Vicky Bilaniuk wrote:
Circe wrote:
Out of curiosity, what side effects? I have been using it for about
6 months and haven't had any problems at all.

Dry mouth, hoarse voice, increased heart rate, and I seem to suffer
from bronchitis and/or pneumonia more often while on the drug than
while off
of it. Actually, these are symptoms from the inhaled steroid
component
of the drug. I used to take Flovent (fluticasone by itself,
basically),
and I had the same side effects. They are irritating.

Inhaled steroids have never caused me any problems. I guess I'm lucky!

I'd take it now if I were ever pregnant again. Why? Because last
July I suffered a severe asthma attack that affected my large
airways. I couldn't breathe, my heart stopped, and I was
resuscitated by CPR with only minutes to spare before either death
or brain damage would have been the result. Under the circumstances,
I think Advair is a LOT safer than the alternative!

Wow, scary stuff. I'm glad that you're OK.

Oh yes, me too!

Did you ever suffer an attack before?

Oh, yes, certainly. I was diagnosed asthmatic at around 2.5yo. I just took
it for granted that I'd have an asthma attack every few days, treat it with
albuterol, and move on. What happened to me that was "special" on that
occasion was that my large airways were inflamed to the point where I could
not get in any air at all. Asthma is typically a disease of the small and
medium-sized airways, but in rare cases, the large airways are affected.
It's these type of attacks that lead to most asthma deaths, by the way, and
some people have them quite suddenly without much warning.

In retrospect, I had been becoming more symptomatic during the 17 months
since my last baby was born and that should have been my cue to treat my
asthma more aggressively. But, you know, three kids, full-time job, one
thing and another! But the attack that actually almost killed me was quite
sudden and I really had NO warning--I woke up with a little trouble
breathing, took my albuterol, it didn't work, took down the nebulizer, that
didn't work, called 911, woke up my husband and then spent the next 10-15
minutes waiting for the ambulance while slowly dying. I don't really
remember much after I woke my husband and called 911.

If we knew then what we know now, we wouldn't have waited for the ambulance.
At the time, I thought they'd be able to DO something for me on the way to
the hospital. As it turned out, they really couldn't do much and the time we
spent waiting for them to arrive was the time it took my to go into cardiac
arrest, such that, ironically, waiting for the ambulance was what almost
killed me. If something similar were to happen again, my husband would throw
me in the car and drive me to ER straightaway.

I've had asthma for most of my life, but I've never
suffered an actual attack (this made diagnosis kind of hard). I just
have constant inflammation and increased phlegm, but my airways tend
to
stay open. (oh and whenever I get a case of bronchitis or pneumonia,
I
tend to get some annoying drug resistant bug that tends to show up
mainly in asthmatics and other people with lung disease) I've spent
most of my asthmatic life unmedicated, because I just don't like
taking
meds if the illness isn't that bad (and in my case, it isn't). I've
only recently been taking meds because of the introduction of new
products such as advair. IOW, I'm willing to give new stuff a try.
;-) I still would prefer to be drug free, though.

Well, I hear ya. I'd be drug-free, too, if I could. But given my little
episode, I've decided that's not safe for me.

Besides, since I've been on the Advair, my husband says I breathe like a
normal person for the first time in the 15 years he's known me.

I guess for me, the bottom line is that asthma no longer seems like a
relatively benign condition any more. I got complacent about it after living
with it for 35+ years and almost paid for the complacency with my life. It's
not a mistake I'll be making again!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [a quarter to 2] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
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