New Inhalers For Asthma..

[num1habsfan]

After my visit with my asthma doc yesterday, he asked me a few questions (about coughing, breathing, and sinuses)...

So he decided that instead of taking Flovent, I should take Advair 125, and Flonaise 50 i believe it is.

I just started taking both this morning, and I have felt really odd all day (besides the burning in the throat and nose, and coughing from the dryness of the Advair).

Is anyone else on these inhalers, and if you are, did you feel weird/sick when you first started them?

~lisa~

[Jnkmnky]

I was dx with asthma two months ago... which I now am told I don't have at all... Another story... Anyway, advair, which I took for about a week, nearly killed me! I ended up with pink eye in both eyes, acute bronchitis and an all over feeling of dying. Then, the same week, the fda put advair in a so-called "black box", meaning it's kinda dangerous. AND said that it should be the drug of last resort for asthma. Thinking about how BENIGN my dr claimed advair was, makes me furious. EVEN after I was so sick, he said my children brought the pink eye home. My kids never had pinkeye... just me. It's a rare side effect of advair as are other lung problems including pneumonia! I hated advair. Some drs love it and will act like you're insane for not liking it. Good luck!

[num1habsfan]

I was dx with asthma two months ago... which I now am told I don't have at all... Another story... Anyway, advair, which I took for about a week, nearly killed me! I ended up with pink eye in both eyes, acute bronchitis and an all over feeling of dying. Then, the same week, the fda put advair in a so-called "black box", meaning it's kinda dangerous. AND said that it should be the drug of last resort for asthma. Thinking about how BENIGN my dr claimed advair was, makes me furious. EVEN after I was so sick, he said my children brought the pink eye home. My kids never had pinkeye... just me. It's a rare side effect of advair as are other lung problems including pneumonia! I hated advair. Some drs love it and will act like you're insane for not liking it. Good luck!

Gees, i didnt think it was that bad I know my Baba is on it, and I think shes had any problems (because shes been on it for quite a while), but yeah I feel just sick in general now.

And I was told by one of my classmates today that she used to take Flonaise, and had to stop because it was giving her a lot of nosebleeds (which I could believe, the stuff hurts like heck).

I just wish there would be a way to solve one problem without causing another, huh?

~lisa~

[tarnalberry]

Gah! The Advair thing is overrated. The black box warning thing *is* important, but it's also important in context.

Here's the background:

Advair is made up of two drugs - that's why it says 100/50 or 250/50 or 500/50, it's the dose for either drug. The first one is Flovent, and inhaled corticosteroid to keep inflammation down. The second one is Serevent, and long-acting beta-antagonist to reverse constriction in the lungs.

The black box warning - go Google Advair and read it for yourself by selecting the 'important information' link in the upper right corner of GSK's Advair page - is put there ONLY from a study on Serevent ALONE. It is NOT even actually a warning for the combination of drugs. The problem was that doctors didn't know that you weren't supposed to treat with Serevent by itself, and were prescribing Serevent without an inhaled steroid.

The black box warning comes from a study that noted that there was a very small, but non-zero, increase in deaths from asthma exacerbations, in patients prescribed only Serevent. Advair contains Servent, hence the FDA was petitioned (years after Advair went on the market), to add the black box warning. What they don't add, however, was that the study found that the risk was completely mitigated by prescribing a concurrent inhaled steroid.

I fell into this trap once, years ago before they were even considering the black box warning on Advair, when I was unable to get ahold of my allergist, and saw a walk-in clinic physician for pleuritis. He put me on Serevent on it's own. When I saw my allergist a week later, and told him about that appointment, he shook his head and said, "No, no, no. You should never take Serevent on it's own. There's a risk of death." He added the inhaled steroid, and noted that's all that was needed.

Right, now... off my soap box about misleading people...

Yep, I've been on both. Adjusting to it can make you feel a bit off the first few weeks. Particularly if you're not used to using rescue asthma meds. The beta-antagonist in the Serevent is essentially a *very* specific nerve agent (put to good use), and can make you feel a bit... odd. Not quite shaking, but like things aren't quite right inside either. (I feel kinda like nerves are firing deep in the belly of my arm muscles, and sometimes leg and/or chest muscles.) It can fade over time, but if you notice it doesn't fade in the next week or so, or is a significant problem, DO call your doctor's office about it and let them know.

The Flonase, in particular, can make you feel a bit sick, at first, as it loosens everything up, and if you haven't regularly been on a steroidal nose spray before, quite honestly, it can take a number of weeks to get used to. No, it's not comfortable to use. And yeah, it left me with a bit of a sore throat when waking up, but I decided it was worth it in the long run as a trade off of side effects for symptoms relieved.

BTW, there are a bunch of minor side effects that aren't common that you can get from both drugs. They're not child's toys, but can be useful. Keep track of how you're feeling, but do give them a few weeks to work. Some of the side effects are not worth the benefits you get, some are. Some vary depending on how long you're on them. (For instance, if I'm on Advair longer than about six months, I get one of the very rare side effects which is greatly increased muscle tension. This turns out to be a big problem in that it exacerbates a knee problem I have, and generally causes a lot of pain in my joints. By the time the six month mark hits, the side effects outweigh the benefits, and I have to go off it again for the rest of the year. 99% of people don't get that side effect, though.)

[num1habsfan]

Yep, I've been on both. Adjusting to it can make you feel a bit off the first few weeks. Particularly if you're not used to using rescue asthma meds. The beta-antagonist in the Serevent is essentially a *very* specific nerve agent (put to good use), and can make you feel a bit... odd. Not quite shaking, but like things aren't quite right inside either. (I feel kinda like nerves are firing deep in the belly of my arm muscles, and sometimes leg and/or chest muscles.) It can fade over time, but if you notice it doesn't fade in the next week or so, or is a significant problem, DO call your doctor's office about it and let them know.

The Flonase, in particular, can make you feel a bit sick, at first, as it loosens everything up, and if you haven't regularly been on a steroidal nose spray before, quite honestly, it can take a number of weeks to get used to. No, it's not comfortable to use. And yeah, it left me with a bit of a sore throat when waking up, but I decided it was worth it in the long run as a trade off of side effects for symptoms relieved.

Thanks, its good to know that its normal to feel off from this stuff! its kinda weird that I can actually partly breathe thru my nose

~lisa~

[Guest cassidy]

Advair does contain lactose, I don't know if you have problems with lactose. Most of the dry powder inhalers probably do contain lactose. The steroids in Advair have some nasty side effects (not talking about the black box warning). I realize steriods are necessary in Asthma, but if you can get off of them, I would suggest it.

[tarnalberry]

Advair does contain lactose, I don't know if you have problems with lactose. Most of the dry powder inhalers probably do contain lactose. The steroids in Advair have some nasty side effects (not talking about the black box warning). I realize steriods are necessary in Asthma, but if you can get off of them, I would suggest it.

That is a good point - doctors like to downplay the negative side effects of inhaled steroids. Probably because, relative to systemic corticosteroids, they are pretty darn safe. That doesn't mean they're play-toys, in the objective sense, however. The better you can control your asthma by eliminating environmental (indoor/outdoor/food/etc) triggers, getting plenty of aerobic exercise, and staying healthy, the better your chances of staying off inhaled steroids or not having to be on them as long when you do have to go on them, which is always for the better. But I've learned the hard way, from avoiding them, that it's important to use them *when you need them* and not try to come off them before you should.

(*Mandatory safety note: NEVER stop taking ANY steroidal drug without the guidance of your doctor. At any dose, but moreso at higher doses, suddenly stopping corticosteroids can cause a sudden, dramatic, and very dangerous decline in immune system function. These drugs need to be tappered off of and dosed appropriately.)

But I agree with cassidy - they have serious side effects that often have us pushing/pulling with our doctors for appropriate use of the things. in our own bodies.

Don't let the lactose component throw you off right away - it's small enough not to bother me, but it could bother you, so talk to your doctor about it if you're lactose intolerant. It's inhaled, though, which makes a difference, since it doesn't primarily make it into the intestinal tract to be digested by intestinal bacteria which cause the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

[ebrbetty]

I have exercise induced asthma, when I use my Advair I get very dizzy and my heart races..I try to just deal without it, my hearts racing as it is from the workout so I try to do without

[mouse]

I have been using Advair for several years with no problem, but be sure and rinse your mouth out after you inhale. Do not swallow first.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I was given Advair when I had bronchitis and pleurisy last year. The Advair in particular made me feel horrible. I swear, I couldn't breathe AFTER I used it. I refused to take it after 24 hours; my doctor was miffed at me--he wanted me to take more and stronger meds. I persuaded him to let me use plain old Albuterol instead, which seemed to help.

Several months later, I heard about the dangers of Advair.

Another case of the drugs making me sicker.

[Rusla]

Many years ago when Advair was first being tested they took me off of Ventolin and Flovent to have me test the dumb thing. Well to make a long story short I used it for a week it caused me not only to have an asthma attack, the end result being pneumonia and put me in the hospital. While they had me use it in the hospital I got worse. When we switched me back to Ventolin and Flovent I got better.

[mzmterssa]

My daughter takes Advair 500/50. If she doesn't have it for a few days she ends up in the Hospital and gets very Ill without it. I know it's not very good. But since she's been on it for 4 yrs she's been better. One thing is she gain wieght from it. she takes a Inhaler and that.