Advair symptoms and conditions

I am 34 years old and was prescribed Advair about two years ago. I have had minor asthma issues over the years but nothing major. So the doctor gave me an inhaler. Then one winter I get sick and started going through the inhaler in about a month, so he prescribed Advair.
To back up I had lower back surgery for a bulged disc. So I had a lot of pain and was taking vicodin. Six months after surgery my back started feeling better than it had for a long time. I was able to exercise and get by with one vicodin in the morning. This went on for about a year. The pain was stable for the most part, but would increase every now and then.
Now enters the Advair. When I first started taking it I felt a little weird but it made my breathing a lot better. After a little while I would forget to take it or just feel like I didn't need it. But I could not stop taking it because my breathing got to bad without it. Over time my pain was getting worse and worse. I ended up being put on time release morphine because we thought the back pain was increasing. Then after being on morphine it seemed like I was always sick. I have been to the hospital twice for breathing and lung infections. I thought my back pain was turning into sciatica!!!! All along it is this F@#$ ADVAIR!!!! I have had a super short temper,daily head ache's,depression, HORRIBLE PAIN in my legs and back. I am so glad I found this site. ADVAIR IS EVIL!!!!! I have stopped taking it for two days now. I really need help from anyone who has info about quitting it. PLEASE CONTACT ME. Thanks : )

I was on Advair for less than a year and the Doctor's kept upping my dose. I went off of it for about 4 months last spring because of the weight gain issue. then I got sick with a respiratory infection last summer and Dr. put me on it again -- and I started immediately having jaw pain and terrible headaches. Went to dentist and found out my teeth were disintegrating (called resorption). I go to dentist every 6 months for cleaning and have xrays each year and never had a problem or cavities. Genetically both sides of my family have very strong teeth for their entire life (into their 90's). So I saw many dental specialists and surgeons and it was baffling to them. I'm 44 years old and now my teeth and jaw are a total mess. I've had my front teeth pulled and multiple bone grafts. The reconstruction process (if it works) will take more than a year and over $25,000 (not covered by insurance). And my Doctors still don't know if my other teeth now showing problems will also eventually fail as well.

And I didn't associate the Advair with the problem until I started to take Advair again (2 months after last jaw surgery) and almost immediately my mouth start gushing blood from where the bone grafts were healing. I stopped Advair again -- waited 2 weeks and took it again (just to make sure) and again severe bleeding occurred. I wrote the scientists that were testifying before the FDA's Advair Black Box hearing that this drug should be illegal. At 44 years old I am looking at the prospect of being disfigured for life, no less and issue is the enormous cost that it presents -- and who is going to hire someone with missing front teeth (it has destroyed my career as well).

Before I took Advair I never had joint pain, GI issues, much less teeth/jaw issues and now this is my reality everyday. I feel like I aged 20 years by taking Advair for 1 year. I also know that this damage is permanent and likely to continue to get worse despite having stopped the drug. I think GSK knows how dangerous this really is. I also think it stays in your body a lot longer than they say it does. We know it kills people and they admit it does. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

All Steroids are equally terrible -- stay away from Prednisone, Pulmicort, Nasonex -- they are all killers.

I started on Advair on January 14, 2008. Soon after that I developed
dermatitis on my legs which I was treated for and it went away.
Shortly thereafter, on occasion, my legs would itch so badly at times that I though I would have to SCRATCH!!!!!! FOREVER!!!!!!! Not a good situation. It is now a year later. I resorted to using a Psoriasis cream and with Benadryl , knock on wood, I have been two days without itching. Keeping my fingers crossed. The Advair has really helped with my asthma, but I'm wondering if
anyone has had this side effect?

I have been taking advair for years on and off. I was upped my dose to 250/50 and for the last year have struggled with feeling terrible. I didn't really think it was the advair for a long time. Thought it was something else and the doctors didn't find anything wrong, they were looking at hepatitis, thyroid, adrenal etc. But I feel sickly all the time, like I have the flu... those body aches all in my back and chest and I feel tired all of the time. My lungs sometimes hurt. I get dizzy spells as well and am struggling through my day. Has anyone experienced this on Advair? I have just decided to go off and use my inhaler... which I am trying not to use unless I am really wheezing. Trying to get all the steroid out of my body to see if that makes a difference. How long will it take before the advair is totally out of my system? I am so tired of feeling so tired and sick. Please if anyone has experienced I'd like to know I am not alone.

I have been on Advair 2X a day for 2 weeks with a history of migraines. The last 3 days I have had 3 separate migraines with preceding scotomas- the third migraine headache on the third day- was the worst ever and didn't respond to migraine medicine. My husband figured out it was the Advair and I stopped the medication. For those with a history of migraines- don't take Advair as run the risk of severe migraine headaches.

Hi - I was on advair for a couple of weeks after a horrible bout of asthmatic bronchitis. I now have this constant pressure under my rib cage that will not go away. I was wondering if any one else has experienced this while on or after stopping advair. Thanks and happy holidays!

I have been on Advair since Feb. of this year, I have had a lot of these side effects but didn't really realize it was from this med. At first I was told to take it 2x a day, reading the directions it says it has to be 12 hours exactly apart. My work schedule didn't allow that so I just took it 1x....Working 2 jobs I just thought when I couldn't sleep and was always tired, it was from working a lot. When I told the Dr. about not being able to sleep more than 4 hours, I was told since I was taking the meds 1x a day that wasn't it. After a bad cold and bronchitis I was told I had to take the Advair 2x a day, now i'm more tired than ever, still can't sleep and have a headache that won't go away even with migraine medicine. I'm even jittery and forgetful--kinda ditsy now and itchy off and on all day...After reading this blog site I see its not in my mind and i'm going to stop taking this med. I think i'm going to the health food store and find something natural.

Advair made me tired, so tired, I felt like the simplest chore was exhausting. I was told by the pulmonologist that of course the fatigue was unrelated to the medication. Personally, I think the doctors push the meds that they get perks from the pharmacy companies. They may get good results from 75% of their patients but be darned the 25% that may be sensitive to the meds, Modern medicine?

I just wanted to comment to all of you asthma sufferers. I grew up with bronchitis and my brother with asthma. We were always getting sick while young, about every 6 weeks. My nephew inherited asthma from my brother, and he had it very bad, was always getting sick, needing oxygen, etc. While in his teens, someone told him to start playing an instrument like the trumpet or trombone which really exercises your lungs. He started taking lessons in school and it didn't take very long at all to notice a remarkable difference. His other siblings would even get sick and he wouldn't! The exercise, being natural, is a far better and healthy prevention, and makes your lungs stronger. I can't believe doctors don't spread this amazingly helpful advice around. I'm VERY sure they must have heard this before. Wouldn't news like that spread like wildfire through the medical community? But they would probably lose some business!!! So I wanted to help pass it around. I hope it helps some of you!

I think that since I have started the Advair, if anybody has had this symptom and I do not find it in the regular side effects, I have numbness from my waist all the way down to my feet. I have not felt my toes since about 3 weeks ago. I have already had the MRI of the spine and was told nothing to worry about, I have the best looking spine any radiologist had seen. My doctor took labs and they were all negative and normal and now she is going to send me to a neurologists because she is stumped. I believe I am going to stop taking the Advair, because it is the only NEW drug I have started since this began and see if that is the problem and if so. My problem is solved. If anybody else has had this problem let me know. Also numbness has began in my hands and fingers.

I would like to say something about advair that is POSITIVE. I have taken this drug, with NO SIDE EFFECTS for 5 years now and it has made a huge difference in my life.
I have had no isues with thrush (i rinse and spit) or weight gain or hair loss or coughs-

please don't condem a drug just based on your experience. reading through these comments I see a lot of times this has been prescribed fr folks who were not ashthmatic or with COPD. This drug is not for folks who don't have hyper reactive airways-but for those of us who do, it has been a lifesaver.

BTW I changed careers 2 years ago and entered the health field as a Respiratory therapist and adair has helped many many people. But its not a miracle drug-it has a specific purpose and if hat is not your problem, its not likely to be a good solution.

I'm a 56 year old male who has been taking 500/50 Advair since it came out - about 9 years ago or so. Having severe asthma since my mid-twenties, this medication has been the best for me than anything else, and has greatly limited my dependency on prednisone and has kept my general well-being fairly stable. I always try to cut back when I'm breathing better, but have never been able to skip more than one day before asthma symptoms begin to come back. So far, I have notice no side effects! Anyone know what's up with that?
Also, I've tried everything under the sun to naturally get away from all medications, but have never been even close to successful....but I'm still looking.

My nine-year-old daughter has headaches every 2 days on Symbicort. But with Flovent and other things we have tried, she has ended up taking 3 courses of prednisone over the winter.

Any other ideas? We are about to let the doctor know about the headaches. I don't know if it's worth it to continue on the Symbicort.

Maybe back to Flovent. We are hesitant to try Singulair or Advair, have already tried Pulmicort.

Well it is 5:02 am and thanks to Advair I am still wide awake.
So here goes my experience of taking only two (2) doses of advair.
In my part of the world there is this cold virus that everyone wants to pass on. Seems this monster will stay with you for 3-6 weeks and no meds seem to help. I now am going into my third week dealing with this leach. So today I went to see my doc. He took a listen to my lungs and said wow you really are sick.....dah I was thinking. So he gave me advair and suggested I take a dose right then. I did thinking boy I hope this helps. He then told me to take my second dose in the evening. After I returned home I go the shakes. I just chalked it up to not eating breakfast and went on about my day. I did eat, but I still wasn't feeling right and of course thinking it was the cold virus taking it tole on me. I was nearing 6:00 and I knew I had to be out the door by 6 to go coach my girls basketball team. So before I headed out the door I took my second dose of advair. When I arrived at the gym I was really shaking and my vision was a bit off. I had my son get me a candy bar thinking I just might need some sugar. Now I haven't had a candy bar in years, it is just not my thing, but I was desperate at this time. I told my son as he helps me coach that I wasn't feeling right and if you see me start to go down, you better catch me before I hit the floor..Finally I made it through the ballgame and got home. It wasn't long until I started getting these super sharp chest pains, a pounding headache, and then my arms started feeling numb....I am thinking oh no....I told my hubbie you better call 911, but before he made the call we started discussing the meds the doc gave me today. I had no information on advair, because it was a sample and the doc threw the information in the trash. I never though one thing about it he has been my doc for years. I go to my computer and look for information and side effects for this drug and bingo it described all my symptoms right on the nose. In my reading also I found the FDA voted down the recall on this drug 12-0.
Anyway I voted to stay home, stay awake, sit by the phone, and let the family sleep. After reading the side effects I knew what was going on and in reading also the doctors do not have a magic pill to help, but they can give you a handful of pills to help each of your symptoms and oh boy just what I need more drugs with more side effects.
As I await for all the alarms to go off I still have a slight headache, still a little shaking, the muscles in my arms and legs are still a bit numb, and I still have some chest pain. I will go see another doctor today just for piece of mind or the kids will drag me there anyway.
Now, you have my story of what advair did to me in just one day. I wonder how many others it has effected and how many had to spend hundreds of dollars to find the answer...

I must go now and thanks for reading my story and also I hope everyone is doing well after your experience with advair.....

Bleeding Gums, Severe Leg Cramping, Yeast Rashes, Sleeplessness, Blurred Vision:

I am a 49 year old woman who was recently prescribed Advair for asthma control. I also have severe allergies. My gums began bleeding almost immediately so I worried that I wasn't rinsing my mouth well enough. I stopped the Advair for a several days since in my mind, that was the culprit. Then my breathing/wheezing/persistent cough came back. So, I started back on my Advair and then started almost immediately having the worst leg cramps of my life. After figuring out that this new symptom correlated to my Advair use, I stopped it again cold turkey. I also am not sleeping over about an hour at a time despite my taking Ambien as well as anti-anxiety meds (I have Bipolar Disorder (Depression alternating with Manic Episodes) as well as Anxiety Disorder). Oh yes, and I developed weird yeast rashes underneath my breasts, on my inner thighs and behind my ears....despite if not being hot at all. I have never had this type of rash before or even been troubled with yeast infections. I also just noticed today that my vision is more blurred when trying to read the guide on my TV (42"). I have had no weight gain...in fact am losing weight..but have been watching what I eat. I don't feel more depressed...in fact, I feel the opposite...kinda euphoric at times..which feels good but can be a step towards mania for me. I decided to do a bit of research on Advair as a cause of the leg cramps...my persistent cough is back but I am afraid to take it now. I guess I need to talk to my allergist tomorrow.

I am a physician and a patient. I have been on singulair and advair for several years now and had weight gain, anxiety, depression, and mild improvement in asthma that I could tell. I had pneumonia 4 times last year and thought it was the environment. I left the Midwest and moved to the east coast where I stopped my meds for several months and all the above symptoms resolved. I recently restarted them several weeks ago do to increase in symptoms and anxiety/panic attacks came back with a vengeance I stopped them and switched to other meds and wow the side effects are improving again. I am not going to take them or prescribe them again.

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've been taking the 100/50 advair for years now. i have only ever taken one dose a day, frankly out of cheapness. i was unwilling to take anything that expensive twice a day! in the beginning of my asthma experience, i was also put on singulair but again, when i filled the prescription and saw how much it cost, i never refilled it (boy, am i grateful for that after reading what people have posted about it!)
i cough up lots of yellow glom from my lungs and i blow similar stuff from my nose. a CT scan showed my sinuses to be completely blocked with polyps and the doctors said that if i had the surgery, i could get off advair.
in dec of 2006, i had the surgery but within weeks of going without advair, my lungs were tight again and i couldn't breathe and had to do a week of prednisone to open things up. back to advair for maintenance, but this time the surgeon added 2 nasal sprays (veramyst & astelin) and other inhalers (ventolin & maxair), plus wanted me to go to an allergy doctor for immunology injections.
the surgeon also told me that polyps could grow back in a month after surgery! wish he had told me this before the surgery. i certainly knew that they could grow back but i figured i'd have a good 20 years! now i'm told that i need these 4 other medications, plus advair, plus allergy shots to keep my polyps from growing back!
i still have no sense of smell, i still sniff, cough up glom and have constant sinus infection, just like i did before having a $25,000 operation!
however, i don't take the other medication- just the advair once a day or once every other day.
i never thought i had any side effects until i started reading here. happily i have not gained weight. but a few years ago, i did notice a lot more hair in the shower drain. and my voice is often hoarse. i didn't connect this to advair use until i read people's complaints here.
i am determined to get off this crap!
i have a resistance pump to exercise my lungs and strengthen their capacity.
also trying a dry salt inhaler and various supplements.
this is a great site. we need to get all our complaints to the FDA- they have to stop allowing drug companies to profit while using us as unsuspecting guinea pigs

After reading all the side effects from Advair. I am glad I decided to wean myself off this horrible drug. My pulmonologist gave me a sample after I was diagnosed with asthma in March. Before I was diagnosed with asthma I had a severe bout of bronchitis followed by pneumonia. At first I felt much better using Advair, but then the horror kicked in. I experienced hoarseness and felt like I had an obstruction in my throat. I am not going into all of the side effects I experienced with this drug because it is a repeat of what people are saying on this website.

I stopped taking it two weeks ago. I am already noticing how much better I feel. The withdrawal has been difficult. I have no intention of taking this drug again. I plan on using alternative medicine in the future.

This drug must be taken off the market!!!!

I am a 58 year old women.I have been on advair for three years. I have gained a few pounds and have bone loss in my left jaw. Resulting from taking advair. Went to see my family doctor about the bone loss. He has taken me off of advair. A lot of pain due to taking advair. Possible surgery in future. I think advair should be taken off the market due to so many side affects.

I have been on Advair for a little over two years. At first I thought it was very helpful, I had a very rough summer last year and it was the only thing helping me. But lately I've noticed an increase in frequency of my migraines, muscle cramps, constant edema in my legs and always being tired. My sleep is broken due to leg cramps, back spasms, or very strange dreams. I had also gained a lot of weight, but thought it was just natural slowing of my metabolism due to age (I am 46). I am cutting back to one dose a day and plan to stop altogether soon. I also stopped my Zocor because that seemed to make my leg swelling worse and the lasix the doctor prescribed just made me pee a lot and my legs were just as swelled up as before.

My 8 yr old has been on singulair since May. I never put two and two together until reading these posts. He has been having anxiety at night..crying and looking terrified saying he can't stop the scary thoughts in his head. Tonight I felt so bad for him...because I can't make it go away. I am hoping with tonight being the last night on singulair he will not have such a hard time at night. He also says it's very hard to get to sleep at night. Poor kid. I also know he's a sensitive kid but it seems a bit overboard in the last few months....like getting upset and just not knowing how to handle his emotions so he just shuts down. Please message me if you've had similar experiences. I'm calling his dr. on Monday to figure out some other options if there is any. My son started with a cough in March and finally took him to see the dr. in May and she heard wheezing and started him on singulair and then added zyrtec. I know they control his coughing (wheezing...slight asthma) because if we miss a dose he coughs all day the next day. I'm a bit scared to go off it...but hope it stops the anxiety and moodiness. He had his first asthma attack last week too...and I wasn't prepared as we never have had to use the inhaler...so I didn't have it with us. Anyway, hoping he doesn't get too bad taking him off...and I hope he is able to control the scary thoughts by going off of it too.

I took Advair for almost 4 years. I did not take it regularly (as regularly as they prescribed), but took it reasonably regularly.

I think Advair is the worst drug! It wrecked my teeth! I had perfect (no cavities) until I started taking Advair, which is when I started getting cavities. My teeth will never be the same.

The worst part though, was that after about 2 years of use, I got a horrible case of pleurisy. I had it for 8 months. I went to dr. after dr. No one would listen. I finally got one to do a lung x-ray--within which I had scaring throughout my chest/bronchial tubes. My asthma was getting horrible, and I was literally at 75% oxygen intake (yah--my asthma dr. later told me I should have been in the hospital). I finally looked up and researched Advair--and found out that one of it's side effects was lung infections. By the time I found this out, I basically had a lung infection for 2 years. I fought with my asthma dr.--to get off of Advair. Put me on Flovent instead, which has been fine. I was off and on Prednisone for more than a year throughout all this time. Once off of Advair, the dr. put me on a regular dose of Prednisone (probably gained 15-25 pounds during that time), and an anti-biotic, once I finally won that battle. I FINALLY got better after about a month of treatment! But, ever since then I cannot get a cold/upper respiratory infection without having to go on prednisone in order to stop the cough. Plus, I then got my gall bladder out, and I now get major pain in that area when I get a cough.

I flat out refuse to EVER take Advair again. Nothing is worth going through anything like that again! It was miserable! I'm sure I had some other symptoms, such as stomach pains, headaches, depression, anxiety, etc., but seriously, I was just trying to breathe for so long, that none of the other stuff caused me as much worry!

My uncle has COPD and takes Spiriva and Advair. He has had pneumonia since June 08 off and on through Sept. I've been concerned about this and have been reading up on Advair for people with COPD causing pneumonia. My question is what other choices does he have for medication if he stops taking the Advair? Does anyone know that has been through this? He is on oxygen all the time and his dose of Spiriva is 100/50. After reading the posts, I'm convinced his pneumonia is a result of the Advair.

I have been on advair for 1 year and it has helped get me off the rescue inhaler but around 3 weeks ago my hair started falling out in clumps. After every shower i have to clean the drain. Advair is the only medication that i take. Will it grow back when i quit taking it? Has anyone had success with other asthma medications with less side effects?