Advair HFA and loss of voice

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 am a 61 year old male and I have COPD with 40% loss in lung function. My allergist started me on Advair 250/50 a couple of years ago. As I was still having trouble with shortness of breath, my internist put me on Spiriva, also. Breathing got easier, but I was experiencing a number of symptoms.

The one that clued me into knowing something in the medicine was bothering me was bright red eyes. Also focus problems and blurry vision. My ophthalmologist found no reason for the eye condition. So I also looked at some other symptoms I had: Severe muscle cramping if any muscle was contracted; severe lower back pain after walking only 5 minutes; hoarseness; loss of voice; Extreme weight gain (55 pound in 1-1/2 years), all in my middle; bloating and tooth/gum problems that were nonexistent 2 years ago; BPH symptoms (poor urine stream, difficulty emptying and many nighttime bathroom visits with normal prostate & PSA tests). E.D.

Whoa! What’s going on here? So I began stopping all my drugs one at a time for one week. Just got to the Advair yesterday and my eyes have already almost returned to white. My hoarseness is almost gone. Was it the power of autosuggestion? Somehow, I don’t think so. This drug works, but one has to balance the side effects with the help it provides. I’m going to try just using my albuterol inhaler and stay off these steroids.

Good luck to you all!

All,
I've been taking Advair for 1 year. I'm on the smallest dose version 100/50 which you have to take twice a day. After a month of taking it, I starting to experience loss of voice and a skin fungus (discolorations patches) on my back and chest.

Advair pushes a steroid into your lungs to relax the muscles. After futher research, I discovered that the steriods actually surpress your immune system, leaving you more exposed to ailments that might be applicable to your body type, living environment and family history.

So, I started taking about 3000 mg of Vitamin C everyday. 1000 at breakfast, 1000 at lunch, 1000 before I go to bed.

It has helped with the skin fungus other physical ailments that otherwise, without a strong immune system, I would be suspectible to.

As for the loss of voice, I got off the advair for 1 week. My voice completely came back. Then decided to only take the Advair once a day, and only at night (I know you are not supposed to do that as per the prescription requirements, but I did it anyway). Typically when you get horse naturally, it takes sleeping over night (since your are not talking) to gradually recover your voice. So, I only take the advair a night, so any damage it would cost, my voice could recover too overnight, versus, taking it in the morning, and having to go to work, where I have to talk alot in my job.

I recommend you increase you Vitamin C intake, and do some research on the benefits of Magnesium supplement and it's positive effect in managing Asthma.

As always, remember to consult with your doctor about the supplements you want to take BEFORE you take them.

Good luck to all.

I have been experiencing hoarseness. loss of voice as well as severe low back ache, hip ache anxiety and severe cramps in my calves at night. I have been going to back therapy the past month not making the connection to Advair and thinking it was more of my on going back problems. I stopped taking Advair 5 five days ago and many of the side effects either have gone away or have been subsiding noticeably. I thought this was a coincidence until today I began to read this forum and am really convinced at this point that the Advair has been playing a large role in my physical woes. On the downside, my asthma has become worse but I intend to ask my Dr. for a script for Asmanex when he returns to town....

have been on advair 4 yrs, did'nt relize that my throat and mouth problem until later i have blisters in my mouth and throat can't eat without a lot of pain i have been reduced to eating liquids and they hurt just as badi also have loss of voice very dry mouth,headache,muscle pain and the sores have reached down into the back of my throat i am going to stop takeing advair for a few days and see what happens my doctor says he don't know what the problem is well i think i just found out thanks to this web sight thank you for posting it

two weeks on Advair for bronchitis, leaves me with loss of voice, cough, general feeling of malaise. will it end eventually. Do I have to visit my doctor.?

Having now read many of the postings here I feel very luck. I have had asthma for a lifetime. I have used every medicine known to man and for the most part have been able to maintain a relatively normal lifestyle. Although sometimes I still struggle to breath those times that I feel overwhelmed are somewhat rare.
I came to this website to learn what others might be dealing with as far as side effects and found a bucnh of things listed by others that I had never thought of before.
Advair to me has been somewhat a wonder drug. Till I started taking it my breathing was much worse and I never wanted to be far from my emergency inhaler. I have been on Advair now for maybe 5 to 6 years. I don't even own an emergency inhaler. Although sometimes I wish I did as I still have an occasional flair up.
The things that I have suffered with are a constant and very annoying need to clear my throat. And a loss of voice that just seems to get worse with time.
And yet, If you told me to get up and walk 3 to 5 miles I wouldn't hestitate doing it. And in fact would feel better when I was finished than when I started.
I feel like many others ---- the side effects are a real drag. However ---- breathing is job one. Without a good breath of air what difference does the rest make.
One last thing. I am 58 years old. I had a sister that died of asthma at 28. One thing that I have learned that I would like to share. Part of effective asthma control is controling your emotions. Thinking about it too much ----- always makes it worse.

I have been on Advai 250/50 since Spring. I have had some laryngitis which I believed was cause by a bad cold I had . Then in June I started losing my voice continously and cannot get it back. I have been to one ENT who put me on Steroids for a week( no results). I went back a month later, my vocal cords still swollen and still no voice. This ENT wanted to do surgery right away and shave down the vocal cords. I went to get a 2nd opinion and the other ENT told me to discontinue my ADvair, since on of the side effects is Disphonia ( loss of voice). So I have discontinued the Advair. We shall see if this is the cause of my chronic Laryngitis.

This past November I got the flu, as did my husband and daugther. The day after Thanksgiving I started to have some difficulty breathing. I went to the doctor and they prescribed an inhaler for me, which did nothing. I went back to the dr. again and she prescribed an anxiety medication and combivent and told me that it was just anxiety. Why would she prescribed combivent (which is strictly used for COPD) if I supposedly just had anxiety? I went to another doctor and he informed me that I had pneumonia and broken ribs. He prescribed prednisone and Advair. Since taking Advair the quality of my life has gone downhill tremendously. I have gained upwards of 30 pounds, have a swollen (and painful) stomach, have lost my voice (I cannot speak above a whisper), I'm having excruciating pain in my right hip joint, it hurts if I put any weight on the heels of my feel, and my back is killing me. Advair has not helped me in ANY way. It has not helped my breathing, in fact, it's made it worse.

When I informed my doctor of this he acted like I was crazy. He said it was completely safe and that I had nothing to worry about. So, I went to a pulmonologist...and he told me to stay on the Advair also! Even though they're aware of the fact that it hasn't helped me! I found it ironic that someone stated on here that they thought the dr.'s might be getting a kickback for prescribing it, because I thought the exact same thing!

I have been off of Advair for 4 days now and there has been no improvment. I called the company that makes Advair and the woman I spoke with said she was "in shock" that the dr.'s kept me on that medication with the side effects I'm having. According to her, 5% of people using Advair will experience "hoarsness," which is a grand understatement...it's more like loss of voice. She said she was filing a report with the FDA and we would receive a copy of it. When I asked her if this could have caused permanent damage, she was honest with me. According to her there is now a study for people who have been on Advair for 2 years, then off of it for a year, and they still have their symptoms. She also said that the study stated that there was no difference between long-term use and short-term use. Which basically means that it doesn't matter if you've been on it for 2 months or 2 years, if you're going to have a reaction...you'll have it.

I'm praying this isn't permanent. I'm only 37 and this is miserable to have to deal with while running my business and taking care of my family.

On the one hand, I've had the yeast infection and now I have the hoarseness - the loss of voice.

On the other hand, Advair does a great job of controlling my asthma.

So there is no such thing as a free lunch. The question is: is the cure worse than the disease?
The jury is still out.

I just started on Advair 100 last week and really loved the stuff from day one. This is the first time I've ever felt completely free from asthma. No wheezing or difficulty in breathing at all. I've struggled with terrible asthma all my life and would say that it has reduced the quality of my life.
Anyway, the only problem I noticed after starting the Advair was that my voice is now starting to go. This is the first time in my life where my voice is a bit raspy and hoarse, so I know it's because of the Advair.
So searching for information concerning loss of voice eventually brought me to this site. Let me say how sad I am to find out that the only medication that's been this helpful to me could be so detrimental to my health :(
Does anybody know if I just reduce from 2 uses a day to maybe once a day, or once every other day if that would reduce my chances of developing weight gain, mouth fungus, etc, etc? Please reply to me at: ******
I am very concerned and would be sad if I had to give it up.

I've been using Advair non-stop for about three years. At first, with the exception of a slight sore throat and raspy voice by mid-afternoon, I felt great, to the point where I forgot I was asthmatic. I developed several other symptoms very gradually, so gradually that I didn't associate them with the medicine. I've experienced the following symptoms, some worse than others:

Sore throat, loss of voice, fungal infections of the mouth (this is really getting out of hand!) and vagina, slight headaches, painful joints and feet (soles), muscle stiffness; muscle cramping(neck, abdominal, leg and feet), dental discomfort, red eyes, blurry vision and "floaters", dark circles; difficulty sleeping; weight gain, especially around the middle. Slight facial hair; sallow, dry skin, and poor healing (slow healing of wounds and scars). The latest :sudden bouts of weakness and sleepiness.

I think it's time to take a break and cleanse the system.

I would like to Thank all of you for taking the time to inform others about your experience of side effects from advair. I have learned so much! And I'd like to thank Guest 4309 for making the connection between yeast infection and advair. After doing a google search for yeast infection, I found many reputable sites (Duke University, urology.org, etc.) that state that steroids and corticosteroids (that's what advair is) can and do cause yeast infections (Candida, thrush, skin infections, sinsus and ear infections/itching). I AM BLOWN AWAY THAT MY ALLERGIST TOLD ME FOR A YEAR THAT THE CONTAST ITCHY THROAT and EARS and LOSS of VOICE, among other problems, WERE NOT CAUSED BY ADVAIR! Like Guest 4309 I wish I had NEVER taken advair. I am off it now and I'm taking glucosamine and acidophilus and eating lots of plain yogurt. Let me tell you, I already feel better. ANd I have sent for the book "Conquering Candida" on www.half.com for $7.50. I'll let people know what happens to me. ANd, please let us all know what works for you!

I am not even sure I really have asthma. A german doctor said that I do not have it but all American doctors say I do. I have been on Advair for 3 years and noticed weight gain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, hoarseness to the point of total loss of voice, a rash on my face, major hip pain, shoulder pain and back pain, and vertigo. I spent almost a whole year at specialists to find out why I kept loosing my voice. I went to a eye/nose/throat specialist who couldn't find anything and proposed speech therapy. Then I was sent to a thyroid specialist who put me on synthroid but also said that this has nothing to do with my loss of voice. I was even on 6 weeks of total voice restriction. At one point, with all the back, hip and shoulder pain, thyroid stuff, etc., I was on 8 different, heavy duty medications from valium to triple antibiotics and such. Now after reading all of these emails, I will take myself off Advair, Lexapro, Vioxx, Valium, Ambien, Lipitor, Synthroid, and pain killers with Codein. I really thought I must be going crazy but now it all makes sense.

Thank you all!

Started advair after an extreme allergic reaction to burning poison ivy. It helped me to breathe more easily; but I think the doctor kept me on it too long. During the first year I had experienced heart attack like palpitations at night which I just lived through, and I saw a throat specialist who told me that voice lessons would help my throat pain and loss of voice (i.e., the problems were caused by my using my voice too much without training). At the end of the year I asked my allergist if I should continue to take advair and he said absolutely yes. After 8 more months on it the side affects incresed to include: hip and joint pain, acid reflux (I think this may be caused or made worse by back pain because it does get better after I do exercises that take pressure off the back), infection in sinus are that increased to a golfball size, rounded face and body front, anger, and depressive, negative thoughts. A month ago I decided myself to get off advair after reading this site and can say that already I have been having pleasant thoughts of well-being again and I sleep well even with joint pain. How long does it take for the body to recover from advair?