Hostility symptoms and conditions

SINGULAIR'S LABEL HAS BEEN UPDATED:

The following has been added to the "Precautions" section of Singulair's label:

"Neuropsychiatric Events
Neuropsychiatric events have been reported in adult, adolescent, and pediatric patients taking SINGULAIR. Post-marketing reports with SINGULAIR use include agitation, aggressive behavior or hostility, anxiousness, depression, dream abnormalities, hallucinations, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, somnambulism, suicidal thinking and behavior (including suicide), and tremor. The clinical details of some post-marketing reports involving SINGULAIR appear consistent with a drug-induced effect.

Patients and prescribes should be alert for neuropsychiatric events. Patients should be instructed to notify their prescribe if these changes occur. Prescribes should carefully evaluate the risks and benefits of continuing treatment with SINGULAIR if such events occur (see ADVERSE REACTIONS, Post- Marketing Experience)."

I am 34 years old. I am a pharmacy tech. I have asthma and allergies. I have taken singulair pretty much every day since it came out on the market. I've had asthma since i was about 10 years old. I took theophylline as a kid. Steriods on and off especially during times when my allergies are bad. I still use Advair during the fall and spring. Every drug has a side effect. However breathing is pretty good damn thing. Do I have days when I feel low? Yeah. Do I sometimes have nightmares? Yup. Are "natural" products the answer. Not always. The fish oil that some of the posters are touting can also cause GI problems. Some of the natural products contain herbs and other plant derivatives that can be harmful for a child that suffers from allergies. Not proactively treating asthma can be deadly. Some of the parents are suggesting steriods as the answer - those can cause weight gain, growth suppression and can lead to a worsening of asthma.

Singulair has never made me feel like I've wanted to kill myself. I was more depressed and angry as kid when my asthma did not allow me to partipate in normal childhood things. I was sad and hated life when I couldn't keep up with friends at recces because I was having trouble breathing. You have to outweigh the costs with the benefits. I am more irritable when I have asthma flareup then I am on a normal day. For me, I choose to breathe. And singulair has been helping me for almost a decade.

I'm not saying the medication isn't causing these symptoms but maybe there is an underlying cause to your child's depression.

Any drug has a side effect. But without medical research and the medications that come with them - people would still be dying of simple diseases and we wouldn't have vaccinations. As a society, as a whole, we are a culture that looks to someone else to fix things and then blames the people who try to fix it. We need to stop being the "hot McDonald's coffee'" society.

I want to post this because this site has given me good perspective on this Rx and side effects experienced by others; its good to know I am not alone. As far as an agenda, I have none, in fact I was all for the Singulair initially, because it seemed to be a good alternative to inhaled steriods which I had read could interfere with normal growth. My son, 4 yrs. old, with a diagnosis of Asthma, started Singulair about 2 weeks ago. Asthma seems to have been improved by Singulair. Within a couple days of starting it, though, he reported vivid (but not nightmare-ish) dreams, a week later he dropped his afternoon nap, which we were expecting to happen eventually, so didn't think much of it. He is a wild child generally, but we also noticed an uptick in bad and aggressive behavior within a day or two of starting the Singulair; we really clamped down on him though, so that effect has been somewhat muted. He has always occasionally complained of indigestion stomach aches, but these complaints have increased to several times a day in the last week, also complain of lower abdominal pain which he says is "different" than his earlier indigestion stomach aches. Last week or so he's been up late at night, had trouble going to sleep, looks a little pale with dark circles under his eyes ("he's becoming a Goth" I joked with my wife). Last night he got out of bed late, appeared disoriented and seemed to be half awake, half asleep. He was talking, but not making sense and seemed to be upset and/or confused, but when pressed he assurred me nothing was wrong and nothing hurt--put him back to bed and this morning he remembers getting up, but also keeps telling me he had a "weird" (not scarry) dream and that he keeps seeing it while he's awake. Luckily this weird dream was not scarry for him, but he was clearly a little freaked out by seeing it again this morning. He seemed o.k. heading off to preschool, but we are taking him off the Singulair as a precaution. My advice to anyone else out there seeing similar symptoms in their kids is to go with your gut -- I always tell people that a Doctor's job is to tell you the odds, like only 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000 kids will have a certain reaction, or condition, or illness, it is the parents' job to be sure that their kid is not that 1. So I'm taking my kid off the Singulair because I think he may be that 1 kid who experiences these unusual side-effects. How wide spread they are, I have no idea. I will get on my soapbox and say I think it's time for the FDA to require drug companies to conduct long and short term clinical studies on kids for any drug that will be prescribed to kids--entrusting our childrens' health and well being to a drug company's own short term study conducted on fully developed adults is foolish and insane.

I was shocked last night on the news, when they reported that "there is no link between Singulair and suicide". I guess Merck is going to stick their heads in the sand, and let children continue to be harmed by a drug that I feel should never be prescribed to a child in the first place. I'm shocked at how young some of these children are! It makes me sad that Dr.'s, the FDA, and Merck will continue to put profit before the safety of the people being prescribed this drug and having terrible side effects from it...and most Dr.s are not fully aware of!!!!

I was on Nuvaring for 2 months and it changed my mood drastically. I recommend that women not go on this medication. Within 4 days of inserting my first ring, I experienced severe mood swings including hostility and anger and sadness. The emotional pain was unbearable. All my insecurities and anxieties were amplified and I found I became aggressive with mainly my boyfriend. I experienced severe anxiety. Then the sex: PAINFUL, BURNING during and after sex. Vaginal dryness, or more like the little lube I did have was very thick and unslipery. At first I thought I was making it up because I was nervous about being on hormonal birth control (I had wanted to avoid it but the gynecologist said my uterus was too small for an IUD). But several times we tried to have sex and the pain kept coming back. It felt like being stabbed. And then I had constant burning while peeing. I was finally put on some kind of special yeast medication. The NuvaRing severely impaired my life and relationship. I urge you to be CAREFUL and INSIST if your doctor tells you "it's not your birth control". I went of the pill after the Nuvaring and ended up being diagnosed with MAJOR DEPRESSION. I went off the pill 4 days ago and will NEVER ever use hormonal contraception again.

my son has been on lamictal for over ten years for the control of petit mals
he is also autistic and has associated learning difficulties he is on 750 mg a day and we seem to have reached this level due to the doctors uping his med when he was having behavior problems and now over a period of time he has been having anxiety. agretion .hostility. frenzied abnormal excited moods .loss of balance and coodination problems . museal problems in legs which is leading to his ability to walk.. poor gate nervousness . irritable.and these symptoms are not there all the time but have been rearing up on a more regular basis and after a lot of research on line and reading i have come to the conclusion that its time to remove him from this medication with medical supervision i must add the problem is that lamictal has only be on the market for about 16 years and there is not much information on long term use and also my son just gets on with his life the best way he can and can not tell you what is happening to himself due to his autisum but these problems have been going on now for some time and gets put down to behavior problems which is not the case i believe it is the lamictal that is doing this to him so he is coming off it the absences are a less problem then the side affects i think over ten years on lamictal is enough.

Have been taking Singulair but not consistently. I am a middle aged overweight male, and the MD suggested that conventional antihistamines could have cardiac complications.

Tried taking singulair at night per instructions but found it interfered with sleep. Recently moved to taking it in the daytime and found it prevented me from staying awake.

A couple of near-accidents while driving.

Mood swings, apathy and hostility, and even a trace of paranoia.

Greatly reduced intellectual capacity, a very bad thing for me as a computer programming professional.

Stopped taking it a week ago and I am almost back to myself. Hope and believe I escaped long term damage. I suppose I could be an outliers but I'm basically wired pretty well and I tend to doubt it. My impression is that this drug has such severe neurological effects that it should only be prescribed, if ever, in case of extreme need.

I'll take the sniffles, thanks. Singulair made me lazy, mean and stupid. Not a good trade at all.

The idea that this stuff is being foisted on inarticulate young children horrifies me. Even as an adult it is hard to make the connection. One doesn't anticipate severe psychotropic effects from something that replaces over the counter allergy meds.

I hope I'm an outliers but I think this needs some investigation. Suicide is awful, of course, but if its incidence goes up a little, perhaps a lot of minds are being disrupted short of suicide. If so this is a catastrophe and a travesty.

I have been so very pageful ever since having my Mirena put in. After having my son Jan. 07, I was sad at first, but then everything turned to rage after having Mirena put in. I'm 29 and NEVER had any other form of BC before in my life.

With Mirena, I get bad cramps randomly, lower back pains, moodiness no sex drive and anytime my son jumps on my lower lap or if I'm putting him in his crib, I get cramps because of the pressure I put on my cervical area.

I love the 1 day of periods, but it is not worth the hostility I feel.

In regards to my last post, I was seen by my OB last week and the string is still there. Just like I thought, it coiled itself around my cervix. She pulled it back out and sent me on my way. My husband and I don't plan on having another baby for a few years so Mirena is perfect for us. I think what a lot of women have to realize is whenever you put a foreign object into your body it's going to react. Your body is your army. It's all about what you're willing to put up with. The woman's body is designed to have children, putting something in it that is denying the creation of a child is like entering another country with hostility. I'm not saying what any of you feel is invalid. It's not the fault of the IUD, every woman's body is different and unfortunately Mirena isn't going to work for everyone. I feel for the ladies who have to go through this and hope you find something that works for you.

EVERYBODY REPLY TO THIS Let's see exactly how many women have had negative side affects from Yasmin. Just reply with the sideaffects. I see lots of posts and was wondering how many women are out there sharing similar problems. So me.... migraines, extremely horrible mood swings all from taking yasmin for 8-9 days next..........? lol

I have recently "weaned" myself off Wellbutrin XL, over the course of 3 weeks, per doctors orders. Since then, I have been feeling bouts of hostility and anger. I cry alot. I feel as though I can control a single emotion?! Anyone else have these problems?

Took this product for about 2 years. Had terrible problems with insomnia, ringing in ears, anxiety during that time. I liked the fact that I had lost about 2 sizes so I was reluctant to stop. When I did, even though I decreased the dosage very slowly, I had terrble withdrawl symptoms. Extreme hostility, agitation, up for days, suicidal thoughts (which I'd never felt before). The doctor had no idea what would help. I called Narcotics Anonymous and was told to drink lots of water, cranberry juice, walk, take hot baths and above all pray. It has been about three weeks now and the worst has passed, but my life was hell for about two of those weeks. I don't believe doctors give you the proper counseling when you get on/off these or any other meds. They are too busy writing prescritions and keeping the drug manufacturers fat and happy!

PREDNISONE: One of the most scary medications that I have EVER taken.
I had injured my neck about 6 months ago. The doctor prescribed 20mg to be taken in the mornings. I am also taking Lorazepam (.5mg) Lorazepam is a tranq and muscle relaxant. I was taking .5 mg 3 times a day and 1 mg at night to help me sleep.
My experience with prednisone was short term: 20 mg the first 2 days... then I was so preoccupied that I forgot a day. On the 4th day I resumed taking the medication, but I was experiencing panic attacks, hostility, and depression.
Soooo, I increased my Lorazepam. By the 5th day, I had no concept of time or space... I had obviously over medicated myself, and luckily didn't die. However, when my significant other got home and tried to take my pills, I became violent. I guess I thought I was superwoman! I among other things, threw him out and called the police... He did not press charges, but the state did... on him, because I called first. Now we have to go to court.
I can honestly tell you. For me, this is a dangerous drug. Needless to say the doctor told me to stop taking the drug when I called the next day. My remorse was unbearable.
My doctor claims that I was only on a small dose and that he had only seen one bad reaction in his 30 years of practice; and he said she was taking twice as much. The doctor said that the prednisone cause the irritability and the Lorazepam removed the inabition (much like alcohol does).The pharmacy did not warn me or give me any paper work on the drug when I picked it up.
It is too bad that we find this site after the fact.

My daughter age 20 just started on synthroid necessary post radiation for Hodgkins. Since starting she has had a significant personality change, going from friendly and outgoing with me to alot of hostility and anger. i wonder if anyone else has any knowledge of behavior changes with syntrhoid? thanks

I have been taking approximately 12 mg. of Gabitril a day for a little over a year for my social phobia. My psychiatrist started me off at 2 mg.,then at 4 mg. and now I'm on 12 mg. a day. The major side effect I notice is anger and hostility. I don't know if this is a side effect of Gabitril or if Gabitril only intensifies the anger and hostility that is already there. I keep having these angry outburts on the job and wonder if this is going to cause me one day to be terminated from my job.

Guest #8165 states: "I have been reading your site with interest and am rather astonished at the level of hostility to this drug."

The only "hostility" you see is from individuals, such as myself, who were healthy but after taking Lipitor now have muscle problems in various parts of their body, and in my case, tininitus in the left ear. Granted, the relationship between Lipitor and these problems are, at this time, anecdotal, but that does not mean they are not true. There are entirely to many people who, after taking Lipitor, started experiencing these problems, and after stopping started improving.

You state that you have not had any negative effects. So what. That does not mean that everyone else is a liar. There are some people who smoke all their lives and die of old age. I suppose in your world that means that smoking is harmless.

I have been reading your site with interest and am rather astonished at the level of hostility to this drug. I have no affiliation what so ever with the company that makes Lipitor. I wouldn't ordinary write anything to such a site but thought just in the interest of equality I would state that I have no side effect what so ever from taking Lipitor other than having by cholesterol lowered to normal levels. I have been taking the 10mg tablets for over 3 years. Most of the people of this forum are on 20 or 40 mg and some have been increased after only a very short time on the drug - get a new doctor before you quickly ditch the drug. I strongly believe that into the future, people like me will be living proof of what early preventive intervention will mean to the quality of our lives 20 years from now.

Michael 43
Sydney Australia

After falling on my right rib cage, tearing muscle tissue, I was precribed a 5mg dose- 1-3 times daily.

Usually, I only needed to take one during the night, when the pain was worst. (Took ibuprofen during the day -due to the dizziness, drowsiness effects of flexeril).

However, I noted that each morning after I took the flexeril - I woke up like "a bear with a sore head" to quote my wife's phrase. Free -floating hostility, irritabililty - snapping at every minor thing and every one. The effects sometimes taking the whole morning to wear off.

Has anyone else noticed such 'psychological' side effects? I am sure they were attached to the flexeril, since once I'd stopped taking it, the 'bearishness' and chronic distemper creased.

Note: I have been historically a 'drug-sensitive' person, and perhaps even at the 5 mg dose, I was OD'ing. That is one theory anyway.