Advair Diskus and clear my throat

I was diagnosed with asthma after 34 years of a very athletic life. My dr. prescribed me predisone, proventil, singular and ADVAIR!! Although the predisone was for a 7 day period, the other three meds. I was to take indefinetly. For someone who has never been on any medication, this was a very hard adjustment!! I took all meds. for about 6 wks. but my gut feeling was just telling me to stop, so after blurriness of vision, weight gain, shakiness, loss of sleep,mood swings,loss of concentration, severe heart burn(especially at night), breast tenderness, back pain and the need to clear my throat all the time I took it upon myself to get off the drugs!! I stopped about a week ago and am feeling a slight shortness of breath but I'm going to stay on top of it and work out on building up my lungs and flushing all these medications out of my system. Sometimes doctors are to quick to diagnose a person and put them on unnecessary medications. I believe on our bodies having the capability of healing themselves with natural elements. I'm on my way to a natural product store to find a healthier way to heal my body. Thank you all for the comments!! I'm relieved to know that I made the right choice on stopping ADVAIR!!!!

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.

Sept. 4, 2007 I am now 55 yrs old and have been on ADVAIR for 2 1/2 years. I recently stopped taking it because my insurance co-pay was maxed out for the year. It was going to cost me $235 for a disk and I didn't want to pay it. So it's been two weeks now. OMG, the differences I am noticing. My weight is dropping and I'm not doing anything different. I have gained about 20 pounds. Then when I started reading some of the side effects of ADVAIR on line I realized I had almost all of them. Fuzzy thinking, bloating (especiallly right after eating), disturbing dreams, hoarseness and the constant need to clear my throat, digestive problems and heartburn all the time, foot cramps, feel tired and rundown, heart palpitations out of the blue like just sitting at the computer or watching TV, weight gain.

So already no more bloating, dropped 5 pounds, sleeping without the bad dreams, more energy. I'm feeling better on a daily basis. I have an Albuterol inhaler that I have used, but just drinking enough water helps. I plan on seeing a Naturopathic doctor soon to try a natural way to deal with my asthma.