Dulera Inhaler

i was wondering if anyone out there is on this inhaler and if so have you had any side effects from it.  the only side effect i know of is thrush and i thought i had it due to a severe sore throat i got after going 2 rounds of antibiotics and a round of prednisone for not only my asthma but chronic bronchitis that lasted 45 days.  the dr put me on the thrush medication just in case i had it in my throat but didnt see it.  

[bsmsl]

Hello.

I am on Dulera as well.  I hadn't made a connection with thrush and Dulera, but you bring up an interesting question. I have recently been put on Dulera, and then went on high powered antibiotics and pred.  The PA that diagnosed my first case of thrush said that it was the antibiotics as I am very consistent with thorough rinsing, gargling and brushing my teeth after using an inhaler.  I also always use a spacer with MDI's.  Maybe it was the Dulera though.  However, I do know that the individual components of Dulera have been on the market for a very long time and used together my many people.  I got sick again a few weeks later (husband brought home a nasty bug), was put back on high powered antibiotics and got another thrush infection.  I just asked my GP for a Diflucan script.

After that round of antibiotics was over, my tongue did start to get sore again, so I have started gargling with a slightly hypertonic warm saline solution.  I am also sticking my tongue out as far as I can when I gargle to get the back part of my tongue.  That seems to be helping a lot.  

The research I have done on thrush said not to use mouth washes as they tend to dry out the mouth which encourages thrush growth.  Thrush is a yeast and salt kills yeast (bread baking principle).  I decided to try a warm saline gargle to see if that helped any and it seems to be helping me.  

Feel better.

[wolftwo2]

I just started Dulera last week. I have noticed fluid retention soon after each use. Once the medicine wears off the weight goes back down. I've been told by my drs. the dulera is not causing this. That's why I've monitored it so closely. Approx. 1/2 hour after use my weight slowly but steadily goes up. I've been keeping notes to show my dr next week when I return. I had fluid retention problems before this but they have been since under control. Weight stayed the same until the dulera. This medicine has made my breathing so much better so I don't have an agenda in complaining about it. I'd prefer to find a way I can use it and also control the side effect. This is just a post to make anyone else aware this could happen.

[DeeG917]

I had weight gain too while using Dulera.  However, I wasn't sure if it was from the antibiotics and/or singulair.  So hard to know, but thanks for the post about Dulera.  I didn't use it for a few days & my weight went down immediately.  I'm talking 6 lbs - which is a lot in a short period of time.

[ill13632]

you know I started dulera and then I came down with a bad 45 day infection too in my throat/sinuses, bleeding from sinuses.  I don't take prednisone usually.  my peak flow was down low to 400 from 600
in fact I've been wheezing for 12 weeks when I exhale.

maybe dulera cripples your immune system?  it is the newest inhaler so no one knows the side effects long term yet
it seemed more effective than symbicort at controlling, chest tightness late in the day
I was also trying this 6 week azithromycin treatment so maybe that caused the antibiotic resistant infection

I'd be interested in hearing from others who have these bad infections and wheezing on dulera.

[ill13632]

I'm switching back to symbicort since I was on this for over a year without side effects.
does anyone know how safe dulera is?  have they done 30 year studies on it?

[Mag221]

I too have had weight gain since using Dulera.  Supposedly that isn't one of the side effects however....I don't know that this has been studied long enough to know that for sure.  I do know that I don't eat any differently yet I have picked up 3 pounds in a week.  At that rate...it could be bad very quickly!

[Mag221]

I am not particularly pleased with this.  I too have weight gain, 6 pounds in 30 days which is totally abnormal for me!  Eating habits have not changed.  Also, I seem to be retaining a lot of fluid, insomnia...I can go to sleep but I am awake off and on all night.  Plus  i feel irritable, don't know if its the sleeplessness, the fluid rentention or what!  But none of this is normal for me.  I want to try something different!!!

[Catluver5]

I was taking the two puffs before I went to bed and i was waking up about and hour later. I felt tingly, itchy?? It felt like when your foot falls asleep, and when your move it and the blood starts flowing back into it. I had to get up and walk around. I would be awake for about an hour before i could fall back to sleep.
I started taking it when I got home from work so you are still moving around for a little while.I told the doctor this and he said he never heard that before.
I also gain some weight on it to. I feel bloated  all the time too.
But I can breath so much better!

[ill13632]

I went back to dulera but I still have wheezing.  it seems to work better than symbicort and I have less chest tightness

what is the max dose of dulera you can take a day?  6 puffs?
I read glucocorticoids can cause brain damage, neuron damage?

[ill13632]

I've also been taking advair and spiriva at the same time because I keep wheezing but the pulmonologist keep saying that my PFT scores are ok.  but I never wheezed before when I exhaled??

[Froboydan]

My wife was just diagnosed with broncitis and was given Dulera to help treat it.  She is 18 weeks pregnant and the doctor said it would be fine to take for two weeks and that "we don't use pregnant women as guinea pigs". All the information I am reading on the Internet shows that there have not been any pregnant women studies done with Dulera but that animal tests showed harm to fetuses, and I see places where it says Dulera should only be used when the benefit to the patient outweighs the risk to the fetus.

Anyone out there pregnant and on Dulera?