Advair HFA and nebulizer

A few years ago, my doctor prescribed advair to better control my asthma. After a few days, I had an almost fatal reaction to the medication. I woke up feeling fine, took a shower, and got ready for work. I took a puff from the advair discus and immediately felt my throat closing. I started gasping for air and took my rescue inhaler which didn't work at all. The nebulizer didn't work either. Within minutes I collapsed and became unconscious.Luckily, my son was late for work that day so he called 911 and gave me mouth to mouth resuscitation until the paramedics arrived. My blood pressure dropped to 60/30 and I had to be intubated for the first time. I remained unconscious until I reached the hospital. The doctor said the only reason I survived was because my son saved me. If I had been alone that day I'm sure everyone would have assumed that I died from an asthma attack. I wonder how many other people that happened to. Since then, I have been very careful about taking new medications.

I have used Advair 250 for a few years now and have noticed a few of the same symptoms as the other posters, but my main concern is whenever I go off the drug for too long my asthma gets drastically worse. I have become extremely dependent on this expensive drug that I can barely afford and I fear it is just weakening my health while only mildly suppressing my asthma. I feel stuck with this drug now. I feel like a slave to it. It's an awful feeling.

I recently went into an asthma attack that admitted me into the hospital on Sept 3rd. I was given albuterol treatments which I also use at home and have for 3 + years via nebulizer when needed. They also prescribed ADVAIR on Sept 4th or 5th and released me from the hospital. Once home my breathing started to decline despite using my nebulizer on time. By Monday night my breathing was shallow and my Cramps had severe pain onset. I began walking stiffly. I went to bed that night and my breathing continued to decline. In the morning I could hardly walk because of the pain in my calves. I could however sit and they "seemed " fine but turned in a bit. I took my children to school and at 8am dropped them off to the teacher at the curb check in. (Meaning I did not have to get out) I pulled aside to get out and see a friend and as I stepped out of the car my calves seized again. At the advice of my friend I decided to right away drive around the corner to the Medical Center where I go. I had an appt later that morning for follow up from Hospital, but decided I better not wait.
BY 8:10 I was in a red zone with my asthma Chest in FULL SEIZE (225 peak flow from over 375 an hour earlier using the peak flow meter I had in my car)
I got out of the car to go into the medical center and IMMEDIATELY Dropped DOWN a Foot and my Feet FLIPPED over my Knees Bowed out and I was walking like a Monkey. I scrambled to get into the medical center where I yelled for assistance and was given breathing treatment with no relief and sent to the Hospital via Ambulance. Breathing 3 breathing treatments in 3 hours no relief of Seizing in Chest. Xrays Clear. .I stayed there until Sept 16th where I have now been released, I am still walking monkey like , I have numbness in my face, a severe headache and I have not slept since Sept 14th at 5 am . I am not tossing and turning, I am wide awake.Today is Thursday Sept 18th. It took at least 3 days of before I was taken off ADVAIR. I had been on ADVAIR for at least 7-8 days 150/50 twice a day. I noticed a difference in my Chest muscle within 12 hours. My legs started to soften and not be so stiff within 1 or 2 days, however my feet drag sideways as I take a step. I have to swing my legs forward for each step. I directly link this to the ADVAIR.

Tried to quit cold turkey but asthma flared up immediately. Doctor put me on Asthmanex and told me that I can't escape taking an inhaled steroid. However, since being off Advair my mood is much better and I feel hopeful again. Also back to using my nebulizer. But I at least I am starting to feel like my old self again. Going to see a nutritionist at end of month which will hopefully unlock the key to losing weight while on steroids!

I'm not sure what to think about Advair. My 16 yr old son has asthma & has been on Advair for a few years & did well for the most part. While on vacation last summer he came down w/2 ear infections & quickly went downhill. He had an attack & was nearly closed up completely; went to the ER & received several breathing treatments, a steroid shot & was released w/oral steroid prescription/antibiotics. The next afternoon he had another attck & went back to the ER. He was given breathing treatments & then an IV steroid treatment. He immediately got a raging headache & got morphine for the pain, started severely hallucinating & violently flipped for hours. He eventually was well enough to leave & woke up the next morn as a vegetable. Didn't know where he was...was hallucinating, couldn't walk etc. We went back home to his family doctor. It turned out the steroids was the culprit. I didn't know Advair was a form of steroid, & the IV steroids caused his psychosis, & he just had too much steroids in his system overall. A few days later he came out of it. My mother had said she heard Advair can cause severe infections & actually worsen asthma. I asked his DR & he said there were other reasons for those problems which didn't pertain to my son, so he's still taking Advair.

Ever since that episode, he is much more susceptible to EVERYTHING. First semester of school he missed a total of 10 days. He'd also been having horrible mood swings, could not sleep at night & then went into a depression. So he was precribed a low dosage of Elavil. This was about 10 weeks ago. 12 days ago he started wheezing & coughing, so we did his at home nebulizer treatments. He went to the DR & was diagnosed w/bronchitus & was given a Z-pak. Last weekend he worsened, took him back to the DR Monday & was diagnosed w/walking pnemonia. He was given another Z-pak & oral steroids. He's slowly getting better, but has missed 9 days of school & I don't know when he'll be well enough to return.

My mom researched Advair again & found that you shouldn't take it w/Elavil, which he is still taking. She also found that side effects from Advair are eveything my son is dealing with. My husband thinks she's nuts, but I have to wonder can Advair actually be making my son worse?

Previous poster please post the results of your Dr. visit regarding the "fast" heartbeat. Just about this time last year I had a problem with my stomach and mouth burning, which I
KNOW was Advair. The Dr. took me off the Advair and gave me medication for my mouth. Somewhere within a week following that, I went back for a re-check. My heartrate had always been in the low 70's. It was all over the board. It was going from the 50's up to 150 and falling back down. This went on for a week and after wearing a halter over the weekend I was sent to a cardiologist. I wore the halter again for 3 or 4 days. He decided it was the Albuterol I was using in my nebulizer. I was also using Atrovent too. They switched my Albuterol to Xopenex. Personally, I can't tell the difference, but within maybe 3 weeks my heartrate went back to normal. I was short of breath and I went back on 150/50 Advair. I am interested to know what your Dr. thinks may be causing the fast heartbeat, and I know there can be many causes. I have asthma too but now they say "COPD".
Please post the results of your Dr. visit. It's always nice to know what causes it.

i ahd astmah as a child and it returned at age 22. i wasa on a variety of medications for many years including a nebulizer.
i started the advsir about a year ago. after reading all this i am amzed and less scared,because the feelings of extreme fatuige and lethargy i now know what i can attribute that to,also if i go off the advair very long my symptomsget much worse.i guess i will be a slave to this drug...........

Wow! Maybe I'm not just falling apart. I was put on advair 500/50 2 months ago after a 12 day stay in the hospital for status asthmaticus. I was on the ventilator for 3 of those days then bipap. I have gained 13 lbs, and have joint pain-worse in my fingers. My fingers also feel stiff. Thrush has been a constant problem that started before I even left the hospital. I also have mouth pain even when there are signs of thrush. Now I have 2 strange looking small white bumps on the roof of my mouth on the soft palate. It seems different than thrush. I found thisweb site trying to figure out if it is a side effect. I had no idea that all of these other symptoms I have been having were from the advair. I have so much anxiety and nervousness that i shake sometimes. I am also very moody and have no sex drive. I have headaches almost every day. I do not have the leg and foot cramps, but I do have muscle tightness and pain in my back. I just cannot believe this. My pulmonoligist kinda looked at me like I was crazy when I was telling him about all of these strange symptoms that I have been having. I was beginning to think maybe I was! I stay tired all of the time and have no energy. I am also on singulair, protonix for GERD, and i take flovent and xopenix nebulizer, and allbuterol inhaler. my asthma has been pretty much under control compared to what it was, but I still cough and wheeze. I'm scared to take myself off of it. I don't want to end up back in the hospital again.

I have been on Advair for 3 years or more. I started on 100/50, then went to 250/50. And after a while I had a terrible "burning" in my mouth. I had never associated it with the Advair. During a routine visit with my Pulmonary Dr. I mentioned that my mouth, throat and stomach had been burning very bad. He immediately said, "ADVAIR". I asked if he thought that Advair would do that. He replied, "I know it can". He told me to stop using it and he gave me a prescription for Nystatin. The yeast had gone through my mouth, throat and my stomach and intestines were burning too. However, after a few days I had to ask him to let me go back on the Advair because I was having a bad problem with my breathing. I am now on 100/50. I've had all the same problems that everyone else is talking about. I believe two people have mentioned the "foot cramps". Two of my toes will draw together and I have to pull them apart. I also have bad cramps in my legs. I mentioned the problems with my toes drawing together and nobody seems to believe me. I too have a problem with my weight. I keep wishing I could give up the Advair but I have COPD and use oxygen. I use Atrovent solution and Xopenex in my nebulizer in addition to the Advair. I wrote to the Company about all the "symptoms" I was having. They were very nice, listened to all my complaints and they did follow-up with a letter to my Dr. I'm sure they had heard my story before. But I wii have to say they were concerned and tried to be helpful.

My Son has had Asthma since he was about 1. As a baby it started out with horrible Eczema, then the Asthma took over.
He will be 9 soon.
From the age of 2 thru 4 he was in the ICU serveral times.
We started out with having a nebulizer, he was on it at least 4 to 6 times a day when his Asthma would flair up and at least once or twice a day. His Doctor started him out on Singular at age 4 and that worked great for about a year and then the Singular just completely stopped working. He was put on ADAVIR! and it was a Miracle! Wow no more Puffer, he can run around and play outside and do all the things that a boy his age should be able to do.. But now that I have read this board, my son also has had horrible leg cramping, soars in his mouth and heatburn. After reading this board I am sitting here thinking OH MY! what affects will this Medication have on him for years to come? I don't want to find out either, calling his Pulomologist First thing Monday !

Hello my name is Tiffany, I have a 13 year old daughter whom is going through alot of issues and I now guessing it is all caused by advair not sure yet. My daughter suffers from Asthma, acid reflux, allergies since she was born, she was a premie and only seems to suffer with the asthma issues. She has gained over 60 lbs now weighing 204 from 160 last year. She is constantly complaining about back pain, phlegm in her troat, headaches, mentral cramps. can't sleep, now she seems to be going depression, the doctores wants her to see an therapist he wants to put her on lexipro. My god she is only 13 what is she depressed about, she is always nervous, and upsets easily. She missed over 40 days of school last year. Advair seems to be the only thing that has helped her breathing she has not had as many attacks but she is suffering in othe areas. What do I do. she has been on singular, flovent, provental, pretizone when she is suffering. She is on xopenex for her daily nebulizer treatment or when needed now. She takes flovent, allegra, advair 250/50, topanex for headaches, all of this daily. We are finally getting to a pulmonoligist this month hopefully he can relieve her of some of this medicine. I am going to do research on this serevent we have not tried that one yet. Now since she has been on the advair she has not had problems with her acid reflux. She did change her eating habits. Can someone tell me if they have childred suffering from this medicine as well.

I started using Advair approx. 2 months ago in an attempt to get rid of a severe cough that I've had for over 25 years. I've tolerated it for this long, however, the cough has gotten worse as I've gotten older.

Although I very carefully rinsed my mouth my mouth out, as advised by my doctor, I developed a sore throat and almost fully lost my voice for almost 1 1/2 months now. The ears, nose and throat doctor has diagnosed me with a bad candida (yeast) infection in my throat and put me on diflucan and nystatin. He felt it was the Advair that caused this infection. After taking these medications for a little over a week I am slowly getting better, however, my cough is still there and possibly a bit worse from the infection and my throat is very raspy. I've also noticed moderate pain in my fingers and hands -- whether this is from the Advair, I am not sure, but it is coincidental to the timeframe I've been on it. However, I have also been on an nebulizer using albuterol so it's hard to tell which medications are causing which side effects.

Like most of you who have posted here, I too saw remarkable & remarkably quick improvement in my asthma (& even some allergy) symptoms. However, I'm also discovering that it is not worth the side effects!!! I would rather have the sneezing & wheezing than what I've been dealing with the last week or so!

And just to help put it in "context": I'm 31 years old & have had asthma & allergies since the age of 4. When I was younger it was really bad, I was often in the emergcency room 2 or 3 times a week, was prone to bronchitis & sinus infections, etc. When I was a teenager, I mostly outgrew it (though I've always had a rescue inhaler & some type of allergy medication, I just didn't have the severity/intensity of symptoms/attacks I did as a kid), but in my late 20's noticed that some of the symptoms seemed to be coming back, not too seriously, just "uncomfortably". I was using the Albuterol as my rescue inhaler with the Flovent inhaler & Allegra & was having good results, with minimal to no side effects, but when Claritin went over the counter, most insurance companies stopped covering the Allegra. I went in to my doctor's office almost 2 weeks ago to see about getting my treatment options updated... what I had in mind was perhaps getting upgraded to the higher dose of the Flovent inhaler & having the doctor right a letter so the insurance company would cover my Allegra, and was put on Flonase & Advair instead. Over the years I've taken Theophylline, Albuterol, Proventil (inhalers), Flovent, occassional rounds of Prednisone, allergy shots, Allegra, nebulizer treatments.. you name it.... and I can honestly say that as awful as some of that stuff made me feel (particularly the Prednisone & Theophylline), I can't EVER remember there being a time when I'd rather have the bad asthma, than the icky side effect!! This stuff is awful!!!!! I'd stopped taking the Flonase, but then realized 2 things: 1). it's the exact same ingrediant as the Flovent, which I'd had no problems with & 2). I was still taking the Advair & feeling crappier & crappier. It's the most god-awful stuff I think I've ever taken!

I've only been taking it since the evening of March 31st (it's now midday on April 12th) & here is the list of side-effects I've noticed, and that seem to be getting worse instead of better:

nausea (pretty bad too, have had days where all I can eat is saltines & gingerale!)
dizziness (have actually fallen twice! This from someone who dances, rides horses, does yoga, etc!);
ringing in my ears (LOUD)
earaches & itchy ears
headaches
joint/muscle stiffness, swelling & tenderness (feels like I've got arthritis or something & my back & neck muscles just ache all the time!)
sinus pressure/tenderness & blood when I blow my nose (just short of full-on nosebleeds)
depression/lethargy/extreme fatigue (again, I'm someone who usually enjoys things like walks, puttering around the house & garden, riding horses, doing yoga, going dancing... & all I've wanted to do is either sleep or lay around... yesterday folding a load of laundry made me soooo tired I wanted to cry!)
emotional changes (irritability, weepiness, etc.)
sleep disturbances/insomnia (not getting restful sleep, feeling to wound up to sleep, nightmares like I haven't had since I was a kid, etc.)
vision changes (blurry, those weird silvery traces/flashes somebody else here mentioned)
itchy skin -- ALL OVER!!
dry skin
1st diahhrea, now constipation
frequent urination
weight gain -- which is strange considering I'm too nauseaus to eat anything most days
strange & constant taste in my mouth (very "chemically" & slightly metallic) -- nothing tastes right
heartburn/indigestion (which I've never had!!)
heart palpitations/tremors/restlessness/nervousness
inability to concentrate
memory problems/"fogginess"
scratchy/mild sore throat
tender roof of mouth (eating toast is difficult)

The list goes on & on.... and, I am really good about taking it exactly as prescribed (had even cut back & that's not helping) & being sure to rinse my mouth out with water (& gargle!) & so on.... what I find most strange is that many of the symptoms would seem as though they couldn't possibly coexist... that they would cancel each other out (e.g. having insomnia & sleep disturbances at the same time as extreme fatigue & constantly wanting to nap; intense hunger pangs & weight gain when I'm too nauseaus to even want to think about food, etc.)... but there they all are!!

What scares me is that aside from having allergies & asthma, I've always been a very active & healthy person.... and in the last week I've gone from feeling like a young healthy person with some uncomfortable asthma/allergy symptoms to feeling like a sick, decrepit, feeble & exhausted old person.... my 89 year old grandpa has fewer physical complaints & is in better shape at the moment!!!

If it wasn't for this website, who knows how long I've had let myself think it was due to something other than this god-awful medication... thanks!! I've taken my last dose of Advair!! I'm just going to have to explore some other options to treat my symptoms (I hadn't thought I was actually "bad" enough to need something like Advair in the 1st place), or get the insurance company to cover my Allegra!

Hello Everyone,
Like all of you. I am a highschool student and competitive athlete (football and baseball) and was diagnosed with asthma 2 years ago. As months passed and numerous trips to my general practicioner/allergist I was given a lot of prescriptions including advair, clarinex, xopenex with the nebulizer, my asthma and lung function became increasingly worse. It was hard to be so dependent on all these medications, which in combination all can make you feel kind of lousy. When my asthma was at its worst I started seeing a chiropractor, and was being adjusted 2-3 days a week. Its hard for me to explain who chiropractic care can reduce asthma, but it has something to do with the spine controlling all systems in the body and when there is disallignment all of these symptoms cant work properly. For asthma sufferers and those sick of taking all kinds of medication I strongly suggest looking into chriropractic care. Today I am completely asthma symptom free, and no longer take a single thing other then carrying the albuterol inhaler with me for comfort, although I havent really needed it. Any questions I would be happy to answer at ******

My son is 9 years old and started on Advair in April of 2004. Thing is, it took us forever to get a diagnosis of "asthma" from the allergists. He spent some time in the hospital as an infant with "croup" - sent us home with a nebulizer and some albuteral - He was a monster while on albuteral! So active that he bounced off the wall. Anyway, as he grew older we had him tested and the skin tests always came back negative. Last time tested was in April 2004 when he showed "slight" allergies to "the usual suspects" - pollens, etc. (but honestly all the spots on his back looked the same to me). Anyway, allergist put him on Advair and things went pretty well over the summer. Now school is back in session and all of a sudden my son is a horrible student - he was tested as gifted in kindergarten - but now he cannot sit still in class - I keep getting notes from the teacher saying he cannot stay focused enough to finish work in class. he is missing recess to get caught up and still bringing work home to finish that he did not finish in class. Homework is a horror! Tonight we started at 5pm and did not finish until 7:30 - Gifted teacher gives me same report - he just can't seem to finish his work. He is driving us nuts! The only thing different is the Advair from last year to this. Could it really be the culprit? I am at my wit's end and very tired of being angry with him. I watch him work and realize he is everywhere in the room except where he is supposed to be - looking at the ceiling - tapping his pencil - walking in circles - having to go to the bathroom - going into some long, involved story that he HAS to tell us - but not on the paper sitting in front of him. When he actually DOES the work it is 100% correct. I am so interested in hearing from other parents with young children on Advair to see if it is just me or if this is a common - or at least feasible - reaction to this medication. You can contact me at kathryn.gritts@lcms.org - be sure in put asthma in the subject line so I know its not SPAM. Thanks so much. I don't know what else to do except have him tested by a psychologist for ADD - but it seems odd that this didn't show up in K thru 2? Thanks!

If children are having side effects to Advair but need a corticosteroid to help control acute asthma, you may want to ask your doctor about Pulmicort or another such inhaler or daily nebulizer treatment.

Please go to www.advair-asthma-danger.com for morte info & useful links for both children & adults.

I was sent to a pulmonary specialist by my family doctor in late December 2002, and the 'specialist' arbitrarily took me off the Flovent(twice daily) and Albuterol(as needed, and I rarely needed it) a course which I told him had been working well for me for about two years. He said that the new combination of Advair and Combievent would work wonders for me. I had been having two episodes per year of near-pneumonia because of air pollution in the spring and autumn where we live; however, with the use of Flovent twice a day and Albuterol(as needed) and three or four Albuterol nebulizer treatments each spring and autumn at the doctor's office, I was maintaining, staying out of the hospital, and able to work 40 hours a week as a cashier. When I was sent to the pulmonary specialist, it was to be evaluated as to where I stood and what could be done about my allergic-based asthma. (There were just two office visits total.) What I got was an Advair and Combievent nightmare. I kept getting worse and worse. It was hard to breathe, like an elephant sitting on my chest. For the first time, I had shortness of breath all the time. I had to start using oxygen at night and had to use the Albuterol 3 or 4 times a day. I would call the doctor's office and they kept saying that Advair was the best of medicines and no one else had adverse reactions to it and to give it a chance to work. Finally I walked into the office and told them this was not working. Stone wall. So I went home and put myself back on Flovent and Albuterol. I ended up developing pnemonia and spent 5 days in the hospital in February, 2003. I am on medical leave from work and I'm miserable. I don't know if I'll ever get back to feeling as good as I did when I walked into that specialist's office in December, 2002. Want to insert here that the pulmonary specialist sent me next door for a cardiac test with ultra sound which should have taken less than half an hour. That technician said he couldn't get a good image, so he would have to do another type of testing. Two and one-half hours and $2,000.00 later, the pulmonary specialist sent me to the hospital for breathing tests. His office two office visits and those breathing tests were another $1,900.00. What did I get? Worse health and a complete mistrust of the entire medical profession. I hope I get better, but I have my doubts. This whole experience has knocked me for a loop. c. austin