Community Views: Xolair Experiences

Xolair is an asthma biologic given by injection. It is prescribed for people with uncontrolled moderate to severe allergic asthma. It can also be used to treat people affected by nasal polyps and chronic hives without a known cause.¹

We asked our Facebook community: If you have been treated with Xolair, what was your experience like? Here is what people in our community said.

Positive experiences

The FDA approved Xolair in 2003, first for people 12 years and older, and who have had a positive skin or blood test for allergies, and whose asthma is not well-controlled by inhaled corticosteroids.² Since then, about 460,000 people have been treated in the U.S. with Xolair. Many of our members were extremely pleased with Xolair and have been taking it for years.³

• "I've been on Xolair for about 7 years. It gave me my life back."
• "Mine was a good experience. It also helped with hives. No reactions."
• "Xolair has been life-changing! My asthma is finally under control."
• "Been on it for 18 years and it has helped tremendously. I have to fight insurance every year to get it but it's worth it."
• "I was on it for 3 years. Didn't care for the side effect (aching joints)."
• "Working great for me. But seems to wear off on the third week. I get it once a month."

It worked but...

Many of our members shared that Xolair was working well in controlling their asthma and allergy symptoms. However, after a few years, it lost its effectiveness. It may be that through the years, our bodies and our triggers change which means our treatments may need to change too.

Others said that planning their doctor or hospital visits to receive Xolair shots was time-consuming. Dcotors are usually the ones to administer Xolair. However, some people may be trained to give themselves or their loved one the shot at home using prefilled injections.¹

• "Worked for a while then stopped."
• "I was on Xolair for 10 years. It worked ok. But going to the hospital every 2 weeks for shots for 10 years was rough."
• "My first 15 years or so on it was great. Then it no longer worked and I had to switch."

Negative experiences

People taking Xolair may have side effects. The most common side effects include skin rash, bone fractures, ear infections, nose bleeds, etc.¹ Read more about side effects here.

No reaction

It is definitely discouraging when a treatment does not work. However, sometimes having no reaction at all is a better outcome than having serious or painful side effects. A few of our members said they tried the injection several times but that it, unfortunately, did not make a noticeable difference in managing their allergic asthma. Others find it may take a few weeks to several months for the full improvement from Xolair to be seen.¹

• "Not a great difference for me."
• "It really didn't work for me."

Horrible reactions

Anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, has been reported after the administration of Xolair. This is why the drug has had a black box warning since 2007. This reaction can occur at any time after taking Xolair--right after an injection, or days later. Other serious side effects include severe muscle pain, inflammation of blood vessels, heart and circulation problems, cancer, and others.^1,4

• "I had a major anaphylactic reaction to it."
• "Terrible. Ruptured blood vessels in my eyes, stroke-like symptoms, ER visit."
• "I reacted really badly. I actually had severe pain throughout my whole body. Felt like I had the flu each treatment."
• "Anaphylaxis was so severe I truly was near death... Never again am I allowed to try anything like it!"

If you have any extreme side effects after being treated with Xolair, please go to your nearest hospital and talk with your doctor.

Thank you for sharing your Xolair experiences with us!

We appreciate all of our community members who took the time to share their experiences with Xolair.