Grade teacher symptoms and conditions

I suffered cardiac arrest in 2006 with the only change in my 51 y/o basically healthy lifestyle was i started taking 500 mg/day of levaquin four days prior to my collapse in front of my students in the classroom. I am a 4th grade teacher - I had suffered cardiac arrest at least three times before I was treated with Arctic Sun therapy to help recover. The heart catheterization afterwards showed no blockage in my heart. There was a good chance, in my opinion, that levaquin could have caused my cardiac arrest. Although not conclusive because I had a tooth infection which was the reason I was prescribed the levaquin and i was taking an said for the discomfort, the back of my mind always comes back to levaquin because i suffered the joint weakness i read in articles of other users of the medication. I also was reminded after the accident that a young person we knew of had died unexpectedly in her sleep a and she was taking levaquin. It makes you think it may have been the levaquin, but no actual proof could be determined by my doctors. However, I will never take this medication again, knowing there are so many other antibiotics on the market to help me.

my 6 year old has what doctor's have called cough-induced asthma or reactive airway disorder. He doesn't wheeze but gets these severe coughing spells which get worse at night. Usually comes on during the colder months. He is on Flovent, and Singulair to maintain When he gets the coughing spells, he gets the Albuterol inhaler 2 puffs every 4 hours. It makes him NUTS. Literally climbs the walls, Can't sit still. I'd rather have him cough than to see him like this. Now with the most recent coughing episode, I've noticed an extreme personality change. To the point where his 1st grade teacher called me to ask if it could be the medicine. He's normally a shy kid, sweet now all of a sudden he's a social butterfly in school and interrupting the teacher. AT home, he's just not right .Doctor changed him to Xopenex inhaler but he's still not right.

My 9 1/2 yr old son started Singulair in July 2004 when he was 5 yrs old.Looking back now we realize that he started showing signs immediately. We only gave him Singulair in the fall when he had the most trouble with his asthma. His asthma was under control immediately but was not worth the damage that was done. He complained of pains in his legs that I just thought was growing pains. He would sometimes run a fever with no other symptoms of being sick and then the fever would go away. He would also feel like he always had to go to the bathroom, especially after he went to bed. I gave him Singulair at 7pm before he went to bed. The biggest change we noticed in him was the signs of attention deficit. We first noticed that he kept getting out of his seat at dinner time. No matter how many times we told him to sit down he would sit down and then a little while later he would get right back up. We realized after a while that he wasn't doing it to be defient he just couldn't help himself. I asked his Kindergarten teacher if he had trouble sitting in his seat or with attention but she didn't think he was any worse than any of the other Kindergarten kids. In 1st grade, at the beginning of the year, his teacher said he had trouble keeping his attention but then by January she said he was a different kid. We usually stopped giving him Singulair in December. The same thing happened with his 2nd grade teacher. I question his allergist in the fall of 2nd grade but his allergist said Singulair wasn't the cause for his ADHD symptoms. When his 3rd grade teacher contacted us in Oct 07 with the same complaints I realized that it must be the Singulair. I looked online for Singulair side effects and came across this website. I couldn't believe it. I was so disappointed in myself for not doing it sooner but we took him off Singulair immediately. I called his allergist the next morning and questioned him for a second time and he told me that sometimes parents of kids with ADHD just look for something to blame for their childs behavior. I couldn't believe he said it to me. We made an appointment at Children's Hospital Boston to have him evaluated for ADHD just in case but couldn't get an appointment until Feb 08. When we had him evaluated he had been off Singulair for over 3 months. The neurologist said he did not have ADHD. When I asked him if he thought Singulair could have been to blame for the symptoms he was showing and he said there was "compelling evidence" that showed Singulair does cause ADHD symptoms in some children. We were happy that he did not have ADHD but were so sad that we gave him this medicine for 3 years without realizing what damage it was doing. My biggest fear now is that there may be long term damage. All his symptoms have gone away but sometimes he still seems a little out of it and I don't know if it is just his age or his personality or if it might still be some long term effect from the Singulair. He is such a sweet, loving, caring boy and I hope that I didn't do any long term damage by giving his this horrible medicine. I hope that something will be done soon to get this medicine off the market. My prayers go out to all the families who lost children on this medicine. I can't even imagine the pain you are feeling but I thank you for getting your story out and saving other children! I am thankful that I was able to get informed by this website because God knows my allergist wasn't looking out for my son! His asthma has been under control since being off Singulair and just seems like a happier child over all!
Thank you!

Hi,
I am 50 years old. I was diagnosed with as hypo at age 39. My doctor prescribed Synthroid at 25mcg and I have (proudly-ha!) worked my way up to 125mcg. I was always one of the "lucky ones" who could eat any and everything and my weight stayed the same. I am a busy mom of two and a first grade teacher, so the 33 lbs. I have gained since age 39 has not been due to diet changes or sitting around with a bag of chips in front of a TV all day. I also questioned my doctor about this and he just brushed it off. Well, I am tired of not feeling good about myself. My life is in good order except for my weight. I want someone to take this seriously. Should I see a specialist rather than my regular internist?
Wow! I think I just lost a little weight telling you great people about this!
jf

Previously posted 8 year old son w/ suicidal ideation and depression...I'm seeing comments about "inattentive." I've been saying my son is ADD for years....How many of you saw this possible side effect? Off of Singulair for 14 days now....behavior unbelievably improved.

1st post 4/3: 8 year old boy with suicidal ideation...now 7 days off Singulair. His teacher reported to me today that my son is not the same child that he was 5 days ago. She stated that she hasn't seen him this happy or enthusiastic since the beginning of the school year. This was UNSOLICITED.
I told her that I took him off of Singulair last weekend. Unbelievable. My husband and I are still in shock.

My entry is slightly different the the ones I have read so far. Iam writing in behalf of my 10 yr old daughter who has recently been diagnosed with a pretty sever case of hypothyroid. She has been on Levothyroxine for 6 months. At first it was amazing.She went for being anti social and extreamly lazy to finally acting like a 10 yr. old and playing and making friends. She has grown almost 4 inches and lost 26 lbs. Of course she is more to handle but I enjoyed seeing her act like a kid. How ever she did have insomnia, but has over come that. But in the last 3 months she has NO train of thought she has gone from a gradeA student(i know alot of it was because she had no friends or social life,childrenare very crule and all she did in school was work, no socializing) But now her 5th grade teacher does not belive she is the same child.She began the meds in july, so her teacher never knew the old Dani. But of course she looked up her previous records and saw she went from being in the 98th percentile nationwide to failing this years Terra Nova testing. The teacher knows Dani is a wonderful child and this is not rebelling. But at the same time she has not learned anything this year. I spoke to her doctor and she blew it off, because her "T" tests are finally in range and no longer has 400 cholesteral level. Hypothyroidism took every effect on my child, just short of hospitalization. I was told she has to be on this for ever.She says she feels so much better, but she will have to repeat the 5th grade.I have no problem! Healyh comes first but her side effects are getting worse every day! Will she ever be able to live a productful life when she can't remember anything.Even things she learned years ago! I am just a very worried mother that has no answer! 4 hours too do 20 SIMPLE math problems! Please help!