Advair HFA and flovent

I have been on Advair since Feb. of this year, I have had a lot of these side effects but didn't really realize it was from this med. At first I was told to take it 2x a day, reading the directions it says it has to be 12 hours exactly apart. My work schedule didn't allow that so I just took it 1x....Working 2 jobs I just thought when I couldn't sleep and was always tired, it was from working a lot. When I told the Dr. about not being able to sleep more than 4 hours, I was told since I was taking the meds 1x a day that wasn't it. After a bad cold and bronchitis I was told I had to take the Advair 2x a day, now i'm more tired than ever, still can't sleep and have a headache that won't go away even with migraine medicine. I'm even jittery and forgetful--kinda ditsy now and itchy off and on all day...After reading this blog site I see its not in my mind and i'm going to stop taking this med. I think i'm going to the health food store and find something natural.

I have adult onset asthma that has gotten progressively worse since I moved from a small Midwestern town to a larger city in the Sonoran desert. On account of this progression in asthmatic symptoms and flair-ups, I switched from Flovent 220mcg to Advair 500/50 about a year ago. For a long time, Advair really seemed to be helping my asthma. Outside of gaining 10-15 pounds in this year (which I asked my pulmonologist about and was assured that inhaled steroids cannot be responsible for), I have fortunately not had many of the aforementioned side effects. However, in the past month after experiencing a bad flair up while studying abroad, I have developed severe heartburn, nausea, acid reflux, a sore throat, and mouth sores. I take the medicine as prescribed and am always sure to properly rinse out my mouth, having been warned about this. After reading everyone else's entries on this site, I am now curious if Advair is doing more harm that good.

Very prone to thrush mouth-even after brushing and gargling, weakness in muscles, Doctors do not know the affects of taking Advair for longer than 6 months

I've also been prescribed Advair, two puffs, twice per day. What dose are you on? I was on 250 two puffs, twice daily and was actually told that this was not even the highest dose that you can be on. I didn't like the idea of taking more than the original dose I was prescribed and so my specialist told me to add in Flovent, which I did help. Even after all of this, I still do not like the drug at all and am trying to do my best to say off of it.

On another note, has anyone experienced severe asthma symptoms (very bad wheezing, coughing, chest tightness) BUT had a perfect oxygen saturation level? I have been in and out of the emergency ward for the past week and a half and am getting very frustrated with not only the medical system not treating me because of excellent oxygen saturation levels, but with their treatment plans for emergency. I can remember a time when I would walk into the emergency room and be seen almost immediately and be given a mask treatment as soon as I got in there. I'm guessing that treatment plans have changed as I have experienced three hospitals prescribing anywhere from 4-12 doses of ventolin.

Anyway, if anyone else has had similar experiences I would love to hear your story and what you did to get through it.

Thanks!

My 12 year old has asthma and has good and bad years. Her asthma seems to be linked with the amount of flu/cold/viral infections she gets in any given year. This past year she has had strep, viral infection, sinusitis, and several viral infections consecutively. She has been hospitalized for masks and has taken 3 course of antibiotics, Prednisone, ventolin puffers, nasonex, and has recently been switched from flovent to advair. Since taking advair, she can't sleep, she has severe headaches every day, her vision is blurred, her asthma doesn't seem to be better, it seems worse, she loses her voice regularly and is up in the night crying because of pain in her throat.

I'm at my wits end as to what to do for her. This has disrupted our lives and she has missed a significant amount of school. She has currently no quality of life to speak of as she is always at home not feeling well.

I'm looking for some help.

WOW! I guess I will consider myself one of the lucky ones after reading all of these side effects posted here. Let me first say that I have tried many inhalers -- serevent, flovent, ventolin etc etc -- and the asthma kept getting worse. Then my doctor suggested Advair. I've been taking it for several years now. I knew that all medications have side effects and I read through the list carefully. The medicine was a Godsend! It helped me so much that I would have recommended it to most anyone. Recently, however, I've started having the occasional heart palpitations and recurring sinus infections. I'm beginning to wonder if it is time to move on to another drug. I'm in my early 30s and have been trying to conceive for a few years to no avail. I recently read that Advair can cause irregular cycles and now wonder if it is playing a part in my fertility struggles. Only other symptoms I have are tooth sensitivity and occasional leg cramps -- however, these existed prior to starting Advair; they might have become more prevalent but I don't believe Advair caused them.
I'd like to hear from anyone who is currently trying Asmanex...that might be my next drug.