Advair HFA and allergy shots

I've been on Advair for probably 5 years. It has kept my asthma under control very well. Right now I take 250/50 and I'm down to one puff a day. I notice some of the side effects mentioned here, especially leg cramps. My weight has always fluctuated, so I can't blame that on Advair, in fact, I lost 60 pounds a couple of years ago while on Advair. I do have hoarseness that I'm sure is attributed to Advair. I take allergy shots and I'm almost to a maintenance level now. I'm hoping that between the shots, acupuncture, and a low dose of Advair, I will maintain my asthma control without the side effects. By the way, I also take Singulair which I think helps.

I started with a new allergist 3 years ago (other had retired). She said my asthma, moderate to severe, was out of control. Put me on allergy shots AND Advair Discus to begin with. I had too many problems with hoarseness, and being I'm a teacher, that interfered with my teaching! Then she put me on Advair HFA two years ago. It seemed to be better for awhile. Then I noticed hoarseness, dry mouth, and so I went down to 1/2 dose. I told her about it, and she got very angry that I would not follow her directions. She probably does not like me as a patient since I do speak up to her.
I decided to go off the HFA yesterday. Today I have no dry mouth, and my voice is normal, also no palpitations. I started Spring Forest Qigong which is a Chinese healing discipline, part of which there are certain breathing exercises and self healing techniques I can use, some directed toward asthma specifically. I will watch my diet more carefully for the worst trigger foods; I usually get a delayed sensitive reaction of some kind so I rotate those known foods. In addition red wine, I know, has a lot of histamines. I can get an immediate reaction from that, mostly palpitations.
I am thinking strongly of changing allergists or seeking a pulmonary specialist' opinion.

I started taking advair in September of 2006 after being diagnosed with allergy related asthma. I took it for 3 months. Then stopped for a few months over the winter and restarted in spring because of more serious symptoms of asthma. I have had severe stomach upset, acid reflex, rashes, and weight gain. I also feel dizzy a lot. I am very health consious and work out all of the time. I never gain weight so it seems obvious to me advair is the culprit. I am going to try getting allergy shots and see if I can stay off the advair. In home air filters do seem to help with the asthma

I started taking advair 500/50 about 6mths ago after coming down with really bad cold which later turned into pneumonia. I was on albuterol inhaler 5-6times a day for 3 mths. The advair made a big difference. I'm now on the 250/50 which is great. But I've had increasing problems with anxiety as well as muscle spasms in my hands. My doctor immediately recommended anxiety meds instead even entertaining the idea that it might be the drugs I was on. I refused to take anxiety meds and instead on her recommendation started exercising regularly and have started seeing a phychologist. I also tried Singulair briefly but developed rash on my face and had sudden cold symptoms which went away once I stopped taking it. I'm not crazy, my side effects are real and I'm convinced that the muscle spasms are due to my medication, most likely the advair. Currently I'm on rhinocort, albuterol for emergencies, and advair 250/50. I also had allergy testing done and am very allergic to everything they test for except animal dander i.e. grass and tree pollen, ragweed, mold, both kinds of dust mites. I keep taking my meds, exercising, cleaning regularly, have encased my bedding to control dust mites. I'm also taking allergy shots every week now. The thrush can be avoided if you rinse after every dose of advair. Rinsing is very important - I've had no problems with thrush at all and am now in my 7th month of taking Advair.

Well! After reading all of your complaints about being on Advair...I am so relieved to know that I have people out there who can realte to what I am going through. I had Pneumonia last Oct. and have not been the same since. The docs say I developed asthma and they want me to get allergy shots and stay on this Advair until I am better??? Well I am only worse! HOWEVER, without it ...I cannot breathe normally. I wheeze and cough and feel terrible....SO is there ANYONE out there that has any other solution??? Did anyone find another way??? One that is not so harmful and make us feel like crap??? PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!! I would sure be grateful!!!!!

Like most of you who have posted here, I too saw remarkable & remarkably quick improvement in my asthma (& even some allergy) symptoms. However, I'm also discovering that it is not worth the side effects!!! I would rather have the sneezing & wheezing than what I've been dealing with the last week or so!

And just to help put it in "context": I'm 31 years old & have had asthma & allergies since the age of 4. When I was younger it was really bad, I was often in the emergcency room 2 or 3 times a week, was prone to bronchitis & sinus infections, etc. When I was a teenager, I mostly outgrew it (though I've always had a rescue inhaler & some type of allergy medication, I just didn't have the severity/intensity of symptoms/attacks I did as a kid), but in my late 20's noticed that some of the symptoms seemed to be coming back, not too seriously, just "uncomfortably". I was using the Albuterol as my rescue inhaler with the Flovent inhaler & Allegra & was having good results, with minimal to no side effects, but when Claritin went over the counter, most insurance companies stopped covering the Allegra. I went in to my doctor's office almost 2 weeks ago to see about getting my treatment options updated... what I had in mind was perhaps getting upgraded to the higher dose of the Flovent inhaler & having the doctor right a letter so the insurance company would cover my Allegra, and was put on Flonase & Advair instead. Over the years I've taken Theophylline, Albuterol, Proventil (inhalers), Flovent, occassional rounds of Prednisone, allergy shots, Allegra, nebulizer treatments.. you name it.... and I can honestly say that as awful as some of that stuff made me feel (particularly the Prednisone & Theophylline), I can't EVER remember there being a time when I'd rather have the bad asthma, than the icky side effect!! This stuff is awful!!!!! I'd stopped taking the Flonase, but then realized 2 things: 1). it's the exact same ingrediant as the Flovent, which I'd had no problems with & 2). I was still taking the Advair & feeling crappier & crappier. It's the most god-awful stuff I think I've ever taken!

I've only been taking it since the evening of March 31st (it's now midday on April 12th) & here is the list of side-effects I've noticed, and that seem to be getting worse instead of better:

nausea (pretty bad too, have had days where all I can eat is saltines & gingerale!)
dizziness (have actually fallen twice! This from someone who dances, rides horses, does yoga, etc!);
ringing in my ears (LOUD)
earaches & itchy ears
headaches
joint/muscle stiffness, swelling & tenderness (feels like I've got arthritis or something & my back & neck muscles just ache all the time!)
sinus pressure/tenderness & blood when I blow my nose (just short of full-on nosebleeds)
depression/lethargy/extreme fatigue (again, I'm someone who usually enjoys things like walks, puttering around the house & garden, riding horses, doing yoga, going dancing... & all I've wanted to do is either sleep or lay around... yesterday folding a load of laundry made me soooo tired I wanted to cry!)
emotional changes (irritability, weepiness, etc.)
sleep disturbances/insomnia (not getting restful sleep, feeling to wound up to sleep, nightmares like I haven't had since I was a kid, etc.)
vision changes (blurry, those weird silvery traces/flashes somebody else here mentioned)
itchy skin -- ALL OVER!!
dry skin
1st diahhrea, now constipation
frequent urination
weight gain -- which is strange considering I'm too nauseaus to eat anything most days
strange & constant taste in my mouth (very "chemically" & slightly metallic) -- nothing tastes right
heartburn/indigestion (which I've never had!!)
heart palpitations/tremors/restlessness/nervousness
inability to concentrate
memory problems/"fogginess"
scratchy/mild sore throat
tender roof of mouth (eating toast is difficult)

The list goes on & on.... and, I am really good about taking it exactly as prescribed (had even cut back & that's not helping) & being sure to rinse my mouth out with water (& gargle!) & so on.... what I find most strange is that many of the symptoms would seem as though they couldn't possibly coexist... that they would cancel each other out (e.g. having insomnia & sleep disturbances at the same time as extreme fatigue & constantly wanting to nap; intense hunger pangs & weight gain when I'm too nauseaus to even want to think about food, etc.)... but there they all are!!

What scares me is that aside from having allergies & asthma, I've always been a very active & healthy person.... and in the last week I've gone from feeling like a young healthy person with some uncomfortable asthma/allergy symptoms to feeling like a sick, decrepit, feeble & exhausted old person.... my 89 year old grandpa has fewer physical complaints & is in better shape at the moment!!!

If it wasn't for this website, who knows how long I've had let myself think it was due to something other than this god-awful medication... thanks!! I've taken my last dose of Advair!! I'm just going to have to explore some other options to treat my symptoms (I hadn't thought I was actually "bad" enough to need something like Advair in the 1st place), or get the insurance company to cover my Allegra!

I've had asthma virtually all of my life. I'm 34 yrs. old now. I've had allergy shots (they did nothing). I used to take Theo-Dur (Theophylline). I've tried Serervent (didn't work). But Advair has really improved my asthma symptoms. Before Advair I was using Albuterol 10x per day. I'd wake up during the night and take a shot of Albuterol. It was not a good situation.

I've been on Advair for about 3 years now. I was prescribed the 250 dosage, but I take it only once a day in the morning. The asthma is the best it's ever been.

I've noticed a lot of the side effects that many of you have. Some of the stuff is easy enough to live with. I can deal with the occasional soar on my tongue / throat. I can tolerate a scratchy voice every now and then. But there are other issues that I now attribute to Advair that I can't continue to live with.

My back ache is awful. I cannot get comfortable at all. It even hurts when I'm laying in bed trying to fall asleep. I've gained weight too -- about 40 lbs. I'm 6'1" and 215 lbs. I was 180 in my beer drinking days. I'm not all that active, and maybe metabolism does slow with age ... but I'm not eating any more than before starting Advair. If it was just the weight, I'd blame myself and work out more.

The most significant change I've noticed was swelling of the lower legs. My shins would feel like they were full of fluid and they were tender to the touch. The medical term in Edema, and I saw a doctor about the Edema because it can be a sign of heart problems, etc. All tests came back as normal.

Now -- with the back pain and the edema and the weight gain -- all the doctors said the same thing. "Lose some weight". It makes sense, right? Less weight = less stress on your back & less stress on your legs. But I am thinking that the Advair is responsible. What can I do?

I'm not medical scholar, but I am pretty observant. I've experience the ballooning effects of Prednisone as a kid. I've see Jerry Lewis recently on TV all puffed up from the steroids he's taking. I've seen athletes transform themelves from lanky and athletic to puffy and muscleboud -- as a result of steroid use. And while it's a different type of steroid -- how much of the "bulking up" can be attributed to the medication?

Another symptom I have is slow recovery from workouts. When I lift weight (for toning - not for bulk), it takes me 3-4 days for my muscles to recovery. It used to take only 1 day.

I don't know what to do. I feel like I need the Advair to breathe properly, but it's making me very uncomfortable in so many other areas. I'd love to stop taking it and see if the side effects go away, but quiting a steroidal medication like Advair isn't supposed to be done "cold turkey".

Suggestions?

I have been on Advair 500/50 for about 4 to 5 years. I cannot keep the weight off. I eat hardly anything at meals. I eat no sweets or bread. About 2 years ago I starting experiencing severe drowsiness even after sleeping well the night before. I was so tired. I had every test done at the dr. possible. I am on a C-pap machine and I kept bugging the sleep dr. about the pressure not being right on the machine. I had a hormone saliva test done and got my hormones on the right track. I kept waiting to feel better.I have had what I thought was irritable bowel syndrome for over a year now and been on medicine for that. It hasn`t really helped. Anyway, I read on the internet about candida and did the spit test. I had lots of yeast. I have been on a large bottle of Nystatin for the yeast now. The allergist said the Advair can cause a yeast problem in the throat and stomach. I feel much better after finishing the Nystatin, but I am sure the yeast will come back. I have to be on something as good as Advair since my asthma is so bad. I am also on Singulair and allergy shots. (For 3 years now) I still can`t handle being in the cold air. My lower calves swell up at my sock line when I am on my feet a lot. It is never ending! What do we do? Can`t live with Advair and can`t live with it!