Brain chemicals symptoms and conditions

My daughter is a 4 year old child started on Singulair after she was unable to tolerate Zyrtec. For the first few days her allergies seemed better and we were encouraged by her improved allergy symptoms (allergies to poplar trees, grass, and lambs weed manifest as headaches, itching (usually of the extremities), and stomach aches). However, after 2 days her behavior became increasingly erratic. She was emotional, tantrum prone, irritable, anxious, and had difficulty sleeping although she appeared and said she was exhausted/tired. After several weeks on Singulair, we stopped the medication to determine if it was causing the behavioral and sleep problems. The symptoms stopped after discontinuing Singulair and she went back to her usual happy, well behaved self. After being off of it for several weeks we decided to try it again due to her allergies flaring up and wanting to be sure it was the Singulair causing the behavioral problems (because for all of its negatives, the greatest positive about Singulair is that it definitely helps her allergy symptoms). Unfortunately, the irritability, anxiousness, tiredness, tantrums and insomnia returned. We tried giving it to her at different times during the day but the symptoms were still present (although she slept a little better when we gave it to her in the morning). We also tried cutting the dose in half and giving it to her around noon. Decreasing the dose did help with the symptoms to some degree, but they were still bad enough to outweigh the benefits of taking the drug. As a nurse, I love Singulair for the relief it provides allergy sufferers...unfortunately for my daughter, the side effects outweigh the benefits. Given the rates of ADD, ADHD, and other behavioral problems diagnosed in children nowadays, I thought it pertinent to report these symptoms present in my daughter that are solely caused taking this medication.

I just read the new article about Cody Miller and Dr. Douglas Briggs, who was taking Neurontin. That further confirms the work that I was doing to collect research regarding problems with GABA and suicide. How these drugs affect the brain chemicals is very complicated. I believe that the pharmaceutical companies do know that it is possible for a series of things to go wrong and create terrible adverse side effects in some people - not all.

I will be extremely disappointed if the FDA allows these companies to sweep this under the rug.

Suicide risks studied in drugs for physical ills
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cody Miller was a high school football player who was allergic to ragweed. Douglas Briggs was a doctor coping with pain from an old back injury.
Both are now dead, hanging victims driven to suicide, their families believe, when drugs prescribed to relieve physical symptoms upset their mental and emotional balance.

*******

This testimony should help strengthen our case for warnings for Singulair.
Neurologist Sought Warning for Pfizer Drug
By JEREMY SINGER-VINE
June 20, 2008; Page B10
A British neurologist who analyzed effects of the drug Neurontin told a court hearing Thursday that he advised its maker -- now a unit of Pfizer Inc. -- to include a warning on the drug's label for potential side effects of depression and aggression, but his advice wasn't followed.
The University of London neurologist, Michael R. Trimble, was testifying at a hearing to decide whether civil cases brought against Pfizer alleging suicides linked to Neurontin can proceed. The hearing was jointly held by judges for U.S. District Court in Boston and a New York state court who are hearing similar cases. In various lawsuits consolidated in the federal court, plaintiffs allege more than 100 suicides were connected to Neurontin usage.
Dr. Trimble described what he said was a "plausible biological pathway" that could lead from the compound gabapentin -- the chemical name for Neurontin -- to suicidal behavior, hostility, and aggression. Dr. Trimble said that in 1995 and 1996, he was hired to write two confidential reports for Parke-Davis -- now a unit of Pfizer -- because the company "was concerned about psychosis in relation to their drug." Dr. Trimble said he was unable to find a link to psychosis, but noted effects of depression and aggression.
Lawyers for Pfizer argued at the hearing that the evidence linking the drug to suicidal side effects wasn't scientifically sound. Under cross-examination, they challenged his description of a pathway as a patchwork of studies that didn't prove a biological connection. Neurontin and generic forms of gabapentin are approved for treating epileptic convulsions, but have also been prescribed widely "off label" for other conditions.
In five of nine patient cases he analyzed in 1996, Dr. Trimble said he saw depression and aggression in patients who had no previous symptoms of the side effects, so he said he recommended to the company that the drug "should carry some kind of warning" for susceptible patients.
Thursday's proceedings were the initial phase of a hearing requested by Pfizer to challenge the opinions of the plaintiffs' experts. Under cross-examination and a subsequent examination by the plaintiffs' attorney, Dr. Trimble said the biological pathway between Pfizer's Neurontin and suicidal events were plausible and supported by a series of peer-reviewed neurology research.

My opinion:

After many hours of searching scientific databases, I have so far been unable to find any research that has been done on how Singulair (montelukast) affects the brain and brain function. So far, I have also found no funding opportunities for any researchers to study montelukast and the brain. That does not mean that they don't exist, I just haven't located any as of today. I have been to many sites putting montelukast in the search area.

I personally believe that this is a consumer BEWARE situation. I personally would not take this drug after seeing for myself how little we can find out about how it interacts with brain chemicals. The FDA needs to require drug companies to study how medications affect the entire body not just one area. Human beings aren't just a nose and a pair of lungs. And we can't keep going around to different doctors to try to find a fix for a medication that is screwing up other parts of our bodies.

After learning that some researchers in other countries have found leukoteine receptors in the brain of human beings, I find it possible to believe that everyone who takes this medication that suppresses the function of those receptors are in some way being affected by Singulair whether they know it or not. I would want to know that Singulair was studied carefully to show how it affects the brain and what the long term consequences are for those who take it. Until that is done, I believe that consumers should heed the warnings regarding adverse psychiatric drug reactions and consider all of the potential options for safe and effective treatment of their conditions. If Singulair is the best option, then consumers should be told what the risk are and how to handle them.

If any one is following what research is being done, here is the description of the new study in children.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00540839?intr=%22Montelukast%22&rank=19

I've been on Effexor XR (75mg at night and 37.5 in the morning) for a few years now and have had excellent results. I also been on other antidepressants and had similar luck, but after a few years of taking the others, they seemed to "wear out".

As I read your problems you've experienced with Effexor, I think that maybe you need to try some other meds--that Effexor isn't the right choice for you, not all anti-depressants work the same way. Also, anti-depressants take time to kick in--from one month to six months and then level out. One SUPER side effect of Effexor is if you're suffering hot flashes from peri or full blown menopause, at the right dosage, Effexor (and some other anti depressants) will stop the flashes--a God send in my eyes.

The one thing I did want to share is you should NEVER go off any anti-depressant cold turkey. You should wean off slowly or the results can be VERY uncomfortable. Also realize that it will take a few months for your brain chemicals to come down to were they were before the anti depressant kicked in.

I think more of you should talk to your doctor about what is going on while you're taking Effexor and make some changes. Maybe a higher or lower dose might help--if that doesn't work, then try a new med. If your doctor isn't listening or trying to help you make changes or if she tells you to stop taking an antidepressant cold turkey--get a new doctor.

just started taking Adderall, though i am not prescribed. I went to my doctor and asked for it but she said no. I explained that I am often overwhelmed at work, I am a case manager and keeping on task with all of the work is hard. My doctor said when she was in med school, med students used to take it for that purpose.So anyway i bought 5 pills from a coworker. I seem to have super human energy, get all types of work done and stay focused all day. On the down side, in 5 days I have lost 3lbs., I want to lose weight, but not that fast. I have what I consider to be Adderall hangovers the next day, where I am extremely tired. I also have noticed severe headaches, every day that I have taken it, I crash by the end of the day at work and cant wait to get home, because I am so tired. My neck aches, and I had to change to a firmer chair at work, because all of a sudden my back is killing me, I also get insomnia and have to counteract the Aderall with Tylenol pm just to get to sleep. These side effects freak me out, and I don't know if I want to again ask my doctor for a script, but I get so much done at work, and I am heading back for grad school, I just don't know what to do? oh yeah, the pills that I bought were Adderall XR 30 mg.

hi kim123.
i am not sure if b12 drops would make you more anxious or not. i take it in a b complex. it is so hard to know what will make us worse or better. i just tried taking a high dose fish oil for a few days but that seemed to make my physical symptoms worse. ie palpitations,agitation,racing heart and mild diarroea,not sure why that should happen as epa is meant to be very useful for anxiety and depression but it just goes to show how different we all are. i have tried many "natural remedies" that have given me an upset stomach or other mild symptoms. i used to be able to tolerate most things but cannot now,i don't know why. anything containing pseudoephidrine gives me really bad anxiety for some odd reason. i have taken it for years prior to yasmin. i agree with dejay that our brain chemicals have changed in some way as different drugs affect the 4 different receptors in our brain responsible for mood,sleep.body functions etc. oh joy!!!!!!! i hope that the natural balance can be restored naturally in time. i am going to give accupuncture a try and also maybe some hypnotherapy,i figure it can't hurt at this stage in the game. please have faith kim. i know it sounds easy to say but it will get better,the one thing we all have is time,devote some to your recovery and i'm sure you will feel better soon.

sarah

I am with Kim on this one. I agree that the Yaz did this to us. I never had any problems prior to taking the Yaz. All my problems started 2 wks into the Yaz. I also have been to therapy for this to talk to someone and she even agrees that the Yaz messed up my brain chemicals. She said Hormones are a very powerful thing inside of woman. My husband who I have been with for 12 years can agree. He has never seen me like this ever in all the years we have been together. It's very scary. My therapist said this is even worse than someone who has been suffering from depression or anxiety for years because we were just thrown into it chemically. I think we all know from this forum how powerful that evil pill was.

Flowerbabies,
You mentioned in your last posting about how to deal with anxiety attacks, specifically replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. When you said this about negative thoughts, I knew it was time to ask this. I am so ashamed to ask this question, because I have not told anyone this in detail, but has anyone else had very grim or violent thoughts? I mean thoughts that you would NEVER think normally? It is getting a lot better for me - I do not have them as much anymore but sometimes a very violent or graphic image will pop into my head for no reason, and I will get scared and think "Why is my brain thinking this awful thing?" I usually always get a panic attack after these thoughts, because I am afraid I am going crazy. I am a very sensitive person and do not expose myself to violent images, so these thoughts that I feel like are happening to me - instead of me controlling what I am thinking - scare me half to death. It has taken me 2 months to ask this question on here because I am so ashamed. I do want to add though that in general I feel much much better, and these thoughts do not appear as often as they used to. I am assuming the reason for this is lack of serotonin production in the brain or at least my hormones/brain/chemicals trying to get back on track, etc., which I am trying to combat with valerian, vitamin b supplements, etc. Anyway, am I the only one with thoughts such as this? Please please please write back if you have experienced this hell.

Dear Sopie,

you just sound like me around the same time after getting off Yasmin... I exactly know what you're going through, believe me!!

And another thing you can believe me: IT WILL PASS!! I'm sitting here, about 1 year after Yasmin and can't believe myself, that I'm telling you this.... I never thought I'd be able to live a normal life again, because the symptoms I went through were that sever.... Sometimes I thought my life was about to end!! Today I'm able to work again, go out again (wasn't able to even leave my house for shopping or anything for about 4 months around December to April 2005!!). I'm nearly back to a healthy very happy person!! Not 100%, yet, but it's getting better every month!!

After all I went through and all I have read here in this forum it seems to be very normal, that for the first few months after Yasmin you'll feel worse around the time your period starts and sometimes around ovaluation. It's all because of the normal hormonal changes your body has to go through within a cycle. While you are taking a bcp these monthly hormonal changes aren't there in the same intensity as they are without a bcp, so your body has to learn to handle that sometimes very severe changes during a cycle again!!

Hormones are affecting your whole body and chemicals. So it seems, that the hormonal changing during a month is affecting your brain chemicals also (serotonin, and so on...) which can bring on that anxiety symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms while getting back your hormonal balance after stopping a bcp are pretty similar to symptoms some women have during menopause!!

Things that might help: Perhaps you should take some supplements. Magnesium and B-Vitamines seem to be the most helpful things, because they are affecting your nervous system and whole metabolism in a very important way, and bcp is causing a lack of both of them!! If your anxiety seems to be unbearable sometimes, another thing that might help is valerian. It's a mild herbal medicine, which helps you to calm down a bit without making you addicted to it!! Around a few months I always had those pills with me for "the worst case" of a heavy panic attack. And sometimes it already helped to prevent me from such an attack just knowing that I had those valerian medicine with me!

Hope this helps a bit, but please believe: You will not stay in this phase, everything will get lighter and better slightly every month, please stay strong and believe in better and happier times, that definitely are ahead for you!!!

Best wishes and god's bless to you!!

Silke

Am 61 and was taking Zocor for 2 1/2 months when I noticed that I could not tolerate normal exercise, had muscle weakness and and extreme fatigue. I later developed anxiety and finally depression and sought therapy. My psychiatrist and threapist told me that they have had a number of patients that also came in with depression who were taking Zocor. They said that they think that Zocor may be lowering certain brain chemicals that affect mood, thus causing depression. I decided to stop the Zocor and within two days the muscle symptoms and fatigue disappeared. I was also prescribed Lexapro to help with the depression. I am afraid to take Zocor ever again for fear that the whole syndrome I experienced will come back.