling dizzy I stopped the Advair. Well one day later I had such a bad attack I ended up in the hospital. Advair undeniably has made my problem much much worse. I noticed ever since I started Advair if I stop taking it my breathing gets so bad I can barley walk across the room. I never ever had this problem before taking this garbage. Its now 4 years later and I still take it but it took me 4 years to wean off this crap. I only take it when I feel really bad but then discontinue as soon as I can. I should also add I take my inhaler every day now. Never used to take it at all. I feel Advair put my system over the edge where there was a small breathing challenge burst into a full fledge illness after I started on Advair. I must ad in the 4 years I have been eating about 80% raw organic foods, taking lots of vitamins and supplements. I feel this is all I can do to start to live a normal life and hopefully be off Advair all together.

I started taking Advair 250/50 when I couldn't get any air in the upper part of my lungs. I was diagnosed with asthma as a child, but hadn't experienced it since I was 11. I am 21 now, and I have panic attacks, pain in legs (pain in my thighs, and it feels like a rubber band wrapped around my knees) and arms, splitting headaches, hyper-sensitivity, mood swings, back pain, heart racing for no reason(especially at night, it wakes me up), insomnia, pain in my chest (mostly on the left side near my arm pit that feels like muscle tightness), I sometimes get sharp pain in my chest if I take a deep breath, I've gained 40 lbs. in the past 8 months, and I am a nervous, emotional wreck. A year and a half ago, I was a completely different person. I've been to the doctor, and they can't find anything wrong with me. Although I am overweight now, my cholesterol and blood pressure are perfect, there is nothing wrong with my lungs (barring asthma). I am in great health, and yet I feel awful. All the time. I have no idea what to do, because my doctor's have told me that the only known side effects of Advair is potential damage to the teeth. I am outraged, but I am afraid to stop taking it because my lungs actually hurt when I don't. I'm also on an Intal Inhaler, but I haven't heard any side effects of this. Here's the kicker, the doctor that prescribed me the Advair wasn't even a respiratory specialist, and refused to reccomend me to one! I'm so glad I found this site because everything everyone has listed seems to be what has gone wrong for me since I started taking it. If anyone has any information on how they're doing now that they've stopped taking it, or the "withdrawal" effects of Advair, please post them. I'm hoping to wean myself off. Good luck to all of you, and thank you. Now I can stop being so worried that I have blod clots, lung cancer, or an aneurism. ;)

Thanks so much,
Jade
NY,NY

Boy, after reading quite a few posts I wonder if my problems are linked to my advair use. I started about 2 years ago, 250/50 and have had to go to 500/50 during the spring-early fall because this is the time my allergies are the worst. I have year round allergies, highly allergic to weeds and grass pollen, also molds, cats, dust, etc. I started having problems when I was 15 with asthma, I am 30 now. I've been on multiple meds since I was about 20 for my asthma. During the winter I always have problems with chest congestion, coughing, and sinus problems. About 2 years ago these problems suddenly got a lot worse, and I could not get over sinus infections, I was referred to a specialist, they tried 3 different antibiotics, but as soon as I got off them my symptoms returned. I had a cat scan, and they found my sinus cavities were terrible, full, swollen, etc. He reffered me to another specialist, who I think is awsome. They changed my asthma meds, back to singular, q-var inhaller twice a day, and advair twice a day. My asthma is better, my sinus problems got better and I was able to have sinus surgery about 16 months ago which Greatly improved my problems. I started allergy shots about 1 year ago. Since July of this year I have been having strange problems, which I think are caused by the advair. Lots of times I shake for a few hours after taking my advair and q-var, for the last few months the shaking has gotten worse. In July I suddenly started having problems sleeping, my legs and arms move involuntarily - most of the time violently thrashing around while I am sleeping. I am always tired, and since July I now have severe tiredness in the day, especially while driving, I have to fight falling asleep! Very concerning to me since I have a 6 and 3 yr old, and the 3 yr old is always with me when I start to get to tired (exccessive daytime sleepiness). The leg and arm movements are called Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, similar to Restless Leg Syndrome, but PLMD is usually only during the night, and you don't feel like you have things crawling up your legs or the constant need to move. My symptoms have grown increasingly worse, I had all types of blood work done 2 months ago, nothing was found to be wrong. I've tried different chiropractors, stretching my back/legs before bed, less caffine, etc. But nothing has helped. I started taking Requip about 6 weeks ago, increased the dose about 2 weeks ago, but still having problems. I have had leg and feet cramps for the last month, almost daily, and have periodic leg shakiness during the day, like I have worked out really hard, but I have been sitting! I noticed that Advair lists sleep disorders as a side effect, but doesn't specify what types. I will definately be talking to my doctor about weaning off and stopping advair!
Thanks for having this site and for sharing!

My 8 year old son began using Advair this year after a bout of wheezing sent us to Urgent care. When he was finally officially diagnosed with Asthma this fall, our GP gave us Advair again. My son did great as far as asthma and breathing - didn't need his rescue inhaler once. Unfortunately he gained 8 pounds in 3 weeks and his face and stomach began to look extremely puffy. He also had 3 nosebleeds in quick succession, one when he slept which was a much larger nosebleed than he'd ever had before. I immediately discontinued his use of Advair when I went online and looked at the side effects. Unfortunately I had to talk to the nurses at my clinic several times to explain to them that I was CERTAIN an 8 lb weight gain was not normal and that I was no longer giving this medication to my son, no matter what our GP said. It seems that the clinical trials didn't show weight gain as a significant symptom, but later reporting by doctors has shown it. Doctors don't seem to have this information!

My husband is 46 and has been on Advair for about 3 years for COPD /asthma. I do not believe in all this medication however his doctor told him to take it so he did. We trust our doctors. He use to be an avid runner , rode horses almost nightly, good physical shape and always full of energy. I have been noticing over the last couple years he has no energy, he has chronic muscle pain ( can not even lift much anymore), hoaseness all the time, eyesight is deteriorating, weight gain ( and he has been dieting), problems sleeping at night , feels light headed , and always exhausted. Recently he has been constantly complaining, which he never does, on how much his body truly hurts all the time. So I decided to find out the side effects of all the medications his pulmonary specialist has kindly prescribed for him and guess what his problems all relate to taking Advair. So as of tonight he has stopped taking this medication because I gave him a copy of what shows on this site and how everyone else has the same side affects. I thank all of you. I did convince him a couple months ago to start going to a massage therapist weekly , He used to go monthly,to help him with his muscle pain, however the pain was so much that he has to go weekly. He just started going for acupuncture which he really seems to see a difference in his breathing. She told him the first medication she was getting him off of was Advair. How interesting.

Paula , Burlington, CT.

I am a 46 year old female and have had asthma all my life,medication,shots,inhalers.The past year it got very bad and I was going through inhalers almost weekly. My doctor put me on advair in may of this year.I was so happy it really helped my asthma,no inhalers.Then the side effects started-I felt sick like I had broncitis,sore throat ,sounding hoarse,headaches,very annoyed,anxious,moody,felt like throwing-up,not sleeping,urinary tract infection,backache,confusion,weight gain.I thought I was very ill and was almost afraid to go to the doctor,then I thought about being put on advair and when the symptoms started.I looked up side-effects and BINGO! I am going to tell my doctor to get me off this,kinda afraid I'll get really bad asthma again,but what do you do?Feel like total gargage every day?or not be able to breath?What a choice.This all took place in a matter of 5 months.Everyone is different,every body can or cannot tolerate certain drugs.People do know their own bodies and why doctors don't listen or believe them I don't know.But,I sick and tired of being sick and tired and my whole summer was wasted thanks to advair.Hope I have another option.Lisa K.

Hi all. I am a 37 year old female. I was diagnosed with severe asthma when I was 30. Nothing helped me, nothing! I was coughing blood, in and out of the hospital, had to leave my job and for two years resigned myself to knowing I was going to die sooner rather than later. It was a daily struggle just to walk through the house.

Eventually a pulmonologist started me on Advair 50/500. Almost immediately my breathing became better. I had my life back. I had the energy to start my own business and am doing things I never thought was possible.

Sure, I have experienced some of these side effects...weight gain, moodiness, leg cramps, slight swelling in my throat and a very annoying urge to constantly clear my throat. BUT...I AM ALIVE!

I have read some of these other posts. If you can get by without the Advair then maybe it is not the best choice for you. If simply drinking enough water, as one stated, made me not have to use my albuterol, I would never even consider taking it. Hopefully someday there will be something better that does not have these side effects. But...until then, if you are like me, and need it to literally survive, then these side effects are worth living to spend another day with my family.

Although, I will say that it is a shame that it has to be so expensive. Since there are people that need this medication to survive, they should come up with a better plan to lower the costs.

I have been on advair since 1999, I have gained over 50lbs since I started taking it. It wasn't until earlier this year did I say enough is enough, I can't do this anymore. I will have new insurance on 10/1 and will go to the doc then. I pray there is something else out there other than these inhailed steroids. Now I don't want to be without any meds because this has worked the best so far. I have been on azmacort, servent, q-var, flovent, predinisone, other steriod shots, singular and of course albuterol, slo-bid, proventil. My side effects have been yeast infection (mouth), migraines, rapid heart rate, bad dreams, dizziness and confusion, emotional spells, nausea and of course weight gain. I am glad I found this site. Thanks

i was diagnosed with asthma and given advair 500/50. it was a life saver.
went from coughing 24/7 to ZERO. but could not handle the nervesness and
constant shaking. i also have developed muscle cramps, never thought it could be the advair.
(nervesness, shaking, muscle cramps)

I am 48 yrs old and have been on Advair 500/50 for a little over three years now and although it helped my asthma dramatically in the beginning, everyone around me has commented on the crazy mood swings I have been experiencing for the past two years. I have also developed a very persistent case of thrush in my mouth/throat that never seems to go away-the doctor keeps on asking me if I rinse my mouth and it's starting to get annoying because I'd be an idiot not to rinse out my mouth-I even gargle, but the thrush keeps coming back! Also,my throat always feel tight-I frequently feel like I'm choking and I get hoarseness that interferes with the important thing like reading a book to my son. Recently, I have started bruising very easily. Everytime I mention all these things to my doctor she says that I should stay on the Advair and disregards my complaints about the side-effects. I would really like to stop using it, but I stopped once for Three weeks and I had a really bad bout of tightness in my chest and shortness of breath-any suggestions on how to get off it and what I can do instead?? I forgot to mention that I have gained weight and even dieting won't get the weight off-I am very active and exercise, but the weight stays.

I am 49 years old and have suffered from asthma since I turned 21. I started taking Advair 100/50 in 2000 and have not had an episode since. I have also gained about 50 pounds, lost whatever sleep pattern I had. I find I am pretty emotional but am not sure it can attributed to Advair. I do experience tingling in my hands (pinky and ringfinger only) and am given to bouts of depression and the blues. Last November I tried to switch to Singulair but since I already was developing a cold/congestion it was very ill timed. Had to switch back to Advair after 3 weeks and take some prednisone for a week.
What have you all replaced Advair with when you stopped taking it? I'd really like to know what the alternatives are. Thank you!

OMG, I am so happy I found this site. I have been on Advair for two years. I do feel it has helped my asthma, but I have been having other problems that I didn't relate to asthma until I saw a commercial tonight and heard some of the side effects.

I have had chronic leg pain and have even had problems walking. I am an avid walker and have been walking at least 3 miles every day and I am gaining weight!!! I am really going to continue reading these posts and bring this to the attention of my doctor.

Thank you all for your comments. I may just get to the bottom of my problems.

I've been on Advair for years. I'm a healthy 32 y.o female, active, with severe asthma. Trying to get myself off of it and have been successful at taking the medication once every 3 days or so. I am working out more and need it less often - the more I build up lung capacity. Within the last year, I've noticed that I've been losing eyebrow hair. So much of it, in fact, that I went to the Derm. for a diagnosis. They think it's "alopecia" - and I say ... it's ADVAIR. Anyone else experiencing hair loss or eyebrow loss, who happens to be on an inhaled steroid? In my case, it's only ONE eyebrow - very annoying! Hair on head is fine. Can't help but link it to the drugs, since Alopecia seems just way too far removed.