Advair Diskus side effects

i am 58 diagnosed with copd 2 years ago i was never sick and worked construction since 1969 but i did smoke 3 packs a day i thought my 30 lbs weight was from not smoking anymore im sure some is but not all of it i have been reading about the side effects other people have and i have more than i realized the worst besides the weight gain is the heart rate i recently was hospitalized for it if we are sick we need medicine but i don't know about this i have read about people who have stopped taking advair and then became worse when they had to go back it damed if you do and damed if you don't all i know is that i am retired and cant afford a $1000.00 hospital stay and now that i think about it i had two other 3 day stays in the hospital for lung infections and yes i get moody have headaches chest pains sore joints im on my way to getting old i don't think all those things are from age i think the advair has to go good luck

I was on Advair for less than a year and the Doctor's kept upping my dose. I went off of it for about 4 months last spring because of the weight gain issue. then I got sick with a respiratory infection last summer and Dr. put me on it again -- and I started immediately having jaw pain and terrible headaches. Went to dentist and found out my teeth were disintegrating (called resorption). I go to dentist every 6 months for cleaning and have xrays each year and never had a problem or cavities. Genetically both sides of my family have very strong teeth for their entire life (into their 90's). So I saw many dental specialists and surgeons and it was baffling to them. I'm 44 years old and now my teeth and jaw are a total mess. I've had my front teeth pulled and multiple bone grafts. The reconstruction process (if it works) will take more than a year and over $25,000 (not covered by insurance). And my Doctors still don't know if my other teeth now showing problems will also eventually fail as well.

And I didn't associate the Advair with the problem until I started to take Advair again (2 months after last jaw surgery) and almost immediately my mouth start gushing blood from where the bone grafts were healing. I stopped Advair again -- waited 2 weeks and took it again (just to make sure) and again severe bleeding occurred. I wrote the scientists that were testifying before the FDA's Advair Black Box hearing that this drug should be illegal. At 44 years old I am looking at the prospect of being disfigured for life, no less and issue is the enormous cost that it presents -- and who is going to hire someone with missing front teeth (it has destroyed my career as well).

Before I took Advair I never had joint pain, GI issues, much less teeth/jaw issues and now this is my reality everyday. I feel like I aged 20 years by taking Advair for 1 year. I also know that this damage is permanent and likely to continue to get worse despite having stopped the drug. I think GSK knows how dangerous this really is. I also think it stays in your body a lot longer than they say it does. We know it kills people and they admit it does. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

All Steroids are equally terrible -- stay away from Prednisone, Pulmicort, Nasonex -- they are all killers.

I started on Advair on January 14, 2008. Soon after that I developed
dermatitis on my legs which I was treated for and it went away.
Shortly thereafter, on occasion, my legs would itch so badly at times that I though I would have to SCRATCH!!!!!! FOREVER!!!!!!! Not a good situation. It is now a year later. I resorted to using a Psoriasis cream and with Benadryl , knock on wood, I have been two days without itching. Keeping my fingers crossed. The Advair has really helped with my asthma, but I'm wondering if
anyone has had this side effect?

I have been taking advair for years on and off. I was upped my dose to 250/50 and for the last year have struggled with feeling terrible. I didn't really think it was the advair for a long time. Thought it was something else and the doctors didn't find anything wrong, they were looking at hepatitis, thyroid, adrenal etc. But I feel sickly all the time, like I have the flu... those body aches all in my back and chest and I feel tired all of the time. My lungs sometimes hurt. I get dizzy spells as well and am struggling through my day. Has anyone experienced this on Advair? I have just decided to go off and use my inhaler... which I am trying not to use unless I am really wheezing. Trying to get all the steroid out of my body to see if that makes a difference. How long will it take before the advair is totally out of my system? I am so tired of feeling so tired and sick. Please if anyone has experienced I'd like to know I am not alone.

I just started taking Advair 100/50 on Friday night. I've had 2 doses and after both doses I've gotten a headache and a burning sensation on my tongue. I've rinsed well both times and drank a lot of water after the fact. The burning sensation lasts for several hours. My asthma seems better but I know I can't work with the headache. I was on Singular but wasn't taking it regularly...took it regularly for a couple of weeks and my asthma was acting up..mostly in the morning and the night was having to use my rescue inhaler more than I want. I'm trying to decide what other medicine I want to ask my doctor to put me on when I call Monday. Any suggestions?

I would like to say something about advair that is POSITIVE. I have taken this drug, with NO SIDE EFFECTS for 5 years now and it has made a huge difference in my life.
I have had no isues with thrush (i rinse and spit) or weight gain or hair loss or coughs-

please don't condem a drug just based on your experience. reading through these comments I see a lot of times this has been prescribed fr folks who were not ashthmatic or with COPD. This drug is not for folks who don't have hyper reactive airways-but for those of us who do, it has been a lifesaver.

BTW I changed careers 2 years ago and entered the health field as a Respiratory therapist and adair has helped many many people. But its not a miracle drug-it has a specific purpose and if hat is not your problem, its not likely to be a good solution.

I'm a 56 year old male who has been taking 500/50 Advair since it came out - about 9 years ago or so. Having severe asthma since my mid-twenties, this medication has been the best for me than anything else, and has greatly limited my dependency on prednisone and has kept my general well-being fairly stable. I always try to cut back when I'm breathing better, but have never been able to skip more than one day before asthma symptoms begin to come back. So far, I have notice no side effects! Anyone know what's up with that?
Also, I've tried everything under the sun to naturally get away from all medications, but have never been even close to successful....but I'm still looking.

I've had all these same symptoms at one point during the two years I've been taking Advair. I've had exercise induced asthma since I was 18 but I can still work out at age 38 regularly with the help of Albuterol/Proventil. I stopped taking Advair after I completed my last disk in Sept, 08. It all makes sense now after the fact from reading here. Firstly, I cant tell you how severe the muscle cramps were. No words can describe upper body cramping in every muscle that I endured for weeks (it felt like knives all over)!!! The same happened with my legs...the muscles became so tight they contorted! My Dr. gave me an m.r.i. took x-rays and several blood tests...even gave me an h.i.v. test because he had no idea what would cause all these symptoms. He said it was "complicated". The test results found nothing. All lof my symptoms are gone now that I've stopped taking it (mouth sores, bleeding gums, strange skin lumps, hair loss, dry eyes, swollen tongue feeling, lump in throat feeling, severe cramping all over my body for 3 weeks). The Dr. noted that I had gained 10lbs since my last visit. I told him, "I've barely been able to MOVE with this cramping much less exercise with my regular weekly routine!" "It even hurts to breath deeply!" I still have a dry cough that hasn't gone away and normally I clear up after the seasonal rag weed season is over. We have had two hard frosts already...that usually clears my allergies.

Well it is 5:02 am and thanks to Advair I am still wide awake.
So here goes my experience of taking only two (2) doses of advair.
In my part of the world there is this cold virus that everyone wants to pass on. Seems this monster will stay with you for 3-6 weeks and no meds seem to help. I now am going into my third week dealing with this leach. So today I went to see my doc. He took a listen to my lungs and said wow you really are sick.....dah I was thinking. So he gave me advair and suggested I take a dose right then. I did thinking boy I hope this helps. He then told me to take my second dose in the evening. After I returned home I go the shakes. I just chalked it up to not eating breakfast and went on about my day. I did eat, but I still wasn't feeling right and of course thinking it was the cold virus taking it tole on me. I was nearing 6:00 and I knew I had to be out the door by 6 to go coach my girls basketball team. So before I headed out the door I took my second dose of advair. When I arrived at the gym I was really shaking and my vision was a bit off. I had my son get me a candy bar thinking I just might need some sugar. Now I haven't had a candy bar in years, it is just not my thing, but I was desperate at this time. I told my son as he helps me coach that I wasn't feeling right and if you see me start to go down, you better catch me before I hit the floor..Finally I made it through the ballgame and got home. It wasn't long until I started getting these super sharp chest pains, a pounding headache, and then my arms started feeling numb....I am thinking oh no....I told my hubbie you better call 911, but before he made the call we started discussing the meds the doc gave me today. I had no information on advair, because it was a sample and the doc threw the information in the trash. I never though one thing about it he has been my doc for years. I go to my computer and look for information and side effects for this drug and bingo it described all my symptoms right on the nose. In my reading also I found the FDA voted down the recall on this drug 12-0.
Anyway I voted to stay home, stay awake, sit by the phone, and let the family sleep. After reading the side effects I knew what was going on and in reading also the doctors do not have a magic pill to help, but they can give you a handful of pills to help each of your symptoms and oh boy just what I need more drugs with more side effects.
As I await for all the alarms to go off I still have a slight headache, still a little shaking, the muscles in my arms and legs are still a bit numb, and I still have some chest pain. I will go see another doctor today just for piece of mind or the kids will drag me there anyway.
Now, you have my story of what advair did to me in just one day. I wonder how many others it has effected and how many had to spend hundreds of dollars to find the answer...

I must go now and thanks for reading my story and also I hope everyone is doing well after your experience with advair.....

i've been taking the 100/50 advair for years now. i have only ever taken one dose a day, frankly out of cheapness. i was unwilling to take anything that expensive twice a day! in the beginning of my asthma experience, i was also put on singulair but again, when i filled the prescription and saw how much it cost, i never refilled it (boy, am i grateful for that after reading what people have posted about it!)
i cough up lots of yellow glom from my lungs and i blow similar stuff from my nose. a CT scan showed my sinuses to be completely blocked with polyps and the doctors said that if i had the surgery, i could get off advair.
in dec of 2006, i had the surgery but within weeks of going without advair, my lungs were tight again and i couldn't breathe and had to do a week of prednisone to open things up. back to advair for maintenance, but this time the surgeon added 2 nasal sprays (veramyst & astelin) and other inhalers (ventolin & maxair), plus wanted me to go to an allergy doctor for immunology injections.
the surgeon also told me that polyps could grow back in a month after surgery! wish he had told me this before the surgery. i certainly knew that they could grow back but i figured i'd have a good 20 years! now i'm told that i need these 4 other medications, plus advair, plus allergy shots to keep my polyps from growing back!
i still have no sense of smell, i still sniff, cough up glom and have constant sinus infection, just like i did before having a $25,000 operation!
however, i don't take the other medication- just the advair once a day or once every other day.
i never thought i had any side effects until i started reading here. happily i have not gained weight. but a few years ago, i did notice a lot more hair in the shower drain. and my voice is often hoarse. i didn't connect this to advair use until i read people's complaints here.
i am determined to get off this crap!
i have a resistance pump to exercise my lungs and strengthen their capacity.
also trying a dry salt inhaler and various supplements.
this is a great site. we need to get all our complaints to the FDA- they have to stop allowing drug companies to profit while using us as unsuspecting guinea pigs

I have been having problems that I just realized may be related to using
Advair. I take 250/50 two times a day. I have not felt good for several months. I feel fuzzy headed, feel like my left lung is constantly congested, and have recently started having muscle stiffness in my calves and feet in the morning. I had blood drawn this morning but I think I may talk to my doctor about my concerns.

After reading all the side effects from Advair. I am glad I decided to wean myself off this horrible drug. My pulmonologist gave me a sample after I was diagnosed with asthma in March. Before I was diagnosed with asthma I had a severe bout of bronchitis followed by pneumonia. At first I felt much better using Advair, but then the horror kicked in. I experienced hoarseness and felt like I had an obstruction in my throat. I am not going into all of the side effects I experienced with this drug because it is a repeat of what people are saying on this website.

I stopped taking it two weeks ago. I am already noticing how much better I feel. The withdrawal has been difficult. I have no intention of taking this drug again. I plan on using alternative medicine in the future.

This drug must be taken off the market!!!!

I am a 58 year old women.I have been on advair for three years. I have gained a few pounds and have bone loss in my left jaw. Resulting from taking advair. Went to see my family doctor about the bone loss. He has taken me off of advair. A lot of pain due to taking advair. Possible surgery in future. I think advair should be taken off the market due to so many side affects.

My daughter is 15 and has been experiencing swollen knee joints, hip and back pain. Has anyone else seen this with their Advair use>

I took Advair for almost 4 years. I did not take it regularly (as regularly as they prescribed), but took it reasonably regularly.

I think Advair is the worst drug! It wrecked my teeth! I had perfect (no cavities) until I started taking Advair, which is when I started getting cavities. My teeth will never be the same.

The worst part though, was that after about 2 years of use, I got a horrible case of pleurisy. I had it for 8 months. I went to dr. after dr. No one would listen. I finally got one to do a lung x-ray--within which I had scaring throughout my chest/bronchial tubes. My asthma was getting horrible, and I was literally at 75% oxygen intake (yah--my asthma dr. later told me I should have been in the hospital). I finally looked up and researched Advair--and found out that one of it's side effects was lung infections. By the time I found this out, I basically had a lung infection for 2 years. I fought with my asthma dr.--to get off of Advair. Put me on Flovent instead, which has been fine. I was off and on Prednisone for more than a year throughout all this time. Once off of Advair, the dr. put me on a regular dose of Prednisone (probably gained 15-25 pounds during that time), and an anti-biotic, once I finally won that battle. I FINALLY got better after about a month of treatment! But, ever since then I cannot get a cold/upper respiratory infection without having to go on prednisone in order to stop the cough. Plus, I then got my gall bladder out, and I now get major pain in that area when I get a cough.

I flat out refuse to EVER take Advair again. Nothing is worth going through anything like that again! It was miserable! I'm sure I had some other symptoms, such as stomach pains, headaches, depression, anxiety, etc., but seriously, I was just trying to breathe for so long, that none of the other stuff caused me as much worry!

I have been on advair for 1 year and it has helped get me off the rescue inhaler but around 3 weeks ago my hair started falling out in clumps. After every shower i have to clean the drain. Advair is the only medication that i take. Will it grow back when i quit taking it? Has anyone had success with other asthma medications with less side effects?

I was diagnosed with adult allergic asthma one year ago at 38 years old. I started having problems breathing ONLY AT NIGHT on occasion and palpitations. Had a physical and ekg, totally normal. Went to allergist and they said I have alot of allergies and diagnosed me with the asthma. Funny thing, weeks before I biked 20 miles, hiked 12 miles, canoed 3 miles, played golf in a 3 day span and no problems. Since they told me this and started me on advair 250/50 I haven't been able to jog more than 2 miles or bike more than 8 to 10. Its very strange indeed, I have gotten more paranoid feelings when just get a little out of breath, and sometimes cant keep still in a car or sitting down. I cut back on sugar, sodium and started exercising a little every day, only 15 minutes and felt better. But came down with a cold recently and back to square one. I am trying to take the advair only ONCE a day instead of twice and almost feel withdrawal symptoms like shakiness, paranoia, irritability. I do have higher blood pressure than I should. Does anyone have any idea about this? I am really confused! Thanks... J

I promised to write on this board & get the message out in the event that they figured out what was wrong with me after

approximately 4 months of progressive shortness of breath. In April/May 2008, I felt a very slight pain in my chest/lung

area. At first I thought I may have stretched a muscle during basketball, working out or painting a house. I went to my

primary care physician who ordered an X-Ray & a CT Scan. The CT scan showed some consolidation. At this time I had no

shortness of breath and played basketball for hours a day. I merely had a very slight feeling of pain in my chest area when

breathing deep. My primary care physician based on the xray/ct scan results and my concerns, sent me to a lung specialist.

The lung specialist gave me a pulmonary function test, one with and without a bronchiodilater. The specialist indicated that

I have Asthma. I refuted & said that I have never been diagnosed with Asthma and how would that be possible? I ran the 2 mile

in JR High school, played basketball all the time & am extremely athletic. At the age of 32 I've been working out on the

bench with 225 lbs and been playing basketball in leagues forever. In any case, the doctor said that I had exercise induced

asthma and stated that I likely had asthma but never caught it. ----- I did not believe it or agree. I was put on Proventil.

For whatever reason, I got very sick the next day after visiting with the lung specialist for several days & recovered about

10 days after my visit. I believed it was from taking the bronchiodilater or being on their machine or around all the sick

people - who knows to this day.

I failed to mention that my specialist did not view my CT Scan or XRay while diagnosing my problem, he relied solely on my

Pulmonary test. He said he'd get the CT Scan/XRays, review & give me a follow up call. He never called. I started calling a

couple weeks after my visit to see if he had seen my reports, but no response and my condition was not getting better. I

tried taking proventil twice a day, then just 20 minutes prior to my basketball game and even during my basketball game. I

tried everything, but nothing improved.

I dropped off the CT Scan cd for the lung specialist to review, since they stated they never received it from the hospital.

--- I had no problem getting it, why would a doctors office have problems getting it & if they couldn't get it, then why

weren't they calling me?????

Finally in late July, I was able to schedule an appointment with the lung specialist again. The lung specialist did another

CT Scan & Pulmonary Test. The verdict after reviewing these tests - the specialist states that I don't have Asthma. I refuted

again & pleaded with the doctor that I had a serious problem & could not play basketball like I use to. I could no longer jog

50 yards before short of breath. He then suggested I try their bike test with EKGs and measurements of my breathing. I got on

the bike & in approximately 4 minutes I was short of breath and my oxygen levels went from 95 to below 90!!!! I could barely

bike anymore.

The verdict after the bike test, my lung specialist indicated that the results looked odd, but more than likely it's

exercise induced asthma yet again. He prescribed me ADVAIR.

I took ADVAIR as prescribed 2x a day. My condition got progressively worse....shortness of breath even worse... it got to a

point that I could not walk 100 feet with my briefcase without being short of breath. I was starting to get very irritable &

stressed as a result. I read all the online side effects about ADVAIR leading me to this website & was disturbed by the

readings like all the others. I scheduled another appointment with the lung specialist to tell him my feelings & that Advair

was not helping after a month.

He indicated that the report received from my CT SCAN A MONTH AGO showed some calcification in one of my lower left arteries

& that I should visit a cardiologist to take a look. He prescribed 2 months more of ADVAIR to see if I'd improve, because it

takes time apparently.

I met with the cardiologist the next day, they did a Stress Test & Echo cardiogram. The stress test showed up normal & the

echo came back ABNORMAL. It indicated that I had pressure on one side of my heart due to the lungs not receiving or

exchanging enough oxygen for some unexplained reason!!

The cardiologist stated that we'd have to do a Cardiac Cath to determine the cause & treatment. This seemed very major & can

be a risky procedure although done frequently I was told.

Another CT Scan was performed. AND FORTUNATELY, now listen up..... A VQ SCAN was ordered up to be performed before the

Cardiac Cath. During a VQ Scan they inject radio iodine and have you breath-in a radio active substance. THE VQ SCAN SHOWED

BLOOD CLOTTING ON BOTH SIDES OF MY LUNGS!!!!

I am literally now in the Hospital being treated CORRECTLY for blood clotting and on blood thinners. The moral of the story

on this message board for ME is THAT ADVAIR WAS NOT HELPING, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE RIGHT TREATMENT. I was MISDIAGNOSED and

there was not enough follow up from the doctors in my perception, because it took approximately 4 MONTHS to determine.

If I had stayed on ADVAIR, supposedly treating "exercise induced asthma", then I may have DIED due to LUNG FAILURE or HEART

FAILURE!

DISCLAIMER - I am not a doctor & this is only a synopsis of my personal experience. Again, I promised to share this

information, so others could hopefully benefit.

My recommendation - If you never had asthma are athletic over the age of 30 and the doctor prescribes ADVAIR for ASTHMA, then

I would highly recommend you have a VQ(Perfusion) scan performed. I hope this saves someones misery or life.

I'm still in the hospital, they are treating my blood clots and continue to try to determine the cause of my blood clots. If

anyone has any theories as to where my small blood clots may have come from, then please oblige.

I have only been on Advair for a couple of weeks but went online because my gums are bleeding like crazy and my mouth is very sensitive. I stopped a few days ago because my asthmatic symptoms had subsided, but i think that the Advair is responsible for my mouth problems.

My 71 year old mother was put on Advair approximately two years ago after she was diagnosed with COPD. She has always been a tiny, petit woman her entire life, and after being placed on Advair she has nearly doubled in weight. This week she has broken out in shingles (herpes zoster) on her back and left breast. For a year she has had psoriasis on her right hand. Never before has she had so many rashes and skin issues since being on Advair. She has also experienced joint pain and numbness since being placed on Advair and began having panic/anxiety attacks as well - something she has never had in her life. Also, the hoarseness, or "lump in her throat" she is always trying to clear is nearly always present. Monday she is suggesting to her GP that she be weaned off of Advair altogether and we'll see what other options are available. Maybe this is the "miracle drug" for some; but for others it has been a nightmare.

SIX POUNDS IN FOUR DAYS!!! (AND I'm NOT PREGNANT!) I was in bed thinking to myself how could I have gained six pounds in four days???? For an average 35 years old, I'm pretty active mother of a soon-to-be-four year old son. I was diagnosed with chronic sinisitis and along came the weazing!!! My primary MD was the first one to give me the sample during about with bronchitis. You trust doctors because their the ones with the medical training right? what did he know??? But I could have easily researched this drug online. Needless to say after a very scary incident during a step class- I was completely out of breath- what an awful feeling!!! I usually would have reached for my inhaler (albuterol) but I was out of it- so I grabbed the advair. Now since I was only a once-in-awhile user, I didn't see any side affects. But after a soild month of using this drug- I did feel anxious jittery--needless to say - my husband thought I was pre-menopausal (we're trying to have baby #2) I begin to see the awful light of this drug- PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT!!! I AM VERY FRIGHTENED OF THESE SIDE AFFECTS!!
What a relief to have this posted today!!

I have had severe asthma since I was 3 years old (25 now). I have been on about every asthma med and for the past 5 years have been on advair. For 5 years I have had chronic hives that can only be controlled by zyrtec and if I try to go off adviar it will put me in the hospital within a week. I have developed a dependency to this awful drug....and now I can't get off of it. I have experienced weight gain and have to eat a very script diet so that I don't become fat. If you have just started this drug I suggest to get off of it ASAP.

my experience with advair, is every three months I have severe lung infections, and nervousness, also i have irregular heartbeat and a leaking heart valve.

I was also on advair and I contracted alopecia universalis. I lost ALL my hair. I am sure there is a connection between these side effects and ADVAIR!! By the way. I stopped taking any steroid inhalers, and my breathing is better. What does that say?? Some of my hair has also started growing back since I stopped the steroid inhalers. Not much, but why is it growing now? This is a very devastating side effect, and I think there should be some legal action taken here. My life performing on stage has been ruined. My image shot. Now, i wasn't a "star", but still, I really can't enjoy performing anymore.

I am a 53yr old female, I started with bronchitis in Feb 2008, after two er visits, and treatment with antibiotics/ cough meds/ decongestants, etc. thought I was finally over it after 2/3 weeks, then all of a sudden I would start up with the same tight, non productive cough, twice accompanied by strep throut also, these symptoms started to return almost monthly, without warning. The last episode I had in July I was put on prevacid for acid reflux, (the first dosage of that gave me a slight improvement of symptoms of the cough, then the following week prednisone was added with almost instant improvement, Wow finally, each day better that the last, then as I started to taper off a bit of increase in congestion, nothing that a child's dose of mucinex didn't help. Then almost a month to the day after thinking that I was finally better, I started all over again, up for almost 36 hours straight from coughing, started back on steroids, antibiotics, etc. But this time is tougher, The initial steroids helped right away, but there is a lot more mucous with this episode, My Doctor set me up for a PFT (pulmonary function test) and pending results plan to followup with a Pulmonary specialist, but as I've been tapering off the prednisone again the symptoms have increased, almost back to the beginning of the episode, with more coughing than not. Nervous about the last day of my steroids, my doctor put me on the Advair Diskus, my results of my pft should be in tomorrow, I took my first dose this morning, (quite nervous about it because I have several medication allergies and reactions) Now for my dilemma, my dose went well, I almost thought I felt a little something good, I know it's supposed to take awhile to help, but I felt positive about it and looked forward to my next dose in 12hrs. A little later in the day I started feeling funny, kind of spacey, fuzzy headed. Is it possible that this feeling is from the Advair? I've read the side affects and a lot of feedback from Advair users, and nothing matches what I;m feeling. Is there anyone out there that has felt like this? Please help, I'm almost due for my next dose and don't know what to do.
PMB in CT.

Hello everyone. My name is Michael, and my experiences with Advair were so horrific, I thought I would post here as a both a cautionary to those who would use this product, and to validate those who thought "they were crazy" while using it.

I was diagnosed with "World Trade cough" as a result of my four month exposure from that disaster. It finally culminated in frequent walking pneumonias and a sinus-drip initiated cough, which is really part of a complicated process from GERD, also World Trade related. Finally, the pulmonologist diagnosed the obvious "RADS", Reactive Airway Disease.

I was prescribed Aidvair Diskus inhaler 500/250 twice a day, along with Nasonex and Nexium. The first two months seemed uneventful. As my cough cleared, I saw no reason to take the medication anymore and slowly titrated its discontinuation.

Then everything went awfully wrong and my nightmare started. First, panic and anxiety attacks, which I hadn't suffered since World Trade overtook me at different times of the day. Only the Toprol for my high blood pressure kept me under control and out of the E/R with uncontrollable tachycardia. Next, the Depression which also was overwhelming, and the compounded fears from physical symptoms. Then the "TRUSH" came in my mouth and a concomitant fungal infection in my groin. Swollen glands in my neck. Fever, fatigue, listlessness joined the symptoms.

Though a committed heterosexual, a bachelor party a month ago raised spectre's too awful to contemplate and I insisted on the most ultra-sensitive diagnostic blood tests to rule out dreaded disease ( I did responsibly use a condom ). The 24 hours from yesterday to today were like sitting on death row, awaiting an answer. ALL NEGATIVE, including Diabetes.

Then I saw this site and had to enroll to tell this story. All of it was here from the THRUSH, which scared me the most, to the Depression and anxiety attacks, which made my fears really get out of control. The Advair had nearly destroyed my immune system.

I am taking "CLORIMAZOLE" for the fungus, which is no bargain...liver toxicity and nausea. Still, far preferable to the feared diseases.

I learned that so-called "modern medicine" is little advanced from the witch doctor. If you read the Pharmacology inserts, half the time they don't even know why something works, and they can't isolate the good effect from the bad. Then, they assault your body with another extreme ( anti-fungal ) to combat what they caused from the first medicine.

My new girlfriend is Chinese. Next time I am sick, I am trying alternative medicine. In the meantime, for anyone prescribed or handed a sample by their doctor, AVOID THIS MEDICATION IF YOU CAN!

What a Godsend this website is. I am a 48 year old female, and I have been taking Advair (the lowest dose) for about 2 months now, with steadily worstening side effects. Although I have to admit, my first dose of Advair was like a much need "breath of fresh air", the side effects are not worth it. In fact, I just got off the phone with my doctor, telling her I will no longer be taking the Advair. These were the side effects I have experienced: rapid heartbeat, rib pain, joint pain in my legs and fingers, loose bowels, and a noticeable change in weight / body shape. I have always been complimented on my tiny waist and flat stomach, but as of late I have noticed my waist size increasing, despite my usual exercise. In addition, the most serious and most disturbing side effects are insomnia and the onset of severe depression / anxiety / paranoia. I had issues with depression as a young woman in my 20's with anorexia, with no relapse until I began this medication. Yesterday, I had to pull over to a store parking lot to cry for no reason! If it were not for this website, I would have blamed myself for some sort of mental weakness or unhealthy thinking. Also, I have never experienced anxiety in my life, and while on this medication I have had several episodes of intense panic, where I was convinced I should immediately draft a last will and testament. My vision has been blurring in and out considerably, my voice sounds as if I have larynxitis daily, and I have also experienced profoundly increased thirst and urination. I have not had my blood pressure checked, but I feel like what must be an increase in this, as well. Lastly, the past few days I have noticed severe hair loss, which, until I read this website, I attributed to my recent dieting. (I have been desperately dieting and increasing exercise to try to regain my figure that this medication is apparently ruining. Until this time, I have weighed the same and had the same or stronger body than high school school (5'4'', 115 - 120 lbs.) God bless everyone who has contributed to this website to educate others about the horrors of this medication. My doctor wants to see me to "give me something else", but I am going look into alternative therapies (yoga, breathing exercises, teas, etc.) The comment that made the most sense on this website was the person who wrote "break up with your asthma...begin by taking a deep breath and telling yourself you no longer have asthma." Also, I have seen that God / Jesus can heal anything, so I am going to turn to Him in prayer instead of the doctors. After all, Who created our bodies to begin with? I will add you all to my prayers, and that God will help us all heal from this... both the asthma and the suffering created by Advair.

I hope this helps someone.

I was never allergic to anything in my life until I went around this cat at the age of 33. I sneezed and got a really scratchy throat. I thought it would go away, but it turned into a cold. I thought the cold would go away, but it turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. I was jogging everyday at the time and realized something was wrong when I couldn't finish my run.

I was hospitalized for two days and upon discharge I was stocked up with a cocktail of drugs: Singular, Advair, Albuterol inhaler, and Claritin. Needless to say, I took them all, because I was scared of dying. Thank God I'm not a good medicine taker, because I missed many doses and only took them as needed. I think this is why after 3 years I have only started to see the effects of these meds in the last 8 months.

Okay... I have major joint stiffness(all over) especially neck and fingers, heart palpitations, nervousness, short patience, horrible memory, lack of motivation. Oh my God! The weight gain...Please!

Before this, I was completely healthy. After reading this I will reduce myself to my inhaler and Claritin. I notice they are cool. Otherwise, if I keep my stress level down my breathing does really well. It would probably help if I got rid of the cat. Shhhh...Don't tell anyone. LOL.

I have since put my self on a juice fast using a high powered juicer to cleanse my system of all the trash the doctors gave me.

God bless you all and I speak life and breath into each of our lives.

BreathWrite.

My mother, 70 years, just visited me and is on Advair Diskus, I want to say at least 2 years now. She has COPD with chronic bronchitis. I don't even know this woman anymore. She is depressed and extremely short with everyone. She has a rash that started on the back of her legs that fills with fluid then scabs. She has informed me she has had the rash almost a year now. It has spread to her arms and neck lately. It comes and goes in it's severity. Her Dr. cannot give her a diagnosis. She too, has spoken the words "miracle drug" in the beginning. I just got off the phone with her and she said she would rather risk an asthma attack than stay on Advair. Risk death than stay on Advair? What is this drug doing to people?

After never having asthma in my life I was put on Advair 100/50 at 34 ...
I have been on it for a little over a year but I have been reading these side effects and wanted to try and ween myself off this stuff. I cut back to 1 per day then 1 every other day and now I am down to 1 per week. Hopefully I am going to be off it soon. The side effects are real with the weight problems people are having with this stuff .... My question is does anyone else have the feeling in their throat like there is an obstruction or a lump? or like something is stuck in the back of their throat?? Does this go away ?

I rinsed my mouth and brushed my teeth after every use .... so I am not sure if this will go away with lower use or not

I am a 63 year old male that has COPD and a few days ago my doctor prescribed ADVAIR. A lady that works with my wife recently lost her husband to a heart attach and he was also on ADVAIR. Another worker overheard the conversation and said that he had recently lost his father to a heart attach who was also on ADVAIR.

Think I will stick with the inhalers and skip the ADVAIR.

Thanks all.

Roy

I can't believe that this drug is legal and that it has not been taken off the market. I have been on it for a year and couldn't understand why I was gaining weight, nothing helped to get those pounds off. I started at 160 and now at 195 and growing. Three years ago I had triple bypass, weight 150, some of the meds caused some weight gain, but nothing like this. My joints was so sore in the morning I couldn't hardly walk, I just knew I was going to be using a walker if this kept up. BTW I'm 65 female, always been active and busy, now I just do what I have to or can and that doesn't make me happy. I have recently been having crying spells and sore throat, voice lost, and enlarged tongue. The enlarged tongue caused me to do some searching on side effects.....I am so glad I found this page. I haven't taken any puffs of Advair since., that was 3 days ago. My tongue is starting to shrink, my joints aren't as sore, my crying is stopping. The weight is still with me and might never lose it, time will tell. I don't seem as hungry and eating less so maybe there is hope. This is a drug that should have Big warning all over it. Advair has taken a year of my life at this point. If there is ever a law suit I would be the 1st to sign. I didn't have that many breathing issues and really didn't understand why the Dr. put me on it.
I usually check up on drugs before I take them, this one slipped through the cracks, guess cause it wasn't a pill. At this point I just hope that others find this in time and stop using Advair before it ruins their lives.
God Bless
Barbie Kay

I was on the low dose, 100/50, for 2 years. I had blurry vision in my right eye and lethargy. Last week I woke up and could not breathe AT ALL. I was choking for about 45 seconds with no air coming in. I have read that Advair can bring on sleep apnea. After a couple of days of doing research, I stopped cold turkey. My vision cleared up in a day and my lethargy is gone. I am now using apple cider vinegar for my asthma (brought on by my 2 dogs and cat) and so far, all is well. How that stuff is legal, I don't know.

I just got done reading a lot of this page, I was in tears. I'm a 23 year old female; I started taking Advair 250/50 (two times a day) about 3 1/2 years ago for COPD. Before my problems started I was working overtime every week, just financed a car a year previous, moved out of my parents and felt like I was on top of the world. Minus my general anxiety and clinical depression, I was only on 2 medications plus an albuterol inhahler.
I kept getting sick, was having trouble breathing, so I was put on Advair; at first It's like I read in almost all these forums...It's a miracle drug! I was able to breathe, but I noticed I was starting to feel pretty lazy, in 2 months I gained 30lbs. I kept taking it along with a lot of other medications for more problems that seemed to keep coming along. In late summer of 2005 I had a seizure while I was at work in a restaurant kitchen. I was opening and had passed out between 4 fryers and a flat-top grill; an ambulance picked me up. I kept getting dizzy spells and vertigo, I started having seizures a few times a week; I was released from my job on a long-term medical leave because of the hazard it was for me to work there. Things kept getting worse, It got to the point of averaging 17 pills a day because of medical problems. Before I got sick I weighed 131lbs, I currently weigh 170lbs. I was having seizures everyday, then every other day, and it slowly decreased over time. I went through so many tests, I'm still going through them. I started having really bad bowel problems which I'm still dealing with; It's sort of like IBS. I also deal with chronic daily stomach/abdominal pain; in a laproscopy, the doctor said that my small intestine looked like "a bag of snakes". Another daily pain that I'm still dealing with mouth/teeth/jaw pain. Although I rinsed my mouth out after each use, I believe Advair royally screwed my mouth up for life. My gums bled everyday, I had to use a kids toothbrush, my gums were peeling off; It was told to me that It's like a mouth yeast infection. The gums over my canines started receding and didn't stop until I quit taking advair. The nerves on my canines are exposed and partially rotted, other teeth have chips and are rotten around them. The gums above my canines are still raised and will still flare up from time to time. I haven't been able to work since August 2005. I've been denied disability twice. I have panic attacks when I'm around people. I'm scared to drive because I've had a seizure behind the wheel. I'm in so much pain everyday that I normally don't move unless It's to use the bathroom. I used to cook 80 hours a week, hang out with friends, and work out. Now, I can't work, can't be around people, and take enough medications to start a pharmacy. It's odd how it all seemed to start when I began Advair. One other thing, I'm constantly coughing up these weird mucas spheres. My advice if you're thinking about taking advair...well, I'll just say if I would have known that this is what it'd do to me, I would have chose bronchitis 4 times a year.

I am a 44 year old women that has been dealing with asthma almost my entire life on and off.But I started a new job(housecleaning)and I believe it started up my asthma.So after having to use my albuteral inhaler a couple times a day,I decided to see my dr.He put me on advair.The first day I started taking it I was breathing so much better.I thought this is it!I finally found the miracle pill!Well about 5 days or so into it I started getting a really bad sore throat.The kind that is deep down-maybe in your larynax or whatever.And yes-I rinsed really good after every use.Well I ended up in the e.r. at 12:00 at night.I could hardly swallow and it felt like something was stuck in my throat.They gave me an ekg and did a neck xray on me.Dr. told me it was most likely from advair and to stop using it now and he put me on prednisone for 5 days.I called my doctor that put me on it 2 days later and told him what happened.He said huh,I wonder why that happened?Anyways,now he prescribed singulair to me but after reading all the negative comments I am not sure what the hec to try?I have missed 3 days work.I will most likely change jobs.I am real weak and anxious.Probably from prednisone.Anyone have any ideas on what works best for asthma that has few side effects?HELP!

I am suddenly experiencing double vision and wonder if Advair is at fault. Would be interested to hear of such a side effect.
K

I have had EXTREME hair loss and I did not know what from. I never thought it was my advair. I checked all of my other medications and only one other one said there was a possibility of hair loss (PREVACID) so I went off of that but my hair was still falling out. I have been so desperate that I scheduled and appointment to see a dermatologist tomorrow. Today I happened to google "advair/hair loss" and I cannot believe all of the articles that came up with people expressing the correlation.
I have been so depressed from this hair loss. I had the thickest, shiniest hair and now I barely have a pony tail. I wear hats all of the time because I am embarrassed.It has been totally devastating.
What I need to know is which other asthma medication will NOT cause hair loss so I can switch? Too bad I just dropped $100 on a 3-month supply of Advair and now cannot use it.
Also, those of you who went off the Advair, how long did it take for you to experience hair growth or it not falling out?

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.

Did I mention, hair loss? Well, that's also what's going on!

I'm a 41 year old female. I was diagnosed with asthma at age 9 and had taken a number of different drugs until the birth of my daughter who is nearing age 7. I had never had problems with my weight or loosing any excess after childbirth. However, after beginning Advair 100/50 over the course of 6 months and after ridding myself of the baby weight, I gained about 25 lbs. 2 years 3 months later came the birth of my son with whom I’d gained nearly 100 lbs after changing to Advair 250/50.

My son was born 9 lbs. and gained 3 more before his first peds visit less than a week later. He has had a number of food and skin allergies since birth and at 4 ½ weighs 98 lbs and is 4 feet fall. His bone age is 8.5 and still growing. Both my son and daughter eat the same things but she is lean and healthy at 170 lbs. and 4’41/2” tall with no food or skin allergies and no other health problems. Therefore, I’m inclined to believe he too was negatively affected by Advair.

My normal weight of 133 lbs. and a perfect size 8 was no more. I actually consume less now than before and with a 4 and 6 year old, I’m quite active and as conscious of my diet as my kids’. However, I’m still tipping the scales at between 195 and 200 lbs. I’ve never had hypertension, headaches, chest pains, muscle spasms, fatigue, feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts but I did...often.

I recently changed insurance plans and tried filling the script only to learn that the rate was so far out of my range that I could no longer afford it. I’ve not taken it for at nearly 60 days and have noticed my headaches are less frequent and far less intense, no chest pain or muscle spasms and I feel more in control able to deal more effectively with my children and colleagues and just life in general. I have to take my Albuterol inhaler far more frequently than I should but I’d rather do that than to feel the way I did taking Advair.

My dosage has been 250/50 and I have been using the medication for about 3 years. I have experienced increased mucus, hoarseness, and thrush. I now have the thrush under control by thoroughly rinsing my mouth after using the inhaler. The hoarseness was not caused directly by the Advair, rather it was caused by frequently clearing my throat due to the mucus. My wife is a speech language pathologist and noticed my frequent throat clearing and explained that throat clearing irritates the vocal chords and causes hoarseness. By avoiding harsh throat clearing the hoarseness has gone away. I still have issues with thick mucus but it is minor nuisance compared with the improvements to my breathing.

Hello all! My 9 year old son has been taking Advair inhaler for about 1 1/2 years with 2 puffs a day. One at night and one in the morning. He is too young for him to notice any symptoms and for him to explain them to us and we didn't know about any side effects until reading this forum. He has the sniffles all the time which sound kind of stuffy too and some blotched skin on his forehead. He also might have another symptom regarding his bowels, not being able to control them is what I'm getting at and everyday has accidents. I don't know if that's because of Advair or laziness. I would make an intelligent guess and relate it to the Advair under muscle spasms? Does anyone have this symptom and are just too embarrassed to tell your doc? I am at my wits end with this "symptom". Also I heard very strong reports that cow milk is responsible for asthma. Humans were not designed to drink animal milk at all. The Molecules are way too large for us to digest. Almond milk is best and better for you. Now think about it, we are the only species that drink milk after we are nursed from out mothers. The animals do not go back to drinking after they are weened. I've also heard a study that after grown cows drink cow milk they got very sick or died. Anyone else heard that?

I am a 45 year old female, I have been on Advair for about 4 years now. I tried to go off of it once because I was having heart palpitations, I had to go back on it because of my asthma, waking up in the morning feeling like I couldn't breath just didn't work for me. I have less heart palpitations and my asthma is in much better control, however (isn't there always a "however"! I have been dieting and exercising like crazy (ok, all my life, but seriously for about 6 months now.) The scale has not moved...and I mean nothing, not a pound! I could not put my finger on it until now...it must be this drug! What else could it be? So now I have to decide if I want to be thinner or breath! Huh....some choice!

After reading this site I'm so ridiculously upset with my allergist. I was specifically told that the 100/50 dose of advair had such a small amount of steroid that it shouldn't have any adverse effects.
In the 5 months I've been taking advair I've gained 20 pounds, and I've been unable to lose even an ounce of it despite diet and exercise. After reading this page I decided to cut down to one dose a day, and magically I dropped 3 pounds. I'm going to my doctor tomorrow and just let him try to tell me that advair doesn't cause weight gain.
Oh also, I'd been feeling very down and depressed lately, and I'd even considered going to a psychologist. I just attributed my feelings to issues in my personal and work life. Well, as soon as a I cut down on the advair I went back to feeling like myself again. I hadn't even noticed how much I had changed until I suddenly felt a million times less irritable and able to smile and really laugh again.
I'm worried about just quitting the advair (I'm paranoid about side effects) but I feel so much better without it that I don't know if I can bring myself to take my next dose.
What a choice - breathe perfectly and be miserable or constantly suffer with asthma and not even be yourself.

I was prescribed advair diskus (100/50) twice a day, 10 days ago. It was for chronic cough which almost instantly improved 90%, however the medication kept me wide awake at night and caused pain in my chest while I was asleep. I was told to take it only once a day, but when it wore off at night, I had labored breathing and could not sleep. I have hardly slept in all this time and am exhausted. Albuterol does not help, and I have been to urgent care twice in the last two days. They only offer breathing treatment. By the way, except for the cough, my health was excellent. I haven't had true asthma in years. I would rather have my cough back. At least codeine cough syrup worked, and helped me sleep.

My doc assured me that it wasn't possible that my hoarseness was due to a residual build-up of the med on my vocal chords. I raised the question, "If there could not be any build up, why the need to rinse ones mouth after each use." I was told I needed to do that to prevent thrush. That's all well and good but still leaves my query a bit open. It stands to reason that if one could get thrush from the medication being in ones mouth, one could also have other problems from it being in ones system.

I've been doing research on asthma and other medical issues. If you want to do some good reading, look up Dr. Mercola. Also, look up MMS. Interesting stuff. I also found one woman's recommendation that at the start of a wheeze, let some sea salt dissolve in your mouth and then drino a glass of water. (Those with problems taking salt in should be careful about that.) And also, drink more water and check out your overall nutrition and fitness levels. Positively impacting those may make changes you'd be surprised by!

Jack Lalanne spoke against refined sugars and becoming fit way back in the 50's and not many listened. Look at a current photo of him today, a man in his 90's, and think about it. Look up sugars on Mercola's webpage as well. I had no idea the things sugar can do to ones body.

Blessings

I was diagnosed with allergy induced asthma in my freshman year of high school. I was given Advair for a couple of weeks to help deal with a major attack I experienced. After seeing an allergy-asthma specialist I was told to continue with the Advair until I could get my AIA under control. I was also placed on Singulair, Flonase, MaxAir AutoHaler (for emergencies), Acuneb (also for emergencies) and I was already on Zyrtec and an eye drop Patanol. At the time my Zyrtec and the Astelin I was on were not enough to treat both the allergies and asthma. I also began taking allergy shots. I was an athlete playing fast pitch softball, conditioning P.E. including weight lifting and running, and I was also doing aerobics in my regular P.E. class. I swam often, was an active outdoors man, rode horses, and ate a fairly healthy diet. I could not figure out why I weighed 145 lbs at 5'2. My doctor said I was healthy and that I shouldn't worry about my weight but now that I am a 19 year old 5'3 weighing 130 lbs I realize that my weight gain was not normal. Although I do not play softball right now, I practice belly dancing and yoga. I often go hiking, running and swimming and I walk about 30 minutes a day to get to and from classes at LSU. I worked hard to keep a healthy diet, and exercise often so that I would not gain the dreaded freshman 15. It took me two years to get down to 130 lbs and I never attributed my weight gain and inability to lose weight to my Advair until I was off it for almost a year and then had to start taking it again to deal with a flare up. In less than two weeks I had gained almost 10 lbs and was feeling miserable.After I got to college, I would often go for runs to help keep myself in shape. I got to the point where I had to quit running because I was always short of breath and I would have severe asthma attacks. I was on all of the above mentioned medications and often on Prednisone for sinus infections. I also experienced the dry cough and the tightness of chest. I experienced almost daily headaches -some were attributed to stress but I am not sure if the Advair caused the others. I was also very groggy, dizzy, and EXTREMELY moody. I disliked the way I was feeling while I was on Advair and took myself off it earlier than I was recommended. Since then I have been feeling a lot better and I am able to control my occasional flare ups with zyrtec and flonase and occasionally singulair if I feel my asthma acting up. I got dizzy easily for a few weeks after I took myself I was not told by my doctor that I needed to rinse my mouth out to avoid thrush, nor was I told about the possible weight gain and some of the other side effects. I am going to stop taking Advair unless I absolutely need it and I am not going to stay on it for long, especially if I start feeling like I was before.

I've been on Advair for the past 6 months. First on the 250/50 now I am on the 500/50 dose. I've noticed my blood pressure has increased during this time. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm not sure if it is from the Advair or I am just developing high blood pressure.

I'm a 40 year old female with severe asthma (since I was about 4). I have taken more meds in my life than I can count and nothing has worked like Advair Diskus 500/50. I absolutely LOVE this stuff (so far). I have been taking it 2x a day for two months and no longer need any other meds, not even my inhaler which I always used as my security blanket. I have also had major skin issues since childhood and my skin is now softer and smoother than ever. I don't have any weight gain issues, sore throat, cough, headaches, etc., but I am noticing that lately my body feels TIRED and my legs feel crampy at times, mostly when I wake up after a full night's sleep. I really think this med is well worth it for me, but maybe not for all. Is everyone here rinsing their mouth out after each use? Maybe that is the cause of the sore throat side effect. I wish everyone good health!

I have been on advair 100/50 for almost a year,started with bronchitis,then short of breath,put on inhaler,then predinisone,which was a miracle pill.Then put on the advair,because the test showed I had COPD.A few months ago I started itching,back and forth to the doc.nothing helped,started getting hives,welts,tingling all over my body,all kinds of med.tried.No help,reading all the side effects from advair,I QUIT a week ago,breathing fine,itching,has slowed down and rash is clearing up.I have a doc.appointment Apr.29,2008.I will tell him what I am telling you.I am a male,72 yrs.old,in good physical shape otherwise.Anyone else having these symptoms,please come forward.