Inhaled steroids symptoms and conditions

I have been on and off advair for the past few years and yes, it does seem to take the wheezes away....it was prescribed to me as a result of what was diagnosed as a GERD symptom altho I didn't feel breathless, just wheezy. The wheeze did go away, but I have also suffered hair loss, which my GP brushes off as menopause which does not make me happy. So having read all the preceding posts I think I shall ease off the Advair and see how I am without it (GERD seems better controlled with diet changes), and switch to Flovent I think it is...the old inhaled steroid. I did ask for that and was given the prescription. I didn't find these asthma like symptoms bad enough to warrant a strong drug like Advair - I think it would be fantastic for severe asthma that needs it. Wonder if the other inhaled steroids affect hair too? Just praying it all comes back! Nothing worse than getting old AND losing your hair as a woman!!! I see some regrowth so fingers crossed.

Was in the hospital receiving IV and inhaled steroids for breathing problems. Sent home with 10mg prednisone twice a day. It was even worse. ---puffy face, no sleep,and extreme weakness in my thighs--hard to even walk up stairs. Had a CAT scan of my lungs and my dr. was alarmed---said for a 112 pound woman,my stomach was the size of an obese person! now I'm going to have a stomach emptying test to see if that or the steroids is the problem.

I have taken this medication for years (in long stretches). I was not aware of some of the serious side effects not just with this drug but with corticosteroids in general. There is a group of side effects that can cause mental and cognitive issues. I experienced fatigue, confusion, confusion, inability to focus, and serious memory issues. It was bad enough I would completely forget what I was doing or be unable to understand anything if there were other noises. After doing some research I found that these inhaled steroids can have just as many and as severe side effects as oral steroids. I dosed down off of Flovent over a months time and gradually all of the horrible cognitive issues went away. This may not be a very common side effect but they have to tell people it can happen. How many other people have gone years living in a fog not knowing it was a simple asthma inhaler causing their problems.

I have adult onset asthma that has gotten progressively worse since I moved from a small Midwestern town to a larger city in the Sonoran desert. On account of this progression in asthmatic symptoms and flair-ups, I switched from Flovent 220mcg to Advair 500/50 about a year ago. For a long time, Advair really seemed to be helping my asthma. Outside of gaining 10-15 pounds in this year (which I asked my pulmonologist about and was assured that inhaled steroids cannot be responsible for), I have fortunately not had many of the aforementioned side effects. However, in the past month after experiencing a bad flair up while studying abroad, I have developed severe heartburn, nausea, acid reflux, a sore throat, and mouth sores. I take the medicine as prescribed and am always sure to properly rinse out my mouth, having been warned about this. After reading everyone else's entries on this site, I am now curious if Advair is doing more harm that good.

I'm a 30 year old male, and I've been on Singulair for eight years now to treat chronic asthma. Shortly after I started, there was a noticeable change in my mood and behavior. What I noticed included sadness, thoughts of death, anxiety, and fatigue. I knew that there was something wrong, but just chalked it up to changing life experiences. I was always heavily involved in organized sports (little league through college), but abruptly stopped after college. I thought that the moodiness (or depression) came on because I wasn't as active anymore. Correlation maybe? I don't know. But I do suspect that Singulair is the culprit. I would like to get off for a while, but I literally cannot breathe without it. Does anyone know of any comparable alternatives to Singulair that won't bring on these type of side effects? Thanks all for sharing. Blessings!

I have come to the conclusion that our pediatricians, allergists and various other doctors, have been brainwashed by the drug reps,possibly even bribed. My friend took her son off of Singulair almost a month ago when I told her about all of this. He already suffers from a learning disability, but she feels that his ability has improved along with his disposition and complaints of various aches and pains. She took him for his usual appointment at his allergist and told him what she had done and why and he literally YELLED at her, calling her a fool and demanded that she put him back on it. She stood her ground and refused and now is under the impression that her son will be dismissed as a patient from that practice. That won't be a problem. From what I read and what I hear, a lot of doctors are dismissing the whole deal. They can't be bothered with finding out for themselves, what the truth really is. No, they might miss out on the "perks" from the drug reps, like free samples of the deadly drug, or free pens, or a chance at a vacation in the Bahamas, and the list goes on. The drug reps are a hazard. They lack education on the drugs that they are "dealing", and if they HAVE been educated and are still promoting it,
they are no better than the crack dealers in the alley.

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

Unfortunately my lawyer told me that they do not want to take our case because of the lack of evidence that Singulair has caused our daughters problems. :(

Does anyone out there have a pending class action lawsuit that We may be able to get in on? I have tons of proof that Singulair has caused our daughters problems and loss of almost 5 years of her elementary school career!

My phone number is *** and my email is ****** if You email me please put "Singulair" in Your subject line so I know it pertains to this posting.

Thank You in advance,
Chuck & Brenda
Jamestown New York

Effective after two weeks for some people - not effective for others. Side effects for some people - others do not report side effects. So why does Merck have to grow their market before they have any idea what's going on?

This isn't a big group of people in the study but it makes sense from what we are reading here. These researchers did examine the mast cells. We need to know about mast cells (while suppressed by montelukast) on a longer term basis.

J Asthma. 2008 Apr;45(3):243-50. Links
The efficacy of montelukast and airway mast cell profiles in patients with cough variant asthma.Kawai S, Baba K, Matsubara A, Shiono H, Okada T, Yamaguchi E.
Division of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Internal Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.

Background. Cough variant asthma (CVA) is characterized by chronic cough without apparent wheezing; its pathophysiology is considered to be similar to that of classic asthma. Objective. The clinical effects of montelukast, a cysteinyl-leukotriene receptor antagonist, on cough variant asthma were assessed, and the activation profile of airway mast cells was examined. Methods. Montelukast (10 mg/day) was given orally to 36 CVA patients (25 women and 11 men; median age, 37.5 years). Before treatment, the patients' bronchial mucosa underwent a biopsy with a fiberoptic bronchoscope. The biopsy specimens were double stained with anti-CD63 antibody and anti-human tryptase antibody. Results. After 2 weeks of montelukast treatment, cough symptoms improved in 22 patients (the effective group) but did not improve in 14 patients (the ineffective group); in the ineffective group, the symptoms disappeared 2 weeks after they were switched to fluticasone propionate (400 mug/day) inhalation therapy. In the effective group, the time interval from the onset of symptoms to the initiation of treatment was significantly shorter than in the ineffective group. The bronchial mucosa biopsy specimens showed that the proportion of CD63-positive cells in tryptase-positive mast cells was significantly higher in the effective group than in the ineffective group; although the total numbers of mast cells were not different between the two groups. Conclusion. There is a subgroup of CVA patients in whom leukotrienes are closely involved in the pathogenesis of their chronic cough; activation of airway mast cells may be an essential feature in these patients.

PMID: 18415834

My son is off singulair for two weeks now and is showing improvements. He was on it for 7 years and at the beginning we blamed it on steriods, even though his dose was low. When he went off the steroids, the behavior didn't stop. I questioned the allerist if the singulair could be doing it, but was told no, it doesn't have those side effects. I don't blame the doctors because they weren't given the info. He was extremely emotional, cried for no reason, had no confidence, didn't like himself. We on more than one occasion have told his older sister that when he hits his teenage years we would have to watch him for suicide, as his reaction to problems was sooo out of whack! He was on motrin for headaches 4-5 days a week(blamed it on sinusses). Unexplained stomachaches. These symptoms came on over years, not right away. I have always thought that the steroids had done damage because he took them when he was so young. Until the news reports hit, and I started reading other people's stories and doing the "OMG, that's my kid!", I never put the problems on singulair. I was still skeptical, but took him off. His symptoms immediately got 100x's worse for a week. But funny thing is, his headaches are gone, his stomachaches are gone and he seems much less emotional. The strangest thing is, EVERY night, he comes in to kiss us good night 7 or 8 times, and sometimes by the 7th time he is crying and can't explain why. This has been going on for YEARS, EVERYNIGHT, never a break. It stopped! Just stopped cold 7 days ago. Comes in once, says goodnight, leaves and falls asleep. I know this isn't a coincidence. After years of wondering what's wrong with my kid, now I feel like I've been poisoning my him for 7 years. I'm not skeptical anymore.

My 15 y.o. daughter has has first hand experience with weight gain on Advair. About 6 years ago at about 9 y.o., she gained 20 lbs in 6 months - and it started happening exactly when she started the drug. She was very active (swim team, gymnastics, etc) and did not overeat. It is very frustrating that both her pediatrician and her asthma/allergy specialist deny that her small dose of Advair is to blame.

For some reason, and I have talked to others that this has happened to, switching to Singulair did not help her with the weight problem. Seems the people who are hypersensitive to inhaled steroids are also sensitive to Singulair. Concerned about her rapid weight gain, and because she was always so thin, I took her to an endocrinologist to rule out any other problems. After a lot of bloodwork, he concluded that he could not rule out that it was a side effect of the Advair and/or Singulair, and that they may have elevated her blood sugar. I have read tons and tons of postings on the internet about children & adults rapidly gaining weight from inhaled corticosteroids (i.e. Flovent, Advair), along with the round face, bloated stomach, stretch marks, thin skin, easy bruising, etc. but nobody ever says what happens after stopping any of these drugs. Do people ever go back to normal? Do kids look like themselves again? Do any of the side effects disappear?

She is now 15 y.o. and cannot reverse her weight gain no matter what (30 lbs overweight). The last 2 years, she has only been on a small dose of Pulmicort (a different class of corticosteroid even safe to take when pregnant) since she has mild persistent asthma, and allergy shots have helped trememdously. My husband and I have been looking for 6 years now on how to avoid our daughter's weight gain with asthma drugs. If you run into any info., please let us know. Any experiences or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I have a 15 yr old son, that has been on Singulair for 4 years. He used to complain to me about not being able to sleep through the night, he would be short tempered. He also isolated himself, and no motivation. He would not want to do anything. He was depressed. Does not want to shower or anything. He has absolutely no self worth. He would talk about having these problems and I would just say to him that maybe it was just the changes going on. New school, changes to his body, it's just those times where changes and expectations are harder. Some handle it better than others. Than everything just continued to go down hill. My son is very intelligent, so when mom did not listen, he decided to self medicate. Went online to try find out what was going on. Tried to find what would help him. He learned quite alot about pharmacology(spelling???) at any rate he then started experimenting with other drugs. Prescriptions drugs. He just wanted desperately to be happy. I found out about this. He was getting into trouble at school, grades fell. So we then sought counseling and then a psychiatrist. They put him on all kinds of meds. Prozac, Ritalin anti psychotic drugs. You name it my son has probably done it. Now my son is an addict. I now hear all these things about Singulair don't know what to think.??????? I have had him a drug treatment program of which he was kicked out for overdosing. Then, the hospital of which just put him on more drugs. I don't know what to do. He has asthma, when he does not take his Singulair the asthma really kicks in. I know this we are going to look for something else to treat his asthma. I need input. My thoughts are simple. I believe that it is possible that the problems my have started with Singulair but then my son took a step further. I think to try to survive. But in the mean time he is now an addict and I'm scared of whatever permanent damage that may have occurred over the years.
bydesperatemom

I too am on Singulair and have no side effects. But the issue is not adults on Singulair it is children it is a drug that affects them differently. My daughter is 8 years old and has been on it for 3 years. She has been exhibiting similar symptoms as all of the other children. I never thought about the Singulair. The doctor had her see counselors. I started wondering if she needed anxiety medicine. She has a lot of fear, anxiety, anger, screams, is very hateful, sad. But if she misses a dose she gets instantly sick. She has an asthma attack. So I want to know alternatives. I don't want these kids abuse any longer with this drug. I feel so bad for them and my daughter. They have suffered too long. We see the doctor on Tuesday. Anybody have any ideas.

My Child was taking only Singulair for several years for asthma and after going to a pediatric allergist, she was put on Pulmicort Respules, which is an Inhaled Corticosteroid. She was experiencing some anxiety and bad dreams, but she was also still having symptoms. Her nighttime awakenings are almost non-existent now and she is able to run and play like a normal child. She is also having no more anxiety! The doctor told us that these drugs control the inflammation in the lungs, and that's why kids have asthma attacks. All of these inhaled steroids are safe and tested in children, so I feel comfortable giving it to her every night before bedtime. The allergist told us that inhaled steroids alone will control all asthma and wheezing and there is no need to use Singulair. You may want to look into this type of medication instead of Singulair

My oldest son was put on Singulair about 2 yrs ago. My 2 yr old was placed on it about mid year in 2007. Neither one of my boys has had any ill side effects from the medication. They both also have inhaled steroids and Albuterol. With the constant change of weather where we live they sometimes need to go on Zyrtec and Oral pred as well. My oldest has had environmental and food allergies since birth. We used Elidel till it got the black label. My boys have never had a learning or behavioral problem. They are often admired in public for behaving so well. My oldest is in school and is a delight to his teachers. Neither of them has ever complained of any pains or problems. I might still take them off the medication out of fear. But I wanted to know if anyone else out there has taken or given the medication and not had a bad side effect. I might add that my husband takes Singulair also.

My daughter is a chronic asthmatic and has been on Prednisone for over one year. Since then she has experienced headaches, nausea, sleeplessness, depression, extreme anxiety, mood swings, blurred vision, aching... just about all of the side effects listed. Of particular concern to me are the mood swings, which at this time we are considering having her evaluated. I didn't realize that this drug could do soo much in terms of her behavior. Please help me to understand what is going on with her. She is 12 years old.

My 21 mo. old son has been on Singulair along with Zyrtec & Pulmicort daily for a year for severe allergies & asthma. The Singulair has done wonders for his asthma, but his mood swings are completely intolerable! He can go from my sweet little angel to devil child in no time! I was thinking that it was from the Pulmicort (being an inhaled steroid). It's almost like a "steroid rage" that he goes through. The little things make him mad. He punches, slaps, throws himself in the floor, all while kicking and screaming! I just happened to do some research this morning on Pulmicort side effects when I stumbled across all of these experiences that are being linked to Singulair instead. I am so thankful that I may have found our problem!!! Pray for us!!! My patience & his treatment!!!

What is the ingredient in Asmanex that causes the weight gain? Is this ingredient in all inhaled steroids like Asmanex?

I am 35 yrs. old and have been using inhaled steroids(albuterol,asmacort,vanceril, and Avair) for the past 16 years. I had noticed my eye vision deteriorating over the last 11 years. I was diagnost with and eye disease called kerataconis. i suspect a connection to my asthma medication use. I can only see effectivly with aid of special lense glasses, or hard contacts. I have since ceased use of Advair, and all inhalers , hoping to halt further progression, and the need for corneal trans plants. Too bad for me that Advair and the drug companies didnt fully do a better job warning the public 11 years ago when it could have made a difference.

My 12 y.o. daughter has has first hand experience with weight gain on Advair. About 3 years ago, she gained 20 lbs in 6 months - and it started happening exactly when she started the drug. She was very active (swim team, gymnastics, etc) and did not overeat. It is very frustrating that both her pediatrician and her asthma/allergy specialist deny that her small dose of advair is to blame. For some reason, and I have talked to others that this has happened to, switching to Singulair did not help her with the weight problem. Seems the people who are hypersensitive to inhaled steroids are also sensitive to Singulair.

Concerned about her weight, and because she was always so thin, I took her to an endocrinologist to rule out any other problems. After a lot of bloodwork, he concluded that he could not rule out that it was a side effect of the Advair, and that it may have elevated her blood sugar.

I have read tons and tons of postings on the internet about children & adults rapidly gaining weight from inhaled corticosteroids (i.e. Flovent, Advair), along with the round face, bloated stomach, stretch marks, thin skin, easy bruising, etc. but nobody ever says what happens after stopping any of these drugs. Do people ever go back to normal? Do kids look like themselves again? Do any of the side effects disappear? She's been off the Advair for about 6 months now (uses albuterol as needed) but cannot reverse her weight gain no matter what!

My husband and I have been looking for 3 years now on how to avoid our daughter's weight gain with asthma drugs. If you run into any info., please let us know. Any experiences or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am so glad I found this site. I have been on and off advair for two years now. I have a serious yeast infection under my breasts that nothing will clear up. Doctors say inhaled steroids are not systemic-nonsense! That's like saying cigarette smoke doesn't go into your blood stream from your lungs-of course it does. Anything in inhaled into your lungs is systemic. Doctors are idiots who get kickbacks from drug companies. Even the pharmacist I spoke to, who should know better, denied this is caused by Advair. I only take one puff a day, and have very similar side effects to those posted here. Joint pain, hoarseness, tiredness and weight gain that never seem to drop. I would like to stop taking it but am afraid that I won't be able to breathe. I studied anatomy and know that half of what doctors tell you is wrong. Do your own research and be an informed consumer. Look at what happened with Vioxx and Phen fen. The drug companies create medicines that are worse than the condition that's treating it. I am a very angry comsumer. Don't believe what the drug companies tell you either. They hide side effects. Get yourself a good PDR and also the internet is a great tool. Good luck to all of you.

I was first given prednisone in 1964 for a severe case of pneumonia complicated by asthma. They withdrew me too fast, and I ended up in a coma! My husband, a psychologist, thought I was "crazy". I was not sleeping, overdosing myself on Vitamin C, and on the day I was admited, he had forced me to go back to teaching school. I felt like I was underwater, and on the way home, I took a right turn, hit the mailbox on the LEFT side of the road, staggered to the nearest apartment to call home, but although I KNEW my number, I was so clumsy I couldn't dial it.

That night, my husband put me in the Mental Hospital where during the night, I had a severe attack of asthma and was rushed to the hospital. They had to do cut downs to find my veins and thankfully, they got my history and put me back on the steroids, where after three days, I emerged from my coma. Of course, everyone told me anything that I complained about was "all in my head". And I have had it all. Huge weight gain, from 125 to over 250 now. (I'm now 67.) Wide mood swings, insomnonia, moon face, ruptured disk, and rage. Over the years, I've been roller coasted on and off the drug more times than I can count. I am on Inhaled steroids, now, which I'd reduced to one whiff 3 times a week, (my doctor threw me out!), which keeps most of the wheezing at bay. The stuff makes me manic in large doses. I must diet constantly just to stay where I am! I will go on binges where I eat any thing that doesn't eat me first.

Two years ago, I took Yamoa powder (Yamoa.com) for a month and got off the drugs for a year. Then symptoms came back and when I took another dose, it didn't help. But it might help someone out there.

My teaching career was ruined, my husband ran off with my best friend and eventually took my kids. All my life I've had to fly "under the radar" because of my health, because I would die if I did not have medical care, such as it is under Medicaid. At least I survived. I write now. It isn't the life I'd planned, but I've managed. I've been homeless (SCARY!) and I've found friends among lifes other rejects. My kids hate me, having been exposed to my depression and rage, and I can understand, but it still hurts. The thing that helps me most is exercise. I live in Honolulu and snorkle and swim in the ocean, now. For years, I rode a bicycle as my only transportation. You can be fat AND fit!

Find doctors who will understand. And don't give up. I've let myself out of hospitals several times, and even taken off the prednisone that was being poured in my veins and poured in down the drain! Because I've learned that once the asthma breaks, my dosage needs to be dropped radically. I am extremely sensitive to steroid psychosis.

But. after 40 years, I'm still alive, and controlled.

For years, I suffered from terrible allergies. Constant sinus drainage, watery eyes, itchy eyes, headaches, (I should have been able to lose wt. because of the amount of fluid running out of my body!!!) I dreaded Spring because I was miserable for months!! My doctor recommended I try Kenalog. After about 24 hrs., I could breath, my nose stopped running, my eyes didn't itch and water. I've had absolutely no problems, at all, with the shot. I get 1 shot a year and manage the fall with antihistamines... No side effects, no dents, nothing. It's the only thing I've found that works. After my original doctor retired, I went with a younger, "smarter" doctor who refused to administer the shot, inspite of my history of success with the medication. They wanted me to take inhaled steroids, instead. I've finally found a family practice that will give me the once a year injection. It works, I don't abuse it, it's given in small amounts and I love the fact I feel great after the allergies clear up!

I am a urologist. My 5 years old son is on singulair 5 mg since last 2.5 years. The only change I notice is spacing of attacks. I dont find that inhaled steroids can be stopped. He is on becotide 200 Mcr gms per day. In my opinion it is not a magic drug, just over advertised. I did not notice any significant side effect. I am just thinking to stop it this summer and switch to inhaled sodium chromoglycate. Am I right????