My son was prescribed Advair for his asthma a week ago. He has b...

I have done research on this, interviewing numerous doctors about their experiences with asthma. Your doctor has seen how devastating and deadly an asthma attack can be, especially in a child, if it is uncontrolled. Ask him about what could happen to your child if you just rely on emergency inhalers. If you or your child has asthma symptoms twice a week or more, and you are having to use emergency inhaler, please talk to your doctor and get another maintenance med before you go off Advair. There is Symbicort now, and other options available. You could also see if he could lessen your dosage to see if that works. If you go off maintenance meds, you or your child could end up hospitalized or dead. Also, emergency inhalers have more serious side effects if used frequently - like Cushing syndrome ("moon face") or osteoporosis. If you are on a lower dose of corticosteroid with a bronchial combo treatment (Advair, Symbicort), the side effects will be lessened. It's hard to keep taking meds when you don't have symptoms, but it's preventing potential death. The risks of uncontrolled asthma outweigh the risk of the medication. Only very rarely do asthmatics suffer these extreme side effects. Talk to your doctor about the side effects! You have other options of treatment if one has adverse effects.