Has anyone used Advair while pregnant?

MrsRichardson915

I had my regular appt at the OB today (saw a nurse practitioner), and I mentioned that I had a nasty head/chest cold about two weeks ago but the cough wasn't going away and I was having some trouble breathing. She listened to my lungs and thought that I have allergic bronchitis (I have many environmental allergies as well). So, anyway, she prescribed Advair- which is a Class C. Now I'm nervous to take it but I want to be able to breathe! Also, I'm not seeing much info online about it being used for bronchitis, other than for people with COPD. Anyone have any experience with this?

Sharon&Paul

We commonly prescribe it for our asthmatic patient. It is a combination of a steriod and a long acting bronchodialated. It is catergory C, because of the steriod. As a general rule we try to weigh the risk to the fetus from a mother not getting enough oxygen to the risk of the steriod. If the asthma is bad now I would go ahead and take it. however, if you feel you can control it with an albuteral rescue inhaler than I would wait on the Advair.

MrsRichardson915

I don't have a rescue inhaler...this was prescribed for bronchitis...I don't have asthma so should I call back and talk to the actual OB?

Sharon&Paul

I would call back. It does not sound like you are that bad off right now. Are you having problems breathing? If not I would just start with albuterol inhaler as needed. Most cases of bronchitis are viral and resolve with time. It can take up to a month for the cough to actual resolve. If you were my patient and your oxygen level was normal, I would hold off on the Advair and give it some time. If you had audible wheezing and your oxygen saturation was going below normal (95%) then I would start Advair. If you think allergies may be causing it you may want to start with an anti-histamine like Benadryl or Claritin(which is safe in pregnancy).

I don't think the nurse practitioner did anything wrong, but I would be a little more conservative in my pregnant patients and try to avoid steriods if possible.

MrsRichardson915

Thank you so much for the information, I really appreciate it!!! I'm going to call my OB tomorrow. And I didn't start the Advair (although I did pick it up from the pharmacy...will they let me return it?) Probably not. Ugh.

Sharon&Paul

No, they can not take it back. They run the risk that you may of tapered with it.

ms_mellor

I was on Advair when I was pregnant for both girls.  I used it with my first only when my asthma was bad (which was very rare), and with my second DD quite a bit because I ended up with H1N1, then pneumonia, which lead to major breathing issues.  When I went to see my respirologist (sp?) he actually switched me to a different, more basic inhaler because he felt that it was better for my issue.  I was also on prednezone (sp??) which is an oral steroid because things were so bad.

Both my girls are super healthy....perfect, if I do say so myself! 

 

juietbride

I used pulmacort (similar medication to Advair) my entire pregnancy with my first DS per my general practitioner and my pulmonary specialist's direction.  My breathing was priority and it was a class C medication.  DS #1 is healthy and happy.  HTH