Asmanex symptoms and conditions

I am a part-time professional singer and attorney. I developed an odd cough-variant asthma this winter at age 42 -- it had scary breath shortness and wheezing plus lots of phlegm coughed up. I had never before had the shortness/wheezing/asthma, though I have always had allergies and occasional bronchitis following a cold. The asthma/allergy specialists put me on Advair 500 twice a day with each attack, plus an oral prednisone burst/short taper, nebulized (not just rescue inhaler) albuterol (beta 2 agonist), and antibiotics (a different one each time). I also take Claritin, Rhinocort and Astelin for my allergies. I had four attacks of asthma this winter that were treated this way; after the fourth, they put me on Advair 250 maintenance for a month. With each attack, I would get hoarse, have trouble sleeping, and get odd muscle cramps I never had had. The hoarseness was worse each time, but I was able to sing through it at my regular gigs. I attributed the side effects to the prednisone. With my fifth attack, they told me to ramp up the Advair to 500 and do all else the same, but as an experiment to see how this would alter those side effects, I decided to treat it with everything but the prednisone. The hoarseness, sleep trouble, and muscle cramps were all much worse. I found this site, noted the recommendation of several other singers to try Asmanex instead of Advair, and asked the docs about it. They agreed that all these symptoms could be related to the Advair and gave me Asmanex 250 twice/day instead instead of the Advair, plus all the other meds for the attack. The symptoms went away within a week, although it took a little longer for me to get over the asthma attack this time. I am extremely grateful to this site and all the users posting comments. I can sing again, sleep again, and exist without weird muscle cramps during treatment of my asthma. Thank you very much.

My 5 1/2 year old son began taking 4mg Singulair in the p.m. and an inhaler (asmanex) in the a.m. We were still having trouble controlling the asthma and his Sing dose was raised to 5mg. & within 1 week of the increase he began having terrible facial tics and aggravated behavior (defiant, poor listening, easily frustrated and angered) The tics were in the form of opening and closing his mouth, as if you were trying to clear your clogged ears after a plane flight. This caused him much pain in his jaws and facial muscles, so he would tic and then cry as he was in pain. This ramped up his anxiety and it made the ticking worse. He has been off of all asthma medication (cold turkey) for 5 full days. He has episodes where the tics happen for 10 min -1/2 hr, other times during the day it is one here and one there. He does not want to leave the house to do anything, even his favorite activities. Thank god I found this site (and others like it), as I got some answers and some hope. We went to see my cousin this week who is a neurologist and he never heard of the correlation of Singulair and neurologic side effects like these. He said that (hopefully) the medication side effects will cycle through and resolve the ticking and behavioral changes. If not we are probably looking at a Tic Disorder which is in the Tourettes Family.He put my son on a very low dose of Klonopin to mellow out his anxiety and help reduce the tics, but has only been on it for 1 1/2 days and it usually takes a wk or 2 for full absorption and results.I have since sent him and my pediatrician and allergist links to this site and others. I think that I see some improvement in my son, yesterday I thought he did better and my husband thought it was a worse day, I think we have totally lost our perspective and objectivity on this. If anyone out there has a time frame on when they saw significant recovery and positive changes I would love to hear from you. This is a total nightmare and if it is this drug, someone is going to pay. My prayers go out to all who are going thru this.

5 months Singulair free,yesterday was Matts first day of high school,his first day of regular school in 2 years as he could not leave the house or cope with out panic and fear.7am he awoke by himself and got ready for school,the only thing i saw in his eyes was excitement,he left the house smiling.While he was gone i passed and worried waiting for the phone to ring in case he needed me ,watching the clock and wondering how his day was. he arrived home at 2 thirty still smiling,i asked him how his day was he said fine, i asked him what they did he said nothing ,lol all is good ,thank you thank you thank you

I'm a 30 year old male, and I've been on Singulair for eight years now to treat chronic asthma. Shortly after I started, there was a noticeable change in my mood and behavior. What I noticed included sadness, thoughts of death, anxiety, and fatigue. I knew that there was something wrong, but just chalked it up to changing life experiences. I was always heavily involved in organized sports (little league through college), but abruptly stopped after college. I thought that the moodiness (or depression) came on because I wasn't as active anymore. Correlation maybe? I don't know. But I do suspect that Singulair is the culprit. I would like to get off for a while, but I literally cannot breathe without it. Does anyone know of any comparable alternatives to Singulair that won't bring on these type of side effects? Thanks all for sharing. Blessings!

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

Hi All! So glad to read of all the "happiness" since off of singulair. My 2 sons and I are off for a week now and what a difference. My 6 year old is back to his old self. He is much happier and is laughing a lot and not throwing angry tantrums. My 8 year old feels much better as well. He is much calmer and has had only one outburst in a week compared to daily. I can't wait to see if he can come off of ADHD meds too. I feel much more laid back. I thought my mood swings were hormonal but since I have had a hysterectomy, I thought they should subside. My estrogen level seems good but I just thought I was being female! I can tell a difference now and I feel better. I am getting along with just my asmanex for now. I wonder if the singulair really even helped me at all. I had a little tightness the first few days but now I feel just like I did on the singulair. To me this med is just not worth the risk. We have no family history of ADHD or depression so I wondered why my boys had the thoughts and symptoms they did. Singulair was the only drug my youngest was on so I know his symptoms came from that. Good luck to everyone and thanks for the posts!

My son is 8 and has been on Singulair for 4+ years. When he was as young as 5 he said he should just throw himself off of our staircase and in first grade, age 7, he told a friend he wanted to kill himself with a knife or scissors. I have taken him to psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians and guidance counselors and none have linked it to Singulair. I spoke with our allergist and he said to take him off of it. He said their office was not notified when Merck changed the side effects last year. Obviously the fat cats at Merck are enjoying their big bucks with little regard for the people taking their drugs, look at the new evidence about Vytorin-it does not work yet they have made millions on it. They knew it did not work 2 years ago. I am so happy that I now know this drug is dangerous. We will stick with our Nasacort, Clarinex and allergy shots, which are helping tremendously. I am planning on getting off of Singulair for my asthma as well. It is not worth it. There are too many reliable drugs out there to waste my money on the suicide drug! I am on Asmanex and may add or change to symbicort. I am so sorry some have already committed suicide because of this drug.

Okay...I'm really freaked out!!! Just got back from the pharmacy with Singulair only to find my tv bombarded with news on the suicide risks. I'm an adult asthmatic with severe allergies and have always been on Allegra and various inhalers, nebulizer etc.... For the first time, even after requesting allegra, the doctor (specialist) told me to try this new plan instead it consists of daily dosages of atarax, asmanex, xyzol, singulair, and maxair...I feel over prescribed and don't know what to do. All day today I felt groggy and irritated...and at this point want to thor everything in the garbage because I'm scared.

I am 41 and recently diagnosed with asthma. 2 weeks ago was put on asmanex, 60 doses. and for the last week, have had serious joint pain. to the point i almost couldn't walk. i am an avid runner so this has been devastating. dr's reassured me it's not caused by the meds and i could have been exposed to 5th disease which has similar issues in adults. i have quit taking the asmanex to see if the pain goes away. has anyone else experienced this? i see alot of similar symptoms with advair so not sure what med i want to consider. i honestly feel worse now than i did a month ago before i knew i had asthma. any meds out there that don't cause pain??

OMG! This site is awesome! I honestly thought I was going crazy and something else was wrong with me! I quit smoking back in Dec 2007 and early Jan 2008 I was diagnosed with bronchitis. The bronchitis eventually got worse and at the end of Jan dr put me on steroid packs and an inhaler to assist me with the congestions. Early Feb I was diagnosed with Chronic bronchitis and was sent to a lung specialist. My lungs were only expanding 40% capacity due to the infection in my lungs so I was prescriped the inhaler, antibiotics, seven days of seroid and the Advair twice a day. I have now been using the Advair about three weeks and even though I feel a whole lot better my side effects are bad. I have a lot of congestion still, especially in the mornings, I cough almost all day long, I sleep maybe four or five hours a night (if that), my mood swings are aweful, I have a sharp pain under neath my left arm pit every once in a while, my rib cage hurts 24/7, I get headaches at least once a day, my nose is bleeding at least once a day and my hands tingle all the time. I did not realize that all these symptoms were side effects to the Advair dosage... 250/50???? OMG... I have to stop taking it. I've never had allergies or asthma up until the chronic bronchitis but if these are side-effects to the Advair I wonder if I was just not better off fighting the bronchitis through antibiotis only. I have not experianced weight gain though, and I am thankful for that as I do not need to gain any more weight. :-) Thank you all for sharing your comments as I now know that I might be just fine using allergy medicines and an inhaler from time to time instead of using Advair twice a day.

WOW! I guess I will consider myself one of the lucky ones after reading all of these side effects posted here. Let me first say that I have tried many inhalers -- serevent, flovent, ventolin etc etc -- and the asthma kept getting worse. Then my doctor suggested Advair. I've been taking it for several years now. I knew that all medications have side effects and I read through the list carefully. The medicine was a Godsend! It helped me so much that I would have recommended it to most anyone. Recently, however, I've started having the occasional heart palpitations and recurring sinus infections. I'm beginning to wonder if it is time to move on to another drug. I'm in my early 30s and have been trying to conceive for a few years to no avail. I recently read that Advair can cause irregular cycles and now wonder if it is playing a part in my fertility struggles. Only other symptoms I have are tooth sensitivity and occasional leg cramps -- however, these existed prior to starting Advair; they might have become more prevalent but I don't believe Advair caused them.
I'd like to hear from anyone who is currently trying Asmanex...that might be my next drug.

Asmanex works great for me before the doctor put me on Asmanex and Singulair i was having attacks left and right which sent me to the hospital them ambulance rides are costly its been over two years now since i made a trip to da hospital thanks to this medication.if theres any side effects they must be to mild to notice.

I began taking Singulair when I got a cough that would not go away. My doctor felt I had an asthma related cough. I am now taking Asmanex and Singulair and have developed horrible chest pains and stomach pains. After reading all of the entries I am going to stop taking this medicine tonight and see if the symptoms go away. I am very nervous about how I have been feeling and feel that this may be the answer.

My patient's mother says that he-8 years old cannot draw circles properly because of being on Asmanex.
Dr.in Austin

What is the ingredient in Asmanex that causes the weight gain? Is this ingredient in all inhaled steroids like Asmanex?

I was diagnosed with asthma 2 years ago when I was 47. I take Allegra, Foradil, Asmanex, Singulair and receive two allergy shots a week. I also take a tiny dose of Buspar for anxiety. I have been on Singulair for somewhere from a year and a half to two years. Two weeks ago I started having what for me are very disturbing side effects that I felt sure were drug related. Twitching leg muscles, a terrible restlessness upon waking which causes sleepliness, heavy feeling in my chest, some headaches ( I never had them before). I have had tingling in my left hand for while and I thought that was because of something else, but now I am wondering....everything is definetly new since I started this drug, but most of it recent. I went off the Allegra, Buspar, Asmanex. I had no reduction in symptoms. At the end of the week I stopped taking the Singular for two days and started to feel better, but then decided that the symptoms were was caused by something else (hormones) and resumed all meds. The symptoms came rushing back. I now have ceased the Singular, but only for a day. I am narrowing the cause of the symptoms (which elsewhere in the literature seem to be very much attributed to a medication induced situation) and I am thinking it is the Singular, particularly after both reading all of your postings and talking to friends who either have had similar effects or have family members who have and after having no reduction in symptoms after going off my other meds. I will post again after a week to let you know if Singulair appears to be the culprit. Some people I talked to whose family members have had the same reaction said that there are plenty of other things available to help the asthma symptoms and quite frankly, as far as I can tell, the inhalers are what are working the best and this drug is not worth it if you are having side effects of this nature. Fortuna, I had the same idea as you, to get my heart tested and thought maybe I was heading for a stroke or something, but now I am convinced that this is medication related. Please post again and let me know how going off this drug is working out for you. I will do the same. The best to all of you.

2 months on asmanex and singular,I can finally breath, but... my right arm has been burning on and off, along with a little tingling in my right breast, had ultra sound and hormone, glucose test done, all fine, ob/gyn says may be side effects of med. now my right arm is achey and right side of face numbish, also I wake up alot and can't really fall asleep again... anyone else with these side effects? I've gone off asmanex 2 days ago.

After having sinus surgery (lasted more than 3 hrs) my ent dr placed me on singulair. once i recovered from the sugery, it was incredible. i had been sick for a year. my pf was down to 30%, i was on a rescue inhalaer, nebulizer, advair, and sometimes oral prednisone. the efffect was immediate. i felt good for the first time in more than a year. i weighed about 135 lbs - at 5'6, i was slim. After a year, i had gained about 15 pounds, and had urination at night every 1-2 hrs, then i started having stomach discomfort - consistant indigestion. i went to the dr who ordered lab, and gave me prevacid and told me to come back in a week. the next a.m. i took the prevacid and when i started to eat breakfast, i started vomitting and did not stop. i experienced muscle spasms starting in my neck, down my back, leg that were non-stop for 3 hrs. i went to the er, had all kind of tests, mri, etc. the drs never gave me a dianosis, but my daughter thought it was the singular so i refused it while in the hospital. after recovering at home for a few days i went back to work. no more muscle spasm, no more frequent urination, stomach discomfort is only about 20% of what it was, but i am about 30 pounds heavier than when i started the drug. i eat only 1,200 - 1,500 calories a day, but cannot lose the weight. i have an active job, walk a lot, but cannot lose the weight. i am on asmanex and have not been to my allergist in about 6 months. doing very well!!!

I'm 19 and I began taking Advair in March 2005 after a doctor put me on too much prednisone without weaning me off of it. I took Advair 100/50 for about 5 months and they upped my dosage once or twice during that time. I also take singulair, and my asthma was back under control, but I wasn't sleeping, had terrible anxiety, and my weight went from around 145 lbs to a little over 160. I went back to my doctor to see if I could get off of the medicine, but they said it would go back to normal. After my 6th month, I began vomitting after every dose. I was then switched to Asmanex, which I still take now, and am experiencing the same problems all over again. I wouldn't recommend this type of medicine to my worst enemy.

My 17 year old daughter started taking Asmanex about two months ago and we are wondering if the very unusual activity she's experienced with her menstrual cycle this month might be related to the drug. With a few days respite scattered here and there, she's basically had a period that has lasted all of the month of November. In spite of the fact that we are aware that some irregularity is to be expected in teens, especially when they are under stress, this development is quite unusual for her. Anyone else experienced this with Asmanex?

Since I have begun Sinulair, I have noticed improvement of my chronic nasal allergy symptoms. For the first time in YEARS, the congestion is finally lessening. However, I have noticed that I'm hyper all the time now. Where I have had sleep issues in the past, they have only been excacerbated by this medication. Has anyone else noticed this effect? I have tried to research it further, but I don't have access to a Physician's Desk Reference. The web isn't giving me the entire list of known side effects. I have only seen the vomiting, diarrhea or headache listed, but have yet to see something regarding insomnia and hyperactivity.

I am a 37 year old female who took Advair for 2 1/2 years. When I first started Advair I called everyone I knew with Asthma and told them it was a miracle drug that they should ask doctors about.

My first negative symptoms were severe leg and foot cramps and numbness in legs. I did not associate them with Advair for a long time. These side effects were never listed in the drug info sheets I read. I then began to feel tired all of the time. And, I developed an awful rash all over my body, especially on the arms and legs (behind knees). I saw many doctors who could not tell me why I was sick. Finally, one doctor suggested stopping all meds, one at a time. We found at that I was allergic to Advair, the thing I thought was saving me. I was switched to Asmanex which is great--for now.

I am reporting these side effects of Advair to affirm those who are suffering and who may be getting crazy looks from doctors, like I did. They did not believe that I was in the kind of pain I was in. They did not make the association of Advair with rashes, though more and more users seem to be reporting this.

At the same time that I have had bad reactions, I have to say that my 9 year old is on Advair and it has been a GREAT drug for her. So far, I have seen no side effects, but we'll keep watching. I still think its a great drug for certain populations, but people need to wary of its possible negative impacts.

May God Bless All of us Asthma Sufferers!

Leg cramps at night, causing me to feel exhausted. I simply stopped using it and had no ill effects. Otherwise it was so effective, I miss it. My doctor did not feel I needed a replacement, but several support group friends who had to stop using Advair now use Foradil with an inhaled steroid like Flovent or Asmanex.

insane, i thought i had bone cancer or lymphoma, the pain in my hip ..my arms..my legs were awful. I felt like i had arthiritis over night. Because i had recent bone marrow aspiration, the dr.'s thought that i had bone infection..can you imagine being tired and feeling sick and achy 24 hours...no sleep ..worst thing that i have taken..i just quit and went back to my asmanex i m fine...do not take advair

I have been experiencing hoarseness. loss of voice as well as severe low back ache, hip ache anxiety and severe cramps in my calves at night. I have been going to back therapy the past month not making the connection to Advair and thinking it was more of my on going back problems. I stopped taking Advair 5 five days ago and many of the side effects either have gone away or have been subsiding noticeably. I thought this was a coincidence until today I began to read this forum and am really convinced at this point that the Advair has been playing a large role in my physical woes. On the downside, my asthma has become worse but I intend to ask my Dr. for a script for Asmanex when he returns to town....