Advair HFA and pneumonia

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.

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 hope this helps someone.

I was never allergic to anything in my life until I went around this cat at the age of 33. I sneezed and got a really scratchy throat. I thought it would go away, but it turned into a cold. I thought the cold would go away, but it turned into bronchitis and then pneumonia. I was jogging everyday at the time and realized something was wrong when I couldn't finish my run.

I was hospitalized for two days and upon discharge I was stocked up with a cocktail of drugs: Singular, Advair, Albuterol inhaler, and Claritin. Needless to say, I took them all, because I was scared of dying. Thank God I'm not a good medicine taker, because I missed many doses and only took them as needed. I think this is why after 3 years I have only started to see the effects of these meds in the last 8 months.

Okay... I have major joint stiffness(all over) especially neck and fingers, heart palpitations, nervousness, short patience, horrible memory, lack of motivation. Oh my God! The weight gain...Please!

Before this, I was completely healthy. After reading this I will reduce myself to my inhaler and Claritin. I notice they are cool. Otherwise, if I keep my stress level down my breathing does really well. It would probably help if I got rid of the cat. Shhhh...Don't tell anyone. LOL.

I have since put my self on a juice fast using a high powered juicer to cleanse my system of all the trash the doctors gave me.

God bless you all and I speak life and breath into each of our lives.

BreatheWrite.

My son came down with pneumonia about two years ago. After being hospitalized for his pneumonia for five days(his oxygen was at 83 percent), he was put on Albuterol and Pulmicort for about a year which was working ok till his wheezing started to get worse .His doctor said it was time to see a asthma specialist in Forth Worth, Texas named Dr. Rogers. Well, Dr. Rogers evaluated my son and took an xray of his nose, diagnosed him with sinusitis and with severe asthma . MY son was put on Advair 115/21 immediately and told to get off all other medicine including his Pulmicort. He was to use the Advair two puffs twice daily every day . HE was to use the Albuterol when he was coughing or needed it for rescue. I got the Advair and as a cautious parent , I always read all of the medication guide that comes with the medication I give my son . I read all the side effects and became at that very night I was to give the medication to him very scared but I was told by Dr. Adams that it would control his asthma. The next day I tried to get in touch with my doctor but was talked to by his nurse and assured the medication was safe. My son at the time also had an upper sinus infection and was put on Prednisone and Zyrtec for his allergies, Nasonex, and also Omnicef which is an antibiotic for 20 days.
Even one day after taking the medicine, my son was sleeping and started sweating really bad that night and he had tremors in his legs and his arms and his heart was racing . As I watched my son sleep even on that second night of taking Advair, I put my head to his chest and would listen to his heartbeat cause now I was worried . His heartbeat was regular at first then when I listened more his heartbeat actually would skip a beat every now and then and his body would shake when it started to beat normal again .
I called the doctor two days after he was on the medicine and he assured me it was the Prednisone my son was on and not the Advair and I told the doctor about the tremors and he also said it was the other medicine . Then I asked the doctor about all the information in the medicine guide that came with the medicine that was conducted in 2006 a few years ago and all the side affects and all he said was that Advair was the safest on the market at this time and that the study in the report was a horribly conducted study and that usually people were dying not cause of the Advair but the Salmeterol being used alone and not a bronchioldialator used to treat both symptoms . It has been four weeks, one month since my son has been using Advair and he is off the other medications he was taking for his sinus infection. These are his symptoms after he takes the medication. About one hour after he take his medication he is very hyper, nervous, his heart is racing a mile a minute without even running around, he is sweating, he can not sit still for one minute and he has muscle spasms. At night when he goes to sleep his whole body shakes as though in a convulsion and I have even had to be there with him to calm him down. He has bad leg shakes and his arms shake and every single night since he has taken this medication he has sweated so badly that it soaks the pillow through and the pillowcase down to the mattress. He had been running fevers at night for five nights now . I was told this medication was safe but when I look at my son his eyes are glassy all the time and he is just not the same and he does not seem happy with all these tremors he has with this medicine . If anyone is reading this please print these pages out and take to a lawyer so we can all get money from the makers of Advair because I'm sure like me we were all told this medication was safe and not harmful . I am calling my sons asthma specialist and telling him to take him off this medication immediately as I had requested before and he told me it wasn't wise because it was controlling his asthma . How can a medication control asthma symptoms that will cause a person to die from taking it and cause them worse symptoms when they try to get off of it?

My sister-in-law started taking Advair about 6 months ago and since then she has been going down hill. From Dec. 20 2007 to today 1/16/08 she has been hospitalized 3 times. First time for pneumonia. Second time for swelling of ankles, feet and belly. Also serious diarrhea. Third time for difficulty with breathing and continued swelling of feet, ankles and abdomen. I am beginning to suspect Advair.

I suspect Advair is responsible for my having come down with pneumonia,stabbing chest pains( which the Dr. at the ER suggested was Pleurisy) and severe back pain in my lower back. I haven't been able to sleep in bed for at least 6 weeks and must sleep in a chair with my feet propped up on an ottoman.I have used Advair since July 2007, first 250/50 then 500/50 and now back to 250/50 in order to reduce hoarseness. The pneumonia is gone after 5 days hospitalization; the pleurisy pain has just subsided with pain killers and anti inflammatory meds . But the severe lower back pain is still there; my orthopedic Dr. has recommended physical therapy which I plan to initiate. However, stopping the use of Advair may be exactly what I need to end the back pain. I would like to mention that I did experience Thrush upon using Advair and I found that it completely went away when I started drinking pure Pomegranate juice.It doesn't taste great but it was recommended by friends during the time I had pneumonia, and lo and behold, it seems to have done away with Thrush. The Advair along with Siriva does seem to help my asma but these suspected side effects are very debilitating.

I'm glad I found this site .. I too have been on Advair for many, many years due to chronic asthma. While the drug has helped me control my asthma, for the past two years every time I get a cold, I get pneumonia. I also have chronic thrush I cannot get rid of and one poster had mentioned her feet cramping and I've had some of that too. My doctor doesn't really listen to my complaints, but getting pneumonia really scares me - I have two small children to take care of. Hope all the posters are doing better now.

Started as a mild asthmatic. Found a spot on my loere left lobe.Was put on advair 500/50 about 1 month ago. Had a bronchoscopy done. The spot was vegetable material (aspirated). I do have a history of GERD. I developed round the clock unproductive coughing. My pulmonary specialist offered Prednisone and an antibiotic. Then for some reason, he changed his mind. I continued with round the clock Shortness of breath and severe coughing, round the clock for a full week.I decided to see my primary care doctor, who wished I had gone to the pulmonary specialist. So, he called the specialist and then put me on Methylprednisolone 4MG, 21 pack.This calmed the asthma, but not everything. I had a sore throat, sore mouth, sore inner ears. I still coughed a lot, and raised sometimes thick white sputum, and sometimes yellow-green sputum. I got pretty sick, so I went to the ER where they did a chest X-Ray, and some blood work. The ER Doc said maybe I had a hiatial hernia and things would eventually settle down. Became very short of breath and could hardly move. I got in to see the Pulmonary Doc, who said that I looked much
worse, defended doing the bronchoscopy, and never mentioned changing the Advair to something else. He noted that I also have Thrush. I borught home four more prescriptions last night (which included an antibiotic for pneumonia, a few cough suppressants and Nystatin for Thrush. I am raising pleanty of sputum. Doing a little better. I absolutely needed the bronchoscopy. But I am now having difficulty talking myself into using the Advair, with the pneumonia and the Thrush.
Most of our doctors want to help people to be well. But, our pharmeceutical companies are having their reps win and din the docotors get their products sold to patients. This needs to stop!

I have an 8 year old who was put on Advair; after 3 months he started having pain in his chest and left arm, said it hurt to breath and had a fever. Within three days (continuing the Advair) it had turned into pneumonia. His asthma/allergist doctor who put him on the Advair took him off of it, only to have my sons pediatrician put him right back on it. One week after getting a clean bill of health for the pneumonia and being back on the Advair he started in with the exact same symptoms (hurt to breath, pain in chest & left arm and fever). Took him in right away only to have the pediatrician give him a prescription for acid reflux; He dismissed my concerns the first time and refused to even consider that it might be the Advair the second time we went in there. I took my son off the Advair that day, three days later he was able to sleep all the way through the night and the chest pain and fever subsided (did not give him the med. for acid reflux). I will not put my son back on this medication. I have also noticed a change in his behavior, not as irritable or anxious as he has been for the last month or so.

I have been on ADVAIR for approx. 1/2 a year. At 1st it seemed to help & still is with the asthma. But now I seem to have a real low resistance to viral infections or at least sinus related stuffiness. I have had a nasal problem with stuffiness/post nasal drip/ears popping & ringing and loss of taste for almost 2 months now. I went to my allergist's P.A. 10 days ago & got a script for amoxicillin 875 mg & I still am having issues. They thought I may have a sinus infection. Is anyone else experiencing nasal congestion & rhinitis while on ADVAIR?

I started using advair in early December 2006. The first month was great, no asthma symptoms, no side effects. However, after the second month (I am a very healthy female, exept for the asthma), I got pneumonia, chronic sinus infections, night sweats, dry mouth (especially at night), chest pain, swollen glands in neck,constant heartburn, anxiety, cystic acne, leg cramping. I weaned myself off the drug after doing more research on it. I was only on 100/50 once a day. I have been put on singulair for a few days now and feel great. I attribute all these symptoms to Advair use. It is not for everybody and those who use it should be well informed of these side effects. It made my life a living hell.

I was the guest #37893 I forgot to mention one other side effect. I had to have extensive sinus surgery last april and now I am sc hedulled to have the same surgery this March 2007. My ENT Dr. told me that the sinus problems should not have come back for at least 5 years. I blame the Advair on this. I did not realize that it caused these problems until I went on its site. I have sinus problems, cattaracts, spine curvature, and eosinophilia pneumonia all because of this drug.

I have been on Advair for approx 4 years. I was unaware of the side effects. My voice became hoarse at times and I had the thrush in the mouth. I am annually checked by my eye Dr. and was surprised to fine catarracts . this is a side effect. I developed a curvature of the lower spine due to increased osteoporosis. This is also a side effect. I was discovered last year to have some infiltrates on the lungs. I just had a bronchoscopy and it shows I have eosinophil pneumonia... I read up on Advair and these are all side effects. I have been off Advair for about ten days now and I am SOb > I think this is just withdrawal symptons. I have been on 250mgm.2xpday and 500mgm 2xpd. I am sorry I ever went on it.

I am glad I stumbed upon this side. I have had athsma since I was about 10. Now I am 34. I took Advair for the first time last year and it seemed to help, with no side effects. This past September, I got slammed with pneumonia and my athsma got out of control. I was prescribed Advair again and it helped get my athsma under control. I took it for a month, and the day I stopped taking it my voice pretty much disappeared. I am now going on almost nine weeks with no voice. My throat does not hurt and I feel great. I just have no voice and am pretty convinced it is from Advair. I have been otherwise healthy are very rarely sick my whole life. I'll never take Advair again. I am seeing an ENT specialist next week and will post if I learn something worthy of sharing.

I just got out of the hospital after having pneumonia and they put me on advair. The hand tremors were the first thing I noticed and then the headaches. I took myself off of it and are now able to see the difference.

Not sure where to begin with my side effects...
The biggest (and scariest) of them is that, since I have been on Advair, I have had more and more severe respiratory problems. Every year, since I began the "medication", I have (at least once per year) bouts of either Bronchitis or Pneumonia (sometimes even both). Advair is obviously formulated to make patients become dependent on the drug to where they can NOT stop taking it. I have even tried to wean myself off of it, but thru this process, I truly felt like I was dying. I struggled so hard to breathe. I eventually had to go to the doctor and get a dose of prednisone and begin Advair again.
Another side effect that torments my every day life is thrush. I can not seem to shake it, no matter how many times I have been treated for it. I ALWAYS rinse after using Advair, with water AND a mouthwash with ingredients that are used in treating thrush.
I have also had other side effects as well. I have a twin sister and she has experienced some of the same. One is a strange "cramping up" or "locking up" of our feet. It's very strange and has NEVER happened to either of us, before Advair. It's painful and we have no control over it. The toes separate/spread and "lock up" in cramping pain that lasts a few moments at a time.
Since being on Advair, I have also had weight-gain. The only reason I mention it is because others have posted it as a side effect. I have never blamed Advair for this, but who knows? I think it's just neglect on my part. ;)
Those are the only that immediately come to mind. If I think of any later on, I will post them. :)

Well! After reading all of your complaints about being on Advair...I am so relieved to know that I have people out there who can realte to what I am going through. I had Pneumonia last Oct. and have not been the same since. The docs say I developed asthma and they want me to get allergy shots and stay on this Advair until I am better??? Well I am only worse! HOWEVER, without it ...I cannot breathe normally. I wheeze and cough and feel terrible....SO is there ANYONE out there that has any other solution??? Did anyone find another way??? One that is not so harmful and make us feel like crap??? PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!! I would sure be grateful!!!!!

MY SON WAS GIVEN ADVAIR BECAUSE THEY FOUND THAT HE HAD PNEUMONIA A LOWER FORM BUT IT WAS STILL PNEUMONIA. HE HAS ONLY BEEN TAKING IT FOR 2 DAYS BUT I WAS A LITTLE LEARY ABOUT GIVING IT TO HIM SINCE HE WAS ALREADY TAKING THE ALBUTEROL FOR HIS ASTHMA. HE SEEMED TO BE A LITTLE BETTER YESTERDAY BEFORE HE STARTED TAKING IT. HE COMPLAINS THAT HE STILL ISNT FEELING GOOD AND HE IS ALWAYS TIRED AND HIS CHEST HURTS. HE IS ONLY 13 YEARS OLD. I REALLY HATE GIVING HIM ALL THESE MEDICATIONS THEY GAVE HIM OMNICEF & SOME ANTI INFLAMATORY & ADVAIR AND COUGH SYRUP WITH CODINE. I DONT THINK THAT I WANT HIM TAKING THE ADVAIR WITH ALL THOSE SIDE EFFECTS. HE TOLD ME THAT IT REALLY DOESNT FEEL LIKE ITS WORKING ANYWAY. WHY TAKE THE CHANCE? MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT KIND OF SIDE EFFECTS YOU WILL HAVE LATER ON FOR TAKING THE MEDICATION.

I have been taking Advair 500 twice a day for 19 days! I have gained 7 lbs (that I know about), heart rate of 115 beats a minute, hair loss, vision problems, getting up several times a night to go to the bathroom, abdominal bloating, sores in my mouth! I'm not using this anymore after reading the side effects noted on this web site!!! I was given Advair when I had severe bronchitis, pneumonia, and NOW a sinutis infection. I'm not sure the medications have not caused some of the problems.

I have been on advair for just over 2 months, i too have had all the symptoms that all of you have experianced , and stopped taking the advair as well. My symptoms are severe muscle weakness, pneumonia, thrush, major phlem, hoarness, neck pain, mood swings, aggression, excitability, weight gain (25lbs. in 2 months), i was givin advair for COPD, and i told my dr. of my change in symptoms, and they said it could not possibally be the advair millions of people are taking it . So i took it upon myself to stop taking it its only been 2 days without it, and i have yet to start feeling better.