Allergy medication symptoms and conditions

Thank you everyone for your experiences w/ Singulair. I just took my son (11years) to the doctor today for his allergies and asked about a possible new medication because Zrytec has not been working all that great for him. Well, he gave me samples of Singulair and my son took his first and LAST dose today. He doesn't have asthma but suffers from airborne allergies which are a huge problem here in Texas. I am just going to give him Claritin or another over-the-counter allergy medication. Thank you so much everyone! Oh! With one pill, my son's stomach was really hurting him....never again Singulair!!

I'm a 65 year old type 2 diabetic with low-functioning thyroid. I was put on lisinopril over a year ago to prevent kidney problems. I have been on 10 mg tablets. Even before I was diagnosed with diabetes I had low blood pressure so that was not a problem.

My main side effects are hair loss, coughing, insomnia and leg cramps, joint pain. I think the lisinopril is pulling nutrients from my body. I told my family doctor about the side effects I had found but he seemed more concerned about the possibility of kidney problems than any of the side effects. I know my hair loss is not age related as both of my parents had full heads of hair when they died and my mother was also a type 2 diabetic.

My blood sugar is under control, tests usually 85-90 twice a day, last A1c was 5.5 which is quite good. I take Byetta and metformin twice a day, levothyroxine, enablex. I recently started taking magnesium as it was besides calcium plus D, a multivitamin all ordered by the doctor. I also take crestor. Feels like all I do is take pills!

My weight is 166 but I'm short, 4' 10", so still heavier than I should be for my height. I try to get exercise but have degenerative arthritis in lower spine. Funny that I developed bursitis in my right hip recently, I just thought the arthritis was spreading. Now I'm not so sure it might not be due to the lisinopril also. I stopped using it yesterday so we'll see how long it takes my body to recover from this drug.

Does anyone have any experience with how long it takes to stop coughing or for the hair to regrow after quitting lisinopril?

My son has been on Singulair for about a year and a half...it really seemed to help his allergies...at least at first. This winter has been very dry and I have been having to give him other over the counter allergy medication as the Singulair isn't helping much. He also started losing weight..just not hungry. At first that was ok as he needed to lose a little but then he was getting too thin. He wasn't eating much at school but refused to take a lunch from home. I took him to the doctor just recently to see if he was physical ok since I didn't know what was causing the weight loss. The blood testing showed everything was normal and I just told him he had to start eating better...he has somewhat...but also he finally told me he has been feeling very depressed...seriously depressed and having suicidal thoughts too due to some kids picking on him at school.

I knew there were problems as he complained alot but I had no idea it was this serious. I have taken him out of that school. Right now I don't know if the Singulair could be adding to this depression or if its all just due to the bullies. While he complained a lot he never acted as if it was bothering him that badly or I would have gone to the school about it. Anyway I stopped the Singulair and am going to see if his mood improves or not. After reading some of the scary posts on here regarding the side effects I am wondering if this is a good idea stopping it or not. I am waiting for a call back from his doctor on it. Since its once a day..its kind of hard to wean them off of it...but I could cut it in half ..do that for a few days, then cut it smaller and so forth. His is chewable so I could do that with no problems. He is 13.

I've been on Lisinopril-HCTZ 10-12.5 for 8 months now. I hate it. So far I've experienced:

- dry cough
- headaches
- chest pains (under my left rib cage area. Its a sudden sharp pain that lasts maybe 2 seconds, then its gone. It'll do that a few times a day)
- stuffy nose (doctor told me it was allergies. Put me on allergy medication, have been on it for 2 months, and it hasn't helped)
- trouble breathing
- rashes
- fatigue (doctor assured me it would go away after a few weeks, but it hasn't)
- dizziness
- no menstrual cycle (this medication has stopped my periods all together)

I've had it with this crap. My primary doctor wasn't the one who put me on it. I haven't been able to see my primary doctor because I don't have insurance and couldn't afford it. I've been going to a community clinic. I'm willing to pay to see my primary doctor than continue going there. At least I'll know I'll be taken seriously.

I am so glad to know that I am not the only one that feels like I am in a "fog". I just associated that with normal motherhood stress, lack of sleep, full time job, and a husband who works several nights out of the week, leaving me to do most things on my own. I am normally a very active, get things done, kinda person, but lately I have felt like I didn't know if I was coming or going...and completely forgetting my train of thoughts and what I was working on. It's the weirdest thing. I have never felt this way before. On top of this, it seems as if I am bleeding every other week. My husband is completely frustrated! I tell him "How would you like it if your were bleeding all the time and had no control over when it happens?" It's hard on me too! I have had Mirena for almost a year now, but I am SO ready to be done with this "thing". Can someone explain to me why my head feels so "foggy" all the time???

I had the mirena put in in june after my third child. I did feel a bit dizzy when it was first put in but did not cramp at all. I was still spoting then from giving birth, so it just continued for about 3 more weeks the stopped altogether. I have not had a period since, woooooooohooooooooooo!!!!!!!! I don't feel bad about that at all. I did have a day when I woke up cramping and thought I was going to start but never did. My doctors nurse told me everything I needed to know about the mirena long before i had it put in. I actually made the appointment to discuss it with her. Everyone should have been smart enough to ask questions before it was done, not the day it is. You cant think straight when someone is getting ready to put a device in you. I have to say I love my mirena and would not trade it for a pill, a shot, or any other birth control method. Ladies know your gyn very well before trusting them. I think most of you just think it is your doctors fault. It is not it is yours for not researching it more. And come on what women is not moody a day in her life, not many. How many headaches did you get before the mirena? How were your sinuses before mirena? Probably the same. Some womens health simply changes after having a baby. I also advise against you removing these mirenas yourselves. It is not smart, you could get a bad infection from not being in a sterile environment.

Hi guys,
I came to this forum after a client at our firm told me to check out whats happening with singular. I am not a lawyer, but I am a secretary for a med mal firm and I can tell you that we have already started taking these cases. I saw a few questions posted about whether you had to wait 9 months for the investigation to finish, but that doesn't stop you from filing suit. If it were my baby boy, I would switch meds, but if you can't--make sure you journal EVERYTHING. Take videos of outbursts, etc. We have one client who's son is self mutilating after using singular. If thats happening to you, try to document the episodes. Like I said, im not a lawyer, but I work for some so I can answer a lot of questions and I would be more than willing to help. I am so disgusted by what I have read. Please email me if you have any legal questions, etc. If i can't answer them, my boss will and if its a medical question, we have a staff nurse so I will give her a call. Again, I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. I pray to god I can help in some way.

A British study suggests that Singulair should be studied for possible psychiatric adverse drugs reactions in children. I don't have this access to this journal so I have to try to find it. I will get back to you on what it says specifically.

BMC Clin Pharmacol. 2008 Mar 17;8(1):1 Links
Individual case safety reports in children in commonly used drug groups - signal detection.Brunlof G, Tukukino C, Wallerstedt SM.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Due to few paediatric drug safety studies, knowledge on risks of drug treatment in children is limited. The knowledge needs to be increased to make proper risk-benefit analyses possible when treating paediatric patients with drugs. The aim of the present study was to investigate drug groups commonly used in children concerning type and frequency of individual case safety reports in children. METHODS: Number and type of individual case safety reports in the 30 groups of drugs (5th level ATC-code) most sold (number of defined daily doses) in outpatient treatment to children (<5 years old and experiencing psychiatric adverse drug reactions. CONCLUSION: The number of individual case safety reports per million defined daily doses varies in different groups of drugs. A possible signal for montelukast and psychiatric adverse drug reactions was found, which should be further explored.

PMID: 18366638

The key sentence is:

A POSSIBLE SIGNAL FOR MONTELUKAST (SINGULAIR) AND PSYCHIATRIC ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS WAS FOUND, WHICH SHOULD BE FURTHER EXPLORED.

READ THIS:
I'm posting this again for the sanity of the concerned parents on this board to let you know you're not alone:

My 5 year old son was diagnosed with mild asthma and put on Singulair. Within a few months he began having uncontrollable fits of rage, displayed self-loathing behavior, had night terrors, and was inconsolable during these episodes. He became very destructive and was a danger to himself and our family. He even talked about killing himself and would say things like "I don''t want to be in this life anymore" and "I want to kill myself". He would threaten my wife and his siblings and told them he wanted to kill them. It was a truly terrifying experience. Our pediatrician was clueless to these side affects and recommended we have our child go through a psychological evaluation. I knew this was not my child''s normal behavior so I searched the internet for Singulair side affects and found some message boards where parents just like myself were telling their stories of their children''s aggressive behavior. I immediately took my son off the drug and within a couple days he was back to his normal self. He told us that he no longer has "that feeling inside of him". Five year old children don''t even know what suicide is and to see my son talk like this was extremely frightening. He is a sweet, intelligent, loving boy who had never exhibited behavior like this until he went on Singulair. We have not seen this behavior after taking him off the drug.

My 4 year old has been on Singulair for about 6 months or so. He was put on it by his ENT Dr. because he kept getting sinus infections due to his allergies. He also takes zyrtec on the really bad days. We are seeing so many of the same symptoms I just spent the last thirty minutes reading with my jaw to the floor. As He chewed his pill tonight my husband was telling me what he had heard on the news today. I immediately got online to see what I could find. WOW! I would have never thought this could possible be the cause for the angry outbursts, the tossing and turning until 11 pm many nights, the out of control, on the floor kicking and screaming, hitting, throwing anything in his way as he stomps off to his "time out" for throwing this type of tantrum. Could the Singulair really be the culprit? In a way I almost hope this is the case, otherwise we will have to continue with our recent discussions of getting him in to see a Psychiatrist.
I graduate nursing school in 5 weeks and have learned about many types of medications and all the "common" side effects of them. I never would have put two and two together that these behaviors could have been linked to an allergy medication So, tomorrow night we start an experiment and will not give the Singulair. We'll see what happens...

Our son started taking Singulair three years ago at age 4. Last year he started having really bad headaches and stomach aches. After taking him to the doctor, we thought he was having migraines and was lactose intolerant. He's always been a kind, gentle, well mannered child until this school year. He's in the first grade and has been starting fights, saying mean things to his classmates and hitting other children for no reason. He also has terrible nightmares that are very gruesome for a 7 year old. I've been wondering how in the world his little mind could come up with some of the horrible stuff he tells me he dreams. It scares him enough for him to come into our room and sleep with us. I'm so angry that we were never told of the serious side effects this medicine can cause. We're taking our baby off of this medicine immediately. I agree, we should all file a class action lawsuit - and I have the disciplinary reports from my sons school to prove how his behavior has changed. We're praying for all the children and families that have been victims of the greed of the drug companies once again. This is a shame.

Are there people that have not experienced any side effects of Singulair I saw a question, and the answer is that they are the ones that are not going to post here. Millions of people and especially kids are fine with this medication and have no reason to look for this site. Will some people get side effects from Singulair, yes, but unfortunately there is not a drug out there that will cause no side effects.

People saying this could cause all kids to suicide is a bit disturbing. If you want to take a look the most popular allergy medication, Zyrtec has had suicide listed in their information for awhile. The reason these allergy medications have to have them listed is because they are heavily prescribed because of the great amount of allergy sufferers and any time some one passes in a car crash, accidental death, or unfortunately even suicide they have to list all medicines they are on. Obviously with popular medications more people from these cases will exist than the less popular ones. Drug companies are protecting themselves because of the litigious society we live in and have to place all kinds of occurrences there and not to say in this case, but a lot of people are always looking to blame others for something instead of taking responsibility for themselves.

I don't think doctors are prescribing these medicines because they do not want what is best for each of their patients. There is no conspiracy, and I would trust their view and years of studying and practice to someone's inexperienced diagnosis on this forum when I have no idea what their background and job is on here. I do not look to consult my son's teacher to fix a leak in my roof, so I go to my doctor for advice on medicine and not consult someone not in the field.

Sorry about this harshness, but someone showed me this board and as a parent who has their son on Singulair with great results and even trusted my doctor when they suggested to try it in my one year old son I will continue to listen to their advice. I have heard numerous people in the medical community tell me Singulair is one of the cleanest drugs out there, but again there isn't a drug with no side effects. I am sorry that not all parents have achieved the great effects my kids have had with this drug, but I think most have and thus not had the need to find this board.

I have taken Allegra-D for a year now and have noticed extreme mood changes. I have even lost motivation for daily duties. I seem more careless and lack energy. I find myself crying for no real reason at all. I too have felt the itchiness of skin, if I fail to refill my prescription in a weeks period.

I feel Singulair has completely destroyed the beautiful, peaceful personality of my 6yo. Although it's helped with her allergies and allergy associated asthma, this poison has destroyed her life - and all those around her. Her fuse is so sort, there is none. She's gone from a calm child to a spaced out, angry wild child - throwing tantrums like she's never thrown, hitting, screaming, shouting. She has no reasoning capacity, she often seems like "the lights are on but no one's home", she's absolutely inconsolable when in one of these "rages". The aggression is unbelievable and uncontrollable. She, herself, feels out of control and explains she wants to stop screaming, but can't. She hates herself, poor little angel. She's also experienced tummy pain, headaches and numbness in her extremities. This drug is despicable. We should all demand that it's removed from the market...immediately! And what about the doctors telling us there are no side effects? Children could be put on anti-depressants or ADD medication to relieve the side effects of allergy medication, and it's considered to have no side effects! Incredible! Does anybody know how long it takes to get this poison out of the system? I took my little girl off it two days ago and she seems to be experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms.

My normally healthy 3 year old daughter came down with a cough that she couldn't shake. My husband and I have both had the same thing, but I still thought I'd better take her to her pediatrician. He said he did not think she had asthma, but he would give me a 30 day chewable sample of Singulair to get rid of the cough. My husband nor I could really understand why we were giving her an asthma/allergy medication for what we took to be a cold with a cough (again, we both have had the same thing ourselves), but we figured the doctor knows better than us.

Wish I had listened to my gut reaction. I only had her on Singulair 2 days before deciding I needed to find some more information about Singulair. In those 2 days, she immediately began complaining that her belly hurt. She wouldn't eat, had trouble sleeping, became even more temperamental and moody than she's ever been. She woke from a fitful sleep the second night and even though I was sitting right beside her, she cried that she couldn't see me. I have had her off Singulair for 4 days now and tonight was the first time she's had any appetite since she started the medication. I'm hoping she's on her way back to her normal self.

I am so glad I found this website before I gave her any more of what I consider to be a poison. It outrages me that I took her to the doctor for a cough and instead put her through this. It bothers me to no end that kids who don't even have asthma or allergies are being given Singulair. I've always trusted our pediatrician, but now I have serious issues with going back to him.

I can't believe what I am reading. My son, who is 10 now has been on this med for 5 years now. The same amount of time that he has been dx with ad/hd. He started a new med for adhd this past summer and was doing wonderful, at the same time I had run out of Zyrtec for a couple of months and was giving him Claritin instead. Well we got a Zyrtec prescription on Oct. 1 and since then his behavior has went down hill. I thought that the adhd med had just stopped working, now I am wondering if it is the Zyrtec. The time the med seemed to stop being effective is the same time we had the Zyrtec filled. I am taking him off of it immediately. He has been angry, smart mouthed, disrespectful. Doesn't listen to anything I say. This summer and even until last month was wonderful. He did what I asked the first time, I didn't have to repeat myself, and he was calmer and nicer. I can't wait to see if this is the cause of a lot of his problems.

I have just come across this site, while looking to find out why I have been experiencing heart palpitations for the past two months - out of the blue!!! and usually "exercise" induced. I had some tests and have been told they are Premature Atrial Contractions "PACs". I started taking Yasmin in April, after having tried others over the past year (tri-cyclen lo and alesse) which did not work for me as the progestin was not strong enough. I am in my 40s and never took the pill before. Yasmin was great, it significantly reduced my "physical" pms (severe inflamation, severe bloating, severe sore breasts) which I experience for 2-3 weeks a month. However, sometime in mid to late June, I started getting palpitations/tremors out of the blue. The first episode freaked me out and lasted for about two weeks. At first I thought it was allergy medication mixed with my thyroid med, which can happen - but I cut out the allergy meds and still got them. They seem to come about 6hrs to a day after I fexercise/figure skate and they last from 2 to 5 five days. It's very irritating and nerve wracking, and I feel very agitated. I am also out of breath more than usual when walking up stairs, a little light headed and have some tightness in the chest. My legs also are weak, which makes no sense given my exercise regimen. I then lowered my thyroid replacement from .125 synthroid to .100 - too much thyroid med can cause some palpitations. Anyone who has mistakenly taken a second thyroid pill having forgotten that they already took one will understand. Even with the lower dose I am still getting the palpilations. I am totally at a loss as to why all of a sudden this is happening to me (perhaps perimenopause??). I have had the odd flutter here and there in my live, but nothing like this. It just doesn't make any sense ag ll. Can one's health just change like this overnight?. I am otherwise healthy, slim, have "lower" blood pressure (apprx 100-90/70-60)I skate 3 to 5 times a week, I have a full time job and yes I do push myself, but this is getting ridiculous. The only thing I can attribute it to is the Yasmin, ... but my symptoms only started after a few months not instantly, whereas it would seem that most of the the women here noticed the side effects faster. I hate to stop the Yasmin because I will have to return to pms "hell", but I suppose I will give it a try to see if the palpitations subside. At this point, I have been offered a low dose "beta blocker" and have refused. I am stunned to think that all of a sudden I have heart issues, especially since my Dr has always kidded me my that I will never have heart problems with my blood pressure. I will stop the Yasmin tonight and post another message in a few weeks one it is out my system. Here's hoping it is the Yasmin.
KarenSkaterGirl

I just finished week 2 of Yasmin and the side effects hit me hard about 3 days ago! Anxiety, heart palpitations, moody, tired, nauseous, headache, did I say moody? My appetite is out of control too! I will not be continuing with this pill. Thank goodness I found this site, as well as another forum - Otherwise, I would have chalked it up to stress in general (I'm a SAHM of 3 children). It got so bad today, I thought about going to the ER!

My son is 8 and has Autism. In the last two months he has been taking Singulair. In the last two months I have noticed him progressively getting very aggressive and unable to tolerate disappointments etc. He's been very whiney. It's to a point where he is out of control with his moods. He hauls off and hits me, other kids and adults. Like a monster has taken over. He can't seem to calm down and it's hard for him to tell me what is going on because of his Autism. He has never been this extreme and had such a long bout of horrible behavior. I forgot he had started this new medication for his allergy related asthma/wheezing. I did not figure it out but I am convinced this may have been the trigger for his uncontrollable behavior. We had a huge embarrassing incident today at camp where he ran into the school he was not suppose to be in, then came back and pushed this boy and attacked his Mom by pulling her arm nearly knocking her over, pinching her arm and squeezing it very hard! I was shocked at his behavior. Kicked and hit me and the counselor and squeezed my boob really hard,lifted my shirt up several times, just totally out of control. I had to lay on him practically to control him and I cried in shock and fear and wondered if this was my son! It took a long time to calm him down. He is going off the medication today and we are talking to several other doctors and going to a neurologist. He has sleepless nights too and dry mouth. Please watch out if you already have a child with issues. Worried and sad Mom!

My 9 month old has been taking Zyrtec for about 2 weeks and has been impossible to deal with. She has major meltdowns over nothing. After reading that others are experiencing this same thing, I will not continue to give it to her.
She has allergy issues. Any advice on a safe allergy medication?

What a treat this site is. Like so many others I too have been experiencing many systoms mentioned on this site.After reading the first 4 pages I can tell you my last lisinopril pill was last night, the rest of the bottled is headed for the garbage.I have the persistant cough that has driven me crazy, they put me on allergy medication for that which of course didn't do anything for the cough. I've been getting the severe headaches and the only way to discribe them is to say they are flash headaches, they are there in a flash, not a slow ache building up to a migraine type of headache, just "bang" it's there. I have the joint aching systoms as well and now will quit blaming it on turning 60 and place the blame on the pills. Thank you all for the information.

I have been taking Doxy off and on for about 3 years to treat mild adult acne (began at 34). When I first began it, my symptoms came under control right away, just taking 100mg once per day (as advised by my doctor, since I am known to have a sensitive stomach).

There was one morning that I got up early for a hair appointment, and took my pill with a glass of water on my way out the door. Bad idea! I felt a cramp on my left side that felt like a pulled stomach muscle, and since I lift weights, I dismissed it as an overworked abdomninal muscle. By the time I arrived home form my hair appointment, two hours later, I was in so much pain, I could barely get out of my car. I staggered to the house, believeing I was having pains associated with a kidney stone. Severe! Ended up being sent to the ER for a CAT scan. They found nothing, and urinalysis showed only signs of dehydration. This has not occurred again, as I am careful to drink lots of water now.

Most recently, I had (under the advice of my dermatologist) weaned myself off by taking it every-other day, then gradually less and less often.

Apparently a monthly hormone surge caused a severe breakout on my forehead, so I began taking the pills twice per day, with a sandwich or something considerable enough to buffer the stomach-upset effects. What I felt was...well, basically over-dosed. "Jittery" as though I'd taken too much of a cold/allergy medication, or had too much espresso. It was very strange, and I kept telling my husband that I just 'didn't feel like myself.'

Then, I felt as if I had a bladder infection, disspite the water I was consuming in great quantites. My regular physician called in a Sulfa medicaion to treat the bladder infection, and I quit the Doxy.

I truly believe the Sulfa is what cleared up the acne, which HAS NOT RETURNED, even a month later. (note: I also use a common brand of 2.5% benzolperoxide lotion; not sure if I can name it exactly in this forum. Lower concentrations are effective and don't make your skin flakey.)

However, for the last 3-4 weeks, a slight tremmor in one or both hands persisted. Since the Sulfa, I have not taken another Doxy, nor will I. If my face breaks out again, I think I'll stick with the Sulfa.

I am now on a mild anti-anxiety medication for the 'jitters' and it seems to be working like magic. But no doctor can explain this to me.

I hope this story offers some insights and help to someone--ANYone--else who has been through a similar ordeal.

Trust your instincts. Don't stop asking questions until you are satisfied with the answers. You are not crazy, and you are not a hypochondriac. Find the help you need.

I had my total Thyroid gland removed March 15.
I am taking Synthroid Levothyroxine Sodium 0.112 mg. since that date. I have been experiencing insomnia for about 7 days and runny, puffy, irritating eyes. I thought it might be allergies, but after trying some non-drowsy allergy medication this anoying eye problem continues.
I am going to call my Thyroid specialist on Monday because I can't stand it.
Now I am thinking are these symptoms because I do not have a Thyroid anymore or from the medication which I was told by my surgeon and my Thyroid specialist that since it is synthetic drug there are no side effects.

Is there anyone else that is experiencing the same symptoms with their eyes? My husband thinks I'm crazy.

Help
Julie

I have only been taking it for 4 days, and my asthma is better,
but my eyes are so itchy and runny that I can't stand it. Also
my skin has really dried out and I'm alway itchy, kind of like a rash.
I am going to quit for a few days and go back to my old allergy
medication and see if this helps.

hey
i've been taking yasmin for five months, and in the last three months i've noticed that by breasts did seem to be bigger and a little tender. However i also noticed that i started deveolping an allergic reaction - my skin would get these red patches and start to itch liek crazy. it startedmainly on my breasts and in the last two weeks it has started showing up on the rest of my body. When i take allergy medication, it clears up, but of course returns in 12 hours.
Does anyone think this could be related to the yasmin? has anyone had symptoms like these?