Autism symptoms and conditions

Hi Everyone after reading all the posts and crazy medications everyone esp. kids and babies are taking I would suggest reading this book. It is called Healing the New Childlhood Epidemics and is quite interesting.
Written in 2007 by Kenneth Bock M.D. and Cameron Stauth it goes in depth the causes and healing of autism, ADHD, asthma and allergies. It is quite interesting as the causes of all four are similar and related. I am still reading it as my son just had ear tubes put in and always seems to be having sinus infections. Dr. Bock seems to have had amazing success by targeting detoxification, removing sources of inflammation, changing diet, etc. and transforming kids back into a healthier state. Hope it helps you.

I had the MIRENA inserted in August 08. I have 2 kids (2.5 yrs and 1 yr) The 1st 3 months I spotted A LOT and now i get very irregular periods about every 3-5 weeks I'll bleed for about 3 days. I also have a constant yellowish discharge which I thought was thrush. But after being tested for that it has come back normal. I too have tonnes of hair loss and my hair just looks dull and lifeless. I did put on some weight at the start, but have since been on Weight watchers and I've lost 15 pounds, but it's been a struggle. I've had some mood swings and been very teary, but I just put that down to some recent family heart ache (my son was diagnosed with Autism in Dec) but I guess the Mirena could be adding to my stress levels and overall wellbeing. After reading all the other posts I have booked to get my Mirena taken about next Thursday. I'm not planning another pregnancy for a few years so I need to either get organized and take the pill or use condoms.... Oh the joys of being female!

Abilify was recently added to my medication of Depakote 250 x3 (i have been on this for 10 yrs), Zoloft 40 mgs (8 years), and Buspar 40 mgs (8 years). I started taking Abilify last Tuesday the 17th of March. The first night I took it I had trouble sleeping..(but i also had some caffeine that night)...for the next few nights I still had trouble sleeping...I also noticed an increase in my pulse, rapid heartbeat...and my blood pressure! This past Saturday, my blood pressure was 141/91 which was my left arm, then my right arm was 138/90. My resting pulse was 90+ with my heart pounding. I went into work today (i work in a doctors office) and had a nurse take my BP and it was 153/95...now my BP is normally 120/60...the lowest its ever been is 90/70. So to have my BP this high is very strange. I called my doctor and she advised me to stop it ASAP and to call her if i have any more problems. I already have a scheduled appointment on 04/01/09.

My 4 year old son started taking singulair when he was two. I don't think I picked up on his behavior change right away b/c I thought that he was just entering the "terrible two's". But over time, his allergist added on Nasonex (I know the docs say that it doesn't cause side-effects b/c it's a nasal spray, but I don't buy that...it's a steroid, plain and simple) and more recently zyrtec was added on for his hives. Well, the zyrtec was the straw that broke the camel's back. I mean, he has been a real "handful" since the singulair, but after zyrtec was added 5 months ago - let's just say he was completely out of my control. His meltdowns were so bad that I couldn't go ANYWHERE with him. I either got a sitter or just didn't go anywhere. He became aggressive, defiant, emotional, unhappy. And to top it off he started to have serious "autistic-like" self-stimulatory behaviors (grinding teeth, squinting eyes shut, flapping his hands, punching himself...). At this point my life had become a complete nightmare, and my poor 10 month old son was getting NO attention b/c my 4 year old was so out of control and aggressive. I was afraid for the baby's safety...oh, I could go on all night. This medication has impacted my marriage, my finances, my sanity. Shortly after he started Singulair I had to go on an antidepressant b/c it too so much out of me just to be his mommy. Anyway, a week ago I had him scheduled for a psych evaluation (thought for sure we were going to walk away with either autism or bipolar diagnosis), but two days before I decided to look up the meds he is on and BINGO! All of these posts sound like what we have been going through. I stopped all of his meds that night, cold-turkey, and he has been the most pleasant little boy I have ever met!! My husband and I have fallen in love with him over the past week - we had no idea he was such a sweet child.

Now, while I'm ecstatic that we have found the answer to our nightmare, I also feel SO STINKIN' ANGRY! We lost out on 2 years with our sweet boy, there were times when we raised our voices at him when he just couldn't help himself - he was suffering inside!! When I went to talk to the allergist about my findings this past week, he said, "well, maybe he just had a good day. I'd like to see what happens if he goes off all his meds for a week". Well, there you have it, he has been off for one week and he's an absolute angel. He has an amazing heart and is so caring!!!

Singulair is awful (and so is zyrtec). Please don't give this drug to your children. Research other alternatives (I am giving my son Nordic Naturals Fish Oil, Culturelle probiotics, vitamin c, and am changing his diet - increased magnesium and decreased dairy. I came up with this after hours of research...).

There is a woman on this site whose daughter committed suicide after 3 years on Singulair. This is no joke and the FDA needs to get with it.

BTW, I used to date a Singulair rep (I knew there was something I didn't like about that guy:)

I have been on prednisone continuously now for 15 years. I was put on it in March of 1995 for a lung condition called chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. I was 122 pounds when I first started prednisone. Now 15 years later I am 197 pounds. I am 35 years old with osteoporosis. I have dealt with depression, terrible headaches, stomach ulcers, hormonal imbalance, hair loss, swollen feet and ankles, I now wear glasses when I didn't before, I have thin skin now that looks older than my 35 years, I deal with night sweats, and in the summer out in the heat my very round moon face turns red as a beet. But, no one can get me off the prednisone. I have seen many specialists, and within 1-2 days of starting to wean past 10mg I get so sick I have to be hospitalized, I literally can't breathe or live without it. I hate this stuff and what its done to me, but I have no choice but to take it or I will die. Doctors have tried alternate medications, nothing but prednisone works. If there is ANYONE who has had to be on it as long as I have or have had success in getting off it after being on it for so long, I would love to hear from you.

Bobby you are so right "BIG Pharama" and thank you for your well researched comments that you post.
BUT let's not forget big pharma whom I do hate over this issue does state a lot of the adverse side effects on the labels.
SO MR and MRS DOCTOR why don't you read the instructions and advise us of what to watch out for. I told my doctor over a 3 year period of leg cramps that made me squeal and physically dropped me, I also told him over 3 years that my swimming speed overnight dropped by 25% which I now know is a dangerous condition called loss of muscle power. In the end I went to him knowing I was dying, I could only shuffle not walk straight and my whole body was hunched like an ape, people in the street were looking at me. My speech was slurry. This clown who was previously highly respected and revered by myself and wife asked me if I had a low pain threshold, he stood up behind his desk imitated my ape like shuffle then told me to stand up and walk straight. So in my mind there are 2 very clear issues.
1) The big pharma criminal scam.
2) The doctors failing to be safe, read instructions and think for themselves.

I'm in New Zealand a couple of months ago a 69 yr old fellow in Australia with an axe chopped up his wife and grandchildren killing them. A neighbor said they were an ordinary family and the man had become deeply withdrawn.
I stopped a car in the middle of the street and attacked it with my walking stick, I heard "voices" and stalked my house at night with an axe in my hand.

Go to space doctor DOT net and type in Allen Woodley suicide. There are 3 examples here where people lost their minds and took their own lives through statins.

We the "small" people have to originally put the pressure and file the complaints against the doctors then they can resist the pharmas.

No I am getting my faculties back make no mistake I will be filing a police complaint of criminal negligence.

Get the instructions and front the doctor after all he/she is the "retailer" and they can take it up with their "wholesaler"

These b#$%^&&ds are not only wrecking us but they are demonstrably negligently and criminally wrecking the lives of society's grandparents whose golden years we must protect.

Incidentally when I asked my doctor in January for an apology he rammed his bunched fist in my face in his surgery and said how dare you doubt my ability as a doctor. Not bad some of these clowns.

Then of course as we who have been forced to research ourselves we all now know that cholesterol and elevated cholesterol as we get older is absolutely essential for longevity.

These practitioners are totally unbelievable.

my son has been on lamictal for over ten years for the control of petit mals
he is also autistic and has associated learning difficulties he is on 750 mg a day and we seem to have reached this level due to the doctors uping his med when he was having behavior problems and now over a period of time he has been having anxiety. agretion .hostility. frenzied abnormal excited moods .loss of balance and coodination problems . museal problems in legs which is leading to his ability to walk.. poor gate nervousness . irritable.and these symptoms are not there all the time but have been rearing up on a more regular basis and after a lot of research on line and reading i have come to the conclusion that its time to remove him from this medication with medical supervision i must add the problem is that lamictal has only be on the market for about 16 years and there is not much information on long term use and also my son just gets on with his life the best way he can and can not tell you what is happening to himself due to his autisum but these problems have been going on now for some time and gets put down to behavior problems which is not the case i believe it is the lamictal that is doing this to him so he is coming off it the absences are a less problem then the side affects i think over ten years on lamictal is enough.

I'm seeing some posts from parents who say their children have returned to normal after discontinuing the use of this medication. However, there seem to be a lot of diagnosed "ADHD" or "BIPOLAR" conditions. Are your children really returned to normal? Or have they been diagnosed with a psychological issue and are receiving treatment? There seems to be a connection here, even after discontinued use, especially male adolescents. Any thoughts?? The increase in cases of ADD, ADHD, AUTISM, etc has been multiplying at a very disturbing rate in the last 10 years. I'm thinking definite connection to the "new" breed of "receptor blockers". What is it triggering? Any thoughts out there? Lets post anyone with similar cases and see how many are out there.

My 6 year old son has been on Singulair for 2 years and I have noticed a big change in his behavior but it all started with leg cramps and falling down alot..I told my dr about what was going on but she told me that it was nothing to worry about that it is growing pains..Before he started the on the singulair he was always a happy go lucky kid never had problems with him back talking or ever really getting angry. Now that I read all these reports these are the problems I have with him now:
My child has never offered to hit, kick or slap me but in the past year he has gotten more aggressive not only toward me but others as well..
He is fearful of people now thinking that they are being mean to him or picking him out to pick on or make fun of.
He has problems of headaches on a regular basis but just thought it was due to his sinus infections...
I have also noticed that my child has started hurting himself like punching even slapping himself in the face when he gets really angery or fustrated about things..
Sometimes he has problems with nightmares but not that much..
He also has problems with stomach pain as well...
My concern is taking my son off Singulair with his asthma being under control right now and he just recently had sinus surgery but I think it will be the best thing for him just because I want my sweet child back not the aggressive and abusive child he is now.... That is why first thing in the morning he will be taking him to his dr to find another medication to put him on and take him off the Singulair....

Oh my god!!!! My poor daughter. My daughter Karilynn has been taking this drug for about 8 months now. She is 2 1/2 years old now. All of the sudden she had a drastic change in behavior, sleep and eating patterns. She began with sleep problems. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming that the green monsters were after her. I chocked it up to night terrors that weren't explained. Then she started waking up screaming that her "bottom" hurt but would point to her stomach. She quit eating, cried all the time, started acting out randomly. My little girl who had never had discipline problems started randomly hitting and biting me. It wasn't even when I would discipline her for something. She would literally come up and bite me out of no where. She throws huge tantrums now. The daycare lady even asked me if something was going on at home because she was doing strange things there also. Not knowing what was wrong (but trusting my mother instinct that there was SOMETHING wrong) I started to think that maybe she was being abused. The night mares, the random pain.... I even had a breif moment where I thought my grandmother was hurting her. I want to throw up thinking about that now. I took her to the pediatrician, who ran every test imaginable to "rule out any physical reason" that could be causing all of these symptoms at once. Test after test came back negative. I actually have the number to the psychologist that does "play therapy" sitting in front of me because we were seriously terrified that someone was hurting her. Little did I know it was us!!!! I called tha asthma dr. yesterday after seeing the news story and he told me that my concerns weren't really valid and that it sounded like she was being a "typical" two year old. That really made me angry. After reading all of these accounts there is very little doubt in my mind that it is the medicine. It all makes sense now. Halleluah if it is such a simple fix!!! I was worried my daughter was being ABUSED!!!! What an unimaginable feeling for any parent!! I quit the singulair last night against the asthma doctors "urging" and gave the daycare lady a heads up. Its sad to say but I pray this is all that is wrong with my little girl!!! If someone files a class action suit please let me know. Also if there is anything more I can do to make sure someone else doesn't go through this let me know!!!!!

My son was on Singulair for 4 years the start of an absolute nightmare,but never did i make the connection,i read the pamphlets i read the side affects i told my doctor,but we were hung out to dry to figure it out for ourselves,I have taken him to countless professionals,who always ask List your medications,I have cried in there offices i have begged for help.I ended up taking things into my own hands ,taking him out of school, home schooling and changing our families life to accommodate his sleeping difficulties and feelings of complete in adacy plz someone tell me this will get better, tell me this is the answer,finally when i talked to his pmd i was told to stop giving him the drug immediately

As a pediatrician I write for singulair every day.
The medication is for allergies.
Allergies cause adenoidal swelling, which cause sleep disturbances which makes the child tired the next day with makes him over weight, less attentive, hyper and eventually act out.
This in turn makes the child experience parental, peers and teachers criticism/ abuse, with leads to the child feel inadequate, embarrassed, frustrated and eventually depressed and suicidal.

Yes, singulair does cause behavioral change but they appear within the first couple of peels, the rest is due to allergies, lack of medical care, i.e. sleep, singulair, and zyrtec deficiency.
Allergy shots cause 4 times the incidence of suicidally than singulair, and Ritalin 10 times more.
They say in hebrew "once a stone is thrown into a well, thousands of smart people won't find it".
Check it, it's true.

I have been crying for almost 24 hours now. I cannot believe what I am reading and hearing about Singulair. My son has been to hell and back again and again. I cannot say for sure the Singulair is the culprit. But after reading all of the other stories on this website, I am convinced it is a strong possibility.

My son is 11 years old. He has severe allergies and asthma. He takes many, many medications for this including Singulair. He as been on Singulair for about 8 years now (my best guess because he has been on it for sooooo long.)

My son was diagnosed with ADHD in pre-school. He has taken many medications for the ADHD, but none have ever done any good at all. We thought some of the medications even made things worse. Now, I'm not so sure.

After exhausting all the ADHD medications, our pediatrician sent my son to a psychiatrist and a counselor. The psychiatrist put him on 2 different antipsychotic medications. Again, neither one did any good and seemed to make matters worse. The psychiatrist sent my son to a psychologist to be tested for Asperger's. For those of you who don't know Asperger's is a high functioning form of autism. The psychologist ruled out Asperger's by diagnosed ADHD and Anxiety Disorder. He did not prescribe any medication.

For some unknown reason, I've only given my son the Singulair off and on for the last year. My son had the best year in school ever. However, his pediatrician was still not satisfied. He sent him to see another psychiatrist at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. We were told he is believed to have more than one disability. He is believed to have ADHD, Aspergers, Teurettes and a possible 4th medical problem that has not yet come to light.

We are scheduled to see a neurologist at Children's Hospital on the 15th of April to rule out any medical reasons for his tics. We see the psychiatrist again on the 18th of April.

I am so tormented by this recent news. Has all of these problems been caused from him taking the Singulair for so long? Although he has had his best year in school yet, he still has a lot of problems. Are the side effects of the Singulair permanent.

The other side of the coin is this: It is also very scary to watch my son not be able to breath. Asthma can also be life threatening. What is a parent supposed to do.

Also, I now don't know whether to keep these appointments that are coming up. I hate so much to put him through more. He has endured enough doctors and tests to last him a lifetime. However, what if it is not the Singulair and there is help out there for him that I am not aware of.

Please if anyone else has had a similar experiences e-mail me. I would love to hear from you.

God Bless everyone who has been through this kind of hell.

I have a 19 month old baby and she was prescribed Singulair when she was 15 months old after a bad bout of pneumonia. So she has been on it for 4 months and I haven't seen any severe side effects. To be honest, I am one of those people that follows whatever her pediatrician recommends and I trust that after 25 years as a doctor, he knows what he is doing. But all of these reports are now terrifying me. I haven't noticed any change in her behavior or moods, and she has always been a very rambunctious baby so if there has been any change (like increased aggression or anxiety) it is hard to tell in such a small child. Has anyone had any experience giving Singulair to a child this young (under 2)?

I have a 8 year old daughter that has been on Singulair since she was 2 years old. When she first started Singulair, she was also put on Flovent (an inhaled steroid), along with Albuterol for what the doctors call reactive airway disease (similar to asthma). Her triggers were allergies and having a cold. Her first flare up of mood swings alerted me to take my daughter off the Flovent. She seemed to improve a little, but still had behavior/moody issues. I had chalked them up to the "terrible twos", and not really thought much of it. As time went on, I became accustomed to the behavior that my daughter was showing. When the few complaints of stomach pains, headaches, and leg pain came along, I managed to explain them away with reasonable explanations (example: growing pains, eating too much, not enough sleep, etc.). As my daughter went off to school, I heard numerous complaints from her teachers that she lacks focus, cannot complete a task in a timely manner, easily gets distracted, and at times (more than not) is a disruption to the class. At home, I noticed a strange "tick" going on with her blinking, the constant need to repeat herself, and the battles with bursts of crying to get her to do ANYTHING. SOMETHING IS REALLY WRONG!!! I was on the edge of having a full work-up of mental tests. I have her see the school social worker weekly and I keep a constant communication with her teacher regarding her behavior. I decided to look up side effects regarding this medication. I first looked at the website for the manufacturer and saw nothing alarming, nothing about behavior affected side effects. I looked into mental disabilities (autism, aspergers, ADD, ADHD, etc.) and saw no common link to her behavior. Then I came to this site and MY JAW DROPPED!! Everything that my daughter has experienced, TO THE LETTER, has been experienced by other children. The weight gain, the occasional pains, the strange behavior. I decided that NOW is the time to act. I have seen my daughter's doctor and discussed my concerns. We are going to wean her off this stuff starting TODAY! Fear of a serious relapse of breathing problems is making us very cautious. I am kicking myself for not making the connection sooner. Wish us luck that this drug has not destroyed her chances of getting better and that this "asthma" can be controlled another way without such serious side effects.

My 2 year old son was prescribed Singulair for eczema yesterday and gave him his first dose last night. His bedtime is at 8 and since he is two years old and fights sleep, it normally takes him 30 to 60 minutes to actually fall asleep. He was still awake at 10:30. He couldn't seem to wind down. I knew it was from the Singulair immediately. I woke up this morning and got the prescription literature to see if this is even prescribed for eczema. It didn't say. So I got on Singulair's ...... and nothing about eczema. I then searched ...... and found this website and I am completely blown away by everyone's stories. I think I will take the 30 bucks for next months prescription and buy a humidifier for the apartment and use some Cetaphil lotion. He didn't have breakouts this summer due to the humidity, so I will just make my apartment humid. The doctor not only prescribed Singulair, but also Clarinex. The pharmacy had to order it and I was supposed to pick it up today, but I am going to search the side effects for it first. I will probably just save my money and see what I can do with home remedies.

I am 38 years old and had my mirena put in in January 2007. Since than I have gained 40lbs. I have been extremely frustrated because I have been eating well and run all day bc I have a home day care - 6 children under the age of 4 plus 3 have autism. I have a serious post surgical spine condition and all the specialists keep telling me to lose weight. It seems the more active I am and healthier I eat I still am gaining. I have even been using Xenical/orlistat prescribed by my doctor and my belly just seems bloated and getting bigger.I feel less in control of my emotions than I did before the mirena insertion and I am convinced it is the mirena. My husband is on his way to have a vasectomy and I am going to have it removed as soon as I can get an appointment. Makes sense though in hindsight - put a foreign hormone in your body and it will fight back. I have not had any bleeding or a period since January. My breasts are often tender and have chronic IBS - was not that way before January .....can't wait to have it removed .....horrible side effects - I think the emotional side effects will last long after I have it removed.

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!

I was amazed by other parents entries on the side effects of Omnicef. My 6 year old son Matthew has had the exact same side effects! Hives that look like he was lashed, horrible stools, etc. He has Autism, so you can imagine how horrible this was for his emotions. I discovered this website today and have immediately stopped the medication. He was taking this for Sinititus. I definitely will be spreading the word on these side effects to other parents!

i love this drug it works

Hi,
My teen son who has autism was prescribed Omnicef after amoxicillan was not helping his strep. We found out that he also had a sinus infection. He was prescribed Omnicef about a week ago. We noticed a change in his eating habits....loss of appetite and moody. Is this normal? Has anyone else have this reaction? Tomorrow is the last day of it. Thank God!

I have been taking clonidine .3mg for over 4 yrs now. At first the only side effect I would have would be drowsiness. After one year on this medication I have experienced multiple ulcers on my feet and ankles, shortness of breath when trying to reduce the amount of medication taken, and finally the inability for a restful sleep. One more major side effect End Stage Renal Disease or Kidney Failure!!! I have been on dialysis for 3 yrs now

This is the experience my 9 year old son, who has a developmental disability similar to autism, has experienced:

His symptoms began when we STOPPED Reglan
Teachers thought he was having seizures
Uncontrollable head and facial movements
Tongue rolling and protruding
Extreme restlessness
Slurred speech