Advair Precautions

If your doctor is considering prescribing Advair Diskus in order to bring your asthma symptoms under better control, you should educate yourself about the risks. While Advair Diskus does provide real benefit in the increased control of asthma, patients need to know what the attendant risks are as well.

Cardiovascular

• This medication comes with potentially serious side effects. While Advair does control the inflammation of the bronchial airways common to asthmatics, you need to balance the benefits against the possible risks.

  Some of these side effects can include your cardiovascular system. These issues can include a higher heart rate, and increased blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure, your doctor must carefully consider the benefits of this medication, and decide if these outweigh the risks to your high blood pressure. If you suffer from a cardiac arrhythmia, coronary insufficiency or other cardiac disorder, you and your doctor should discuss these conditions as they can be worsened by using Advair Diskus.

Central Nervous System

• Advair Diskus can also affect patients with central nervous system disorders. If you have suffered seizures in the past, discuss this possibility with your doctor. If you have been particularly sensitive to medications that fall in the sympathomimetic amine class (having an effect on the central nervous system), you may also be very sensitive to the effects of this medication. If you have had seizures or a seizure disorder in the past, salmeterol, one of the medications in Advair, could increase your risk of seizures should you begin using it.

Immunity Issues

• If you have been using an oral steroid such as Prednisone or if you suddenly stop using Advair Diskus, your body will not produce enough of its own steroid. If your body is under increased stress because you are suffering from an infection, you need to be aware that you could die from the infection because of the lowered steroid level.

  You may not notice the symptoms of an infection, if should you become sick. You and your doctor should discuss the risk you are under if you are taking Advair and you develop a respiratory infection. If this happens and you can't recognize or feel symptoms, you are at risk of developing pneumonia. If you decide the benefits of Advair outweigh the risks, tell your doctor if you develop symptoms such as more coughing, chills, sore throat and increased mucous production so you can begin treatment for pneumonia right away.