Advair HFA and panic attack

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

Hi All -

I hate to read how Advair has affected all of your lives negatively however, after reading the information on this site, I feel so much better about what I have been experiencing.

I have had asthma all of my life. I was taking Albuterol (as everyone does) to control it when I had an attack, Singulair and Serevent (only prior to exercising to help stop an attack from happening). I went to a new pulmonary doctor with a bought of severe bronchitis and he told me that I was "not controlling my asthma properly" and that I should have been on Advair a long time ago. I trusted him and started taking it twice a day.

I have been on it for 17 days and over the past five days I started having severe anxiety over my breathing functions. I was monitoring every breath I took and wasn't breathing unless I told myself to. This started causing severe panic attacks...I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE IN MY LIFE!!!!! I am not prone to anxiety or anything like that and I have had asthma ALL MY LIFE!!! This was an entirely new behavior. I thought I was going crazy...I couldn't stop thinking about breathing.....I analyzed what was new in my life and what I have been doing differently that could cause this change in my life and the only new thing was Advair. My husband had to give me a Xanax (something that I have never taken in my life) just so that I could function and go to work. So I went on line and I found at least 50 web sites like this one devoted to Advair and a link to panic attacks, anxiety, depression, etc...I STOPPED TAKING IT!!!!! I don't care what my doctor has to say...the benefits are not worth this drug taking over my life and changing me as a person. I am done. I will deal with my asthma as I have always done so and I don't care if he thinks that I am "not controlling it". I left a message for the doctor and I am still waiting to hear back. I haven't taken the Advair since yesterday morning and the panic attacks have started to get milder. I am still a little bit focused on the breathing but only if I am alone and not preoccupied. I have to believe that these side effects will go away in time and when the drug is out of my system. I learned a valuable lesson. I will only take a drug if I research it first.

Thank you all for your comments....you have helped me to preserve my sanity. We all can't be feeling the same thing and not attribute it to the culprit..ADVAIR!!!!

Severe leg pain, constant rattling, wheezy chest, severe anxiety attacks, fuzzy thinking, hypomanic symptoms, bloating, fatigue, increased blurry vision, after 6 months at incrased 250 doseage, wild dreams disturbing sleep. Stopped taking Advair a month ago. Within two days, fuzzy thinking cleared up rapidly and back to normal within 7 days. Within 10 days, energy level returned. Sleeping very well. Wheezy chest mostly gone. Bloating gone. Anxiety attacks...one very mild one four weeks after I stopped the Advair, but was able to control it by regulating my breathing and distracting myself...went away quickly...but when I was on Advair, ended up in ER with panic attack. When I began the Advair, I was living in an apartment with a flooding problem that created mold and mildew, and I am allergic to mold and mildew. I was having difficulty sleeping at night from the coughing, and was given Advair, and the doseage was upped after one year. Initially it helped me, but with the increased doseage came all the symptoms above. I moved, stopped the Advair, and now I am fine (just still have the allergies, of course.)

I am 57 and have had asthma most of my life. I am on Advair with a mixture of other stuff. I recently have had issues with panic attacks and slight depression. I show dogs in agility and have scratched from trials because of it. I started with Advair in June. Aside from the panic I have many of the other symptoms noted on this site. Feel better hearing from other folks, good to know it isn't just me!

ive taken advair for 3 years,ive had a few side effects including: weight gain, pains in my leg, and tiredness. i dont know if these are from the advair or not. i never had these issues before taking it. i really dont know what to do. if im not on advair i have a hard time breathing and have chest pains. Does breathing better out weigh the side effects that it causes??? i have problems with inflamation and advair seems to work well with that aspect. Is there natural alternatives? HELP!!!

Started taking Advair 7/27/07. Since then I have alot of twitching. In my legs, my arms and sometimes even my head twitches suddenly. I used to be able to sleep late in the morning, but now the twitching wakes me up.
Have also experienced some chest tightness.

Just found this site and am so relieved to know that I'm not going crazy! I took Advair for only two weeks after a poor spirometry reading at my doctor's office and had such horrible anxiousness and panic attacks that I thought I was losing my mind. Needless to say I stopped taking it. I later was told by an Allergy/Asthma specialist that there's some kind of stimulant in Advair (much like caffeine) that most likely caused the adverse reaction. I'm highly sensitive to caffeine and other stimulants. I warn anyone with this same sensitivity to discuss it with their doctor before taking Advair. I will never take it again.

I have used Advair for about a year. My asthma seemed to be seasonal like an allergy. During the time I used it I had a few "panic attacks". The doctor was ready to put me on Zoloft, an anxiety med. I never made the connection to the Advair usage. This stuff is dangerous. Increased heartrate, nervousness, tremors, all of the above. Get help elsewhere

I was writing to report one side effect, but after reading through some of the others...i may have two. After much urging from me, my husband stopped taking Advair a month ago and now takes Flovent...he has good control of his asthma now. After a week of being off Advair my husband noticed that he has stopped having heart palpitations that he had EVERY time he exerted himself while on Advair. Now, from reading other, my husband had developed an aversion to meat a couple of months ago, but now since being on Flovent he's been eating meat as usual...kinda weird,huh?!
I had been given Advair for bronchitis about a year ago...after one dose I had a horrible panic attack and heart palpitations....i didn't take anymore.

my daughter and i ages 34 and 9 have been on advair for t he past three years. no side effects except maybe a little bloating in the face, not sure if that's from the advair or not. relax you guys, you all sound like you're having panic attacks not side effects

I am a 39 year old woman who switched from Azmacort to Advair in December for a few weeks. After that short of time, I felt me throat feel like it was closing up, I was agitated, and one morning after a week of building symptoms, took my blood pressure which was 20 pts higher than usual. I also had burning in my chest and felt on the verge of a panic attack. Since then I was prescribed Pulmicort, and it has been so much better.

I also accessed this site mainly because of my son who is 6. He was diagnosed with cough variant asthma and some allergy to outdoor mold. The doctor started him on Advair, and over the last month or so, the behavior change has been startling. He has been very agitated, clearing his throat constantly, wetting the bed, saying he was"scared" at bedtime, saying he was "happy on the outside but sad on the inside", and being so hyperactive and inattentive as to be staring right at him when telling him something, and he would totally go off and do what you just told him not to, and be genuinely confused as to why he was in time out.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the allergist and have had him off of advair for four days. Already the throat clearing has stopped and the behavior has subsided. I am also hoping to keep him off of singulair as well after hearing about those side effects and see if we can manage for now. Thanks for all of the helpful info and we will see.