Asthma attack symptoms and conditions

HI there I took Prednisone for most of my life till 19 because of Asthma. I am now 33. At 22 I had Osteoporosis in my my back and leg. I have not been on prednisone for many years and have been asthma attack free for 10 yrs. I am now trying my best to get my bones in shape. I am fairly healthy despite depression, anxiety and low thyroid my weight is a slim 120lbs at 5'7. I don't regret taking prednisone from a child as I needed it. I do get dressed that my body is tired and aches but who knows if this is from prednisone or not. It saved my life many times.

I had an asthma attack went to the er and got a breathing treatment and they gave me prednisone (not sure what dosage was) but they said it was a very high dose. After some other tests they sent me home. Got home at 830 that night and went to bed. Woke up around 1100 pm, with skin feeling like it was on fire and heart racing, chest heaviness. Couldn't sleep all night. Went to drs office next morning said I was having a reaction to prednisone. Oh by the way I was feeling very anxious as well all night pacing the floor. That was Friday night, it is Sunday night and still feeling a little anxious, heart racing, coughing, diarrhea, chest heaviness and can't sleep. All this from one dose of prednisone and a breathing treatment. I am sure that it is the prednisone because I did take it one other time about a year a go and had some of the same issues.

My 4 yr old son has been on Singulair for a little over a month...prescribed after asthma attack and severe allergies. He has been a different child, extremely aggressive, out-of-control, and very hyper. I am so tired of having to get on to him constantly, and am realizing he has no control over his behavior. In addition, he just suffered another round of illness, this time also had an ear infection. Now I'm reading respiratory and ear infections are also side effects, how crazy is that?! We are stopping Singulair TODAY...I feel so bad for keeping my child on this medicine at all!!

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.

Hey all. I have had asthmatic bronchitis for about 6 weeks now and I have never had asthma or bronchitis before. It started off as a normal flu for 3 days with fever. Then when the flu went away, I started having trouble breathing and shortness of breath. I never had that before. The doctor told me it was bronchitis. All tests were fine. I was taking azithromycin (took 3 paks of them) and that was the only thing that made me feel normal, but it did not get rid of the infection. Then I was placed on cipro and steroids. Now I'm not on any antibiotics. I'm taking steroids and just started the advair inhaler. I was having asthma attacks and everything. Very scary. I was just wondering how long it took you to get over it and what you did to get over it. I have been to so many doctors and had so many tests done. It's affecting my life. I won't leave the house due to fear of having another asthma attack. I just hope I feel normal again soon, please.

I have had two sons on Singular. My three-year old had drastic behavioral changes about a month after starting to take Singulair. He suddenly had severe separation anxiety, was crying and whining all the time, did not want to be alone at all. Normally he is very happy go lucky and we did not see his bright cheerful smile for weeks. I took him to his pediatric doctor and described the behavior and she immediately said to take him off the Singulair. After two weeks, he was back to his normal, happy self. My older son is 5 and has been on Singulair for over a year. I consulted with his allergist right away after my 3-year-old was having trouble. I wanted to take him off the Singulair and he advised against it, because my 5 year old has more serious asthma and allergies. When he first started he had nightmares, and when I mentioned it to a friend whose son is also on Singulair, she said, oh, give it to him in the morning instead of night and that will help with the nightmares. That did help. Yesterday, I decided to take him off of it. It seems like he's always coughing and congested, he complains often of growing pains in his legs that will make him scream and cry and beg for medicine to make the pain go away. He becomes emotionally uncontrollable - i.e. he will have crying jags and when I try to console him or ask him to stop crying he'll say he can't help it and he'll say, "You don't understand, I can't control it." He has also complained of headaches and I wondered how would a 5-year-old even know what a headache is? I feel very naive and am thankful for sites like this because you will not always get this information from your health care providers and also the drug companies. If you are like me, and you've ended up in the emergency room and also calling 911 because your child is having and asthma attack, you be be so afraid you'll give your kids whatever the doctor prescribes and you'll look at it as the lesser of two evils - do you want to be in the emergency room or can you live with the side effects. It has taken me a while to get smart about this. There has to be a better solution out there.

I can't believe I didn't find this sooner! I was on the Nuvaring for about 4 years and just last month traded it in for the Mirena.

At first, I was thrilled to find the Ring as I have a very hard time taking pills because I've always had a sensitive stomach. The patch was messy and sticky so I was excited to find the ring. For the first couple of years, the only problem I had was keeping it in place (it would continuously fall out) so I just got used to having to push it back into place every time I used the restroom. Every. Single. Time. But it was worth it because it made my periods much, much lighter and more manageable (i usually am down for the count for a few days). I also did the ring continuously without taking a week off because I still had some pretty terrible periods.

About two years ago, I started gaining weight uncontrollably, became very depressed, lethargic and achey. One day I came down with a terrible case of bronchitis and was put on a heavy duty round of antibiotics and steroids. After, I started having terrible heartburn and IBS symptoms which lead me to a gastroenterologist. Every test imaginable was performed, but nothing was found. I was told I had a nervous stomach. Unsatisfied, I got some bloodwork done and had abnormal blood glucose levels. My diabetic husband gave me a glucometer and I realized my blood sugars were totally out of range. I ended up at an Endocrinologist and all tests came back normal. I was also referred to a Rheumatologist for my achy body and joints. I found a list of symptoms of hypothyroidism and was convinced this is what I have, so I was put on a very low dose of Synthroid. At the same time, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and put on a whole mess of anti-inflammatories and pain killers.

Unsatisfied with my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and totally unwilling to admit this is something I have to live with for the rest of my life, I began working with a nutritionist who has helped me get off all the medications (except Synthroid). But still, I hadn't slept through the night in years (getting up 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom), I was terribly achy, irritable, nauseous, constipated and still gaining weight.

Recently, my insurance changed and I decided to get the Mirena. Within a few weeks, most symptoms have drastically improved, my family notices a major change. I actually slept through the night last week, only 3 weeks after using the Ring for the last time. I haven't lost any weight yet, but the fact that I even CAN exercise is monumental. More than anything, I'm thrilled at the prospect that everything was caused by the Ring, the one constant no matter what I tried, and maybe I won't have to live with Fibromyalgia for the rest of my life.

I can't say with total certainty that the NuvaRing caused all my problems, but it is absolutely astounding that all of us are experiencing the same terrible symptoms and none of our doctors have bothered to think that it could be the Ring. I'm angry about this. Why don't they know about these side effects??

Yes these side effects are listed in the package, but they're the same side effects from pretty much every medication... and I don't know about all of you but this thing came damn near close to ruining my life. I couldn't work, sleep, eat, exercise, clean my house, etc. etc. It's no heart attack or stroke, but definitely life altering.

I think health care providers need to be alerted to these symptoms and the possibility that the Nuvaring could be causing it all. It would have saved me thousands of dollars in medical bills and despair. Patients should be warned that the side effects are very real and can be debilitating. I'm almost sorry I found this so late (after I already got rid of it!) but I'm glad I found it nonetheless.

Good luck to all of you!

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 can't tell if it's the Lodrane 24 D or the Nasex, as they were prescribed together and both are 24 hour drugs. About the time the good effects began to wear off and I became a little congested, after about 14 hours, I had a bad asthma attack which lasted til after 4am. When I woke up at 4am I had a very bad headache, slightly to the side of the forehead. It felt very much like a migraine. I took two advil and now at 8:40am the headache is better, but still slightly there and I feel generally blah. I haven't taken anything yet today.

16 days ago on Jan 17, 2009 by chris555, #16131
Sorry to disappoint you, but I have no vested interest in Merck or any other pharmaceutical company for that matter. What I have a vested interest in is providing some balance to those parents who come to this blog site and are scared to death. That is what happened to a very good friend of mine. After reading the posts here, she was so panicked she took her 12 year old off Singulair. A kid who had no problems on it by the way. A few days later my friends kid was rushed to the ER and almost died from an asthma attack. That is what I have a problem with. People here telling others the side effects will creep up, that kids should stop their medication right away, etc.

Reply 8 minutes ago on Feb 03, 2009 by concernedcitizen, #16701
To chris555:

Merck warns on it's Singulair website that Singulair is not an effective replacement for fast acting inhalers in the event of sudden symptoms. Originally when Singulair was developed it's purpose was to prevent damage and inflammation that is caused by excessive number of eosinophils in respiratory tissue. There is no evidence at all that Singulair is effective as the only treatment for asthma to prevent or treat acute asthma attacks. And, Merck makes this very clear in the warning notice.

The efficacy and safety of Singulair has a genetic component. That means that it is entirely possible that some people are not compatible with the way in which Singulair works. Adverse side effects are very possibly the result of compatibility problems.

Sadly, Merck has succumbed to the disease of "corporate greed." Meaning that they care more about profitability and the shareholders than they do about the patients. For this callousness, some day this corporation will suffer the punishment. Merck has always known that the cysLT1 receptor is a gene with more than several variations. If they told doctors to watch out for side effects due to genetic variations, then they wouldn't be able to sell this drug like it's harmless - cherry chewable - candy. The adverse side effects are real. Patients started reporting them immediately when the drug was released. Singulair is dangerous to people with gene variations and it causes unnatural biochemical events to take place.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
SINGULAIR will NOT replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. You should still have rescue medication available and continue to take your other asthma medications unless your doctor tells you to stop.

I was giving prednisone for only 5 days (not sure about dose, but it tapered to one pill on the last day) for a bronchitis induced severe asthma attack. I have only had asthma twice in my 50 years, both times associated with a bad case of bronchitis. The "doc in the box" reduced his original dosage due to the 3 corisone injections I recently had in my spine. After reading these posts I feel grateful I wasn't on a higher, longer term dose. I have some of the same side effects listed here including uncontrollable appetite, fat gain around the middle, water weight gain, constantly having to urinate, superhuman energy, heart palpitations, and approximately two weeks after finishing, I began to get a mustache (hairs that were previously white became brown over a two week period). I have read on the internet and been told by my pharmacist that this is temporary. I have also read and been told that the 2mg estradiol I take every day since my hysterectomy causes the body to retain and not rid itself of the steroids as it normally would (estrogen is actually listed as drug interaction with prednisone). The doctor in the box apparently just ignored this interaction and prescribed it anyway. However the main reason I am posting is a very strange possible side effect that occurred approximately 1 week after my final dose. I was awakened in the middle of the night with SEVERE pain (felt like bone pain, not muscle) in my right knee that lasted until morning. By mid morning it was gone. The next night I had the same experience but in both knees. It lasted about 5 more days, gradually tapering in intensity, and then just went away. I do have severe arthritis in my lumbar and cervical spine, having had surgeries to repair injuries from a snowmobiling accident. I have normal arthritis elsewhere for a 50 year old, but have NEVER had issues with my knees. Has anyone had this strange symptom? None of my doctors (internist, rheumatologist, physiatrist - who gave me the injections and prescribed physical therapy for my spine) had any explanation. The only explanation I have is the prednisone because I had taken the Z-pac (antibiotic) with no side effects several times in the past. Weird!

Incidentally, I am off the prednisone for about 5 weeks, am still hungry all the time, still fat, still bloated. Unfortunately the extra energy is gone. Best of luck to everyone on this strange drug. My heart sincerely goes out to all of you on long term therapy. God bless.

To get the real information in regards to what level of research that is going into this investigation is.go to the Institute for Safe medicine practices click on Quarter watch.
To people like chris555, I believe you are engaging people for sport and say very hurtful things,your day will come and it may just be in the unemployment line.I can only imagine that you must work for Merck or you would not feel so threatened by the good that has come from Parents advocating for their childrens safety.I want you to know, that all who knew our family and our child understand what took place and our reasons for trying to get the proper information where it should have been," on the label". When our child died no one knew about all the added side effects from post marketing reports,which is "a reliable way to track a drugs adverse events".Maybe you should do more research on the legitimate information of causal relationship. Don't be so afraid of a possible drop in revenue for the drug company that I believe you might be an employee of.K. M.

A few years ago, my doctor prescribed advair to better control my asthma. After a few days, I had an almost fatal reaction to the medication. I woke up feeling fine, took a shower, and got ready for work. I took a puff from the advair discus and immediately felt my throat closing. I started gasping for air and took my rescue inhaler which didn't work at all. The nebulizer didn't work either. Within minutes I collapsed and became unconscious.Luckily, my son was late for work that day so he called 911 and gave me mouth to mouth resuscitation until the paramedics arrived. My blood pressure dropped to 60/30 and I had to be intubated for the first time. I remained unconscious until I reached the hospital. The doctor said the only reason I survived was because my son saved me. If I had been alone that day I'm sure everyone would have assumed that I died from an asthma attack. I wonder how many other people that happened to. Since then, I have been very careful about taking new medications.

I was on Advair for less than a year and the Doctor's kept upping my dose. I went off of it for about 4 months last spring because of the weight gain issue. then I got sick with a respiratory infection last summer and Dr. put me on it again -- and I started immediately having jaw pain and terrible headaches. Went to dentist and found out my teeth were disintegrating (called resorption). I go to dentist every 6 months for cleaning and have xrays each year and never had a problem or cavities. Genetically both sides of my family have very strong teeth for their entire life (into their 90's). So I saw many dental specialists and surgeons and it was baffling to them. I'm 44 years old and now my teeth and jaw are a total mess. I've had my front teeth pulled and multiple bone grafts. The reconstruction process (if it works) will take more than a year and over $25,000 (not covered by insurance). And my Doctors still don't know if my other teeth now showing problems will also eventually fail as well.

And I didn't associate the Advair with the problem until I started to take Advair again (2 months after last jaw surgery) and almost immediately my mouth start gushing blood from where the bone grafts were healing. I stopped Advair again -- waited 2 weeks and took it again (just to make sure) and again severe bleeding occurred. I wrote the scientists that were testifying before the FDA's Advair Black Box hearing that this drug should be illegal. At 44 years old I am looking at the prospect of being disfigured for life, no less and issue is the enormous cost that it presents -- and who is going to hire someone with missing front teeth (it has destroyed my career as well).

Before I took Advair I never had joint pain, GI issues, much less teeth/jaw issues and now this is my reality everyday. I feel like I aged 20 years by taking Advair for 1 year. I also know that this damage is permanent and likely to continue to get worse despite having stopped the drug. I think GSK knows how dangerous this really is. I also think it stays in your body a lot longer than they say it does. We know it kills people and they admit it does. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

All Steroids are equally terrible -- stay away from Prednisone, Pulmicort, Nasonex -- they are all killers.

I would like to know who is NOT experiencing side effects from Singulair.
We are not.
My 7 years old started Singulair three months ago because of allergy issues. She had asthma attack every other week, running nose all the time, she was so miserable, she missed many days of school and she couldn't exercise .Since she started to take SIngulair her allergy improved, no more asthma, no more running nose. SIngulair did not change her way to be. She is doing very good in school (she is above the average..) she does piano, ice skating, she is purple belt Tae Know Doe, speak two languages, she is doing great in everything. Of course she has her "bad moments" but which child does not?
I tried homeopathy, but it did not work, she got worst and worst. I was supposed to give SIngulair to my daughter a year ago, I did not because I was afraid of the side effects. But I wished I had started before because I could have avoid so much steroids since she had asthma most of the time. The doctor convinced me to use this medicine when she said " You think SIngulair has side effects, yes sometime it does, but do you know the danger of using steroids so frequently in a little body?" Then I thought I had to give a try. I am glad I did. Of course I keep watching my daughter behavior closely and reading all the possible side effects of this medication. I forgot to say that beside singulair my daughter is also taking Pulmicort, two puffs once a day.

Hi - I was on advair for a couple of weeks after a horrible bout of asthmatic bronchitis. I now have this constant pressure under my rib cage that will not go away. I was wondering if any one else has experienced this while on or after stopping advair. Thanks and happy holidays!

My 3 year old is on 5mg of singular daily for her constant allergy issues and has had NO trouble at all with it. Her personality has not changed.. she's happy, outgoing, friendly and MUCH better than she was before she started the medication. Prior to starting she was constantly dripping from her nose, she had both ears filled with fluid, had bags under her eyes and was tired and grumpy all the time, due to allergies we could not get under control with other over the counter or prescription meds. Since being on Singulair she's been 100% better than she was. I'm sad to hear that others are having so much trouble with it, but I can say that I am happy my little girl is feeling better.

I was on prednisone while getting over pneumonia to help with my breathing. I was only on it for 7 days and the doctor didn't have me go off of it gradually. I missed the last dose on the 7th day and by bedtime, my muscles were sore enough it almost hurt to lay down. I took the last pill that night before I went to bed and had no muscle soreness in the morning. After that, the muscle soreness came back, along with dizziness. My pulse was also higher than normal. Two days later at night, I was still having muscle soreness and dizziness, although not nearly as but, but I was having a lot of trouble breathing and my pulse would refuse to go below 100 no matter what I did and the problems continued thought the night. The next morning I went to the clinic that prescribed me the predisone because the information they gave me said to see a doctor if these problems persisted. I told them I thought I might be having a predisone withdrawal because my mother, a nurse, said it was the most likely problem from experience. They completely ignored that saying it had been several days since I've stopped the steroid and kept asking me about my asthma (inhalers weren't working and it was definitely not an asthma attack -- I've had plenty of those, to all different degrees) and ended up giving me medicine for anxiety, which helped the closing of my throat, but none of my other symptoms. Three days later, my resting pulse is down to 80, but my breathing is so much worse than it would be with just my normal asthma and taking my inhalers as much as is allowed. I had no noticeable symptoms when I was on the prednisone except being less able to sleep. If it keeps up, I intend to go to a different doctor to see what is really happening, but I don't think it's 'normal' to have the withdrawal symptoms for this long after only having it for 7 days. I know I took it when I was younger (I'm 22), but I don't remember ever having issues going off of it before.

My 11 year old daughter had been seen by a doctor to control coughing and wheezing brought on, I believe, by allergies. When she was 5 or 6 years old, she had an asthma attack and it happened again this year when we could not control the coughing and she was short of breath. That is when Singulair was introduced to her. about 4 weeks after taking medication, her heart started beating irregularly (called heart palpitations), and she was experiencing chest pains. (very frightening for mother and daughter). The Coughing subsided, and she was feeling good prior to the last week, when this started happening. After all the researching, the minor side effect is palpitations, however, how healthy is this and what else is going to pop up unexpectedly?

I have used the old form of albuterol safely and effectively for nearly 30 years. I just was made to switch to albuterol sulfate and have instantly had awful reactions. My lungs feel awful. Feel itchy and close up and uncontrollable coughing followed by continued shortness of breath and light hotheadedness and disorientation.

I am concerned about the environment too, but why should I die of an asthma attack to reduce a tiny amount of CFC's.

I am really terrified. Which of course makes my asthma worse just to panic.

My 8 yr old has been on singulair since May. I never put two and two together until reading these posts. He has been having anxiety at night..crying and looking terrified saying he can't stop the scary thoughts in his head. Tonight I felt so bad for him...because I can't make it go away. I am hoping with tonight being the last night on singulair he will not have such a hard time at night. He also says it's very hard to get to sleep at night. Poor kid. I also know he's a sensitive kid but it seems a bit overboard in the last few months....like getting upset and just not knowing how to handle his emotions so he just shuts down. Please message me if you've had similar experiences. I'm calling his dr. on Monday to figure out some other options if there is any. My son started with a cough in March and finally took him to see the dr. in May and she heard wheezing and started him on singulair and then added zyrtec. I know they control his coughing (wheezing...slight asthma) because if we miss a dose he coughs all day the next day. I'm a bit scared to go off it...but hope it stops the anxiety and moodiness. He had his first asthma attack last week too...and I wasn't prepared as we never have had to use the inhaler...so I didn't have it with us. Anyway, hoping he doesn't get too bad taking him off...and I hope he is able to control the scary thoughts by going off of it too.

WENDY.... IN UR POST ABOUT THE BLOOD CLOTS IN THE LUNGS.. WHAT WERE YOU FEELING THAT MADE YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL? THIS PILL IS A LIFE RUNNER....I FEEL FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU... ANYONE THAT EXPERIENCED THE ANXIETY/PANIC ATTACKS ON THE PILL... AFTER STOPPING YASMIN DID THEY GO AWAY?....

My daughter, 21yo, took prednisone off/on for 4 months, both oral and IV form, with the highest dose of 90mg over a two week period. The risk of bone death (Osteonecrosis, aka Avascular Necrosis) is not disclosed as a risk and 7,000 people a year get this from steroids! They gloss it over under the guise of "bone pain" or "bone fracture" near the osteoporosis risk so you think that by taking calcium and vit D supplements you're protected. What's really going on here is that the steroids cause the bone to die so if you have pain, PLEASE INSIST on an MRI because a regular x-ray will not show ON until it's in the advanced stages..and then you'll most certainly need joint replacement.
I'm not making light of the weight gain, or loss of hair or any of the myriad of other side effects that come with this drug, but when you're told that the joints in your body are dead...and that they'll eventually become brittle and break and cause so much pain it is often compared to bone cancer, then you'll really want to sue someone. But, I've tried that...it doesn't work. Because the drug is FDA approved...the manufacturer can't be held liable.

My daughter has ON in her right shoulder, both elbows, both wrists, both knees, and both ankles. She's considered "collateral damage" by the medical/legal communities because Prednisone is the "gold standard." This disease is a slow progressing disease which is often found as late as 10 years after stopping the steroid treatment. If you find it early enough, some surgical options exist to prevent the collapse of your bones, so if you have joint pain...PLEASE investigate with an MRI