Puff symptoms and conditions

I've been on Advair for 12 years.I'm 27 years old and fed up with all this medications that doctors prescribe.We are so brainwashed into thinking that we misbehave if we don't see a doctor.Let me tell you what: The majority of the doctors, only know to prescribe medication.They get bonuses from the pharma industries every time they prescribe their "new discovered"medicine.
Advair is supposed to be preventive, what you don't know it's for how long.Exactly!!!.....'cause it's not meant to cure Asthma, it's meant to keep you hooked for the rest of your life.
My worse symptom is a very fast heart beating.I'm a martial artist and every time i exert a fast burst of energy(while i'm sparring for example), my heart goes into pumped up mode.It beats very, very fast and i have to stop because it hurts.Sometimes i keep going no matter what and feel like i'm exercising for two people.When i stop, i breath very deeply for 5 minutes and all of a sudden it stops and beats regularly.
It's not fun, and one more thing: I'm from Argentina and my mom sends me the medicine from there cause it's way cheaper, sometimes i run out(i procrastinate sometimes), i'm left off with no medicine for a few days and boy.....I'm a wreck.The time you stop you go right back to where you started.I've been researching about an alternative to this "S***".I'm afraid 'cause i don't want to feel discomfort with my lungs anymore, but i strongly believe that there should be a natural alternative to all this laboratory drugs and i'm on a mission to find it.

I also had a seizure from advair .In July of 2004 I was on my lunch break . I came home and decided I needed to take the Advair . Which I usually took twice a day . I took a puff and then I immediately felt dizzy fell over the counter and started shaking . I could hear my mother trying to yell my name in my right ear but i was unable to respond . It was the scariest moment of my life . She immediately called the doctor and I never took it again .

My 9 year old daughter got her first shot in Dec. 2008 and her second in Feb. and the last in June. We have have been to the doctor a lot of times due to headaches with the doctor's opinion being that it's "allergies". She is now on allergy shots with still no relief from the headaches. I listened to her pediatrician and got her the shots. I feel so bad now after reading all the problems others are having with this vaccine. She also has had a change in her attitude aggression,moodiness,cries often, and she says she's depressed. If anybody has any suggestions for us please let me know. I love my little girl and know I'm worried.

My eldest son was diagnosed as a Severe Asthmatic at the age of 3. He was put on Flovent 110, 5mg of Zyrtec and Singulair. I cried thinking about my little guy having to be on daily meds for who knows how long. I decided that I would just try the Zyrtec and Flovent 110, it worked wonderfully. When my eldest was 4, my other son, 2, was put on Flovent 44. Never gave them to my youngest because I knew it was not asthma. I ended up lowering my eldest's dose to the 44 and giving him 1 puff a day with the Zyrtec, he is now 7 and is still under control. As for my younger son, he was not asthmatic, he had sleep apnea, had his tonsils and adenoids removed and is now perfect. Just be careful with these doctors, they seem to diagnose these little ones too quickly......most of the time they are not even right. My eldest went through many many doctors before he was finally diagnosed in the ER and sent to peds for 2 weeks. My youngest went through many doctors too, none would do anything, I had so many excuses as to why my son was such a heavy breather and why he had difficulty swallowing and sleeping. Sorry guys, I ran off here, just want you guys to know that all that are diagnosed with asthma do not necessarily have asthma and I believe way too many drugs are prescribed for these little ones.

Wow, I'm so glad I found this site!
I was diagnosed with pleurisy 2 and a half weeks ago following a virus, a few weeks before, so naturally, as my asthma nurse has always told me, I've doubled up my Advair (or Seretide as it's called here in the UK!) for that entire time.
Previously I was taking one puff once a day in an evening which I never had any problems or side effects with, it just controlled my asthma really well. Now I'm taking 2 puffs twice a day (morning and night) and for a few days now I've been having terrible joint pains in my hands, feet, elbows and knees. Have been searching the internet for what it could be and think I might have found the answer! Hopefully if I decrease my meds back down the pain will improve!
Like a lot of people on here, though, I was NEVER told about any potential side effects to Seretide, just that it was a wonder drug.

I have been on advair for 2 years and am starting to experience headaches that last the entire day. It helps with my breathing difficulties and I am unsure if I can just stop taking the medication. Its really difficult for me right now and I'm starting to feel depressed about it. I'm not sure how I'll get through this.

I am a part-time professional singer and attorney. I developed an odd cough-variant asthma this winter at age 42 -- it had scary breath shortness and wheezing plus lots of phlegm coughed up. I had never before had the shortness/wheezing/asthma, though I have always had allergies and occasional bronchitis following a cold. The asthma/allergy specialists put me on Advair 500 twice a day with each attack, plus an oral prednisone burst/short taper, nebulized (not just rescue inhaler) albuterol (beta 2 agonist), and antibiotics (a different one each time). I also take Claritin, Rhinocort and Astelin for my allergies. I had four attacks of asthma this winter that were treated this way; after the fourth, they put me on Advair 250 maintenance for a month. With each attack, I would get hoarse, have trouble sleeping, and get odd muscle cramps I never had had. The hoarseness was worse each time, but I was able to sing through it at my regular gigs. I attributed the side effects to the prednisone. With my fifth attack, they told me to ramp up the Advair to 500 and do all else the same, but as an experiment to see how this would alter those side effects, I decided to treat it with everything but the prednisone. The hoarseness, sleep trouble, and muscle cramps were all much worse. I found this site, noted the recommendation of several other singers to try Asmanex instead of Advair, and asked the docs about it. They agreed that all these symptoms could be related to the Advair and gave me Asmanex 250 twice/day instead instead of the Advair, plus all the other meds for the attack. The symptoms went away within a week, although it took a little longer for me to get over the asthma attack this time. I am extremely grateful to this site and all the users posting comments. I can sing again, sleep again, and exist without weird muscle cramps during treatment of my asthma. Thank you very much.

I have only been taking this drug for about 3 weeks and I could not explain at first but just knew things were off. I can not sleep, have terrible nightmares all night long, wake up at 4 if I do sleep. I am 53 and have long hair and my head itches all the time. I now fear hair loss as I have read in other complaints. My eyes are dry, I just feel off, majorly ! My back and legs ache all the time, especially when I first get up in the morning I can seriously barely move or bend down. I feel like I am 83 instead of 53. I have had no headaches but have had weight gain already, especially in my midsection. I feel off mentally all the time, not able to concentrate at all. I am calling my doctor on Monday and they have to give me something else. Has anyone else had these symptoms and what else can you take or do?

I must admit I am very surprised by all of the side effects of Advair. I have been taking Advair 250 for years and have NEVER had any problems. I'm 28, healthy, thin, and happy. I exercise several times a week. ALL drugs have side effects. I don't think it's fair for anyone to say "don't take Advair, it's a horrible drug" because it works for some of us. I was taking Flovent before but it didn't work for me. I needed a rescue inhaler several times a week. Since I've been taking Advair I don't even fill my prescription for my rescue inhaler! All drugs have side effects, but they don't effect all people!

Update from previous post.One month since I came off lisinorpil. 40 mg per day. I halved my dosage every three days until I stopped. Coming off the drug was worse than quitting smoking. I stopped smoking 3 years ago, not one puff since.
Lets review results.
Heart palpitations - gone
abdominal pain - gone
Stamina - returned
Brain function - returned
running nose - gone
allergy symptoms - gone
erectile dysfunction - gone
starting to lose the weight, 4 years ago 185, max 224 on nov 2008, now 215
normal bowel movements - returned
I actually feel like I remember. I see a chiropractor once a month and went yesterday. She asked me what I was doing differently from my last appointment. Looked like I had lost weight, coloring better, spark in step and face. whole body was less tense. Listen to your body, it will tell you when somethings not right. The only thing I have changed is stopped taking lisinopril. I still take 25mg of hctz. BP is stable. today 130/79.
My ex MD is still puzzled by the results.

49 year old male started 4 years ago at 20mg and 10mg HCTZ. some results in lowering BP. 2 years ago MD upped it to 40mg because BP inching up. quit smoking 3 years ago, not one puff since. After MD upped mg the side affects have really kicked in. I experience all the side effects listed on this site with the exception of the cough which I started with but went away after a couple months. I have had stress tests, Holter monitor for heart arrhythmias, mri, blood work, stool samples, colonoscopy, and all sorts of other tests all coming saying I'm ok, yet I don't feel ok, I get progressively worse. After 4 weeks of 5 day a week exercising with weights and aerobics to get in shape to return to racquetball I have had it. I couldn't last 45 minutes my second day out. I felt like I was hit by a truck and it took a couple days to recover.
My MD attributes the issues to aging. I going for a second opinion and third if necessary. I am told by my MD that there are no studies showing these side affects for this medications. However I look at this web site and find it hard to believe that these doctors just haven't seen any evidence of what we are all suffering from. Why don't doctors really listen to patients. We are asked to listen to our own bodies and told we know our bodies better than anyone, yet when we bring up these issues we are treated like children.
No real answers, just questions

I started taking Advair a few years ago because my doctor suggested it. I noticed after taking for a bit and then stiopping, I would get ill and have bronchitis. After a few episodes of this, I started taking it regularly. I was supposed to be taking it 2x a day but only took it at night. After about a few months of regualry taking it at night, I forgot to take it one evening and woke up in the middle of the night with the worst attack ever. I started testing this with on and off uses of the advair to see what the relationship was and one for one, if I did not take the medication, I had an attack. I believe that the regular use of Advair caused my body to become dependant on it. I wish I had never taken it in the first place. I am now having asthma attacks 1 to 2 times a day and before Advair, once every 3 months or so.

I was diagnosed with asthma as a child. In late teens it seemed to not be problem, however after 50, I started developing symptoms of asthma again as evidenced from COPD tests. I am currently using Advair 250/50 since 55 yo.

One symptom, that I have not seen addressed here is that of "slow healing" after injuries. I injured my back awhile ago, and it seemed like 2 years before most of my symptoms were gone. To this day I still feel lingering effects. Then I scraped my shinbone. It seemed like it took forever to heal, and now there is an ugly red/purple scar where the minor scrape was.

I had never taken so long to heal before, and read that this was a problem with taking Advair. I never figured my asthma was that serious in the first place, so I simply cut back on the Advair to once/day or less as it seems still to keep my breathing OK. Sometimes, after a few days of not taking Advair, I feel some minor difficulty with breathing.

Now that I am 63, and so concerned about "slow healing", which I attribute to Advair, I have asked my Dr. to perhaps take me off Advair and simply take Albuterol when needed. Then I read that Asthma patients should only use Albuterol if that is sufficient to control symptoms and to advance to Advair to control more severe symptoms. Another article says that Albuterol does not heal Asthma, only assists with sudden onset of breathing difficulties and that I may still damage my lungs if I do not take Advair.

I remain at a loss as to what is best: Taking Albuterol when needed (perhaps a few to several times/week) or as I was doing before, contrary to recommended dosage, of 1-2 times/day. Fortunately my Dr. goes along with my changes, but tells me if symptoms get worse, she will put me on Advair 2X's/Day (which I probably will ignore dosage because of healing side effects, and use once/day or less).

I will report back later after trying Albuterol for time without the use of Advair at all.

A few years ago, my doctor prescribed advair to better control my asthma. After a few days, I had an almost fatal reaction to the medication. I woke up feeling fine, took a shower, and got ready for work. I took a puff from the advair discus and immediately felt my throat closing. I started gasping for air and took my rescue inhaler which didn't work at all. The nebulizer didn't work either. Within minutes I collapsed and became unconscious.Luckily, my son was late for work that day so he called 911 and gave me mouth to mouth resuscitation until the paramedics arrived. My blood pressure dropped to 60/30 and I had to be intubated for the first time. I remained unconscious until I reached the hospital. The doctor said the only reason I survived was because my son saved me. If I had been alone that day I'm sure everyone would have assumed that I died from an asthma attack. I wonder how many other people that happened to. Since then, I have been very careful about taking new medications.

i took lupron only once and stopped because of all the side effects. immediate side effects were back pain, MAJOR DEPRESSION and mood swings, blurry vision with extra sleep in the eyes.

i have endo and had a laporoscopy for it but still had pain so doc said to use lupron. it is the worst drug i have had to take with the most side effects. I ONLY HAD ONE SHOT and i STILL HAVE BACK PAIN 6 months later!!!!! i am a drummer and now cannot play the drums. i have tried acupuncture but did not work for me just made pain worse. i also have gotten more acne, blurry vision, stomach issues. my life is not the same and now i have the side effects from LUPRON AND ENDO.

I went to docs for the back pain told them i took lupron they cannot find anything wrong. i went to a rhumatologist also. i am supposed to get a bone scan to see if they can find anything but they are doubtful. the only thing that helps with the side effects are back rubs, heating pads, tiger balm, taking walks, breaks from the computer and an occasional puff from mary jane seems to be the only things that help.

DO NOT TAKE LUPRON THIS DRUG IS BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had been taking singulair for over two years. I am 70 yrs old and in good health except for light asthma, allergy problems. My doctor took me off it. It did some good in the beginning but the last four mts I was continuing to get wheezing and bronchitis infections. I also had a lot of leg pain and was tested for all kinds of blockage, etc. I experienced very painful leg cramping, toes twitching, etc. The only way I could stop it was to pull my toes forward as the worst happened at night and woke me up. I finally found Leg Cramps with Quinine an all natural homeopathic med. It worked like a charm. I didn't know that this was a side effect of Singulair. Since I am off singulair just two weeks. It was replaced with Flovent an inhaler ( 2 puffs 2 x a day to begin and then later it will be 1 puff as the inflammation gets better. It also comes in granules. I am feeling much better and now I am ready to stop Leg Cramps as I feel the singulair may have been causing the problem. While taking Singulair I also had stomach cramps with diarrhea. I will not go back on Singulair. If the cramping returns, I will definitely go back on Leg Cramps with Quinine (available in any pharmacy over the counter and very inexpensive.

I couldn't handle Advair for more that 3 weeks!

Had no problem with lower dose, other than voice changes, but prescription was not strong enough.

Higher dose: Couldn't sleep more than 3 hours per night; Indescribable Depression; Weight gain.

Stopped the Advair cold-turkey. Within 2 full days I was feeling almost human again, but still not my normal self.

In 4 full days feeling like myself and needing to use Albuterol inhaler again.
Advair was fantastic for my asthma, but mental health is equally important.

I've been on Advair for probably 5 years. It has kept my asthma under control very well. Right now I take 250/50 and I'm down to one puff a day. I notice some of the side effects mentioned here, especially leg cramps. My weight has always fluctuated, so I can't blame that on Advair, in fact, I lost 60 pounds a couple of years ago while on Advair. I do have hoarseness that I'm sure is attributed to Advair. I take allergy shots and I'm almost to a maintenance level now. I'm hoping that between the shots, acupuncture, and a low dose of Advair, I will maintain my asthma control without the side effects. By the way, I also take Singulair which I think helps.

i'm 17. I have extremely bad asthma. and i've had it all my life. i remember being 3 taking nebulizers. i don't know it had gotten better, worse or stayed the same over the years. but i started taking asthma preventers medications because it was really out control. i have horrible allergies all together (which really is all asthma is) but little, tiny things will set asthma attack off instantly, like a short breath from under my bed or even steam from the dishwasher o_O. so i needed to go on preventers. i went from prevention inhalers, pills then finally advair.(and no doubt it works the Best) i was still kinda a kid at the time so it was 100/50, im to young to remember any side effects. but 100/50 wasn't cutting it, so i went to 250/50 , im still on it today. its hard to notice rashes, sinus, mental etc, problems because i have soooo many other allergies. plus im taking medications from them to.
i'd say im pretty healthy though, despite asthma i still play sports and i don't have to use my inhaler THAT much when i take advair it does work good, and i don't really notice all the symptoms/ side effects mentioned in the other comments, its a very good possibility some people are just allergic to advair, i was allergic to some meds i was on, plus, advair is a drug. Every drug Will have some kind of side effects unless its all natural. i question albuterol, i'll find myself reaching for puff when i don't even need it. O_O ! even with the new cfc free inhalers they have out.

I am a 50 year old women. I had bronchitis that turned into severe asthma.
Could not stop coughing. I have been on Singulair for over a year. Have had weight gain, Hand numbness,Stomach problems. Even had an colonoscopy but turned up nothing. Now I understand after reading all these posts. The weight gain alone was driving me crazy. Limiting myself to 1200-1400 calories, eating only lean meats and vegetables.Exercising and loosing MINIMAL weight over a 4 month period. I felt like I was doing something wrong. Ive thrown my Singulair away after reading your posts. Will figure out something else if my allergies and or asthma flairs. Just not worth it. Will repost after Ive been off a while.

I began taking Advair 1 puff/twice a day about 6 months ago. I have COPD. I've been very thin for many years. Now I have all this pudginess around my middle. Is that what happens? What about water retention and urinary incontinence? Can all this be Advair related? Will appreciate your response.

I get side effects too, but my horrible coughing is under control. I am prescribed one puff twice a day. I have cold sores in mouth and something on my gum, my dentist said it was a virus. Everything is so expensive.

I tried to cut down on my Advair usage because it's so darned expensive - close to $200 a month. I only did one puff in the morning. I continued taking my Singulair as prescribed, once a day, at night. I had to go back to using Advair twice a day when I found I couldn't walk up two flights of stairs without difficulty breathing. But the thing that I hate the most is the coughing and the yellow mucus. Does anyone have this problem? I breathe better after expelling the mucus but sometimes it's so hard to do, I have actually coughed up blood. I have, also, lost my regular voice. At times I sound completely hoarse, and forget about singing, That's gone. I ask the pharmaceutical companies, if I must continue taking these drugs, can you make a version I can afford!

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

Hi everyone,

I am a 25 year old female who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease one year ago. I stumbled on this website and wanted to share my experiences to let others know they are not alone and that their side effects due to Prednisone are completely normal.

In Nov of 2007, I was in the hospital for a Crohn's flare up and was put on prednisone through IV (240mg/day). After a three days I was released, but one week later, had another flare up and was back in the hospital in December of 2007. This time, I stayed for 6 days and was on 240mg/day again through IV, along with taking Flagyl and fluids for my flare up and infection.

At first, I lost about 10 lbs due to the flare up and all of the medication I was on. However, within 3 weeks time, I gained 28 lbs and was a complete mess. I looked different, felt different and was emotionally and mentally drained.

My side effects included: Severe moon face, buffalo hump, increased appetite, hair thinning and severe hair loss, night sweats where I would have to change pajamas 3-4x a night, OCD to the point where I would have to clean my entire apartment (even if it was already clean), restlessness, anxiety, no sleep and sometimes I would go days without sleeping, increased thirst and dehydration, swollen eyes and headaches, depression and mood swings, upper and lower abdomen swelling and weight gain (28 lbs in 3 weeks), suicidal thoughts, unbearable muscle and joint swelling and aching, forgetfulness and memory loss, blurred vision and dark hair growth on my face near my sideburns and underneath my chin and on the bottom portion of my face. Bottom line: it was unbearable and nobody warned me about the harsh side effects of the drug.

When I left the hospital, I was put on 60mg/day and eventually weaned off Prednisone over the course of 2 1/2 months and took my last 5mg dose in mid- February 2008.

It is now 2 months since I have been off Prednisone and as of now, I have only lost 7 lbs, but much of the moon face has gone away and I don't seem as swollen in my chest. My appetite returned to normal the day I stopped taking the drug and my mood swings subsided one week after stopping Prednisone. I still have the buffalo hump, but it stopped hurting and I am now able to sleep through the night. The fluid retention seems to have moved south towards my legs, arms, and lower abdomen. My doctors say that within about 6 months after stopping Prednisone, most of the fluid retention should go away and they recommend walking for 45-60 minutes/day to help with the fluid/weight gain.

Overall, prednisone helped to save my life and put my Crohn's into remission, but is one of the WORST drugs I have ever taken. My heart goes out to anyone who has had to take this drug and trust that you are not alone--and the side effects are real and they are harsh. I am slowly seeing that it takes time for the prednisone to leave your system and my doctors say that every day there is less and less in my body.

Stay positive, stay active & stay Healthy!!