Allergy drugs symptoms and conditions

I am a 36 year old white male - generally good health. Could use to lose a few pounds but not overweight. I've been taking Singulair for a little over a year and since then (I also take Zyrtec - over the counter and Nasonex) all are for allergies. I since developed acid reflux - went to my pharmacist and she said that most people with this mix of allergy drugs form acid reflux. Anyhow, I am generally a moody person-have always been - too intense and most of the time I am not a go with the flow person-since I've been taking Singulair my mood swings amplified horrifically - I blow up at my wife over stupid assanine stuff - after reading these posts..today is the last time I am going to take Singulair. Wish me luck. I hope the mood swings decrease.

adderall XR -is a time released drug.
must be taken first thing when you wake up... the effects thus will start to wear off around 4pm... and complete by 8 or 9pm. basically we piss it out of our system.
don't take on weekends.
taking less then 20mg is not necessary...cuz then you are abusing the drug. anyone who takes less then 20mg could be simply experiencing a placebo effect. adults are not to take less then 20mg since this is the starting point. yes, metabolism does effect everyone diff.
don't mix with caffeine, or allergy drugs like zyrtec D -this drug increases your pulse and so does adderall and then if you add coffee -you could be heading towards a heart attack or even worse like a stroke.
think about the tingling effects you all have reported.
i too have had those... and there was pain that kept me up at night. i had to go to a neurologist who prescribed laxipro (depressant) to calm my nerves that had gotten literally a tight hold on my finger's blood vessels and thus i wasn't able to feel them at times.
this drug helps you focus... and times, that is what "us" anxiety prone people need -simply the time to focus in order to do our job or study for a test, etc. but cuz we are with anxiety or prone to it -genetic, it can get the most of us when this drug starts to wear off in the day -since it's time released. our anxieties return and then we feel them even more then before.

easy to understand if you read a little on this drug.
i take birth control too -so estrogen causes anxiety on it's own.

so... read... and observe your body. eat accordingly to help your metabolism adjust your body's dealing with this drug.
drink water to avoid headaches due to dehydration -this drug makes your mouth dry to begin with...so water is best vs coffee. or simply make sure to drink lots of water with your coffee.
don't take the drug past 10am -otherwise, you'll have a hard time to sleep.

don't make your own portions of this pill. if you have 20mg don't break it down. these capsels have ingredients that help the time release process and thus if you break it down or up -the effects are not known.

i'd recommend a special doctor that monitors depression with a pharmacy background. they are out there. they can begin to test your metabolism with the right drug with the right dosage to help you achieve the most effective result.

good luck everyone!

I have severe allergies and cronic sinusitis... like a lot of people on here I have taken all the allergy drugs they make for the past 9 years... Ive had tons of procedures done and sinus surgery last Feb '08. Nothing helps. Ive taken oral steriods many times but recently my new ENT decided to give me a Kenalog shot in Sept. Nothing was explained to me other than it was a steroid. The nurse put it in my left shoulder. I have had all the symptoms people are describing on here except the indent. I have been progressively getting sicker and feeling worse and worse over the past few months. I feel like I could go to bed and just stay there. Now this past Monday he gave me another Kenalog shot in my left shoulder. I heard something on a tv show that it causes depression so I jumped on this site and feel sick about all the messages I have read about people's terrible side effects. I feel like my doctor who I trusted let me down. I am so worried that my shoulder is going to have a big grey dent like everyone is describing on here. I am just so tired of being ill.

I spent the weekend reading about the development of Singulair. The early studies recognized that the first phase of the acute asthma response bronco-constriction was probably not caused by leukotrienes. They identified histamines and prostaglandins as the probable sources. I don't think that changed because the Singulair literature states that it should not be considered as a treatment for that. Leukotrienes were a source of inflammation caused by eosinophils and mast cells present in greater numbers (than normal) in airway tissue. So, it was beneficial to find a way to decrease that.

The cysLT1 receptor was identified as source of the signals that tell the cells to produce leukotriene. The receptor, a gene, consist of 337 (they think) amino acids. They modified a compound that would bind to that receptor thus blocking the cells ability to produce leukotrienes. This compound is very specific. It was formulated to bind to the "model" receptor. This compound will not even bind to cysLT receptor sub-types. (That is the good thing.) There is an enormous amount of research that discusses the genetic variability of the chemical reactions that occur in the leukotriene (calling it this for simplicity) pathway. We are also seeing that a number of researchers would like to use gene profiles to predict whether patients will respond favorably to different asthma/allergy drugs. ALL PATIENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW IF IT IS INHERENT THAT SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT RESPOND TO SINGULAIR OR RESPOND ADVERSELY.

There are many studies from the 1998 era that conclude that montelukast is not effective for everyone. Those researchers stated that it can be predicted that those people who are going to respond favorably will do that within the first 14 days or so. That conclusion would be consistent with a genetic component for efficacy and safety of Singulair. Those doctors concluded that those who did not respond within that time frame should not take Singulair for fear of harming them. That makes good sense.

The Italian researchers wanted to know if there was more going on than blocking leukotrienes in the action of montelukast. They set up a "test tube" study regarding montelukast, the cysLT1 receptor, and some t-cells that they selected. Why? Researchers always have something on their minds. They observed the death of these particular t-cells.

Montelukast is a quinoline. We basically know of quinilines and quinolones as compounds that were invented as broad spectrum antibiotics. They work because they interference with bacterial DNA so they cannot replicate themselves. Montelukast is a quinoline modified to bind with the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) and prevent that gene from activating. That's consistent with what a quinoline/quinolone does.

So what does montelukast do in blood plasma if it does not bind to the receptor because of genetic mis-match? (If montelukast does bind, then a chemical reaction has occurred and the liver will break down the by-products. Montelukast metabolized in 10-12 hours.) What happens if it doesn't bind? How long before it breaks down? Does it produce toxic by-products?

I want to know what happens to lymphocytes such as t-cells just because montelukast is a quinoline. Maybe nothing but what's up with the Italians researchers? I want to know if montelukast has the capability to interfere with lymphocytes who can clone themselves. That could be a good thing under circumstances when these lymphocytes are causing inflammation. But it could be a bad thing in the case of normal individuals with no problems.

I want to know if the bad side effects are due to the fact that the body has to break down and metabolize a quinoline that did not bind to the receptor for which it was created. The side effects of Singulair are strangely similar to what is observed in the quinolones such as levaquin. I have not as yet been able to compare montelukast as a quinoline to levaquin as a quinolone. I am hoping to find something on these categories. There may be no reason to worry that they cause similar damage. But frankly, I think that there is. There is some terrible chit happening to some people. The scariest is the neurological damage.

All of these questions would be in the everybody pharma knows to ask category. I don't know where the answers are. I haven't found them as of yet. Maybe there are no answers. We have to remember that Singulair and Vioxx were released in the same year. They have continued to be drugs under the current executive management of Merck. If the Vioxx marketing promoters had their ghost writers, why not the Singulair marketing promoters. The genetic component appears to be widely accepted but we haven't heard one thing about even that.

I think that it is sad that maybe the marketing of Singulair as one stop shopping for asthma/allergies may have destroyed the original concept. I really think from reading the original work that they knew that they couldn't engineer a drug for one size fits all. Everybody gets harmed when information is withheld.

Shame on the allergist who yelled at the mother who wanted to discuss issues. Does he know exactly who is allergic to Singulair and who isn't? Get him a dunce hat. Just because Singulair is marketed for allergies does not mean that you cannot be allergic to it. See the power of Madison Avenue? The ad agencies focus group these drugs to death. The ad agencies cleverly craft the product information. A good piece of legislation would be to prohibit consumer drugs ads.