Bad throat symptoms and conditions

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 started taking 750mg of Levaquin last Thursday, March 20, 2008, for a strep throat infection that was not responding to 500 mg. of Penicillin. I took Levaquin last summer due to another bad throat infection and had absolutely no side effects. However, this time I am experiencing a raft of them, from awful insomnia and sluggishness and tiredness, to sever headaches and coughing. I suffer from depression and this is effecting my reaction to the depression medication. I am feeling more depressed.

A few days ago, my head started to hurt near my left eye, and my skull became very sensitive on the top left side, midway between the middle of the skull and my left ear. If I cough, it feels as if my head is about to explode. To make matters worse, whenever I try to speak, I start coughing , which in turn hurts my head. My head is painful to the touch.

This is awful. Can anyone help me out with some pain relief or something?

Mikal

To everyone who thought they were experiencing heartburn after taking Advair:

I experienced what I thought was heartburn, but as it turns out is was a really bad throat infection that spread throughout my body. I'm on Amoxycillin right now, and it seems to be doing the trick. It started as "heartburn," then a pain in my throat on the right side, and numbness, dizziness and nausea. After starting the Amoxycillin this past Friday, the pain in my throat subsided yesterday morning, and now the heartburn feeling is back, but that's subsiding as well. It's like the infection is retreating from the antibiotics and will hopefully be gone by the end of the week. After almost three months of freaking out, it looks like I've finally got a cure!

I hope this helps all who are experiencing the "heartburn" feeling. Demand antibiotics. You know your body better than anyone.