Shocked and Singulair (Accolade)

[Guest guest]

Squeeee! I get my Xolair back on Tuesday!!! They are mailing it to my

house, and letting me self-inject!!! It is at the Tier 2 copay, too,

cheaper than ever!! Nice to work for a large company with a premium plan.

With respect to Salmeterol/Advair, I have a strong reaction to

Salmeterol. I get immediate heart palpitations and tremors, then a

migraine. I cannot take Albuterol, either for the same reason. I do

take Flovent (was able to get off it on Xolair).

I was on Avandia up until about a year ago, when I noticed that I was

retaining water for no reason (it wasn't hot, nor had I recently

flown, and my diabetes was under very good control). When I got short

of breath, I went to Urgent Care. They found fluid buildup in my

lungs. The doctor suggested I go off Avandia. Two weeks later, the

edema was gone and the news stories about Avandia and congestive heart

failure started.

I've always had to take a children's dose of Pseudoephedrine. It had

fewer side effects and was effective for me in the lower dose.

Before Xolair, Accolade was the only thing that helped me other than

steroids. I had side effects on Singulair - that's why I am on

Accolade, a different leukotriene inhibitor.

I'm going to try Spiriva soon to see if I can reduce the Prednisone

(or not have to up it) until the Xolair kicks in.