Hiya, and welcome.

My first question before anything else is this......if you are taking
Advair, why are you also taking Flovent?? Flovent is IN Advair, it is
part of the duo in Advair, Flovent and Serevent.  You really shouldn't
be taking both.

As for the body pain, sometimes the way you are breathing can cause you
pain like that.  When I'm wheezing, I tend to tense my muscles,
especially in my arms and chest.  It is something I have to consciously
think about, otherwise I end up with pain a lot like what you are
describing.  I'm not saying that IS what is causing your pain, just that
it could be.  If you have been wheezing a lot, it could just be muscle
pain from that.  Have you tried just taking a pain reliever, like Advil
(if you ARE NOT aspirin sensitive) or Tylenol (if you are)?

The bending down on the floor thing definitely has some kind of asthma
connection.  My insurance has an asthma program that I am enrolled in,
and once a month a respiratory therapist calls me and goes over how I've
been during the month.  One of the questions that they always ask me is
if I get short of breath when bending down.  I never did, thought it was
a wierd question, but apparently it isn't.  Have you talked to your
doctor about it?

I hope this helps you.  Before you take anything, you should absolutely
double check with your doc, he/she should always know what you are
taking, even if it is aspirin, vitamins, whatever.

Hope this helps, and I hope you feel better soon.

Life is uncertain..........eat dessert first!!

Nancy
8=: )

Is the pain localized?  Is it a stabbing pain, a throbbing pain, an
aching pain?  Does it hurt more when you cough?  
Is your pain on one side or more locations (left, right, front, back)?
Is there pain under the collar bone(s), close to the spine and
sternum?  Does the pain worsen when you turn your head to the left or
to the right?

I saw your correction to the med list in response to Nancy. BTW -
Flonase is a steroid similar to Flvent, not an antibiotic.

I assume you also have a rescue inhaler like albuterol or Combivent.
None of the ones you mention are fast acting meds.

If you have both asthma and allergies you may want to consider trying
Singulair (a pill). Spiriva is a bit of a funny choice unless you have
been a smoker.

Sounds like either costochondritis or pleurisy. It is common in
asthma. My theory is that it has to do with the increased work the
area is doing in breathing. If you were used to walking on level
ground all day and then one day walked stairs or up hill all day would
you wonder why your legs hurt?

Usually costochondritis is diagnosed clinically and treated with
NSAIDs like Motrin with no imaging necessary. It usually is self
limited or waxing and waning (often with the severity of astma). If it
is persistent and pleurisy is a concern then a chest CT may be a good
idea. The pulm may also want to do a VQ scan to rule out blood clots
(which a CT scan would also do to an extent - the big ones anyway).
I'm sure you have had x-rays but a CT is much more sensitive.

One word of caution. NSAIDs like aspirin and Motrin worsen some
people's asthma. If you have been taking them consistently for a while
you may want to stop them and use Tylenol or narcotics for the pain to
see if it gets better. Those won't do anything for inflammation so if
it does not improve you may want to restart the NSAID but it is worth
a try (and the only way to settle the issue). If you use the NSAIDs
intemrittently (or not at all) then just try to pay attention to any
correlation between them and your symptoms.

Again, that could be a lot of things. As Bob was getting at it could
be an oprthopedic/spine issue. Also reflux (see below) can cause chest
pain that goes down the arms - especially the left arm (the same
nerves are involved as with cardiac pain).

That reminds of me of gastroespohageal reflux disease (GERD) which is
also associated with asthma and can cause wheezing and chest pain. You
might want to specifically mention this to the pulm.

NSAIDs can worsen this (and hence also worsen asthma). So this is
another reason to pay close attention to their effects.

That could be a ton of things - some associated with pleurisy/asthma
and some not. I think you need to discuss this symptom specifically
with both the pulm and the primary care doc.

One underdiagnosed thing I would be tempted to look into is disordered
sleep - either frank obstructive sleep apnea (which is associated with
reflux) or just evening low oxygen levels. Again, talk to your docs
about this.

Hint: Make a list for your next visit so you remember everything you
want to say.

Good luck.