Croup symptoms and conditions

My 8 year-old son got a Decadron with his Pediatrician because he was presenting symptoms of Croup. He ended in the E..R . with convulsions
the area on his arm was painful to the touch for a week.

My son had croup and bronchitis, he was prescribed the albuterol 1 full vile 3 times a day for the 1st 3 days then 2 viles for 2 days each day then on the last day just 1 vile. I was advised by the pharmacist that it might make by 5 month old a little shaky. NOT THE DOCTOR which i think she should have told me something about the side affects of a 5 month old. I had never heard of this stuff or what it was for all i knew is it was a breathing treatment. I finished giving my baby the 6 days of albuterol and now that today is the last day he took it I cant seem to calm him in any way, he cant go to sleep, all he does is cry, he wont eat, he's always irritated, restless and IF i can get him to nap, its about 10-20 mins. its AWFUL to see my baby act like this, sometimes when i gave him the treatment and i was holding him i would end up inhaling the albuterol since he was sitting right in front of me i would feel hot flashed ( mind you i would inhale VERY little) i would also feel dizziness hours after inhaling it. however i never noticed it and never paid attention to it. not till today that i noticed my childs behavior did i decide to investigate this stuff. I will NEVER give this to my baby again. I should have been advised about all this however i was not. also my fault as a mother i should have investigated it before i gave it to my child as i trusted the doctor. =(

My daughter is 7 and was just put on Singular as a preventive medication for croup which she gets when she has an infection. She is not on a daily inhaler nor does she have asthma attacks at school. I asked the doctor for an alternative to the pulmicort breathing treatments b/c the prolonged use of this caused her to have dental issues (8 cavities) and he gave her singular. I am concerned of the side effects in the reviews of this medication but I need some relief for my child. She has been on the medication only 1 day is frequent urination a side effect and can it come on that quick? If there is another medication that doesn't have the side effects apparently singular has please let me know.

My 5 years old son has been on Singulair for 9 months. His allergy symptoms have completely gone away. He’s no longer has his night time cough, bloody nose, and frequent croup due to allergies.
My life has been a living HELL from the moment I started this medicine. Before he was on this medicine he was always a pleasant, smart, well-behaved child. Right after he started singulair he began having temper tantrums, becoming increasingly argumentative, not listening. He gets mood swings like you would not believe cry and/or yell at us over the silliest things, kicking, screaming, nightmares, and became very physically aggressive. We were unable to take him places because we never knew how he would behave in public .He was extremely unhappy little 5 year old boy. He also complained of upset stomach and fatigue. Even his school complained about his behavior and they said that he might have PDD. After consulting with doctors we got the assurance that he does not have PDD, but we end up changing his school anyway.
Being a first time mom I never thought it was the medication, I thought it was just a normal behavior. I thought as a parent I must be doing something wrong! I couldn't believe that other parents have gone through the same nightmare.
Two weeks ago the doctor handed me a report about singulair and its suicidal side effect and ask me to stop using this medicine for a while. Since then I started to notice a dramatic change in our son's behavior. He woke up singing, laughing. He wants to help with chores. He is doing great with his school lessons, and very patient with everyone. He is now a more stable and friendly 5 years old.
Wow, I have a completely different child, and thank God I took him off singulair.
As parents, please let’s do something to stop poisoning our children.

I don't typically write on message boards, but wanted to share my story. I wish I knew about the affects of singular before I gave it to our son.

My 3 year old son was put on Singular and 2 puffers at age 2 1/2. He had chronic coughing and croup and seemed to always have throat infections. Our Family Doctor thought it was seasonal allergies, (and because he was under the age of 6 - no allergy testing can truly be done) so she prescribed Singular. As tired parents of a little boy who didn't seem to sleep through the night any longer, we did as the doctor advised and gave him the medication every night.

Almost immediately, his behavior changed from a happy 2 1/2 year old to a child with severe tantrums (we never experienced this behavior before), terrible night terrors to the point we were having trouble with him going to bed at night and him telling us every day he had leg pain. He would cry and hold his little leg - limping. Our son could speak at a very young age, so he was able to articulate his feelings/reactions to us. We thought we were entering the terrible "2's" late, but through our experience and ours alone I am certain it was the singular. After this I decided to check online only to be overwhelmed with similar reactions to this drug. We immediately stopped giving the drug to him. We had noticed that his tonsils were getting larger and larger and they would often have infected white soars over them. Off we would go to the Doctor who told us it may or may not be strep and prescribe antibiotics, he would complete a cycle of antibiotics and within 10 days the symptoms would return. We demanded we see a throat specialist to see if the coughing/sleep apnea and terrible drooling could be caused by his huge tonsils. He progressively stopped eating his favorite foods and would wince every time we served him meat.

We finally saw a specialist and at first look at our little boys’ throat, the specialist said 2 things: 1) "Let me guess, he will only eat pasta?" - which was the case, apparently it was the only thing he was able to eat without pain; and 2) "I do not know how this little boy isn't acting out more, he has to be in so much pain". The specialist explained that every time he coughed or ate, the infected soars on his tonsils would burst causing nausea and pain. Because it hurt to swallow, saliva would pool in his throat causing his terrible coughing fits. He had his tonsils/adenoids removed 3 weeks after our visit (which isn't done as often as it used to be) and he has been PERFECT ever since. He hasn't had 1 cold, he hasn't coughed one night and he is eating/laughing/playing like the child he was before singular. DO NOT TAKE SINGULAR unless they can conduct the proper asthma/allergy testing appropriate for the child's age. They were medicating my child with the assumption that he MAY have it. The reason for his coughing and wheezing was his enormous tonsils. A procedure which was hard to go through with a 3 year old, but he is truly a different child today.

I trust this information will be helpful to parents in the same situation.

MY 13 MONTH OLD SON HAD BEEN ON SINGULAR FOR ABOUT FOUR MONTHS. HIS PEDIATRICIAN PRECRIBED IT AFTER HE HAD AN EPISODE OF BRONCHILITIS FOLLWED BY CROUP AND THEN BY WALKING PNEUMONIA. HIS CHRONIC COUGH DID NOT GO AWAY. I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY CHANGES HE STILL HAS A COUGH WHEN HE SLEEPS EVEN DURING THE DAY. I THINK MORE THAN ANYTHING THE SINGULAR DRIED OUT HIS MOUTH CAUSING HIM TO COUGH MORE. THEN I NOTICED THAT IN THE PRESCRIPTION BOX IT MENTIONED THAT IT CAN CAUSE A COUGH. I TOOK HIM OFF THE THE SINGUALR ON SATURDAY. I HOPE TO SEE POSSITIVE RESULTS FROM IT.

My 3 yr old son was diagnosed with croup. Several days later it appeared to be going towards the lungs. His cough was more asthma-like so started neb with albuterol. A couple days later, he was still on neb but coughing almost nonstop. He was exhausted that night but hadn't been able to sleep b/c of the coughing. First, tried cough syrup. At two hours, no relief. Thinking back to last Spring and the cough relief he had with Singulair, I pulled out his still valid Rx and gave him one. Great relief! Around the same time the next night, coughing attack returned so hubby and I thought we'd try to give him relief one more night. Next day, we awake to a terror child. Crying and fits all day. That night, we notice he's talking in his sleep and grinding his teeth so loud we can hear it in our room. His last dose of Singulair was Thursday night. It's Monday AM and I still don't have "my son" back. If anyone has reassurance on how long it takes to recover from this, please email me at ******. I am praying that my sweet, laid-back son returns (sure, he'd throw the 3 yr old attitude out occasionally). This angry, irrational child I'm living with right now just breaks my heart. He doesn't deserve this... I want my happy, cuddly sweetheart back! There are so many cases like ours that I've read that it just makes me sick that I wasn't warned. He will never take Singulair again and I'm going to research more natural solutions for allergies, etc. What a tragedy that I hope doesn't take a long term toll on my son!

Both my 2 & 6 year old boys were given this drug by their pediatrician. I was told not to worry as there were no side effects. I am not sure what planet he is on but let me tell you, i have never spent more time at the emergency room !
my kids went in distress breathing with no oxygen getting to their lungs. theirs throats automatically closed off . could not speak & if they did, it was so hoarse that you could not hear anything. irratic behavior & panic attacks with screaming non-stop saying they couldn't breath. rash, belly pain, mouth & throat pain, etc. Solution was to put them on the mask every 4 hours or rush to ER 2 OR 3 times for a stronger mask. this has gone on for over a week. 4 doctors have seen them & everyone was treating them for asthma & croup. not once was this drug questioned. it wasn't a concern until the side effects got worse as the days pass. After my husband & I did research in between the hospital visits, we discovered it was all from this drug. every side effects mentioned is what my 6 yr old has. today, I finally took the pills & chucked them . My son was just given pro-vent and went in to distress with his breathing. I am at the end of my rope as I don't know where else to turn. As a mother, I am now terrified of giving them anything else as I can't bare to watch them struggle anymore to breath. My problem with this is that no one would consider this drug to be dangerous & trust me it is. I am telling the pharmacy, all Dr's everyone about this site & so should you. we are our childrens keepers. god help us all.

My son is 9 years old and started on Advair in April of 2004. Thing is, it took us forever to get a diagnosis of "asthma" from the allergists. He spent some time in the hospital as an infant with "croup" - sent us home with a nebulizer and some albuteral - He was a monster while on albuteral! So active that he bounced off the wall. Anyway, as he grew older we had him tested and the skin tests always came back negative. Last time tested was in April 2004 when he showed "slight" allergies to "the usual suspects" - pollens, etc. (but honestly all the spots on his back looked the same to me). Anyway, allergist put him on Advair and things went pretty well over the summer. Now school is back in session and all of a sudden my son is a horrible student - he was tested as gifted in kindergarten - but now he cannot sit still in class - I keep getting notes from the teacher saying he cannot stay focused enough to finish work in class. he is missing recess to get caught up and still bringing work home to finish that he did not finish in class. Homework is a horror! Tonight we started at 5pm and did not finish until 7:30 - Gifted teacher gives me same report - he just can't seem to finish his work. He is driving us nuts! The only thing different is the Advair from last year to this. Could it really be the culprit? I am at my wit's end and very tired of being angry with him. I watch him work and realize he is everywhere in the room except where he is supposed to be - looking at the ceiling - tapping his pencil - walking in circles - having to go to the bathroom - going into some long, involved story that he HAS to tell us - but not on the paper sitting in front of him. When he actually DOES the work it is 100% correct. I am so interested in hearing from other parents with young children on Advair to see if it is just me or if this is a common - or at least feasible - reaction to this medication. You can contact me at kathryn.gritts@lcms.org - be sure in put asthma in the subject line so I know its not SPAM. Thanks so much. I don't know what else to do except have him tested by a psychologist for ADD - but it seems odd that this didn't show up in K thru 2? Thanks!