Asthma attack symptoms and conditions

Hello Every one i am a 28 yr old female / i have had asthma all my life and took many meds that really mess me up one was alupen / i went into cardio arrest at the age of 4/ in 2004 i was alone with my kids when i got an asthma attack / i had them before but never like this i called my husband to take me to the ER / i got into the car i told my kids to put their seat belts on and thats the last i remember. I blacked out waking up in icu on life support. doc ask what i was taking i told him i had a albuteral therapy advair and my singular pill / i told him the advair was making me sick / over weight and he said no its not the advair / but like i said ive taking about every asthma med out there and nothing made me so sick to the point of death like advair. i did call the 1-800 to find out about the law suit.

My son, now 10...has been on singular off and on, since I don't' know how long...today was the second time he was intentionally hurting his cat. He has told me time and time again about visions while he was awake, violent ones, he argues with anyone and everyone. He has no friends at school. Last year I took him off all his medications to see why his behavior was so drastic, he got so calm, it was like a new boy, but then when he started back to public school...he had to be put back on them again, and again with the singular...
If it was not for this site..I would think my son was sick mentally. But after this...he will see his doctor tomorrow and no more singular...
When I took him off all the meds I told his doctor I was really worried about his behavior and they said it will be okay...he went right back to just out of control. Could not sleep, concentrate at school or at home. He is so smart and he is failing school..not because he is slow, but they kept saying he was add...but when I home schooled him and took him off his meds...he was so great, obdient..not perfect by no means, but just a normal boy...
I hear him right now, in the other room, fighting imaginary people...he seems to go go go..and with no sleep...the dreams in the day time I just thought were his imagination...but now that i hear about other children like him...they are to him real..just like he tells me..he also always tells me how mad he stays..he says all the time I am just angry mom, and I would say at what..he just says everything...
Thank God for this site....now i know..it is not in his head, it is just like I told his doctor...it is his medication..now I know just the one it is..
THank you all..
God Bless all the others here suffering with the same problems...it is just shocking that we as parents and patients, even after telling the doctors, are right...I feel vindicated...I will be printing this off and taking it with us to the doctors...

i'm 17. I have extremely bad asthma. and i've had it all my life. i remember being 3 taking nebulizers. i don't know it had gotten better, worse or stayed the same over the years. but i started taking asthma preventers medications because it was really out control. i have horrible allergies all together (which really is all asthma is) but little, tiny things will set asthma attack off instantly, like a short breath from under my bed or even steam from the dishwasher o_O. so i needed to go on preventers. i went from prevention inhalers, pills then finally advair.(and no doubt it works the Best) i was still kinda a kid at the time so it was 100/50, im to young to remember any side effects. but 100/50 wasn't cutting it, so i went to 250/50 , im still on it today. its hard to notice rashes, sinus, mental etc, problems because i have soooo many other allergies. plus im taking medications from them to.
i'd say im pretty healthy though, despite asthma i still play sports and i don't have to use my inhaler THAT much when i take advair it does work good, and i don't really notice all the symptoms/ side effects mentioned in the other comments, its a very good possibility some people are just allergic to advair, i was allergic to some meds i was on, plus, advair is a drug. Every drug Will have some kind of side effects unless its all natural. i question albuterol, i'll find myself reaching for puff when i don't even need it. O_O ! even with the new cfc free inhalers they have out.

hi, im not sure what to do. my 3 1/2 year old daughter was today given the prescription for singulair. i voiced my concerns to the doctor after my friend telling me its no good due to the side effects.she said that there are risks and side effects with any drug you take but for some reason i don't feel right about this. don't doctors know better than this. anyway Would like to know if all the people who take singulair suffer some sort of side affects or is it minimal? or going by this side it looks like its probably best not to give it to her at all.

I have taken 100/50 Advair off and on for several years and hadn't noticed any problems. Three weeks ago I was switched to 250/50 strength Advair following a bad cold which I believe had become bronchitis but my NEW doctor believed was an asthma attack. I don't have asthma "attacks". I just have asthma which is always under control except for when I am exposed to smoke. Even then it isn't that bad. I just use a puff or two on my inhaler and I am good to go. So, I don't think I even needed to be put on the 250/50 strength! Right away, even with careful rinsing, I started to develop a sore throat. I had a constant cough, had to constantly clear my throat to try to speak and it hurt to talk. Within two weeks, besides the throat and congestion problems, I felt miserable as if I had a severe case of influenza: major headache, sinus and teeth pain, joint pains, severe fatigue, chills, burning eyes and blurry vision. I also developed an itchy red rash on my buttock and felt as though I was beginning to get a UTI. Because I felt so lousy, I told myself I didn't have to take the Advair which I knew would just make my throat feel worse. So, I went a whole weekend without the Advair and I started to feel better. Then on Monday morning, I took the Advair (which immediately made my throat hurt) and later went to see the new doctor in the afternoon. (We didn't discuss Advair because I hadn't made the connection and, obviously, he didn't either.) The doctor said I was negative for a UTI and thought my rash was cellulitis. He prescribed an oral antibiotic. I haven't taken any Advair since Monday a.m. because I read about its side effects on the Internet on Monday evening. My throat feels better. It is so good not to be constantly coughing and clearing my throat! The rash didn't respond to the antibiotic, but it did respond to the anti-yeast infection skin cream I decided to use on it. Unfortunately, the antibiotics DID give me a vaginal yeast infection and now I am also treating that! I am wondering if there is a connection between my skin yeast infection and the 250/50 Advair or if Advair just causes thrush (a mouth yeast infection)? Also, my eyes still burn and I still get blurry vision. Could I have a yeast infection in my eyes? I'm wondering because I have read on the Internet that steroids--just like antibiotics--can cause yeast infections. If so, then maybe thrush is not the only type of yeast infection that 250/50 Advair could cause?

I have gone over in my head a million times, how did this happen,it consumes my thoughts, i think about it often,my son had one devastating asthma attack, the only one we ever had at age 10, he was on a vent for 10 days in the icu for 14 days, on the ward for 7 days,they did allergy testing and said he was virtually allergic to everything,his blood showed allergens over 1000, normal would be below 200,i then questioned how can that be, he has been in a sterile enviroment for almost a month,surely then he would be allergic to the meds, well they thought i was nuts, how stupid of me to even bring that up, well 3.5 yrs later, how stupid of you not to believe me.

Hi all. I'm posting again after being off Advair for about a week. I've noticed a dramatic change in my emotional health. The anxiety that I've been suffering from for the last three months while on Advair has now entirely vanished. I feel like my old self again, and friends and family have also noted the difference. I won't ever take this medication again-- I'd rather deal with my asthma in a preventive way.

Hi.

I was put on Singulair toward the end of February. At the beginning of March I started getting hives all over my body and becoming very itchy for no reason at all. The allergist said it couldn't have been from the medicine. The frequency of the hives/itchiness have slowed, but I still get them. I was also getting a little dizzy when I'd put my hed back or lay down, but I knew that was one of the side effect. But, the past several days, I've been getting very dizzy when I walk. I'm worried this is from the Singulair -- nothing else has changed. Could these effects show up after a month? My allergist doesn't seem too concerned, but I am.

I was put on Yaz (same as Yasmin but with a smaller estrogen dose) due to irregular periods and a presumed hormonal imbalance. That was in September '07. Four month later, on Jan 1, '08, I went to the ER with breathing difficulties, and weakness in my arms and legs. I had been having muscle cramps/ charley horses in my right calf, but that was the only other health problem I had experienced. I thought I was having an asthma attack. So did the ER - at first. After I did not respond to the breathing treatments, and I became completely out of breath and exhausted after walking across the hall to the restroom, the ER doc checked my D-Dimer level to see if I was at risk for blood clots. He said if it came back over 500, he would have to do further testing for clots. It came back 4500!! I was sent immediately down for a CT Scan which showed mulitple clots in both lungs, mostly small, but several of significant size. I was immediately put on oxygen and a heart monitor, and an IV drip of heparin was started. I was in the hospital for 4 days, had to learn to give myself shots of Lovenol in my stomach until my pill form of blood thinner had time to kick in. I am now taking Coumadin blood thinner every day until July, when my D-Dimer will be checked again. Depending on the results, I may come off the Coumadin, or I may have to commit to it for 3 years. However, I was tested for all the hereditary blood clotting disorders and all came back negative, so my doctor feels as though the cause has to be the YAZ! Everyone tells me I was very lucky and that I could have easily died, especially when I was just thinking I was having an asthma attack and put off going to the ER for a few days. If you are taking Yaz or Yasmin, and you begin to have difficulty breathing, any kind of leg cramps, weakness, or tightness in your chest (I had also been having severe heart burn) - go have yourself checked out!!!!!

My son is 21 month old and he's been taking singulair for two months now, and I can notice that after he started taking it he is having nightmares. Every night he starts crying while sleeping without any reason. So I am wondering could it be possible that these happens because of singulair just in 2 months or there is something else. Doctor told us to continue giving singulair for 6 months, Shall I stop giving it or not?

I have been on advair for about 5 to 6 yrs. I was on 250/50 at first and my hands and legs would all ways hurt me. Then I had a bad asthma attack which landed me in ICU. That's when the doctors gave me the largest dose of the 500/50. It has been a year since I have been on this and I have hair loss.
One side of the head around my egdes are bald.
And the rest of my hair is getting very thin. I am only 39 years old, and I have to were wigs.

I was on prednisone for four months. 40mg a day most of the time. i was taking it for an allergic reaction to a cosmetic tattoo that i had done. i miscarried a child while on prednisone. grew hair all over my body,which still almost two months later hasnt stopped. had trouble sleeping and chills. also have weird purple lines on my legs and severe muscle pain. Does the hair growth eventually stop?

It is day 4 off my advair and WOW what a difference! I feel great, clearer,lighter, its hard to explain. No withdrawls YET, I am sure the biggest asthma attack ever is impending, but things are really good right now. My mood and personality are even better, I guess when you feel like your dying all the time you can get a little moody. I also enjoyed reading yesterday about Advair and tooth decay (4 fillings and root canal this year) and chicken pox (got them AGAIN last year). Don't worry glaxo, my rotten teeth and life threating bout of pox and spasms of my HEART, which I hear is an important organ, is all a trade off to be able to breathe a little better. Sure. I plan on sending my unused (and will remain) Advair to GSK with a bill for my teeth. We will see what happens.

I have been on Advair for the past three years after a severe asthma attack on Oct 2005....what a mistake..I got all the side effects possible...really! Rash, arrhythmia, tachycardia, eye problems, runny nose, shakines, depression, anxiety, sleeping problems, nausea, muscle cramps or muscle spasms, hoarseness or voice changes, sinus infections, abdominal pain, dizziness, etc, etc and it is gatting worse! I am on 100/50 once...every two days! I could not stand all of this anymore- Does anyone know about some other less dangerous medication (Albuterol gives me the worse arrhythmia) Is it sensible to note that Advair and another dangerous medication; Paxil are from the same maker: glaxosmithkline pharmaceuticals? No wonder! Any input/help will be most welcome-A very worry French guy in San Francisco-

Update...Today is the 11th day my 7 yr. old son has been Singulair free! He was taking it for "cold induced" asthma. He never had the typical asthma where he needed an inhaler. He got RSV when he was almost 3, then whenever he got a URI it seemed to go straight to his lungs, so the dr. prescribed Singulair and Xopenex (to be used with a nebulizer). I had asked the dr. a few times to take him off Singulair because he seemed to be doing much better and I wanted to see how he would do without it. The dr. would say "oh, let's wait until summer or let's wait until allergy season is over" and kept putting it off. I just had some sort of bad "feeling" about it. Of course, I look back now and know with certainty that his wierd behaviors started around the time he started Singulair. I am relieved now because his erratic behaviors are almost totally gone!!!! When I heard the news I decided to take him off the Singulair immediately. I was nervous because he had a cold and a bad cough, but did it anyway. You know what? He is fine! His cough is almost gone now without the help of Singulair! He is much happier and can actually focus on doing his homework without getting up from his chair until he is done. Before he would get up about 10 times and just couldn't sit still. He has a better attitude about everything now! He is doing great! I hope everyone who was taking this and stopped is doing better! I learned a valuable lesson from all this. I won't put him or my other son on anything until I research it! I will not trust anything anymore, and that in itself is sad, but true. Good luck to all!

My son is 10 years old and has been on 5 mg. singulair for 3 years. He has been getting frequent headaches,and is in the bathtub right now screaming with one! Also alot of depression.I just came upon this website accidently ,by searching the internet for what might be causing such headaches in a child. I was shocked at all of these symptoms! I am not going to give him any more singulair.But what is everyone doing to replace it and deal with their kids asthma problems? My son has had so may behavioral issues and being so unreasonable and always thinks were picking on him.To extremes! Very hars to deal with,constantly! TC

I am posting this because I am just outraged reading all these e-mails and it is exactly the same thing over and over again. My son is now 6 and has been on singular for a little over a year. He was started on it after a asthma attack over the Christmas holidays. Prior to taking the medication he was a sweet loving kid. Honestly because he was so good we could not wait to have another one. Then came these crying spells for no reason. Then out of no where he would attack and kick and scream like someone was killing him even if you just asked to put your shoes on. It was crazy. Never made the connection to the singular. He started kindergarten and it was the same thing there. One week we happened to be really short on money due to an emergency and could not refill his prescription till the following Friday. And looking back now it was the first week that there were very little problems with him and he got all good remarks that week from his teacher.Well again at the time we did not make the connection.Back on the drug and back with the aggressive and bad behavior. Then our local t.v. news did a story about this medication. We looked at each other in shock and thought how could we have missed this? We decided to do our own test and took him of the medication again. While the hacking cough is back his mood swings have all but vanished and he is back to normal minus a few crying spells the last few days. I am confident keeping him off the meds. those will disappear soon enough to. We are only into day 4 off our test and already the diff. is huge. Something needs to be done about it now.

I was horrified when I saw the news report about singulair on Thursday! My little angel had her first asthma attack when she was 5 years old. She was put on Singulair and has been on it for 5 years. My life has been a living HELL since. Temper tantrums, biting, kicking, screaming, nightmares, waking up during the night, clinging to me constantly, We were unable to take her places because we never knew how she would behave in public I felt like a prisoner. We tried putting her in school but she ran away from the teachers and got into fights with other students. The school said she had A.D.H.D. and severe learning disablities I had to pull her out of school and home school her. Before she was on this Devil medicine she was the sweetest little girl you could come across. She was very polite, respectful, happy, and loving. Her doctor always reassured me that it wasn't her medicine. I have 4 girls and she was the only one who had any problems. I thought as a parent I must be doing something wrong! I prayed for 5 years for this nightmare to end I never dreamed a little 5mg pink evil pill was turning my family's life upside down. I couldn't believe that other parents have gone through the same nightmare. I took her off that same night as the report and will never put her on Singulair again. It's been 5 days and I already see a big difference in her behavior. She woke up singing, laughing, and no fighting with her sisters. She wants to help with chores. She is doing great with her school lessons, and very patient with everyone. I thank God for answering all our prayers and giving us our children back. When everyone goes to sleep at night say A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO GOD.

First, I would like to tell you what my daughter used to be like. My daughter used to laugh, smile, sparkle and she loved life! My daughter was smart, as her pediatrician had been telling us since she was one. She sailed through life! Then we had hurricane Isabell come through, and she was rushed to the hospital in the middle of that storm for our first asthma attack. She was three at the time. We took her to a Pulmonologist, which she has seen since. She is now 7 going on 8. She was put on Singulair about 4 years ago. Starting kindergarten was pretty much a breeze. First grade came and she complained of headaches, stomach problems, trouble concentrating. Telling me "mommy I can't think". I asked her Pulmonologist, 5 times that year if it were any of the asthma medications. I was assured it was not. now we are in second grade, and she has steadly declined in every aspect of her life. She started having "eye darting" and head movements, which she was unaware of over Christmas. Her teacher kept saying there is something wrong, "but I can't put my finger on it". She retreated from family and friends. Since December we have been through a slew of testing. The first was an EEG, next came an MRI and lastly an 24 hour EEG. All looking for seizure activity. She has seen a pediatric Opthamologist. She has been through testing for ADD....this being the last. She had a serious reaction to an ADD medication last week. When my daughter asked me "mommy, why did God make me this way", the tears just wanted to run. I had no answer. My husband and I both feel that it is NOT ADD! Let me add some facts here...she can not concentrate, she can not focus, she has withdrawn, she has started to have anxiety, she is weepy one minute, and agitated the next, she can not stay on task and finally her grades are dropping to the point of retention. My heart aches for her, I feel helpless. I want to see my girl back, I want her happy smiling face back, I want her to be confident again. I just pulled her off the Singulair last night, after my sister left many phone messages concerning this blog. I have read them with the love only a mother knows, and the pain for each and everyone of you going through this. As I sit here and type this, I can only have hope. This is very difficult to write, and I am not even sure if I have written it all down. What I do know, is that at 2:00 AM last night I took the time to report her side effects to the FDA. Today is a new day, and I hope and pray for my daughter and everyone of you out there dealing with this.

Terry A

What's the safe replacement drug for Singulair? I took my son off it before and he had his worst asthma attack ever. I see all the same symptoms in my son who's 9 and has been on it for 4 years now. It's so scary. We're off to the doctors to see what can be done. My Pharmacist has never indicated that there was ever a change in the side effects to Singulair. Thank you for all your helpful postings.

My son started on 5mg Singulair in 1999. Later that year and the next at the age of 10, my husband and I realized he seemed really depressed. I took him to his pediatrician, who talked to my son at length about anything that might be bothering him, if someone had try to touch him, etc.,etc. Nothing. He had been a really happy outgoing child. Now he was not. The next year in 4th grade he seemed to be worse. We kept an eye on him. There were no warnings whatsoever about Singulair causing emotional problems, depression etc. at that time. Shortly after he started 5th grade, we moved to another city with almost no air pollution in the area we picked to live, and he was still "down". But a few months after we moved, even though we left long time friends, etc., I took him off the Singulair, as he was not really having asthma. The kid got happy again--he was was my happy cheerful boy! I don't believe this is coincidence. Then when he started Middle School in 6th Grade, his school was old and dusty with no doubt mold problems and he started having breathing problems pretty bad again. We started him on Singulair again, for the next three years that he was at this school. He tanked emotionally. Hated himself. Was so depressed it was scary. I kept telling him it was adolescence and it would get better. Then he started a new high school, and was off the Singulair for 6 months, and he was happy again. Then he got flu and bronchitis and was back on it and emotionally tanked again, and never really came out of it. Though out these episodes a few times he told me he thought the medicine was making him feel weird. He last took the 10mg Singulair in 2006, the beginning of his sophomore year when he was sick. His depression exploded and he became suicidal. He was diagnosed with depression in April of 2007 and went on Zoloft. He was not on Singulair then. Then he became suicidal again in August of 2007. His depression medication was changed. He got worse. We found a psychiatrist who was able to help some, but could find no background reason for depression. There is some depression in the family, but none of these relatives became depressed until adulthood. He became suicidal again in November of 2007 and went through outpatient care at the local children's and psychiatric hospital. He came out somewhat better, with skills to help monitor himself. He had more med side effects and has changed meds again. Now he is on 40mg Prozac daily now and doing a lot better, and since we saw the news about Singulair a few days ago, he is extremely better. He is almost back. I would rather go the emergency room 5 times a year then go through this again. We were not given a choice. What are the long term effects of this drug for someone who has been on it through adolescence? No one knows. How can a drug with this sort of side effect for children be allowed on the market? I feel blindsided by the FDA and Merck. If his Dr. in 1999 knew about this side effect she would have never put him on this drug, nor would I have allowed it. I say sue the bastards.

Yes, my daughter is 17 and was on Singular for about 3 weeks. The Doctor prescribed it to her for allergies. She had asthma up till she was about 10 or so. No problems with Asthma since then. But last year when she started with allergies issues, they took her off Zyrtec and put her on the singular. She had ALL the symptoms you read about. Cramping, muscle pain, had an asthma attack, ear problems, feeling of depression, EXTREME angry behavior, fly off the handle at the least little thing, feeling of not being "good enough", that she was a failure, had no friends, nightmares, scared. It was just unbelievable what we saw. For 3 weeks. Finally, when her period came about 2 weeks early, I thought of the singular, she had cramps, heavy cramps. Zyrtec had caused heavy bleeding and cramps and the doctor said that "could" be a side effect to the Zyrtec so let's put her on Singular.
I never thought to really read the insert when we picked up the medicine. I thought the doctor knew what they were doing. I have used this same group of doctors for 24 years. What a huge mistake I made.
She took the last dose 3 weeks ago,and within days we noticed how different she felt. More like herself. Even her teachers had noticed how she felt so down on herself.
Please share this.....tell everyone you know who has children with allergies or asthma. A drug that is suppose to stop, or prevent allergies is NOT suppose to cause allergy problems, or cause Asthma.

My daughter is 5 years old and has been on Singulair for the past 2 1/2 years for severe asthma. THANKFULLY, she has never experienced any of the side effects that your children or any of you have listed. She has never had any problems with it and we learned last year that it is something that she needs in order to keep her asthma under control. Last September, we decided to take her off the Singulair since she had not had an asthma flair up in almost a year and she was hospitalized 1 week later for a severe asthma attack. The reason why I am sharing this information is to let people know that these side effects do not happen to all of the patients that take this medicine BUT I DO AGREE THAT INFORMATION ON THESE DANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTS NEEDS TO BE SHARED WITH THE POPULATION THAT TAKES THIS MEDICATION! I want to thank everyone for sharing their stories of their experiences with this drug. I appreciate the information that I would probably never hear from a doctor or drug company, even though it is the most ETHICAL thing to do, especially when it has such a negative effect in children! Now I know what could possibly happen in my child and I will be more attentive and I know what to look for. I will be making an appointment with her doctor to see if there are other choices of medications that could keep her asthma under control and has less psychological side effects.

My daughter is 12 years old and was diagnosed late last year with exercise and/or stress induced asthma. She had a severe asthma attack at school. I was hesitant about taking her to the ped, as she had never had an attack before. She has always had allergy problems, I guess it is typical to where we live. The pediatrician put her on singulair and she uses a rescue inhaler, ProAir. The doc gave me a months worth of sample tabs to give to her to see if it would improve her wheezing and coughing. IT WORKED! The tabs they gave me were 10mgs. Because it was all new to us, sometimes we missed a dose or two, but her symptoms improved, but she also experienced headaches, nausea, complained of her mouth hurting, especially in the mornings and she couldn't sleep (these symptoms we noticed after seven days of being on the meds). I read the pamphlet for side affects and these were typical side affects, not to be alarmed right? By the time we made it through the all the tabs she started with some behaviors you might expect to be normal for pre-teens and some that were alarming. Most parents know their children very well, especially behaviors. My pre-treen was a very loving and agreeable child and never had outbursts of anger that was uncalled for. To make a long story short, I didn't fill the prescription because of the above stated behaviors. Within about eight days, my child was back, but so was the wheezing and the coughing and the picking her up from school three times a week because of her asthma, so back to the doctor we went again. They wrote the prescription for singulair 10mgs and I got it filled. A very interesting thing happened when I went and filled the prescription. The pharmacist told me that the doctor was prescribing too high of a dose for my child, that the 10mg dose is usually given to adults and not children. So I cut the tabs in half and started her back on the meds. She has been on them for almost three weeks now and it has of course helped the wheezing and the coughing but we are back to not sleeping, angry outbursts (probably from not sleeping) and not wanting to go anywhere or do anything with her family or friends. When I saw the news about singulair it really scared me, because I love my child and I don't want anything bad to happen to her. I called the doctors office, our doctor was out, the nurse said for me to not give her the meds for the rest of weekend until I can talk to her doctor on Monday. I will update you all of what our pediatrician has to say.

I too am on Singulair and have no side effects. But the issue is not adults on Singulair it is children it is a drug that affects them differently. My daughter is 8 years old and has been on it for 3 years. She has been exhibiting similar symptoms as all of the other children. I never thought about the Singulair. The doctor had her see counselors. I started wondering if she needed anxiety medicine. She has a lot of fear, anxiety, anger, screams, is very hateful, sad. But if she misses a dose she gets instantly sick. She has an asthma attack. So I want to know alternatives. I don't want these kids abuse any longer with this drug. I feel so bad for them and my daughter. They have suffered too long. We see the doctor on Tuesday. Anybody have any ideas.