Advair HFA and period of time

I have just been started on Advair as of today and now I am concerned.

I have been ill for a month with a upper respiratory bug and my doctor is trying to help ease the breathlessness I have been experiencing with it.
But, after reading all these posts of the side effects, I wonder if there are alternatives I should ask my doctor about?

I don't need the weight gain, dealing with that thanks to Cymbalta (which I am off of now) and the other symptoms don't sound fun either.

The only thing I am having from today is a dry mouth and sore throat.
I say, that's enough!

I have used Advair for about 4 years now. My dental hygiene has always been impeccable, but recently I have had to have three root canals in a very short period of time and my dentist has gotten very concerned about how rapidly my teeth have developed so many problems. He immediately asked if I was using an asthma inhaler and I told him about Advair. He said that drugs like this cause dry mouth at night and this reduces the immune response in the salivary glands. These root canals have come at great expense and I am experiencing a lot of dental sensitivity too. The day he told me about this I threw my diskus away! I have been using some homeopathic stuff ever since and I haven't had a problem. My dentist told me to send my recent bills - some $6,000 - to my asthma doctor and ask her to pay for them!! Can't wait for that appointment. :-))

There was an expert on the Mike and Juliet show the other day that said that Advair was not meant to be taken for a long period of time. It is suppose to be a short term medication but the doctors and pharmaceutical companies will not tell you that. For some people this medication really works , and for others the side effects outwieght the benefits I personally don't think the the doctors know anything about half of the medication that the prescribe. They just look in a book and pick a drug that fits your condition. They never tell you the long term side effects from the drugs, and that really makes me upset. I have taken several drugs that the doctor prescribed for me and they don't tell me that it is harmful until I come back in with a serious problem. I think we should stick to the good old home remedies, because people who didn't take these drugs 50 years ago had a longer life expectancy than we do now and the seen to be doing fine.