Newbie:(as of today!)
pinkrainbow2004@yahoo.ca
Hi all, to be succinct, i seem to be going into adrenal failure, very
possibly as a misdiagnosis of asthma, and treated with steroids..details to
follow..it's a tad long, so if not interested, hit
next!..otherwise...thankyou for listening!
history:

-Diagnosed with asthma ,2 yearsago, after frequent bouts of bronchitis,
pneumonia, sob, but mostly wheezing, especially with environmental changes,
exercise, heat waves, etc... and consequent antibiotics.... on ventolin
short-acting inhaler, advair 500mg. twice a day.(and a ton of other stuff,
for pain, thyroid, sleep, etc

-Diagnosed with Addison's disease 4 months ago-my adrenal glands are
shut-down..not producing hormone cortisol, which is necessary to sustain
life, mainly for stress(fight or flight), infections,etc.
I requested referral to respirologist, who said i don't have asthma (based
on the pulmonary function tests, as i did not react to the
asthma-stimulating test(?name)..but,  i have narrowing of the vessels, so
cat scan was ordered to rule out emphysema, and/or COPD.

Question:the respirologist said the majority of patients referred by their
gp DO NOT have asthma...then he said the reason i have almost no serum
cortisol(the hormone the adrenal glands, above the kidneys)produce, was that
advair has a steroid component, which tells my body, 'i don't need to
produce cortisol anymore.'...and my adrenal's go into "shutdown"
..so he wants me off it..so he reduced the advair 500mg. to 100mg., starting
immediately...I was scarred of going into addisonian crisis,(the idea is, if
i am off Adair the steroid, my body will tell my adrenals to wake up and
start working)....i think it is too fast, as when i tried the 100mg.this
morning, it felt like nothing, and i am now wheezy, sob, esp. on exertion,
chest tightness...so i phoned him and requested a 'wean', he agreed, (but
within a month!.....250mg. for 2 weeks, then 100mg. for 2 weeks, then
nothing!)

Question- how long do you think is reasonable to wean off advair 500mg.,
after being on it for several years...(to complicate things further, my gp
still thinks i have asthma, just wasn't off the inhalers long enough when
the pulmonary f. tests were done..i was off 24 hours.)
Secondly-if he thinks i may have emphysema(God forbid!yikes!), wouldn't you
still need inhalers?..the cat scan will take months to get in..and i haven't
seen an endo yet..also my gp(main dr., is moving in august, and it is almost
impossible to get a gp in Toronto these days!)
Lastly, Addison's is treated with hydrocortisol(cortef), or
prednisone(synthetic..very strong, and in my opinion dangerous)..i am on
bioidentical hormonal therapy for menopause and hypothyroidism),...
I thought  cortef is a long-acting broncho-dilator AND
anti-inflammatory..this was my understanding...i am told, don't worry, when
you stop the inhalers, the cortef will start the adrenals up again, BUT, i
am NOT responding to this drug..my serum cortisol is still very, very
low...zero is addisonian crisis and possible death.
So if your asthmatic, i assume people are on steroid's, do other people not
run into my problem?

I am hoping, that someone here, may' have Addison's and asthma', and know
about the effect of these inhalers on the endocrine system, particularly the
adrenals.
By the way, i also have M.E.(CFS,CFIDS), fibromyalgia, ...perhaps a healthy
person wouldn't have developed these problems..?

So any suggestions, advice, tips, or any feedback at all, even if it telling
me off for bringing a sort-of 'off-topic, atypical post to your group..would
be appreciated...most of this stuff i have to figure out myself these past 4
months...knowledge is power, and if i hadn't seen that specialist, i may
have been treated as an asthmatic in inhalers the rest of my life!
or..perhaps someone else here, has heard of, or gone thru something similar.
Thanks for listening
pinkrainbow