Advair HFA and dermatologist

I have been on Advair 250/50 for 5 years for asthma. I'm a 48 year old female. I have experienced severe hoarsness and my voice is rough sounding. Some days I am so hoarse that others have a hard time understanding me. I have had 5 kidney stones in the last 5 years, never had one before taking Advair. I had the last one a month ago and it was so large I had to have surgery. I experience nausea about once a day. I seem to always have a headache. I feel tired all of the time. Over the last year I have developed high blood pressure. I have gained 20 pounds. I have rashes on my upper arms that comes and goes. I experience mood swings. The Advair does control my asthma, but these side effects are too much anymore, especially the hoarseness. I am going to ask my doctor for other solutions.

My daughter 8 has been on Advair 3 years for asthma. Prior to, she was always a happy little girl, fit and healthy.

Some of the new things I noticed as the months progressed were severe mood swings, weight gain, and unexplained reoccurring rash on her feet,legs and thighs. They appeared like Mosquito bites and turned into blisters, not the pediatrician or even an Dermatologist could diagnose it, yet it would appear almost monthly. She has complained of "bubbles" in her eyesight, she developed this squinting, we had her eyes checked several times by eye doctors but told there was nothing wrong.
She has also experienced blackouts, after extensive tests a Neurologist concluded that she had Aura (sp?) migraines and referred to her squinting as a tick.
I feel like I have lost 3 years of my child's life that I cannot get back. She finally has been weaned off it. It has been only a few days with no Advair. I hope for no lasting adverse affects.
My 5 year old daughter has just been diagnosed with asthma and I noticed he is no longer prescribing Advair for children, I would refuse it, if he did.
Veronica, CT

Unbelievable Rash on my back, scalp, etc. that my dermatologist indicated was exzema. After 7 months of constant itching, I have finally found this site and I am hoping that if I discontinue the advair, my rash will once and for all diminish.

My GP put me on Advair in the summer of 2006 because I was having trouble with so much phlegm in my throat and losing my voice by using Combivent. I also have a weakened voice as a result of asthma medication. For the first three weeks the Advair was great. Then one weekend at our cabin, I had a severe asthma attack -- to the point that my husband wanted to pack up and drive an hour to an hospital emergency ward. I thought it was from something in the cabin or in the air. As a result of some research on Advair, I truly believe that it was from taking this medication. Not realizing this, I have continued to take Advair at the advice of my GP. I then noticed that my skin was very itchy, mostly on my legs at that time. My GP said it was excema. It started spreading to my hands, wrists, elbows. I started reading about the side effects of Advair -- from the insert that comes with the discus -- itchy skin is one of the side effects listed. In December 2006, I went to the lung specialist that has been treating me for asthma for several years. I asked him about the itching and mess on my wrists, etc. He indicated that it was excema and not a reaction to the Advair -- and proceeded to write me a presription for more Advair. In January 2007, I went back to my GP because I couldn't stand the itching and red blotches anymore. She wouldn't give me anything to relieve it, but sent me to an allergist. I asked him about the mess my skin was in and he told me that it was very rare that someone would react to Advair in this manner and he didn't think that was the cause. He decided that I was allergic to dog and cat dander. Just the other day I was finally sent to a dermatologist. She was appalled at the condition of my skin, as the ithing and redness had now started to spread to my upper arms, under arms, breasts and stomach area. I took some research about Advair with me to this appointment. She has now taken me off the Advair for a two week trial and given me an ointment help with the healing. Finally, a specialist that really might think the Advair is the cause of this itching all over my body. I sure hope that these doctors will realize that I really have an adverse reaction to Advair and will find another medicaiton that will be suitable, but not cause the problems I am having now. my voice is still strained, but I am sure as the Advair leaves my system, this will improve too.

Severe upper and lower extremity cramping, hair loss and mid-cycle bleeding. Took myself off the inhaler, went to the specialist and he tested my breathing. Only down by 5%. I now live with radial nerve tension in my forearms due to muscular cramping and mid-cycle cramping in my feet.

I am so thrilled to have stumbled across this site. So many lightbulbs are going on. I have been gathering pieces of the Advair complications in my life just recently after taking it for years. Finally so many things are making sense. I started taking Advair 100/50 in 1996, and like most people, I had almost immediate relief of symptoms. My alupent inhalers that I used to puff on regularly started to expire before I was even 1/3 of the way through them. What a miracle!
I experienced no MAJOR side effects until my dosage was bumped up last fall to the 250.

From that point on, I have experienced:

* a chronic raw, gravelly sore throat. I saw a specialist (who knew what amount of Advair I was on and never mentioned this as a possibility) He sent me on my way with a pamphlet on heart burn. I don't have heart burn, and my friends joke that I have a permanent new, husky smoker's voice!

* severe dry skin and horrible eczema, concentrated mainly on my lower legs and ankles-- this started almost exactly one month after my dosage was increased but I didn't make the connection

* thinning hair

* cuts, sores slow to heal

* yeast infections are a frequent and nasty visitor

* swelling in my ankles

* toe and leg cramps

* slight weight gain

* irritability-- my typically sunny attitude has shifted to a lot of depression and feelings of anger off and on

Also, like so many others here, when I tried to talk to the Dr. about decreasing my level of Advair, she told me not to mess with success and wanted to hear nothing about it. When I flat out asked her what the long term consequences could be of inhaling steroids, she responded by saying "Well, you don't absorb them in your system since you are inhaling it, so there's obviously nothing to worry about! Harumph.." She acted like it was the stupidest question she had ever heard and left me feeling angry and frustrated.

I consulted with my dermatologist in regards to my eczema.. I have almost been scratching my legs until they bleed because the itching is so insufferable and nothing has been alleviating the symptoms. She confirmed that the Advair use could definitely be linked to my increasing, chronic skin problems. Another patient in their practice had developed full blown Cushing's Syndrome after years of excessive inhaled cortisone. Her skin was thin and papery and her whole system was a mess.

I have an appt with a new dr. this week to begin a regimen of weaning off this stuff. I am quite scared and only wish I would have connected the dots sooner. It was my German brother-in-law, a doctor, who raised red flags with me when I told him about my symptoms and showed him the dosage of Advair I was taking twice a day. He was quite stunned and quickly convinced me the severity of the situation.