Azmacort symptoms and conditions

my doctor precribed 1 puff twice a day , but i had to use 2 puffs twice a day, has anyone else had to use 2 puffs twice a day? also ihad the severe leg pain likea charley horse. also i think i had chest pain on the right side, trying to go to one puff twice a day. but i really need 2. before was taking combivent 4 times a day. with azmacort.let me know what dosage your doctor prescribed for your advair hfa. please reply at once if possible.

tkram48358@aol.com

I am very skeptical of all of the claims I have read here. I am no advocate of GSK or any other drug company for that matter, but I think people are getting carried away with attributing their symptoms to Advair. The known side-effects are readily available, anything else is purely based on assumption. I agree that Advair may in fact have many more possible adverse effects than they let the public know, but let us be careful about making ourselves little scientific researchers and concluding a causal relationship based upon a single case study (and an informal one at that). Talk to your doctor about trying something with less risk, such as Singulair, Azmacort, Intall, Fluticasone Propionate, etc. Please though, be careful not to be so quick to claim generalizable findings based on your specific case. I myself am going to work with my physician to attempt a gluten-free diet and a less invasive medication therapy. Advair is not habit-forming or addictive, so withdrawals are doubtful at best. Read up on the pharmacology of Advair (salmeterol in particular), and you can come to your own conclusions. Best wishes to all of you fellow asthmatics!

I am 41 and recently diagnosed with asthma. 2 weeks ago was put on asmanex, 60 doses. and for the last week, have had serious joint pain. to the point i almost couldn't walk. i am an avid runner so this has been devastating. dr's reassured me it's not caused by the meds and i could have been exposed to 5th disease which has similar issues in adults. i have quit taking the asmanex to see if the pain goes away. has anyone else experienced this? i see alot of similar symptoms with advair so not sure what med i want to consider. i honestly feel worse now than i did a month ago before i knew i had asthma. any meds out there that don't cause pain??

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 am a 30 year old female. I was prescribed Advair in January when I had maxed out the dosage for Azmacort (which I had been on for close to six years) and was on my second dosage of prednisone. At that time, I could not walk across the room without getting winded. I spent most of my days wrapped up in a blanket in my rocking chair. My general practioner referred me to a pulmonary specialist as he wasn't sure what to do with me. The pulmonary specialist is the one who prescribed the Advair.
The dosage I was prescribed was 500/50. I immediately cited the "increase of asthma-related death" and was told the study was flawed. I can't recall the name of the study, but I did read through it and it wasn't a well-thought out study. So I gave it a chance. I did not read the side effects flyer because I wanted to give the medication a fair chance.
My breathing immediately got better, but I've put on 25 lbs since starting the medication (had to go out and buy new pants and tops). I've also experienced nosebleeds. Sometimes I can feel them start and sometimes I can't. It's a little nervewracking because I don't know if I'm going to have one in public. I've had a lot of weird dreams over the last six months that I didn't think to be a side effect of the drug... now I'm beginning to wonder.
Another thing I have experienced since starting the drug is random blinding headaches that leave me sensitive to light. I'll go to work and have to decrease my computer monitor brightness and turn down the lights.
As a result of the weight gain, I have been watching what I eat. I've increased fruit and vegetable intake, reduced the amount of high fructose corn syrup I ingest. In all, I'm probably treating my body better than I ever did. Unfortunately, the weight has not come off.
My pulmonary specialist has brushed off any of these concerns that I have raised.

I'm a 36 year old triathlete. I started taking Advair 3-4 years ago. I noticed immedialty that my wheezing stopped. For this reason, I thought the medicane worked well. I also noticed that heavy excersion activities became a little harder. Initially I thought it was allergies. I had less wind. I kept taking Advair because it stolpped the wheezing. 3 months ago I changed my dose from 100 to 250. My lungs started feeling heavier and it was harder for me to breath. I decided to stop taking Advair 3 days ago. I'd have headaches once in a while with Advair but I never noticed any other problems. I've stopped taking Advair for 3 days now. I feel like I can take deep breaths again. I also feel like I'm going through a withdrawal. I've had an intense headache. I'm sure it will go away. The big test will be over the next week. I'll see how I feel when I'm training. I'm not sure if my Asthma is bad enough to take medicane but I'll see. I'll keep Albueteral close by just in case. I'll post again in 1-2 weeks.

I have been on Advair 250/50 for about 2 years. About 6 months ago I started experiencing feelings of heat on my back....like hot/cold clammy feeling. Hard to explain. My skin feels cool to the touch even when I feel like I am burning up. I feel more or less normal when I wake up and then progressively get these sensations of heat as the day progresses. The steroid in the Advair makes it hard to keep my weight where it should be. Before I was on Advair, I was on Albuteral inhaler, Atrovent and Azmacort. I notice, too, that immediately after inhaling Advair, it is hard to breathe for about 30 minutes. Hoarse voice comes and goes. I think I will try to go back to my previous meds or maybe ask if I can go on Foradil and another type of inhaled steroid as I have a strong asthma component with my Emphysema.

I have been using Azmacort (Corticosteriod) for the treatment of my Asthma for over 8 years with great success. With the new laws elimating the use of CFC propellents by the end of 2005, I decided to go to my Allergist to discuss possible alternatives. She immediately prescribed Advair telling me that it contained both a Corticosteriod and a long acting bronchodilator (Serevent).

I started using the 250/50 Advair diskus and within a week was experiencing all of the symptoms describe by other users:

Stomach Bloating
Anxiety
Constant throat clearing
Hoarseness
Sleeplessness/Night sweats
Chest tightness
Worsening Asthma

I immediately went back to my Allergist the very next week and told her of the problems I was having. After a complete check-up, including a breathing test, I was told everything appeared normal and that there was no explanation for the problems I was experiencing. She reluctantly told me that I could go back to using the Azmacort, which I did, and all of the symptoms eventually disappeared within a couple of weeks.

I have been researching Azmacort articles and found that KOS pharmaceutical has acquired a 10 yr agreement to produce Azmacort, along with testing of non CFC propellents.

From my personal assumption, it appears that the Servent additive of Advair may have been the cause of my problems.

Also I have been wondering whether the diskus (powder) was effective in reaching my lungs, or was it just hitting the back of my throat and being ingested into my stomach causing both the throat and stomach problems I experienced.

One thing for sure, I will NEVER use Advair again.

Had been using Azmacort for over 5 years with great results. Was switched to Advair, because I was informed that Azmacort was being phased out because of the CFC/Ozone laws being put into effect. (Azmacort uses a CFC propellent). My doctor prescribe Advair and gave me a starter sample. After just one week of being on Advair my Asthma symptoms went from great to horrible. Within that short period of time I experienced tightness in my chest, constant clearing of my throat, stomach bloating, increased anxiety, tremors and night sweats.

I still had a current prescription for Azmacort and returned to using that. Within a week my chest tightness has gone away, my constant throat clearing has disappeared, I have been able to sleep through the night without waking up in a pool of sweat and no longer have the anxiety, but still experience the bloated stomach feeling.

After doing some research, on my own, I have found that Azmacort will still be on the market for at least another 10 years and they are working on a CFC free propellent.

I will be sticking with Azmacort and will NEVER try Advair again.

I too suffered tremendous leg and toe cramps with advair 250/50. Two doctors both agreed it was the blood pressure medicine I was taking (a diuretic). They recommended that I take potassium pills (OTC) to replace the electrolytes lost. The cramps did subside, usually when I took 6-8 potassium pills....it looked like they were correct.....however, I ran out of Advair so I resumed taking Azmacort until I could get my Advair Rx refilled. Guess what, I stopped taking the potassium & I didn't have any cramps !...it had to be the Advair, not the blood pressure medicine! It's amazing how doctors can be so naive about this!

I am a 39 year old woman who switched from Azmacort to Advair in December for a few weeks. After that short of time, I felt me throat feel like it was closing up, I was agitated, and one morning after a week of building symptoms, took my blood pressure which was 20 pts higher than usual. I also had burning in my chest and felt on the verge of a panic attack. Since then I was prescribed Pulmicort, and it has been so much better.

I also accessed this site mainly because of my son who is 6. He was diagnosed with cough variant asthma and some allergy to outdoor mold. The doctor started him on Advair, and over the last month or so, the behavior change has been startling. He has been very agitated, clearing his throat constantly, wetting the bed, saying he was"scared" at bedtime, saying he was "happy on the outside but sad on the inside", and being so hyperactive and inattentive as to be staring right at him when telling him something, and he would totally go off and do what you just told him not to, and be genuinely confused as to why he was in time out.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the allergist and have had him off of advair for four days. Already the throat clearing has stopped and the behavior has subsided. I am also hoping to keep him off of singulair as well after hearing about those side effects and see if we can manage for now. Thanks for all of the helpful info and we will see.

My unabashed opinion - do whatever you can to get yourself OFF Advair - then, off of Corticosteroids, too. I'm a 39 year old, 5'2", 95lb. , athletic woman. First daignosed with Asthma when pregnant with first child, 6 years ago. Immediately put on Azmacort throughout remainder of pregnancy, and beyond. OK, diagnosed with Preecclampsia during labor (dangerously high blood pressure), then, severe post partum depression. Also, kept feeling like I was blacking out or fainting. Continued for months, until I requested an MRI - diagnosed with "WORST SINUS INFECTION THEY HAD EVER SEEN". Ok, finally a bit better - then, started having severe Anxiety / Panic Attacks - Many times to ER. Therapy and anidepressants prescribed. Knew that Paxil and Celexa felt REALLY bad - weaned myself off. THat resolved those. Next - multiple repeated sinus infections. And, since all colds go directly to my chest, which causes my Ashtama - that was bad. Put on ADVAIR about two years ago, after my second child. Since then, I've had:

Meningitis (unknown source)
Shingles
Repeated Infections
Headaches
Arthric joints
Urinary Tract Infections
Pain / Weakness in Arms
Heart Palpatations
Mood Variations - severe bad moods
and, much more

NOTE: prior to my first experience with steroids - I've NEVER taken any medication - not even Antibiotics (for 25 years)

Last week, I just had it. I had already instructed my Dr. to lower my dose of Advair to 100/50. I had been on 250/50. I was on that for over a month, but still felt awful. Most notable side effect was nervousness, and anger. Just instructed him to put me on Flovent 44. (One of the components of Advair). Two days later - nervousness has stopped significantly. Also, much lower resting heart rate. I'm going to an Osteopath next week. I want off of everything, soon!

I have had asthma my whole life, and as a professional opera singer, getting it under control was crucial. After years of singulair, serevent, azmacort, rescue inhalers, and nebulizers......and after a massive attack that put me in the hospital....I was put on Advair. This was about 1 1/2 years ago, and I was thrilled to be able to breathe and sing long phrases and to be able to run and exercise without my rescue inhaler..but slowly side effects began to appear. At first it was weight gain, and then an incredible inability to shed any weight. Then, depression set in, the reflux, and the constant hoarseness and voice issues (not good for business!) But all my doctors were adamant that the Advair was not the cause.

Horrifyingly, I have just been diagnosed with vocal cord cysts that the ENT's believe may have been caused by the Advair and accompanying reflux, since they have ruled out every other possibilty. I have lost my first major opera job, and am unable to sing professionally.....until I can find the money to get the cysts surgically removed, and even then there is no guarantee.

This is a true nightmare! The ENT has urged me to wean off and stop taking the Advair so we can stem any further damage...... and I am so sad about losing my voice...it is who I am and how I communicate and now it is gone.

I never knew that with Advair the choice was either to breathe or sing, the goal was to do both.

If you sing....do NOT take Advair, please.

HUNGER..i ate a 7/11 big bite for breakfast the otehr day!! GROSS!! also pms'ing though. Nasty nasty taste in my mouth, anxiety, heart palps, the works. quitting it and azmacort, cant deal, back to epinephrine and herbal cures (clear lung)