Asthma Support Group

Ann1964-

I would contact the manufacturer to see if any long term studies have been conducted on Advair. Might also want to contact the American Lung Association and possibly the FDA to see if they know of any such studies.

There are other maintenance drugs, such as Asmanex, containing only one medication instead of 2 like Advair. While this might reduce the tremors, if this is the cause, it also might be less effecective for the asthma.

You should also discuss all of this with a pulmonologist who can monitor your lung function if a med change is done.

i was on advair (we call seretide) for about 4 years or so and i got trmors from it. it is one of the common side effects. it is a common side effects for inhalers with bronchodilatory effects in it. There have been studies in this country using advair/ seretide. to me the effects of the treatment far out weighed the side effects so it didnt bother me once i got used to it.

olive

What concerns and bothers me about this case is that the tremors have developed after 7 years of use.

I could dismiss this if this were the case of a new product being used and the body building up a certain tolerance to what is basically an upper. After 7 years though, this more an accumlative effect suggesting longterm (though possibly reversible) damage. The age of the user (which is close to mine) also concerns me.

Again, I would have a neurologist and pulmonologist work together on this one and would advise looking into a one-drug medication such as Asmanex or Pulimocort which might reduce the tremors, though might also increase asthma.

Ann, please let us know how it's going for you.

I have an appoint. with my PCP on Monday and Tuesday I have an appoint. with an asthma specialist to discuss the issue further. I have started tolerating the tremors better than when they started....but sometimes it gets so unconfortable...not painful...just bothersom enought o keep me awake. Whenever I start to drift off I wake up shaking from the inside out....and when I do sleep and wake up...it takes about 15 minutes of just laying there before they taper enough that I feel like I can up and do things. Very frustrating. Thanks for responding.

Ann-

So glad you are going to be seen and very interested in finding out what they conclude.

Ask them if they think a single-drug maintenance therapy like Asmanex or Pulmicort might help.

What time of day do you take the Advair? I'm assuming morning.

Wondering if a sleep aide or anti-anxiety med will be prescribed.

Let us know and hope you are able to resolve this problem.

Thanks Orson...actually I used to always take it at night before bed. I just started taking it in the am to see if it helped. The neurologist suggested I take a seizure med....but I am not really comfortable with that. I do have Ativan that the Dr. gave me for insomnia....mut I am a big time med phobe...so i don't like taking it often. I was thinking of taking a whole one tonight to see how I do. I will update you all next week after my appoints. Thanks again!

I've been on advair for 5 years and the VA recently switched me to asmanex. Honestly, I like advair much better. I had some bad tremors issues last year that my neurologist made the same comment. But they slowly decreased over time long before the switch to asmanex. So, till this day docs can't explain why or what happened. Keep in touch and let me know what happens.

Hey Ann-

Just want to know how it's going.

Did you try the Ativan? Not sure if or how this might effect asthma - I'm always leary on anything that might surpress breathing.

Hear from ya' later then.

Blue sun-

So you're on Asmanex now but would still like to be on Advair despite tremors?

Advair works better than Asmanex or Pulmicort because it has 2 meds for inflammation and dilation whereas the others only have one med. On the other hand I guess the one-med drugs are btter to reduce tremors.

Is it a permanent switch to Asmanex or will they try switching you back again?

Thanks for checking in on me! I just came back from an allergist/asthma specialist. He has taken me off the Advair and switched me to Asthmanex and Singulair. He also said to stop taking Zyrtec because too much of it gets into your brain. He said to switch to OC Claritin. He said to get it at Costco and use their brand...it works better. He also took me off my normal nasal spray and switched me to something else...also saying I am getting too much cortisone and less of it is absorbed with the new one. I go back in 3 weeks for a recheck so I hope to see a big difference? He wants me to do all this before I jump off the deep end and start taking an anti siezure med as recommneded by the neurologist. Fingers crossed for a positive result.