Comments on: Risks of Advair and other asthma drugs used among children to be reviewed by FDA

By: Gloria

Gloria — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 05:34:58 +0000

my 5 1/2 year old son been taking Advair HFA 45/21 mcg(120puffs) 12gm for about 5 to 6 months and im concerned by reading these commnts about children are not suppose to be taking this medication. He has really bad asthma and allergies and i was also concerned about the strength that the dr. gave him. my son has other problems and i hope its not this medication affecting his health. Concerned mom.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:47:47 +0000

To all concerned re: Adair, Symbicort, Serevent. Please be advised that most of the reported problems with these drugs are linked to use of a Long- Acting Beta- Agonist ( Salmeterol, Formoterol ). The major benefit derived from these type of drugs is control of airway inflamation provided by the cortico-steroid, fluticasone propionate for Advair, budesonide for Symbicort. My advice is to ask your doctor for a trial of inhaled cortico-steroid with-out the LABA ( but have available a SABA such as Albuterol for sudden onset of symptoms). Some other products that only contain cortico-steroids are: Qvar (beclomethasone), Pulmicort (budesonide), Alvesco ( ciclesonide), Aerobid ( flunisolide), Flovent (fluticasone), Asmanex (mometasone) and Asmanex ( triamcinolone). Remember, all medications have side effects. The goal of Asthma Control is to have no or fewer asthma episodes of lesser severity/ duration and with no or minimal side effects. Hope this helps.

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:27:45 +0000

I have been on advair for about 4 years. I usually take advair 500 in the winter. And advair 100 in the summer but the doctors tried to take me off it but about two days later I could barely walk to the car from my house so they put me back on it. Now I get itchy out of no where abd get extremely hot like i can go outside with no coat and shorts on in 17 degree weather (i can be outside for like 30 minutes before i get cold)and most doctors I’ve been to they say it from having anxiety attacks and I’m only 14.. So I don’t know if this is all from advair but I would recomened going on any other asthma medicine then advair.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:02:27 +0000

My son has been on Advair since he was 7. The ped clinic started him out for years on the 500 and then put him on 250 and just last year put him on 100. His growth is not that of a normal 13 year old and his heart races. His mother is now concerned that he may have irrepairable damage from the medication. If pediatricians know of the problems, why do the still push the medication on young children.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:32:44 +0000

Okay, Fall/Winter of 2008 has come and gone. What is the update on the use of Advair in Children? My son is now 13 and has been on Advair since Jan ’03 (age 7) with a dose of 500/50, it was later lowered to 250/50 and now 100/50. I believe this has effected his growth rate, although his doctors insist this has not. They are only looking at the past 6 years- well he has been on Advair for 6 years. Of course they put the scare in me by saying that if I take him off Advair this could be more harmful and Advair is keeping him healthy. This also means bloody noses and just recently irregular heartbeat and gastrointestinal discomfort/pain (this just recently kept him home from school). Initially another treatment was not offered, so I took the one to ‘keep him healthy and active’.

By: Austin Kirk

Austin Kirk — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:00:54 +0000

Mr. Roberts,

Thank you for your comments. A follow up post was placedn the site days after the hearing about the decision to add warnings to the medications. At this time, the FDA is still reviewing these risks, and plans another advisory panel meeting in fall/winter 2008.

Here is the current information from the FDA Website:

March 5, 2008 Update: On November 28, 2007, a Pediatric Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting was held. At this meeting, FDA raised concerns about the safety of long-acting beta2 adrenergic agonists (LABAs) in pediatric patients with asthma. The PAC has agreed with an FDA recommendation to continue assessment of the risks of LABAs and seek advice from a future advisory committee (http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/oc07.htm#pac).

In January, 2008 FDA requested manufacturers of Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, Brovana Inhalation Solution, Foradil Aerolizer, Perforomist Inhalation Solution, Serevent Diskus, and Symbicort Inhalation Aerosol to provide information regarding controlled clinical studies conducted with these products in order to further evaluate the safety of LABAs when treating asthma.

The manufacturers have indicated it will take several months to submit the requested information. Following review of this information, FDA plans to bring the issue of the benefit/risk assessment of LABAs in adults and children to an advisory committee in the fall or winter of 2008.

By: Eric Roberts

Eric Roberts — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:48:05 +0000

How nice that you haven’t updated your website with the FDA review. I checked with my Dr. b/c my son is on Advair. I also checked the FDA’s website. Advair still is approved for children.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:00:26 +0000

My son was diagnosed with asthma about 1 1/2 years ago. He was first on albuterol and pulmicort then was sent to an asthma specialist in Fort Worth , Texas and is now taking Advair 115/21. I noticed even on the first night of treatment he was very nervous, jittery and anxious like he couldnt sit still for one second, he was having very bad night sweats and at first he was having tremors in just his arms, now his whole body tremors at night and his eyes are glassy all the time. He stays irritable all the time now and sometimes I can not get him to sleep at all . Other nights he is so weak and tired I cannot get him out of bed in the mornings for school. I even called the doctor the second day he was on the Advair and the doctor assured me ths medicine was safe and that the studies conducted on Advair were horrible conducted and that the side effects were very little . He also told me the tremors were from the prednizone my son was taking at the time . MY son has been taking the Advair for one month now and the symptoms are still there. It is February 14, 2008 and as my son was sleeping his whole body shook uncontrollably . I almost took him to the emergency roon tonight but bout 4 minutes the tremors quit . A little later he had more shakes in his hands and his his legs but not as bad. My sons pillow was soaked from a fever he has been running every night for five days as I think is due to the medicine. I am including a link to a site where I found others like me who had either suffered symptoms or hda family member who had experienced the very bad side effects of Advair. If there is any way for all of these people including me to come together and sue the makers of Advair please let me know . I had asked my doctor to take my son off of it and he said it was not wise since it was controlling his asthma . How can a medicine be considered safe if it causes the person to succumb to such side effects that may be deadly ? Lease help me and others who are in need of medication to control our loved ones asthma symptoms. My son is only four and I would hate to lose him cause of the doctors and the FDAa stupidity in approving a drug that has caused so many people so much pain and the symptoms are not just in our imagination as some think . The symptoms are real and in my opinion from observing my son they can be very life threatening and possibly deadly ?http://www.medications.com/se/advair-hfa

By: Austin Kirk

Austin Kirk — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:47:10 +0000

Any concerns about whether your child should continue using Advair should be reviewed with your physician. Certainly no medication, especially one used for long-term prevention of asthma, should be discontinued without the supervision of a physician. We will update our site with any new information about the FDA review of these asthma drugs.

By: Joe Morris

Joe Morris — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:02:29 +0000

My son is on Advair. Please keep me informed on the FDA review. This is very disturbing information. Should I be taking him off Advair.