Advair HFA and joints

I just turned 34 and I am a woman. I have struggled with mild asthma from early teens. I was always able to control my mild asthma with a rescue inhaler as my asthma was triggered primarily by cats/some dogs. However eventually that faded away and I was in control as long as I wasn't around cats. At age 31, I had my daughter (she is now 2 1/2), I rarely had asthma symptoms during my pregnancy and before. However about 1 week after my c-section I had to go to the ER because I couldn't breathe. They thought maybe I was having a pulmonary embolism from the previous c-section surgery. Fortunately I wasn't, but unfortunately for whatever reason, my asthma had been triggered (even if I wasn't around animals). My doctor put me on a Advair, another rescue inhaler, and ZPac. It helped right away.

I noticed a big difference in my ability to breathe. However 2 1/2 years later, I'm still on it. 250/50 once a day. I've tried going off of it several times but I'm unable to breathe. I don't want to be on a steroid long term, but I also have to be able to breathe after about 2 days being off of it. It's like gasping for every breathe. Not fun at all. The side effects I've had are hives to anything cold, itchy skin, stiffer feeling joints, occasional mouth sores, lots of phlegm (coughing up phlegm especially in the morning). I've never suffered from leg cramps or depression from Advair, in fact prior to having a child I was on Lexapro for anxiety and after being put on Advair my depression/anxiety has gone away. In fact, I've lost weight (30 Lbs) and am now down to the same size I was in college! I've asked two different doctors my OBGYN and Family Doctor if it's safe as we are planning for another child. They say yes. My OBGYN has said if I can't breathe I'm not going to be able to carry full-term. Which I guess makes sense. My Family Doctor said you can use Advair only as needed as it is not a bad drug to go off and on again (unlike antidepressants where you should never just stop them cold turkey). He said (he also suffers from asthma) that asthma can be triggered by stress (and my life has been extremely stressful over the last year).

Is there anyone who has had similar side-effects? Do you believe the benefit of Advair outweighs the negatives? I'm wondering if there is a better non-steroid drug that I can take that is SAFER for pregnancy and for my future. Open to suggestions...

Bleeding Gums, Severe Leg Cramping, Yeast Rashes, Sleeplessness, Blurred Vision:

I am a 49 year old woman who was recently prescribed Advair for asthma control. I also have severe allergies. My gums began bleeding almost immediately so I worried that I wasn't rinsing my mouth well enough. I stopped the Advair for a several days since in my mind, that was the culprit. Then my breathing/wheezing/persistent cough came back. So, I started back on my Advair and then started almost immediately having the worst leg cramps of my life. After figuring out that this new symptom correlated to my Advair use, I stopped it again cold turkey. I also am not sleeping over about an hour at a time despite my taking Ambien as well as anti-anxiety meds (I have Bipolar Disorder (Depression alternating with Manic Episodes) as well as Anxiety Disorder). Oh yes, and I developed weird yeast rashes underneath my breasts, on my inner thighs and behind my ears....despite if not being hot at all. I have never had this type of rash before or even been troubled with yeast infections. I also just noticed today that my vision is more blurred when trying to read the guide on my TV (42"). I have had no weight gain...in fact am losing weight..but have been watching what I eat. I don't feel more depressed...in fact, I feel the opposite...kinda euphoric at times..which feels good but can be a step towards mania for me. I decided to do a bit of research on Advair as a cause of the leg cramps...my persistent cough is back but I am afraid to take it now. I guess I need to talk to my allergist tomorrow.

I have just tried Advair, and after 4 days, joints all over my body started to ache. My eyes hurt alot and my vision got blurry. Lastly, I just have a general feeling of unease. I quit the advair and was much better within 3 more days.
All pain is gone and eyes feel normal again, although my eye sight seems diminished. I took no other drugs and felt fine before taking the Advair.

I am 44 and suffer from mild copd. I can get by with Albuteral, and will do
so from now on. I know that one is safe.

Good luck to all.

February 18, 2008 9:46pm
Hi, I too just ran across your website. I had a doctor's appointment today to find out why I have numbness in the right leg, achiness in the joints, lower back pain, problems walking where sometimes I have to walk with a cane, restless leg syndrome, and terrible leg cramps. I am a 56 yr old female. I quit using Advair about one year ago after using it every fall, winter and early spring for about six years. While using it I too had heart palpitations that woke me up in the middle of the night. They disappeared after I stopped using it. But the joint pain and walking problems still persist. Does anyone know if they will disappear in time? The doctor is sending me for tests for Arthritis and Neuropathy.
-- By leegc

HI I am 61 and took one puff of Advair and the joint pains that night were bad. I took it for three days. Three weeks later it is still very bad. about a 8 or 9 on the pain scale. I am weak in the joints and stiff. I would like to know if anyone had it like this and if it went away and how long did it last. Excedrin works the best, have a prescription for the night time but it does nothing so am using aspirin also.I called the company and they contact the fda also. The mornings are the worse because nothing lasts at night and I don't know why. I can hardly walk and get ready for the day and around 7 at night I get so cold and shaky. Has anyone had it this bad and does it stop. I don't know if the doctors even believe me. I do have a appoint for a arthritis doctor, but not until feb and the blood test I have had so far say there is nothing wrong.

I'm 58 with COPD and the Dr. put me on Advair for breathing. I have been having severe join pain the last two weeks and believe it may be from the rx. also, have reccurring pneumonia, thrush, and sleep disturbances. Sound familiar? let me know if you have the joint pain.

I just started Advair 250/50 a few days ago - the dose is 2x per day. My asthma is better, but I've noticed tingling and numbness in my arms and lower legs. I was on Flovent previously and this never happened before. I'm going to try dropping to 1x per day on the Advair to see if this helps. Has anyone else experienced this? TA

I have taken advair now for 3 yrs. at first I started out with the 250/50mg and then decressed myself down to the 100/50. I've put on alot of weight, and have tryed getting off of it. I only inhaled this once a day in the AM. I don't need it in the PM. I do have an albuterol back up if I need it, and when I tried to stop using it, (the advair) I was using the albuterol inhaler twice a day. I also have backaches, headaches, blurred vision at times, (not bad though). achey joints, trying to get rid of the weight gain is harder then I thought no matter what I do it just won't come off, Advair does help me breath, but how the heck do you come off of it if you feel you absolutely don't need it?

I have been on advair for about 5 years now. I have severe muscle cramps. I also started with pain in my feet that nows seems to have moved to my knees. Although my other joints hurt too. My asthma is great though.

I was put on Advair and Singular in December 2005. I was on both drugs all of January and almost all of February 2006. My asthma started to get worse, breathing very labored, painful eyes, joints, muscles, heavy chest, hoarseness, and total loss of energy. I also gained more weight. After looking up side effects, I immediately got off both drugs.

My symptoms have improved dramatically, but my energy level remains low and I have developed some type of infection in both eyes. Both are very painful, and the left eyelid feels lumpy. This definitely was a case of the cure being worse than the disease. I actually felt like I was dying a slow death. I'm just hoping the drugs did not cause me permanent damage. I am now on a total vegetarian (raw food) diet, hoping to rid my body of these drugs.

My 10 year-old grandson has been on Advair 250 for two years. Within six-weeks of starting Advair, he developed warts that will not respond to any type of treatment. There are days he will develop three to four warts in a day. He is also complaining of abdominal pain, ear pain, joint pain in several joints. His appetite is greatly increased leading to weight gain. He has profuse sweats, body odor, nightmares, tachacardia and arrythmias. His lung function has NOT inproved while on Advair. We are weaning him from Advair.

I have been on Advair 500/50 for 2 years taking 1 puff twice daily. I have had these side effects:

weight gain
dry skin
itchy skin
pain in muscles and joints, mostly legs
thin skin on arms
bleeding problems/ clotting disorder
rapid heart beat
thinning hair
difficulty sleeping
thirsty throughout the night
dental problems
water retention
heartburn
I hate taking this drug but it does help keep my COPD(emphysema) under control. I get depressed at times due the side effects of this drug and the impact it has on my life and how I feel about myself. I often think of just stopping the drug and seeing how I feel but I am afraid to.

I have been haveing pains in my joints tight chest,weight gain, my legs are so weak,sore troat,raspy voice,which I am a singer so it really effected my work,I get numbness down my left side and my heart beats really fast,,it scared me so much,,I stared haeing doubts about docters these days,,my docter gave me them as samples out dated,but told me to use them anyway,that being out dated was harmless,I haven't felt like myself in a long time,does anyone know if it ever goes out of your system,can I ever be back to the way I was,,Please help me if you have any information,I have 5 children and I want to be able to watch them grow,will the pain in my chest down my side and my legs can I take anything healthy to make things better,,I find it weird,,because I find it hard to take tynol for anything because I always hate to take any kind of drugs,then I turn around trust my docter and take one of the worst drugs out there,

I was initially put on the 250 and thought it was wonderful because I could breathe again ! After about 4 months though I began to have episodes of my knees and ankles collapsing with no notice. I was hurting in all of my joints and went through a whole series of tests for rheumatoid arthritis which came out negative. My doctor reduced the Advair to 100 since I was breathing so well and these problems with my joints got somewhat better. I did not put it together with the reduction in Advair dosage. THen about 6 months later, my asthma became worse and he upped me to the 250 again. Well, I can breathe but I am unable to walk very well. My knees, ankles, elbows and shoulders all ache constantly. I am afraid of falling as my knees and ankles give out several times a day. It is really frightening. I have told my doctor that I think there is a connection, but he dismisses my theory. I think he thinks I am a hypochondriac !!! I am upset because I really think there is a connection and I know this was a new drug and now I am worried that if I get off of it my ashtma will be worse than before.

I've been on Advair for years now. I haven't used an inhaler in as many years. I'm 30 and have been on all the usual stuff. Ventolin, Vanceril, Prednisone, Theofolin, etc. and nothing has worked as good as Advair. However, I have side effects just like everyone else here. My feet hurt, I have achey joints, slight weight gain, etc. After reading some stuff here, I'm switching to once a day and making an appt. with the doc to switch. Asthma sucks, but so does getting a chest cold every other month.

My son who will be 11 in 4 days has been on Advair 250 for his asthma since he was 6. He is always complaining that he doesn't feel well but since he has so many different symptoms that he is usuallly ignored. Everything from sore stomachs, sore arms, legs, back and headaches all the time. Also he has a few sores over his body and has had a few of them removed to see what they were but everything came back negative. The main thing we notice about him is his anger and how upset he gets over little things. My son is also on ventolin several times a week and singulair everyday.

I know that we all post messages here but there is no way for us to talk with each other if you don't leave you email address. Please post your message with your email address in it. We all are suffer with side effect lets talk to see if we can help each with information.

I am not sure how long it takes for side effect to go away. I have been off advair since July 3 and I still have slight joint pain and pain in my hips and lower back. My joints make popping noises sometimes in my hands. I still have sinus pressure between my ears. I don't take anything right now except advil to try to remove the pressure. I am also getting over the thrush and sore throat that I did have. I was on Advair for four weeks and this happened. My doctor told me that my symptoms are not related to Advair but I know that is not true. I have been in my body longer then my doctor has been practicing and I know when my body is operating differently. My email is ******

Thank you for this site! I didn't want to take Advair when it was prescribed for me nearly two weeks ago. Not because I knew of the side-effects, but because with my family's history of cancer and heart disease, I tend to be very cautious with any type of steroid. However, I was having a bad cold combined with asthma (which I'm not normally prone to) and trouble breathing, and for two weeks, it seemed a compromise.

When I first started taking it, I noticed the rapid heartbeat, which has since lessened. However, I've noticed that my vision is now blurry, and has been such for the last few days. My cough, which was improving, is back, and now I feel nearly as short of breath as I did before starting the meds. As a matter of fact, last night, I had to sleep sitting up, my breathing was so bad.

This morning, I've noticed pain in the joints of my fingers, and there has been some weight gain (or at least abdominal swelling).

That's it for me, after reading this site. The Advair goes in the trash, and I go back to treating myself holisticly.

I have used Advair two years 50/250 dosage. In the last week I broke out with splotches and bumps over most of my body after inhaling my dosage. I stoped taking it but still having minor outbreaks after waking up in the mornings. Since quiting usage the pain in the joints of my fingers has stopped. My breathing is still ok. I have COPD and the Advair seemed to help me take deep breathing and I was able to stop using combivent. I have slight memory problems but use notes to keep myself reminded of items for the day. I'm one month from turning sixty. RGB

hello, i an a 62 yr old man. i was prescribed advair 250/50 two weeks ago(3-17-04) for wheezing problems and shortness of breath. after only a week, i started to experiance bad neck pains. muscle spasms in my neck and shoulders that were real bad!(the worst i have ever felt) i had to take pain medications to be able to just hold up my head. also my legs(calves) were so tight i could hardly walk. and my bad joints got even worse. i have had a cough since starting advair. even though i stopped taking advair after only 6 days, but i still have a cough, and a sore neck, though my neck is not as bad as it was. i was never told that this(advair) was a steroid drug. i will never take another dose of this drug. it has made the last two weeks miserable!

After starting Advair last Nov. I suddenly had so much pain in legs and arms. Difficult to walk or lift anything. This pain continued until spring when I demanded a diagnosis. It was diagnosed as polymyalgia rheumatica. They do not know what causes it. I already had fibromyalgia. After prednisone for one day ALL pain and stiffness disappeared and I need to take prednisone for one year. I noticed others with fibromyalgia had much increased pain after Advair

I had been on advair since it came on the market. I have suffered from increased heart rate and increased blood pressure. I complained in Nov. to doctor who proceeded to decreae the dose. I continued to have the same symptoms and in addition was having bouts of tachycardia and possibly skipped beats that were very disturbing. I again went and this time was told that by decreasing the dose that it was only the steroid and that the salmeterol was the same in all. Duh, why did he decrease the dose when it had no affect on the salmeterol. Now he decided to stop it altogether. My heart rate is back in a normal range and my blood pressure has come down to a very good reading. I do not have the the increased heart rate. However what I am experiencing is an increase in pain due to arthritis in my joints. i am wondering if this is because I have stopped the advair and the steroid that is in it. Has anyone else had that reaction after long time use of advair and then stopping it.