Advair Diskus and headaches

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!

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 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'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.

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!

26/f on Advair for 1 year, 3 mos. Diagnosed with asthma when I was 17. Was overusing my albuterol and my symptoms got worse so pulmonologist prescribed Advair 250/50. After the first week of taking 2 puffs a day, I didn't need albuterol inhalor and was able to exercise for the first time in YEARS without needing emergency inhaler. Advair was my life saver. Also prescribed to me was Protonix- the doctor thought I had acid reflux which contributed to my asthma symptoms. I take that seasonally now, when I notice a hoarseness in speech. I do get headaches every so often, they have been occurring more frequently as with mood swings so I am researching medications. I have no idea if this is tied into my Advair use since I've been on it over a year now. I might try going off Advair to see if it is related. I've also had a weird muscle cramp in my left armpit area which I NEVER would have thought was related to Advair but several people here have reported it. In short, the headaches, mood swings, etc. do NOT outweigh my ability to exercise and breathe normal. I will most likely try to lower my dose of Advair or ween myself off to see how I do, but if my asthma worsens, I'd rather stay on Advair.

Maybe I'm not crazy after all. I'm a 55-year-old female who has been taking Advair for close to 5 years. I have adult onset asthma and was using Albuterol to control it until my allergist placed me on Advair. It does a great job on my asthma, but at what price? During that time I've gained weight regardless of my diet and exercise regimen. I feel like I haven't slept in years and I'm convinced that it will eventually kill me because that makes everything else so much more difficult to deal with. I'm having major hair loss, hoarseness (I really miss singing), heart palpitations, extreme fluctuating blood pressure, heartburn, lethargy, blurred vision, twitching muscles. I finally decided that I had to change something and I found this website last week. I quit Advair cold-turkey. Probably not the right thing to do, but I was really on the brink. It's been nearly a week and I'm having extreme dizziness, terrible vision problems and awful headaches, but I am persevering.

OMG! This site is awesome! I honestly thought I was going crazy and something else was wrong with me! I quit smoking back in Dec 2007 and early Jan 2008 I was diagnosed with bronchitis. The bronchitis eventually got worse and at the end of Jan dr put me on steroid packs and an inhaler to assist me with the congestions. Early Feb I was diagnosed with Chronic bronchitis and was sent to a lung specialist. My lungs were only expanding 40% capacity due to the infection in my lungs so I was prescriped the inhaler, antibiotics, seven days of seroid and the Advair twice a day. I have now been using the Advair about three weeks and even though I feel a whole lot better my side effects are bad. I have a lot of congestion still, especially in the mornings, I cough almost all day long, I sleep maybe four or five hours a night (if that), my mood swings are aweful, I have a sharp pain under neath my left arm pit every once in a while, my rib cage hurts 24/7, I get headaches at least once a day, my nose is bleeding at least once a day and my hands tingle all the time. I did not realize that all these symptoms were side effects to the Advair dosage... 250/50???? OMG... I have to stop taking it. I've never had allergies or asthma up until the chronic bronchitis but if these are side-effects to the Advair I wonder if I was just not better off fighting the bronchitis through antibiotis only. I have not experianced weight gain though, and I am thankful for that as I do not need to gain any more weight. :-) Thank you all for sharing your comments as I now know that I might be just fine using allergy medicines and an inhaler from time to time instead of using Advair twice a day.

I really felt the need to post my story about Advair. I started having seizures 2 years ago. I have been seeing a neurologist since then. In the mean time, I have been working with a lung specialist for asthma/COPD. I was placed on Advair. Over several months I started experiencing vision changes, muscle pain, muscle cramps, headaches, weight gain, confusion, trouble speaking, constantly clearing my throat, severe pain near my left armpit, with sever muscle tightening. The muscle tightening was so severe that my arms and legs started moving and twisting by themselves. This is called agentatious movements. The neurologist has been putting me through a battery of tests because these symptoms can be from a severe neurological disease. As of now, I have been passing them with flying colors.The neurologist thinks I am faking, or these symptoms are a figment of my imagination because he cannot find a reason for them. That's when I decided to start checking the side affects of all my medications, and found this site. I have printed off all the stories that match my symptoms and will take them to the neurologist to prove I am not a nut case, and them I will see my lung specialist and take care of getting off the Advair. It does work, but there has to be something else in the medical world than can help us breathe without feeling like we are dying other wise. I want to thank everyone for putting their story out there is is a great help to know you are not alone. Good luck!

Ive only been on Advair for almost a month. I couldn't believe how quickly my asthma disappeared. I was using my inhaler daily and tried other things but nothing helped. I went to a pulmonary specialist and prescribed Advair for a month. I'm so glad i have to go back and see him this Saturday b/c I want to tell him I will no longer take this. I'm 26 years old and had developed asthma when I was 7 years old. It went away when I was 14 and just came back full force 3 years ago. I would have tried anything to be able to breathe normally again.
I've had the hoarseness in my voice and a bad cough where I'm spitting up mucus everyday since I've been on Advair. I figured if this was what I had to live with to have the chance to live a normal life asthma free that id take it, it wasn't so bad. But this past week I've had blinding headaches non-stop. Ive been nauseous, sweating, coughing, I've been sore like I just finished a long workout, chest pains, tightness in my chest and my legs have felt so weak. This morning I woke up with the worst cold too; which I know Advair weakens your immune system but this is crazy. I stopped taking Advair this morning & I'm going to tell my doctor I need to try something else.

I am 37yrs old and have been on Advair for years, I use to weigh 110pds. now I weigh around 165, I have chest pains all the time,
pains in my legs and chronic back pain, also
pain in my leg's. I have mood swings and feel sluggish all the time. I have headaches a lot as well. I am still on the Advair, never realizing that the Advair was the cause.

I am a 46 year old female and have had asthma all my life,medication,shots,inhalers.The past year it got very bad and I was going through inhalers almost weekly. My doctor put me on advair in may of this year.I was so happy it really helped my asthma,no inhalers.Then the side effects started-I felt sick like I had broncitis,sore throat ,sounding hoarse,headaches,very annoyed,anxious,moody,felt like throwing-up,not sleeping,urinary tract infection,backache,confusion,weight gain.I thought I was very ill and was almost afraid to go to the doctor,then I thought about being put on advair and when the symptoms started.I looked up side-effects and BINGO! I am going to tell my doctor to get me off this,kinda afraid I'll get really bad asthma again,but what do you do?Feel like total gargage every day?or not be able to breath?What a choice.This all took place in a matter of 5 months.Everyone is different,every body can or cannot tolerate certain drugs.People do know their own bodies and why doctors don't listen or believe them I don't know.But,I sick and tired of being sick and tired and my whole summer was wasted thanks to advair.Hope I have another option.Lisa K.

I have been taking Advair for 4 years. I have had reoccurant viral infections, bronchitis, Dizziness, brusing, stomach issues such as gallstones, and GERD. Headaches and now Candidias Infections of the digestive tract. Weakness, fatigue and Muscle weakness. My MD refuses to listen to me, and tells me that they are not linked to the medication Can all these things be attributed to the Advair? What are the adversions and complications if any of stopping this medication?