new asthma diagnosis-Advair

[Sherry]

Hello, All,
I've had intermittent upper back pain for well over a year. My general doc has run many different tests, and my cardio has as well...nothing. Today, my general doc ran some lung function tests, and my numbers were extremely low and then went up after a breathing treatment. He has put me on Advair. Do any of you have any experiences with this? I need some advice.

 

[Nancy]

I use Advair.

 

[Sherry]

Hello, Nancy,
How have you done with it? The website said that it can make your heart race, which concerned me.

 

[Nancy]

Hi Sherry-

It has helped me. I still have to use the albuterol which is the fast acting inhaler during allergy season, but the rest of the year, the Advair keeps things under control.

I'm on the lowest dose inhaler (100/50, I think, don't have it right here) and take it twice a day. I don't notice anything at all with it. Perhaps at the beginning, there might have been a little faster heart rate, but nothing scary, at least for me.

The albuterol (the fast acting inhaler) does increase your heart rate somewhat for about 20 minutes and can make your hands tremble slightly, but even with that i don't notice it anymore.

It's important to get the asthma under control.

I also take Singulair in the evening during the allergy season.

One thing with Advair is that you have to rinse your mouth out and spit it out. I do it three times with tepid water right after I inhale it. The medication can be irritating to your throat and mouth. It can also give you a hoarse voice.

I think it's a big improvement from the old cortisone inhaler.

 

[Bryan B]

Sherry,

I was on Advair last summer when I had chronic bronchitis. It worked very well for me. I started off on Combivent and Proventil with no luck. When they switched me to Advair and Proventil that helped me to get over the bronchitis. Of course I was also on oral steroids, antibiotics, and cough syrups during that time too, but I think the Advair worked the best of all the inhalers they had me on.

 

[KimC]

Advair is a miracle drug. It gave me back a lot of breathing capacity. Unfortunately, my 6 month old came down w/ pneumonia last week, and I developed bronchitis, so I'm also taking antibiotics and prednisone for the first time.

My asthma usually doesn't bother me until I get an infection that creates congestion. The Combivent I tried did cause sustained PVC's, so my doc took me off it.

The Advair is usually enough, and I've never had any adverse reactions to date. (It has been almost three months of treatment).

Good luck,

Kim