Advair HFA and chest pains

About 2 and 1/2 months ago I went to an urgent care facility since I felt like I was suffocating. I am a long time smoker (30 years) and have not had any problems with breathing accept for the occasional morning cough. Long story short, the doctor after hearing my breathing and taking 2 xrays said "you have a pocket of infection in your lung and COPD". I didn't realize it was that quick and easy to diagnose COPD and thought there were more extensive tests to prove that, but I went along with the doctor. The doctor prescribed Advair, an antibiotic, ProAir HFA (albuterol pump rescue inhaler), a decongestant and prednisone. I thought that was an extreme amount of medication but the doctor said she was being proactive. After a couple albuterol breathing treatments and a shot of steroids at the urgent care center I was on my way.

I finished the treatments of antibiotics and steroids as prescribed, but I never took the decongestant (did not want to over-medicate myself). Immediately after starting Advair my joints ached and I felt over all like I had the flu. With my 1 weeks checkup with the doc I mentioned this and she just smiled. About a week after that the achy joints starting easing up, but I started cramping in different muscles. For instance one week I would have a dull cramping in my leg that was persistent during the day and worsened at night. Then the leg stopped cramping, then the lower part of my back started in to a point it was hard to get out of bed, walk or bend over. Then when that stopped something else started up. Then during the last two weeks that I was on Advair I was having periodic chest pains, tightness in my chest, (once again) difficulty breathing, and my vision started to go (blurring)...that with the lower back pain. I am almost 50 years old and have been in excellent health my whole life, and honestly I have never felt as bad as I did while on Advair.

I stopped taking Advair 6 days ago. No, I did not call and ask the doctor's advice because I knew what the doc would say. The first day after quitting Advair I had restricted breathing so I used the rescue inhaler once. The breathing issue became better during the remainder of the day. Slowly the cramping in my body and chest eased up. Today (6 days later) my vision is back to what it was, no chest pains, occasional restricted breathing and will use the rescue inhaler during those times.

I think it's too early to know the long lasting affects of Advair, but at this stage in my life (unless I am worse off with my breathing than I am right now) I don't care to use the medication.

i started taking advair 250/50 about 5 days...........I started getting chest pains.............I was scared.........having 2 small children at home and having chest pains was difficult for me..................I am throwing it away in the garbage...........please don;t take this medicine...................

please don't take this medicine.............I started taking advair for 4 days and start getting chest pains.........................I am going to stop this medicine it is not worth it.............I was scared using this medicine.........I have 2 small children at home when I started getting chest pains it was a difficult time for me............I am throwing it away...................

I've been taking Advair for about 14months months, first 100/50 and then 250/50 to control my asthma and chronic bronchitis. During the past year I have actually lost 10lbs but over the past six months have experienced increasing symptoms/possible side effects from Advair: chest pains, leg pains/cramps, neasua, dizziness, acid reflux, trouble sleeping, memory issues and extreme muscle weakness. The leg cramps I've been able to control by taking vitamins and enzymes but the chest pains is worrying me. I was searching for possible answers to the mysterious chest pains and thought that Advair may be the culprit. Hence my entering this site. I'm going to chuck mine in the trashcan and go cold turkey Hopefully my symptoms will subside overtime and nothing damaged permanently.

WOW!!! Now that I have read all of these postings I feel so much better!!! Well not physically but mentally. I am a 29 yr old female. I really started to think I was going crazy! I had been on Advair for 2 years until I just recently decided to stop smoking and start taking better care of my body. Well today is day #25 for me to quit smoking and stopping Advair. Still till this day I am having terrible chest pains! I thought that I would get better when I quit smoking. but whoa!, I'm really starting to think that the Advair did all of this to me. (I know smoking isn't good either) but this drug is terrible!! I have had so many anxiety attacks from this. lack of sleep as well, gained 60 lbs in 2 yrs. I have been using my albuterol nebulizer treatments every 8 hrs just to get me by. does anyone know if this will stop or when it will stop?????? PLEASE PLEASE HELP!! THIS FEELING IN MY CHEST IS HORRIBLE! I feel like my chest is being crushed in. is there anything I can do to make it feel better??? any suggestions????

I'm a 38 year old female who was prescribed Advair after a severe bout of bronchitis one year ago. While at first I thought that it was helping my lungs my family members noticed that I was getting more headaches, mood swings and I went from a soprano singer to sounding like Harry Belafonte. I have stopped and now I have cramping pains in my chest and upper back. I call it my traveling pain as it is not always in the same spot. I would much rather have tried a homeopathic remedy than subject myself to Advair every again. I have learned through a nutritionist and chiropractor how to manage the pain in my lungs that this crap has left behind. Please research this carefully before you start sucking in that dust!!

I suspect Advair is responsible for my having come down with pneumonia,stabbing chest pains( which the Dr. at the ER suggested was Pleurisy) and severe back pain in my lower back. I haven't been able to sleep in bed for at least 6 weeks and must sleep in a chair with my feet propped up on an ottoman.I have used Advair since July 2007, first 250/50 then 500/50 and now back to 250/50 in order to reduce hoarseness. The pneumonia is gone after 5 days hospitalization; the pleurisy pain has just subsided with pain killers and anti inflammatory meds . But the severe lower back pain is still there; my orthopedic Dr. has recommended physical therapy which I plan to initiate. However, stopping the use of Advair may be exactly what I need to end the back pain. I would like to mention that I did experience Thrush upon using Advair and I found that it completely went away when I started drinking pure Pomegranate juice.It doesn't taste great but it was recommended by friends during the time I had pneumonia, and lo and behold, it seems to have done away with Thrush. The Advair along with Siriva does seem to help my asma but these suspected side effects are very debilitating.

Back in May 2007 I screened to take part in a clinical trial involving advair diskus. apart of the screening involved giving me a dosage of the drug. I was given a heart monitor to wear for 24 hours I was snet home and told to return tomorrow. The same day I left with the heart monition, I felt tired through out the day, very sick and nauseated. I didn't make it into the trial for whatever reason, but as the days went on my symptoms got worse, they included: severe constipation, heart burn, burping (GERD like symptoms), BLOATING, I experienced energy dips and dives throughout the day, headaches and dizziness. This went on for months, then I began to have pains in the middle of my upper back...then the chest pains started, after realizing it had to be more than muscle pain, I decided to go to the ER. I told them my symptoms, they did an X-Ray and CAT SCAN. the conclusion of the two test was an enlarged heart(Cardiomyopathy), and it remains so today.

I have recently learned that chemicals in some drugs can damage/weaken the cardiac tissue..which has to happen before the heart can enlarge.

My husband is 24 and has been on Advair for about a month now since he started using it he has experienced horrible headaches,worse asthma symptoms then ever before,constant mucus buildup,severe stomach cramps,chest pains,cramps like a tightening sensation in his pinky,not able to sleep,tired all the time,bad mood swings,and worst of all he used to have 20/20 vision but within the last 2 weeks had to see an eye doctor for blurred vision now he has glasses.When he asked his doctor about side effects this drug may have he was told by the doctor none at all is that legal for your doctor to lie to you?THIS DRUG HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE PLEASE PLEASE FOR YOUR SAKE AND YOUR LOVED ONES SAKE DO NOT TAKE THIS CRAP!!! If anyone knows if his eye sight will get better please post your experience and let us know.THIS MEDICATION IS DEATH IN A DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive taken advair for 3 years,ive had a few side effects including: weight gain, pains in my leg, and tiredness. i dont know if these are from the advair or not. i never had these issues before taking it. i really dont know what to do. if im not on advair i have a hard time breathing and have chest pains. Does breathing better out weigh the side effects that it causes??? i have problems with inflamation and advair seems to work well with that aspect. Is there natural alternatives? HELP!!!

On Advair for 3 weeks for bronchitis/wheezing. Right away started having itching for an hour or so 2-3x a day. It has continued and expanded to many areas and is a temporary rash in some areas.
Benadryl stops it. Don't know if related, but heart rate accelerates from 80 to 160 in a few minutes of climbing stairs to do laundry for example and I've had chest pains.

I was just lying in bed trying to think why my 16 year old daughter coulod be having liver inflammation when I remembered ayear ago my father mailed me info about advair she was just put on and it's side affects. I thought I would go on the computer to try and see if the advair could cause this side affect and came about this site first. We have an appt with an infectous desease MD tomorrow along with a scheduled pulmonary appt. She has put on 10 pounds in the last year and can't figure out why. Also, she has had terrible leg cramps while sleeping. I think I'm taking her off advair after speaking to the infectous disease dr that can't figure out whats wrong and the pulmonary dr and see what happens. Anybody else with their liver count?

Well Advair has worked for me I guess after reading this I realize there are some side affects I feel with advair, back pains, joint pains, I know if I don't take it for 4 days or longer I have an attack and also I have noticed my mouth gettting dry and stuff.I am taking birthcontroll to and I am wondering if anyone out there is having any problems with this mixture. Because I have had chest pains every now and then I think I am going to get off the pill and see what happens.

HAVE BEEN ON aDVAIR, sPIRIVA AND aLBUTEROL FOR 3 YRS NOW. have gained 40 lbs, exercise 5 times a week, walk,swim,aerobics.. no weight loss.. also diet. have shortness of breath all the time no matter what i do. chest pains, body itches everywhere all the time. doctors keep writing prescriptions and have no answers, so i ignore the new prescriptions and am now my own doctor. AFTER READING all of this, i just THREW out my Advair. the weight i gained is all in my stomach and i look like an old pregnant lady.. what a mess. i'm waiting for a Class Action Suit and it should be soon.. someone is going to pay for all of this. those doctors getting paid for writing RX's for money and gifts st our expense could go on forever. should be tarred and feathered.

I have been on Advair almost a month, and actually went this past month without an upper respiratory tract infection. But, I have horrible acne now, so I am coming off of it, after finally figuring out the med is the cause. I also have been having trouble clearing my throat, and severe chest pains. I just don't think this med is worth it anymore. Thank you to everyone for posting your experiences b/c they have really helped!!

chest pains and acne

I have been on advair for about a year or so, eversince I have been on it, i have experienced chest pains and anxiousness. The doc bumped me up to 250 from 100 and I am a mess. I feel nervous at the drop of a hat. I am done with this drug - I have to seek an alternative to controlling the asthma, but i need to sleep and relax.

I've take Advair for a few days... and am noticing chest pains.
Did this happen to anyone out there~
thanks

Having been on Adviar for almost 3 years, I have suffered from abnormal weight gain. I also have increase chest pains and my voice sometimes gets hoarse.

I have been taking Advair since July 9 2004; almost immediately I begin to have heart palpations and anxiety attacks at night. My left side is numb from head to toe. I have headaches all the time. My left arm has tighteness as if I am having a heart attack and my left leg feels as if the blood is pooling in the calf and ankle. My left ankle swells up often and when I attempt to walk for exercise, my right leg literally gets so tight I have to stop and rub it to relieve the pain. My lower back hurts and while attempting to find the problems I had a spinal tap which has created a permanent pain in my back. I have chest pains and the constant fear of having a heart attack. My quality of life went from the best to the possible worst. I have had C-span, MRi, Cartoid Artery test, chest xrays, Spinal Tap and every test came back with good readings. I have been checked for Lupus, MS and my Thyroid and every other test there is. One doctor even told me "maybe you need an exorcist" because all the test where good. I has been horrible and I am beginning to get the fatigue that I have read about on the website. In the middle of exercising I just want to lay down on the floor and go to sleep. I have gain 25 pounds since September. How crazy is that. Before I was diagnoised with Asthma I worked out 4 time a day, even after being treated for Asthma I was able to work out when I was only using the OVAR/Singular. Once I started the Advair everything change. When I use the disk I have an immediate reaction. At first I kept questioning myself and wonder if it was something else. I informed my doctor on 2/11/2005 that I had a problem with the Advair, he instructed me to use it once a day and continue with my emergencies inhaler when needed. I am schedule for a major test tomorrow on the nervous system, after reading these testomonials this morning, I called the office and told them I was taking myself off of the Advair and that someone needed to advice me from that point. I have never felt worst in my life, but I think I am about to feel better.

Side effects I've experienced: weight gain in stomach and breasts, pains in chest and joints, palpitations in heart and brain, depression, tiredness and weakness, dificulty concentrating esp. when reading, and a change in voice that everyone notices

MY STORY
I have been taking advair for two years under the belief that it did not have the sideaffects associated with an oral steroid.
About six months ago I started having chest pains so severe at night I thought I was having a heart attack. I went to my GP the next day and we concluded that perhaps I had exercised to vigorously the day before (I had joined a club to lose the weight I had gained, in the stomach and chest area, since taking advair and to build up my muscles because I thought I was losing strenth due to my age, 47. My legs, arms and butt are fit, but my stomach and breasts look like I'm having a baby). In the last three months I have also experienced hip pain that would wake me up one or two nights a week. I made another appt with my GP and he thought it was time for me to see a specialist. Last week, after one Xray, the specialist told me I have lost half of the cartilage around my hip bones. He had me go for blood tests to figure out why and what we can do. Two nights later, I couldn't fall asleep because of the heart palpitations and, after finally falling asleep, I woke up with what sounded and felt like a "PING" in my brain (It felt as though a nerve or vessel had exploded at its end). That morning it dawned on me that it could be the advair, so I got on line to google and typed in ADVAIR SIDE EFFECTS and found this website (it is only fifth in the list....it should be number one!) I just called the specialist to find out that I have no bone disease in my blood, so tomorrow when I see my allergist I'm going to have him wean me off this nasty drug and get my life back.

I never would have taken advair, if I thought that it was so dangerous. If anyone else is having joint pain, you really should see a specialist and have an xray to see if there is a problem....as the person below has said repeatedly in her messages, "listen to your body" and do something about it.
If there is a class action, count me in....I feel as though I've been duped into being a tester for this drug. I wish I had known!

This is an additional comment to ershry's question since I am the daughter to which the question refers to. Not only has this rash steadily worsened throughout the past few years, I am now having random chest pains, and it feels as if I have something stuck in the top of my throat and along the tonsils. The doctor says that these new symptoms might be related to the GI tract since I am taking prednisone to keep the rash semi-under control, but it sounds as if numerous people have these symptoms without any other cortisones.

For the people who have been stuck on advair for a while, have you noticed a pattern to how the side effects occur? I started with a rash on my face and neck that has now spread all over my entire body, then severe, debilitating calf pain that the doctor wrote off as shin splints, then the throat irritation, and now the chest pains.

I have been on 250/.50 for three yrs.now. I have the severe muscle cramps and arthritis in both wrist and an all over aching! I HAVE DEVELOPED CHEST PAINS ALMOST DAILY. I tried to go off the advair on my own, what a big mistake!! I had muscle cramps in both legs , tummy, and arms so severely I ended up in th ER. JUST THIS YEAR; My gallbllader ruptured and had to be removed and a week long stay in the hospital. I honestly believe Advair has caused all my medical problems. I am not sure what to do or take in place of advair. my asthma is under control, but;I am still on advair. I want to goff it again, but;my doctor says absolutely not.. I hate the stuff!!

I started Advair over a year ago, first 500/50 then decreased to 250/50. During the past year I have steadily gain 50 lbs, severe muscle and joint aches, as well as depression, forgetfullnes, and confusion. There were also a few periods where I had brief blackouts. In April of this year, I bought a treadmill. I was not able to walk over 2.0 mph or for longer than 1/4 mile. I started having chest pains. I went to the doctor and they admitted me to the hospital for heart tests. The tests came back negative, but they found that I had extremely high thyroid levels. My TSH level was 80.76 (normal is 3-5) and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. All of the above symptoms are also symptoms of hypothyroidism. My symptoms started to improve after taking the thyroid medication. However, at the same time my asthma improved and I stopped taking Advair. Three weeks ago I had to begin the Advair again and now I am starting to gain weight with muscle tightening and weakness. After reading this site, I now believe my symptoms were more from the Advair than the hypothyroidism. I will no longer use Advair. I would rather be on prednisone than have to experience these side effects.