complications with advair and symbicort

[Guest guest]

Hi, my name is Debbie and I'm new to the group. I'm 60 years old and have

developed asthma over the last couple of years. I haven't had much trouble

until this spring. I was a smoker, but haven't smoked for 3 weeks now. My

allergist put me on advair about one and half months ago and 3 weeks ago got a

severe lung infection. I wasn't that bad off before i went to the doctor. I

went to the er and they diagnosed it as COPD exacerbation. They gave me a

nebulizer treatment and a course of antibiotics and sent me home. The rest of

the weekend I was using my rescue inhaler every three hours and couldn't hardly

wait that long. I called the doctor on Monday and went in on Tuesday and she

scared me to death. She said I only had 38% lung capability. She made me take

2 10mg. prednisone before I left the office and also put me on a 6 day course of

prednisone and gave me a breathing treatment. The predisone helped me

immediately. She also gave me symbicort. I was coughing up clear mucus and

when I stared the symbicort I started feeling sick again and I stopped it. I

kept on taking the prednisone and that seemed to help me more than any thing.

When I took the symbicort, it felt like it scalded my lungs. It was painful so

I didn't take anymore of it. They finally gave me a new medication called

Alvesco inhaler and it seems to be working ok. I'm feeling alot better now. I'm

trying to look at this as a god send. It got me off of cigarettes. But I was

wandering if anyone else had trouble with these medicines. I know it was the

advair that made me really sick and the symbicort was starting to do the same

thing. I have taken advantage of being able to breath in the past. Now I know

what it is like not being able to breath well. I'll never take advantage of it

again.

Debbie