Advair HFA and muscle pain

Hello asthmatics,
I've taken Advair for about 10 years and have had a problem with bone and muscle pain since I've been on it. I started taking it because it was the only med. that enabled me to breathe, as I have severe asthma. Back in the day before Advair, I used nebulizers all the time. After reading the side effects of Advair (decreased bone density), I realize I need to stop taking it. I take a calcium substitute every day and this helps to eliminate the pain, but I feel like I have the body of a 90 year old and I'm only 24! Screw Advair, I don't need to mess around with bone density issues! I wish my doctor had told me that, or I had thought to look it up years ago. Only recently have I eliminated all other Rx drugs (except the occasional nasal spray) as well as most everything over the counter. I hope I'll still be able to breathe without it! If not I'll just have to find something else to take. Any thoughts on Intal? It seems like it might have less side-effects. Take care and good luck to all.
-Ange-

These posts have certainly raised some questions in my mind. I am a 48 female, w/mild to moderate COPD - chronic bronchitis due to years of smoking. I have been taking Advair for about 8 years. I have joint and muscle pain all the time, clearing of throat constantly, hoarse like voice, poor urine stream, red eyes, blurry vision. I've had depression and anxiety attacks for years so I can't really blame that on Advair. I take 250/50 strength once a day. I cannot take the second dose in the evenings. If I do, I will not sleep. I go to my pulmonary doctor next week and will definitely talk to him about other options and coming off Advair.

i heard something on the television about a lawsuit involving advair and came across this site looking for information. i have been on advair for aprox 8 years. when i read some of these comments i began to cry. it so said exately what i have been feeling right down to being diagnosed with rhumetoid arthritis and fibro. i spent 6 hours in the er last week with a heart rate of 112. i went to my doctor as recommended after my visit and he blew me off because he was mad i went to the er and told me to go see a surgeon to cut into my collar bone, go down to my lungs and biopsy them. i see a different doctor next Thursday for a second opinion. i am so tired of being sick and to think, it could all be from this one thing. i am going to talk to the doctor about this on Thursday.

i have been taking advair for almost 2 months and a few days ago i started to have servere muscle pain in my neck and pain in the bottom of my head. I also for the first time in my life have been having anxiety and panic attacks...i didn't know what was wrong with me, i went to the emergency room and my doctor and had tons of test done with negative results!..i thought i was havening a mental breakdown! I came across this website and read all the post put up..i can't believe it...i thought i was dying, never would i have thought that the one medicine to help me breath was just about killing me.

Two weeks ago my Doctor put me back on Advair 500/50, My voice went hoarse immeditialy (still that way), I also started having headachs, unable to sleep, muscle pain, my blood pressure has increased and I have a rapid heart rate. The problem that drives me crazy is I have difficultly swallowing and I feel like someone is strangling me. I also have a bad cough and thick mucus that doesn't seem to end...not to mention mood swings and problems thinking.
I was previously on advair for years, stopped taking it cause I did not feel right. My Doctor remains firm in her option "advair has no side effects" and thinks I make this up...Wish I never started back on it and stopping using it today.

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.

I am a 39 year old female. I have been taking Advair for about 4 years now, since a bad attack landed me in the hospital. My pulmonologist initially put me on the 500 strength and told me to take it twice daily. After a couple of week of that my skin broke out in small bumps all over the place - my face, my chest, my back, even on my scalp. I suspected the Advair, told my doctor, and she advised me to reduce to once daily. I did, and the bumps were gone within days. After a few months she decreased me to the 250 dosage and I remained on that for 3 years with no debilitating side effects. Unfortunately my doctor retired around this time and another doctor took over her practice.

About a year ago I noticed that my joints were weaker, specifically my knees, and I had one bad fall caused by complete loss of strength in my left knee. My new doctor said I might be experiencing cartilege loss but did not mention it may be from the Advair.

Then a few months ago I had got an upper respiratory infection which went into bronchitis. My doctor put me on an antibiotic that I'd never taken before and increased my Advair to 500 again. Almost immediately I began experiencing racing heart, joint pain, extreme skin sensitivity, sore throat and ear pain. I also got a yeast infection, which is something I have never had before. I still did not suspect Advair as the culprit. Although I reported all these symptoms to my doctor, he also did not mention the possibility of Advair playing any part in them. He told me it was acid reflux, although I've never had a single GI problem in my life. He told me the muscle pain was stress, for Heaven's sake. I wasn't very comforted by his diagnosis, but couldn't think of what else I could do.

One morning a few weeks ago I woke up and for some reason decided to Google Advair, and found copious documentation from reputable sites like Mayo Clinic that detailed all the possible side effects of the drug. I was floored to see that I have been experiencing so many of them.

I have now taken myself off Advair. It's been a week thus far and my breathing has not gotten any worse but the heart racing has already gone away. I also feel less ear pain. The joint pain has remained. I suspect that bone and cartilege damage done by this drug will not be reversible.

Tomorrow I have another appointment with my doctor and plan on showing him the information I printed out from the Mayo Clinic site on the effects of Advair. I do not plan to resume taking that drug.

I HAVE ONLY BEEN ON ADVAIR FOR ABOUT 8-10 DAYS. THE BREATHING SEEMS EASIER SOMETIMES. MY MAIN COMPLAINT IS THE AWFUL MUSCLE PAIN. EVERY MUSCLE FROM MY NECK TO MY KNEES HURT...NECK, SHOULDERS, CHEST, BACK, ARMS AND SOMETIME MY LEGS. ITS STARTS TO ACHE IN THE MORNING, AND BY AFTERNOON AND EVENING I HAVE TO TAKE SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN. WHY??

OH BOY! I have been on Advair since it first come out! 3 0r 4 yrs?
Am I ever a mess!!! Thrush, yeast infections under my breasts, behind my ears & who knows where else! I have been using nystatins rinses, powders, etc etc & nothing! I went off my Advair for 6 months & no changes with any symptoms! So I am back on it : (, I have also had extreme muscle pain, tired all the time, running nose, depression (on anti dep meds now) A whole big change for me & I have seen 3 docs & just more nystatin scripts, well I am off to see my allergist on wed. & am praying he will see something into this!

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

I had an allergic reaction to lamisil tablets. After an extreme round of skin rash and sores came the wheezing and coughing from bronchial spasms. The doctor prescribed advair and albuteral. I actually got worse! Muscle pain, coughing jags every morning with green mucus, dry cough and general malaise. I looked for warnings with the advair box and found none. I had to go to the internet to find out that this stuff CAUSES bronchitis. It's been 3 months now. Two months of inhaling that junk and one month off. I'm still coughing up green chunks every morning and cough all through the day. There should have been warnings in the box and the doctor should not have prescribed this stuff for me.

I have been off Advair for 7 months now. After quitting, I first got my voice back -- it had been cracking and disappearing by the end of the day. Then the swelling in my ankles went down. I was able to stick to a diet, and now I realize I looked like I was pregnant, my stomach was so big. I've lost 15 pounds on a realistically low-carb, low-gluten diet, fairly easily. I'm running again, finally with no muscle pain, and more lung capacity than I had on Advair. I've had a cold virus twice, and didn't become asthmatic, even though EVERY single cold had in the past. I was up to 500/50 when I decided to quit, and my doctor had told me I would likely have to stay on that dosage forever. (I'd had to supplement with Albuterol when I tried to exercise, and frequently had nighttime wheezes.) She was wrong. Advair is BAD NEWS. If you decide to quit, taper off gradually, over a few weeks. I went through a bad spell of painful headaches in the week I tapered.

I am so glad to have found this sight. I thought I was seriously ill. I have been on Advair for about 8 months. Since January I have been quite fatigued. I was never able to nap in the afternoon but now if I'm not at work I have to have at least an hour nap. I have chest pain that travels down my left arm. I was sent for stress test and echocardiogram and everything came back normal. The doctor has just prescribed Aciphex for acid reflex thinking that could be the problem. I have a metalic taste in my mouth. I have leg cramps from the knees down and muscle pain in the back and shoulders. I feel like I constantly have the flu. I get night sweats and last night terrible stomach cramps(the first night I stopped Advair). I have gained weight that settled around my waist. I have weighed the same for the past 10 years. I have headaches and blurred vision and trouble concentratring. I have a constant postnasal drip and am always coughing. I stopped Advair yesterday and am not quite as tired. I am interested in knowing if and when the symptoms go away. I just pray that this does no permanent damage.

How many of you have a strange feeling every time you swallow? And if so, do you think it could be because of a fungal growth that is not visible in the throat but growth in the stomach and behind the throat? This has caused thyroid problems, joint pain, muscle pain, hormone problems, body temperature problems, etc. Yet Doctors and allergists can not find a problem. IT IS A FUNGAL PROBLEM. THIS MEDICATION SHOULD NOT HAVE EVER BEEN APPROVED. It seem that even after taking an anti-fungal med., this still may not correct the problem. It destroyed my system so bad that malnutrition set in. No matter what I eat, it's not helping. I can't tolerate dairy, it gives me a rash. I don't have much acids in my stomach so food don't break down as well (time for food to ferment and destroy)
If anyone know someone who was either prescribed this drug or is thinking about taking this drug and you feel the same as I do, PLEASE DO NOT LET THEM TAKE IT. My father was just prescribed this so called miracle drug and I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE SURE HE DOES NOT TAKE IT.
If people don't believe you, give them this website and let them read it themselves.

Best of luck.

I gained over 50lbs since taking Advair for 2 years with no explanations. I have chronic sinus infections and now..a fungis infection in my sinus. I stopped it today after I looked up fungis infections and saw this for Advair. Now it all makes sense. I too have chronic pain in my shoulders and muscle pain. My memory for long term things is just about gone. I have to take Voltarin for chronic pain and I could not understand why and no one caught this, except me., just TODAY! We have to be our own doctors today, that is ashame. Maybe just ..maybe now my heart attack rate put me in the emergency room one day because of Advair. They called it SVT. Never a heart problem before, now it looks as if Advair did this all to my failing health FROM 48-50 years old. We all need a good lawyer! I'm in for a class action lawsuit. Let me know if there is one!

Hoarseness, sinus pain, muscle pain esp. in legs, mild hair loss. Also: night sweats (not sure if this is related, but I'm wondering!) I've been on 250/50 for almost two years now.

muscle pain,sinus problems like never before,runny nose, very bad gerd problems,sight problems,astma sometimes worse than before, tired etc.

trying to get off but asthma flares up....