My husband was given a sample of this for a month-long bout of br...

Thank you for posting your experience. I have been on this drug about two weeks and have all but lost my voice. I manage a country club and have to be able to speak to members all the time. After reading your post, I have decided to quit taking this tonight and go back to Serevent.

I have known for some time that drug companies are a necessary evil and often more evil than necessary. Same thing with insurance companies. I am 55, female, and was asthma diagnosed in 1997. I have been on Advair 250/50 for about 5 years. I only take it once a day due to cost. Partly because of that, my asthma is not as well managed as it possibly could be. I have several of the side effects, most of which are mentioned in the info. that comes with the Advair and also mentioned in this forum. So far, it seems that GSK (Advair makers) are more responsible than some other Rx companies - no Vioxx type problem (yet!) and they did put the black box warning about heart trouble. My problem now is mainly with my MD, who does not seem to take my side effect concerns seriously. So far, I don't have cataracts, or osteoporosis. I do have high blood pressure, but I'm not sure how much of that is from the Advair and how much is from weight, heredity, and little-to-no exercise. He put me on BP medication and so far it's helped a little. Any medication can start a vicious cycle with side effects vs. effectiveness and interactions with other meds. All I can say is educate yourself and ask a lot of questions until you get answers!! It's YOUR body and you must be assertive (but not aggressive) about your healthcare. Don't ever give up.

I totally lost my voice for 5 months after using advair. I did not use it in this 5 month period and my voice came back about 80%. My asthma flaired up in June and I used it again not knowing that the advair may have been the casue. My doctors thought it was due to a viral infection. After two days of use I totally lost my voice again.

Has anyone else responded?

i am interested in your story as i was also a user of advair and recently spent some time in a cardiac icu.the conclusion was that i had suffered a vasospasm of the coronary artery.cause unknown.the doctors were not at all interested in my theory that advair may have attributed to my condition.after reading yours and others reports i am convinced that it did indeed have something to do with my attack.i am a healthy 46 year old.non smoker non drinker vegetarian with a normal heart(this was confirmed after a cardiac catheterization.Have you any information that might be usefull to me.i would greatly appreciate it!.thanks.

I would be interested in joining a class action law suit against the makers of levaquin.

If you are, too, please write to me at: politicalrisks@hotmail.com.

Thanks...

Your doctor should have told you to rinse your mouth out after using this medication. Indeed, the package insert/instructions for use clearly indicate that there is a risk of fungal infection in using this corticosteroid and that the patient should be sure to wash their mouth out after each use. I have been using Advair for several years now for asthma control, have followed the instructions and have never experienced this symptom.

This is a well-known risk with this class of drug and route of administration.

Regarding a class-action lawsuit, my 2 cents-worth follows: The pharmaceutical companies follow a rigorous and painstaking approach to mitigating safety risks related to their products, both before and after FDA approval. In this case, the risk of contracting thrush is something that is well-known, but there are adequate steps provided in the instructions for proper use of this medication meant to help avoid this type of condition.

The overarching approach taken by both the pharma industry and the FDA is to assess and weight benefits vs. risks. In this case, at least for the vast majority of patients, the benefits demonstrated by administration of this product, in terms of symptomatic relief and overall asthmatic control/pulmonary function far outweigh the risk of contracting a fungal infection, especially if used properly (i.e., washing and rinsing after each use!).

Regarding the funding of FDA's operating budget by pharma: would it be better if the American taxpayers footed this bill? Each company pays on the order of $1 million in fees just to have their product applications reviewed, with the uncertainty that the FDA will even approve it. This process is well-documented and is transparent for a reason – the FDA is not in bed with pharma, rather this fee-based approach helps to distance the two so an appropriate arms-length relationship is created.

If people want to go after an "evil" pharmaceutical company for marketing a product that benefits so many patients, but which carries with it a small, manageable risk (all drugs do), then so be it. Why not go after every corporation out there, because surely the smog they create (pick an industry), the fatty foods they peddle (fast foods) or the inability to adequately protect their occupants (big auto) – i.e., the risks – are clearly bad enough that we can ultimately live without them and the economy/standard of living – i.e., the benefits – each of these industries have created for our society.

You are assuming that I did not follow the proper precedures which is far from the truth. I do rinse my mouth after each use. I have been on Advair for a few years and this was the first negative experience with it.
I do not have nor did I ever have a yeast infection. This was confirmed by my doctors after having scopes up my nose and cameras down into my vocal cords I LOST MY VOICE TOTALLY. I DID NOT HAVE HORSNESS. After the second time of losing my voice it has yet to come back. I have permenant damage to my voal cords.

In addition, the postings on this site are not the only postings of people complaining about loosing their voices TOTALLY. My vocal cord PARALYSIS happened just two days after going back on Advair after 5 months. I was also on Advair the first time my vocal cords just stopped working for no reason. I can connect the dots as well as anyone else can. You are most likely a hired gun from the pharma industry paid to post your 2 cents worth. I hope big pharma did not pay you more than 2 cents, because that is all your postings as worth. I am living the experience of vocal cord paralysis the experience of which needs to be known by all using this drug.

They recommend to rinse mouth thoroughly after each use with advair, I got thrush in the beginning, til i finally smartened up and read the information that comes with it. You cant sue, if they warn you to rinse to avoid getting thrush or any other infections.