Brain injury symptoms and conditions

My 9 yo daughter has been off and on Singulair for several years trying to get her athsma and allergies regulated. She has been put on zyrtec, and claritin and it has been a constant battle with her. She has been in and out of children's mental health facilities 3 times in the past year and has been diagnosed as having ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), Mood Disorder, Depression, Severe ADHD, Bi-Polar as well as ADO (Adjustment Disorder) and emotional disorder, just to name some of the diagnosis she has had. SHE IS ONLY NINE YEARS OLD. Due to ALL these other diagnosis, she has been on and off so many different medications that I cannot help but wonder if some of these diagnosis are due to her taking the Singulair. When she was taking the SINGULAIR, she could not sleep at night, she complained about her stomach hurting all the time, she was very angry, emotional, and cried very easily for no reason at all. I have not given her any SINGULAIR since I first heard about all this stuff two days ago and can already see a difference. The fact that these people are doing this to our children infuriates me and something needs to be done!!!!!!!!

I would like to share this information with everyone. First, I would like to caution all that it does not prove anything regarding the negative side effect of Singulair but it does suggest that there might (only might) be a physiological cause for any side effect that could be attributed to brain function.

A Chinese team has been studying the receptor (Cysteinyl leukotrienes receptor 1) that is targeted by Singulair and is responsible for the method of action that makes Singulair successful. Here is one of their studies.

1: Neurosci Lett. 2004 Jun 17;363(3):247-51. Links
Expression of cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 in human traumatic brain injury and brain tumors.Zhang WP, Hu H, Zhang L, Ding W, Yao HT, Chen KD, Sheng WW, Chen Z, Wei EQ.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 353, Yan An Road, Hangzhou 310031, PR China.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) are potent proinflammatory mediators. CysLT receptor 1 (CysLT(1)) is one of the two CysLT receptors that has been cloned. Although the expression of CysLT(1) in the brain has been demonstrated by Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses, the location of CysLT(1) in the brain remains unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the distribution of CysLT(1) by immunohistochemical analysis in human brains with traumatic injury or tumors. CysLT(1) was expressed intensely in the microvascular endothelial cells in both normal and abnormal conditions. At 8 days after traumatic injury, microvascular regeneration was found and all of the endothelial cells highly expressed CysLT(1). In gray and white matters of the normal regions of the brain, CysLT(1) was expressed weekly or not at all. However, the CysLT(1) expression increased in the neuron- and glial-appearing cells in gray and white matters after traumatic brain injury. CysLT(1) was also detected in astrocytoma, ganglioglioma and metastatic adenocarcinoma, and the expression in the neuron- and glial-appearing cells around brain tumors increased robustly.

PMID: 15182953

Here is the relevant part of the study.

"Although the expression of CysLT(1) in the brain has been demonstrated by Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses, the location of CysLT(1) in the brain remains unknown."

That sentence says that these scientists believe that CysLT1 exists in the brain but they don't know what the location in the brain is.

It is logical to assume that if a receptor exists in any part of the body that it has a function in other words it does something or tells some other part of the body to do something. So we don't know what part of the brain or what the receptor does in the brain or what the effect on the body is if the receptor does not do it's job.

We do know that Singular (montelukast, Cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 antagonist) blocks this particular receptor so if the receptor exists in the brain that it COULD BE POSSIBLE that Singular prevents this receptor in the brain from doing it's job whatever that is.

I know that it is difficult to argue with doctors. This drug has been around a long time. It would be difficult to understand why we are just learning about problems after so long a period of time. I can see from all of these responses that these problems are very real. Of course, we have no idea if Singulair is related or not. But if you need something supportive to show that it is not impossible for them to be related even though there is no proof that they are related, you could print this out and discuss it with your doctor.

This isn't proof of anything but at least it might be a clue.

My father (87) was on Lipitor for many years. He had a stroke and serious brain injury a few years ago and has been in assisted living since. About a year ago he began to complain that different foods tasted bad. He was convinced that the assisted living chef wasn't any good! This problem with taste and smell got worse until nothing tasted good to him, and he basically stopped eating and became seriously depressed. His neurologist suggested to his primary physician that this loss and distortion in taste and smell might be related to Lipitor, so his primary read the Physician's Desk Reference on Lipitor side effects and found one sentence that described my father's experience perfectly. So his primary immediately took him off Lipitor (this was last fall), and my father's sense of taste and smell returned gradually over the next 3-4 week and is now back to normal. I haven't seen a description of this side effect for Lipitor as I've researched it, but I'm convinced that this effect is one that many others may have without realizing the "culprit," so I thought I would share our experience.

my six year old has been on Adderall xr 10mg for about two months.He gets so upset!!!!! very easy then he cries. He cries so hard sometimes he cant even breath. In school he is doing great still behind academically. He is seeing a neurologist next month to see about a learning disability until then I am very concerned about him getting so up set and crying He even said he didn't think I loved him. That just broke my heart. Before the Meds he had never been like this. As soon as as I held him he calmed right down. I also have a 9yr old that takes 15mg. He suffered a severe Brain injury this past July of 2007 The med is working well with him his Focus. He injured the frontal lobe and right and left side of the brain. If he gets upset it is a bit different too I am assuming it is more the injury I am not sure He is definitely not like my six yr old. They both do have a hard time settling down for bed time at night the DR said that was a big side affect and prescribed them both Melatonin 1 hour before bed that seems to help. s any suggestions I am open.

My husband has been taking Remeron for about a week. The first effect was, totally knocked out and slept for almost 24 hours. That soon wore off and now he is abusing the drug he takes not the 2 at bed time but 4 throughout the night. He has used up 22 pills in one week. He is not sleeping at all and is extreamly diffacult to live with. He is edgy & rude to me and our 16 year old daughter. He feels like he can do and say anything, not just to us but to anyone. He also had nightmares and talked all night in his sleep when he was taking 30mg a night. I hate this drug and what it is doing to our family. My husband has a brain injury(1988) but he has few motor skill problems just depression and cognitive trouble. Has anyone had suicidal thoughts? He has had them in the past and I'm hopeing we won't have to go through that again. He cut his wrist in 2001, and spent 2 weeks in the mental hospital. I know this is an extream case but I need help.

Severe frequent urination every 1/2 hour, sometimes leaking without knowing, negating effect of taking detrol la which I need to take from a prior brain injury. Taking reglan for one week now after being diagnosed with gastric paresis (delayed stomach emptying) and refleux which is being treated with prevacid. I am very concerned and scared about what I am reading here. My dosage is 5mg before lunch, dinner then one at bedtime. Has anyone else had this problem?

I am taking Adderall for the first time today, for ADD-like (inattentive rather than hyperactive) executive function symptoms resulting from a brain injury (frontal, especial left frontal, and temporal lobes) I sustained 8 years ago. I have had extremely bad problems with productivity ever since. I am a twentysomething female, 5'8" and 135lb and I took 10 MG an hour ago. I would say I am feeling unusually alert for this time in the morning, senses feeling more "awake," my heart rate a little elevated but not too abnormal, and also in a particular sense feeling calmer/less anxious than ordinary. I feel less compulsion to websurf, which is something I have a serious problem with. I'd say I am also finding it easier and smoother to compose this writing than I would ordinarily, I am hyper-literate and have a strong desire to write, but writing is usually like pulling teeth--very slow and very hard to organize my thoughts. I am starting to feel a buzz; I find a caffeine buzz very unpleasant and distracting, and caffeine doesn't seem to help my attentiveness and productivity all that much. But I am more alert and focused, and that part feels good. It is so tiresome and frustrating feeling "lazy," unfocused, foggy, and restless like I normally do. The buzz I am feeling is getting a little more intense and my heart rate also up a little more, I feel kind of tingly. I kind of don't like it and time will tell how much it bothers me after I am more used to it. I suspect that I may find it a reasonable trade-off to feeling focused. And again, in a particular sense I feel more peaceful than normal because I'm not having the stray thoughts and spacyness I normally do. That feels like a relief. I think I can see why people eat less on this drug, because of the heightened physiological state and the reduced feelings of boredom or restlessness that often drive people to eat. If I can use it to eat less sweets that could be good, but I will try to be careful to keep eating regular healthy meals. It's now an hour and a half since I took the pill and I think the effect is perhaps plateauing. My sinuses feel very clear and my mouth is perhaps a little dry. I was a little afraid to take this thing but the buzz feeling is probably not quite as bad as I feel after a 12 oz cup of black coffee and much less bad than a bad dose of nighttime cold medicine I had once, and with more benefit. I'm going to leave this posting at that and see what more I can get done today. Hopefully these observations help someone.

To the 15 year old wondering whether he/she should take Adderall, this is something you can/should ONLY decide together with a doctor. The doctor will be able to give you much better advice than anyone on the internet. Seriously. But if it puts your mind at ease any, you should know that underweight, unless it is extreme, is not in itself a serious health risk. If being underweight makes you self-conscious that is also a consideration, but a doctor can probably help you somewhat to manage your weight whether or not you take a stimulant.

my mother in law takes it and i know it is an addicting drug she refuses to come off of it she has been takeing it for many years and her health has reakky gone down ... she had a brain anurism in december and i think the ambien is doing this to her she wont listen to anyone about it .. she cares for an 8 year child everyother weekend and since her brain injury her stableness has gotten worse and she still takes the ambien to supposedly sleep and well she dont and when she gets none she is moody and clumsey what do i do?????

My father age 48 took two meprozine and had seizure,he fell and hit his head on a concrete floor and now has a brain injury. My advice is ,only take this drug when you need it. Call your Doctor to let him know your taking it.

After having been on Wellbutrin for 1-1/2 years by moving the dose to the morning at Dr.'s suggestion it does not bother my sleep.
The side effects I have read here can belong to any other drug if someone is taking more than one.
Wellbutrin has helped my ability to focus which was lost from serious brain injury. I do have painful, swollen joints but have had that in the past. It could be worse now. I do get confused and forgetful. Confusion is the worst but how can I be certain it is Wellbutrin