Advair HFA and pharmaceutical companies

I tried to cut down on my Advair usage because it's so darned expensive - close to $200 a month. I only did one puff in the morning. I continued taking my Singulair as prescribed, once a day, at night. I had to go back to using Advair twice a day when I found I couldn't walk up two flights of stairs without difficulty breathing. But the thing that I hate the most is the coughing and the yellow mucus. Does anyone have this problem? I breathe better after expelling the mucus but sometimes it's so hard to do, I have actually coughed up blood. I have, also, lost my regular voice. At times I sound completely hoarse, and forget about singing, That's gone. I ask the pharmaceutical companies, if I must continue taking these drugs, can you make a version I can afford!

Update to my June 20th post.
I have mild asthma but got prescribed the evil Advair by my doc a couple of years back. Recently my asthma felt like it was the worst it's ever been. Like other people have mentioned I felt tired, rundown and anxious. If I didn't take the advair every few hours my chest became tight and I'd start the usual asthmatic downwards spiral of panic.
I stopped the advair 8 days ago, my chest was tight at first but is easing up. I've had the rescue inhaler at hand but have not had to use it yet. I bought 'Reversing Asthma' by Richard Firshein and a Microlife Peak Flow meter to monitor my progress. My peak flow dips a little at night and first thing in the morning but I'm still well above average. Interestingly the tighteness doesn't affect the peak flow that much, which is great ammunition for calming yourself down when it feels uncomfortable.
Like Spunky said below, it's hard to trust some Docs, and the pharmaceutical companies are going to be as crooked as oil and other big business. They're eager to treat the symptoms for a quick fix rather than find the underlying causes, And a good diet, vitamins supplements, a clean environment and an exercise program isn't going to keep them in the lifestyle they're accustomed to.

My husband was given a sample of this for a month-long bout of bronchitis and we are now thinking it has done permanent damage to his vocal chords. He only used it 5 times, got thrush (yeast infection) in his throat and is still hoarse after a week of being off of it. Does anyone know the history of this drug and has the word "class action lawsuit" crossed anyone's mind besides mine? I am amazed at the way pharmaceutical companies run the healthcare business in this country!

I don't want to go off on a rant here, but are people aware that a large portion of the FDA's operating budget is provided by pharmaceutical manufacturers? This isn't our first experience with this type of thing and I'm about to launch a grassroots campaign to educate the public. Maybe they'll stop believing all the marketing hype.

I'm thinking that the pharmaceutical companies ought to heed the Hippocratic oath - FIRST, DO NO HARM. Wouldn't it be a remarkably different world if they would take all the money they're spending on marketing and use it to lower the price of orphan and AIDS drugs? They keep saying that research is expensive - and advertising on every possible television show, radio and magazines is cheap? Hello? Are we going to be sheep or are we going to be citizens and hold these companies responsible for what they're doing. Thanks for letting me vent. Please contact me if you want to do something about this. And no, I'm not an attorney, but I'm a writer and I think I just found out what my first book is going to be about...

For the last six months, I have been attributing my aches and pains to getting older. Boy, was I wrong! Ever since I was a small child, my asthma kept me imprisoned in oxygen tents early on in life. I continued to suffer with Asthma throughout my adult life. Now, as a 43 year old male. I decided to give Advair a try, after my doctor advised me of it's benefits. One month after taking Advair, and continuing for the next five months, I started to experience horrific cramps in my calves and toes (while laying in bed trying to sleep), constant headaches, tightness in the chest area, constant pains in my stomach on both sides, joint pains, sneezing spells, occasional runny nose, diarrhea, thrush, difficulty in speaking after 3-4 minutes, raspy voice, depression, fatigue, tired all the time, frequent urination, mood swings, pain in shoulders, back & neck, short term memory, weight gain around the stomach, tingling sensations from the top of both arms down to the fingertips, and malaise.
I just looked at the long, extensive paper insert that comes with the Advair Diskus, and NOWHERE, does it mention anything about side effects, nor did my doctor state that there were potentially, hazardous side effects. As of today, I have stopped all prescriptions cold turkey! No more Advair, Proscar, Zyrtec, or Rhinocort Aqua! I refuse to be victimized by the pharmaceutical companies any longer. I'm going back to the good old Albuterol only when needed. My brother is a Pharmacist, and said that it takes just less than a week to eliminate the mentioned drugs from your system. I have come to the conclusion that there is a special place in HELL for the people who glorify the Pharmaceutical Marketing to the public. If you have an Advair Diskus in your possession, I strongly recommend that you burn it and pray for forgiveness. While you're at it, you might want to say a silent prayer for the Pharmaceutical Companies, because they are going to need it!