December 13th
2008
9:24 PM
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:)
-- By nomeds2 | Reply | (5) replies | Private Message me
October 5th
2008
3:42 PM
My son is on the 15mg patch. He is developing OCD type behaviors-right now it is an obsession with his fingernails-always picking at them, getting dirt out from underneath them, even when there is none. We have tried adderall and this. I think I am going to try something natural. Any suggestions? He also won't eat or drink all day so we need to go a different route.
-- By b2bmommy | Reply | (5) replies | Private Message me
May 1th
2004
11:27 PM
I am a 20 year old male, 150 pounds, and I've been taking Zoloft for about 8 months now. First I started with 50mg daily for anxiety/depression. It helped a little, but I was boosted up to 100mg daily after about a month or two.
My anxiety problems quickly diminished, but I was having crazy mood swings. Happy one moment, depressed the next. Now I get those crazy head zaps and fogginess almost every day I take it. Side effects also include churning/unsettled stomach, disconnected feeling, "pins and needles" every time I move my head (like coming down from acid), zombi effects, jaw tension, restlessness, lack of motivation, severe headaches, grinding teeth, and vivid dreams (not a bad thing). It hasn't effected me sexually though. Haven't had any real problems with weight gain either.
I highly recommend smoking marijuana occasionaly to reduce side effects. Although pot isn't recommended by others, I find that it really helps to even you out while on this medication. It quickly and effectivly relieves jaw tension, restlessnesss, headaches, unsettled stomach, and that crazy-ass fog headzap thing. That is the worst part of Zoloft for me. I can deal with all the other small side effects, but when it feels like you are a zombie coming down from acid, you just wanna punch the doctor who prescribed it to you.
Perhaps I'm taking too much, or not enough. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, so I'll see what he has to say.
I'm glad that the drug helps with my anxiety, but I'm not really sure if all the side effects are worth it.
If you haven't experienced the zombie thing yet, just stop taking Zoloft for a day or two and you'll know what I'm talking about. DON'T MISS A DOSE OR YOU'LL START CRAVING BRAINS! BRRRAAAIIINNNSS!!!!
February 23th
2009
12:36 PM
Hi,
I posted the paragraph below a few weeks ago. I just wanted to give an update. I went to a neurologist and he pinpointed the cause of the headache to being TMJ (jaw disorder). He diagnosed it by having me open my mouth, dropping my jaw and he pressed on the sides of my jaw up by my ear which was very painful. It caused all the headache symptoms, sinus like pain, back of head/neck and shoulder pain and tightness along with ear popping and some dizziness. We still don't know what caused the TMJ ( I still suspect it might be Yasmin since this developed a few days after I started taking it, no history of grinding teeth). It is starting to get better after 5 weeks since it started and 3 weeks of no Yasmin. Just thought I would share this in case it helps anyone with similar symptoms.
Previous post:
" I started Yasmin generic (ocella) 3 weeks ago. After a few days I developed a headache that feels like constant pressure around my temples, eyebrows and in between nose. It does not go away with pain killers. I have no history of reoccurring headaches and when I have gotten one advil usually takes care of it. After 2 weeks I decided to stop Ocella to see if that was the reason. I still have the headache a week later. I went to the dr. yesterday and he said it wasn't a sinus headache which I thought it might be. He said it might be a migraine even though it doesn't sound like a typical one. If it doesn't go away this weekend I'll have to get a Cat scan and maybe MRI. Does this sound familiar to anyone who got headaches from Yasmin? "
-- By ceceds | Reply | Private Message me