She was honest symptoms and conditions

This past November I got the flu, as did my husband and daugther. The day after Thanksgiving I started to have some difficulty breathing. I went to the doctor and they prescribed an inhaler for me, which did nothing. I went back to the dr. again and she prescribed an anxiety medication and combivent and told me that it was just anxiety. Why would she prescribed combivent (which is strictly used for COPD) if I supposedly just had anxiety? I went to another doctor and he informed me that I had pneumonia and broken ribs. He prescribed prednisone and Advair. Since taking Advair the quality of my life has gone downhill tremendously. I have gained upwards of 30 pounds, have a swollen (and painful) stomach, have lost my voice (I cannot speak above a whisper), I'm having excruciating pain in my right hip joint, it hurts if I put any weight on the heels of my feel, and my back is killing me. Advair has not helped me in ANY way. It has not helped my breathing, in fact, it's made it worse.

When I informed my doctor of this he acted like I was crazy. He said it was completely safe and that I had nothing to worry about. So, I went to a pulmonologist...and he told me to stay on the Advair also! Even though they're aware of the fact that it hasn't helped me! I found it ironic that someone stated on here that they thought the dr.'s might be getting a kickback for prescribing it, because I thought the exact same thing!

I have been off of Advair for 4 days now and there has been no improvment. I called the company that makes Advair and the woman I spoke with said she was "in shock" that the dr.'s kept me on that medication with the side effects I'm having. According to her, 5% of people using Advair will experience "hoarsness," which is a grand understatement...it's more like loss of voice. She said she was filing a report with the FDA and we would receive a copy of it. When I asked her if this could have caused permanent damage, she was honest with me. According to her there is now a study for people who have been on Advair for 2 years, then off of it for a year, and they still have their symptoms. She also said that the study stated that there was no difference between long-term use and short-term use. Which basically means that it doesn't matter if you've been on it for 2 months or 2 years, if you're going to have a reaction...you'll have it.

I'm praying this isn't permanent. I'm only 37 and this is miserable to have to deal with while running my business and taking care of my family.