S hospital symptoms and conditions

I have had Mirena for 18 months now. I love it. I have had no side effects that you all are describing. I have 4 friends that switched and all love it and only one had to have a follow up to have the strings shortened.

As far as the weight gain, ladies, let’s be honest. We are not 18 anymore and as we get older it is only going to become more difficult to keep weight off. Blaming it on a B/C....lets think about that last chocolate bar we ate because we were busy carting the kids off to a sports practice HMMM....
With any drug comes side effects, headaches, nausea, and some other terribly worse, but lets again be honest, all of these were pointed out in the literature available.

I just thought I would take the time to write my support as this does work and work well for some women, just not all, same as any other form of B/C.

I'm loving it.

After trying every HRT and pill under the sun for surgical menopause, and I'm in my 30's, I'm glad I've finally found something that makes me feel better.

Trust me here. Everyone is different and it may take you a thousand different medications until you find the right one, especially with hormones, but when you find the one that works for you life as you know it changes for the better.

Don't listen to that bollocks about HRT or the Pill causing you breast cancer and death... not having HRT or the pill etc can cause you just as many difficulties. Some of you may get osteopenia, vaginal atrophy, and other things that are very private. Let's face it, death can come after you even if you're not on hormones, just look at a children's hospital if you want proof.

I wish all of you suffering from hormonal conditions a healthy long happy life. I know the journey there is hard, but never give up. Just try something else. Even giving hormone therapy a break for a few months and then trying a different drug or approach such as a smaller dose.

Perhaps it's not even your hormones causing the problem, perhaps you should seek a specialist physician, immunologist, endocrinologist or just find another doctor that understands what they are doing and actually helps you.

All of the above saved my life. All of it. Together. It is a long hard road ladies but it's your life.

Blessings to you all.

My 3 1/2 year old was given Levaquin in a Children's hospital complained of a feeling of bugs crawling all over him, red mottled rash, tiny red bumps on neck and stomach that worsened with every dose, hives, heaviness in chest, itchy, and complained of his ankles hurting..........

Why does Singulair cause these symptoms? I am going to give my explanation which is only a HYPOTHESIS. This should not be categorized as any thing but an educated guess. This is not backed by scientific research because nobody will do any research that would appear to anger
Merck even if people are suffering in the thousands.

1. The original research that preceded the development of Singulair (montelukast) seemed to focus on the theory that asthma was caused by an unusual immune response to certain pathological stimulus. There are many references to the observation that a high percentage of asthma sufferers are people whose asthma is caused by fungus. Many people suffer from asthma and are told that they are allergic to dust mites. Dust mites can live only because the fungus aspergillus pre-digests the
food source that dust mites can then absorb. Other sources of fungus occur in the home due to dampness or problems with wood rot.

2. The body's immune system fights certain categories of pathogens such as bacteria and fungus by creating nitric oxide which kills them at the site where they try to enter the body. The mast cell is the immune cell that is responsible for the production of nitric oxide. Mast cells are found in the skin, airways, intestines etc. The mast cell is capable of many different types of biochemical functions that are designed to signal other cells or other chemical responses. When the mast cell knows that pathogens
are present and nitric oxide is NOT produced, then it signals other immune cells to be sent to the site of the infection. Thus in the case of asthma, it is known that excessive numbers of eosinophils appear in the airways and these cells create inflammation.

3. Singulair was developed for asthma and later allowed to be prescribed for other reasons. I believe that montelukast probably creates a source of nitric oxide that prevents the mast cell from signalling for other immune cells to arrive at the source of infection. I arrived at that conclusion from studying the chemical structure of montelukast, the chemical structure of the gene cysLT1 receptor, and the chemical structure of the cell wall of fungus which would be what the mast cell uses to determine "what to do in order to kill the fungus."

The researchers who invented montelukast first had to clone the gene-cysLT1 receptor meaning that they had to be able to identify the gene and replicate it. Then by trial and error they had a find a "chemical"
that would bind (connect chemically) to the cysLT1 receptor. The theory would be that montelukast would take the place of the fungus or other pathogen and thus prevent the gene from reacting to produce the
responses that the sick patient with asthma produced. Merck says in the literature that montelukast binds with the cysLT1 receptor in order to prevent the mast cell from signalling the eosinophils to arrive in excessive
numbers that cause inflammation. I believe that montelukast is also causing the production of an amount of nitric oxide that is actually killing the pathogens that are present. For one thing, I would think that it
would be dangerous to incapacitate the immune system in that way without providing a way to kill the pathogens. I don't believe that the asthma response is just allergies to something like dust. Pollen from trees and flowers is loaded with fungus spores.

4. IF, IF, IF, montelukast does actually produce nitric oxide, then it does so by binding with the gene. Any place in the body where a molecule of montelukast encounters the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) then the corresponding molecules of nitric oxide are produced before the liver enzymes break the montelukast molecules up. Nitric oxide is TOXIC and
INFLAMMATORY. So let's look at the symptoms in regard to the location of the cysLT1 receptors. The location of these symptoms would not be places in the body where the mast cells normally encounter fungus or bacteria. The cysLT1 also has other functions in that it communicates with the cysLT2 receptors. Obviously, nitric oxide
should not be produced in these locations because of the signalling effect of nitric oxide on other physiological functions.

a. intestinal pain - the cysLT1 receptors are located in the small intestines
b. leg pain actually caused by vasculitis - cysLT1 receptors are found inside blood vessels- consistent with the fact that montelukast causes
Churg-Strauss
c. some people who didn't have asthma develop asthma - the cysLT1 receptors are in the airways
d. nightmares, depression, neurological damage - when montelukast penetrates the blood brain barrier probably due to unusual conditions of blood pH or electrolyte imbalance then nitric oxide in the brain causes neuron damage and excitoxicity

5. Why do some patients not experience side effects? Probably because genetically they are completely compatible with the model that researchers created when they cloned the cysLT1 receptor gene. I didn't not find any information about whether researchers knew that there are many different variations of this gene.

6. IF, my theory is even close to being correct, then why doesn't Merck do anything about researching these side effects. Maybe because nobody in the company knows how this drug works but the researchers who created it. All of the Merck literature is very vague about any biochemical information.

Again, this is just speculation and hypothesis. I have made an attempt to put this in simplistic language and therefore sacrifice scientific accuracy. But, I think that you will get the point.

SINGULAIR IS VERY DANGEROUS TO PATIENTS WHO EXPERIENCE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. DOCTORS SHOULD JUST REALIZE THAT
THOSE PATIENTS ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE MODEL FOR THE DRUG.

On October 11, 2008 my 14 year old daughter began to complain of being dizzy, headache, faintness, nausea, vomiting and stated that her heart hurt each time she took a breath. This warranted her being admitted and transferred to a specialized children's hospital. They discovered an inexplicable enzyme (troponin) surrounding her heart muscle which only appears when someone is having a heart attack. All of her echo cardiograms were normal as well as her other blood levels. She was tested for all of the typical high school diseases as well as lupus, etc. She remained in the hospital until Thursday and is now exhibiting an irregular heartbeat pattern. After visiting with her pediatrician since her release, it is extremal possible that this is a side effect of the Gardisil shots that she had this past November - February.

I'm not looking to offend anyone, but if you look up the FDA info on Mirena, the symptoms many of the ladies here are complaining of ARE listed. So for those who claim to feel deceived, I think that they most likely did not do the research they ought have done. If you are going to be shoving some foreign object into your body, and for such a long period of time, It seems common sense that you'd want to know everything there is to know about it beforehand. It's your body- show some responsibility and take charge of yourself. Just like a car salesman, the doctor is going to tell you what you want to hear in order to make the sale. It's up to you to find the truth. And the truth is not that hard to find.

I did research Mirena before choosing to use it. Not just by reading the pamphlets, comparing to other birth control methods and talking to my ob/gyn, but also by browsing through forums filled with horror stories like this one. I have had Mirena for about 1 year. I barely noticed the insertion. I had minimal cramping the day of insertion. I think I bled for a couple weeks. Over the course of about 6 months, my periods got shorter, lighter, and disappeared completely. Once in awhile I will have some brownish spotting, but it is rare. I have no pains or weight gain. My husband only feels the strings in certain positions. The negative effects I have noticed are that my face is extremely oily, I'm fatigued, I have little sex drive and I'm irritable. Besides these, I am very happy with Mirena. I get baby fever rather easily, and even though I have had three children in just over four years, without Mirena I would most likely be pregnant again at this very moment.

Of course my doctor raved about Mirena ("My wife LOVED it!"). He's paid to do that. The same guy tried coercing me into inducing my last labor just so that he wouldn't have to be woken out of bed if it started naturally in the middle of the night. Guess what! I DID drag his butt out of bed in the middle of the night, and I chose Mirena because I decided it was the best option, NOT because he told me it was.

My 1 year old son got into my box of chocolate Ex-Lax and ate about 3 or 4 pieces. Called Poison Control and they didn't have any suggestions except to keep him hydrated. I put him to bed that night, he was still in a diaper, and he had a bowel movement during the night. In the morning his butt had huge blisters where his stool had laid. The senna in the Ex-Lax caused severe chemical burns. He had to be admitted to the burn center at Akron Children's hospital. Most people aren't aware of how dangerous this product is because adults wipe after using the bathroom, but imagine what this chemical in Ex-Lax is doing to the inside of your stomach, intestines, and colon. I would like to make people aware of the seriousness of this drug, especially parents whose kids, like mine, will eat anything chocolate. I always assumed Ex-Lax was so safe, as they even claim on their box and that it would just cause you to use the bathroom without harm(as obviously even the Poison Control Center doesn't know the dangers), but Ex-Lax is very dangerous!

In 1999, Ex-Lax company changed the main ingredient to senna because the old main ingredient caused cancer. Ex-Lax and other senna-containing product companies don't want people to know about this. It's not even labeled on their box or website! They definitely know about it because I have called the Novartis Company and they have also had many other similar incidences. Please pass on.

V. Donaldson

My 6 y/o daughter has been taking Singular for approx. 2 years. She began to have regular stomach pains shortly there after. She was sent to Children's hospital where they put her on a laxitive which made things worse. Then we began testing for food allergies only to find out that she tested positive for a 3 page list of foods. We eliminated those food and had her tested again. She was subsequently allergic to the foods we eliminated. She was recently down to rice, a few meats and some vegetables. Guess what, she is now allergic to those foods.

All this time she has been complaining of severe leg pain, eye pain, throat pain, numbness and tingling in her hands a feet, all of which come an go. I have reported this to all the doctors and specialists we have seen. She had undergone countless blood tests to rule out autoimmune disorders and all come up negative.

She began to develop severe anxiety and just had the blues most of the time. She would be crying and saying off the wall things like, "I don't think my fish is happy". She couldn't stand to be away from me and would stress out about even weather or not she would sit by me at a restaurant. I mentioned this to all of the doctors. They said to not make too much of it. One suggested she see a psychologist. NOT ONE DOCTOR EVER LOOKED AT THE SINGULAR.

Finally about 4 weeks ago my neighbor who is a scientist at a pharmaceutical company called me and told me about the "black box" warning that had just come out on Singular. I took both of my children off of it immediately. My daughter went through about a 10 day period where her anxiety got worse and then it was just gone. We are adding foods back into her diet and at this point she has not had any severe allergic reactions.

The last 2 years have been a complete nightmare for her and for us. I am a medical professional and I have had doctors treat me like a hypocondriac, hypersensitive, attention seeking mother. I feel so justified and saddened by the recent findings all at the same time. Most of all I am so grateful that we figured this out before things go even worse.

Please let me know if anyone else is suffering food related reactions as a side effect.

My baby (1 yr) was just prescribed Singulair from a CHOP doctor. I am so thankful that I found this website. I certainly will not fill the prescription. I was hesitant at first anyway because he only had one fluke "asthmatic" insident that sent him to the ER (but has many food allergies and dog allergy). Anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? Honestly, I am afraid to go back to that doctor and they told me it would be very difficult to switch doctors at CHOP. Everyone knows CHOP is one of the best. It is so hard to get honest advice. Every doctor thinks you will sue. Or they're out to use you for their research. He thinks this was the beginning of asthma and it will get worse. It was a scary episode...first time I ever called 911 for one of my children. Breathing is obviously very important, but he never has any problems breathing otherwise (running, laughing, playing) Just got a cold that turned bad quickly. Should I prevent with meds.? My thought is to just keep the neb. and Albuterol handy. I hate giving daily meds. to a developing baby. My gut says to let God develops his immune system naturally. (Not against periodic meds. - So thankful for Benadryl!) Please help! Mommy of 4

My 17 year old daughter started Singulair last July for Asthma. She is brilliant and scored in the 99% on the ACT college entrance exam. She won 3 scholarships totaling over 60,000 and earned 27 college AP credits while still in high school, volunteering for the Red Cross, singing in choirs, and playing the lead in her high school musical and 3 plays. She was funny, sweet, and had many friends.
She left for college 3 weeks after starting the medication and saying she was breathing better. Her grades were terrible, even though I was able to check to see she went to class every session, as posted online. She became very depressed, withdrawn, staying in her dorm room. She was sleeping up to 20 hours straight without waking up. She didn't call her friends when she came home and only wanted to sleep. She was like a different person. She was so aggressive that she tried to run out in the middle of the night and attacked me when I tried to block her way, to the point I had to call the police. They diagnosed her with new onset major depression and ADD. They started her on Zoloft for 2 months and she got much worse and was removed from Zoloft as a result. She said she was too tired to stay awake even in class. We had a sleep study done for Narcolepsy and it was negative. Until reading these posts, I didn't connect the Singular. Everything I am reading is so familiar, it makes me feel ill. I can't believe I didn't know, I am a nurse. The guilt is horrible. I hope to get my daughter back, but she lost all her scholarships and only managed to pass 16 hours in one entire year of college. I can't afford to send her back without the money she lost. They even put her on a one time only probationary period to ever get Federal or State Financial aids and loans again. Singular had to be to blame. I am simply thankful my daughter is still here, she was very suicidal. My heart breaks for those of you that lost your children to the side effects of the drug. We have to get the word out by each filing a complaint to the FDA, and filling out adverse event forms.
Please don't let Merck get away with this. We need to act, even if your child was one of the lucky ones and is back to normal now.

My son age 3 was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago. Since then he has been sick constantly. Most recently his doctor has prescribed Singulair. He is aggressively pushing it on us. I stated my concerns to him, and he said there is nothing wrong with the drug.. he gets all the news letters.. and all the things I listed was the first time he heard anything.. I asked for his to refer us to a specialist and he wont.. I cant find anyone for a second opinion..My son needs medicine- at night i cant leave his side cause of his breathing.. The doctor wont suggest any alternate and I am stuck. I keep reading about all the people who are not taking singulair anymore- what what are they taking? I am completely lost here!

Hopefully this will prove to the doubters that there are genetic reasons for the variation of efficacy and adverse side effective when taking Montelukast.

I have several areas of concern (concerned citizen is concerned). One of the main areas is the reliability of Montelukast due to differences in genetics among populations. The cysLT1 (Singulair) receptor is a GENE. As I said before, it would be possible to predict those patients for which Montelukast would and would not be effective and those patients whose gene expression profile would cause them to have unwanted side effectives.

I have been looking for a way to give reasonable proof of that which could be used to convince your doctors that Montelukast is not for everybody. I happened to locate a researcher who had invented and patented methods for predicting drug sensitivity and efficacy in inflammatory disease. I have quoted below from his patent application. He intended to provide a method for determining efficacy and drug sensitivity for pharmaceuticals which include leukotriene antagonists - Montelukast.

Quoted from:

Methods for predicting drug sensitivity in patients afflicted with an inflammatory disease
US Patent Issued on December 12, 2006

Methods are disclosed for predicting the efficacy of a drug for treating an inflammatory disease in a human patient, including: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile of the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific cytokines and/or mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarities between the sample expression profile and the reference expression profile predicts the efficacy of the drug for treating the inflammatory disease in the patient.

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The field of pharmacogenomics measures differences in the effect of medications that are caused by genetic variations. Such differences are manifested by differences in the therapeutic effects or adverse events of drugs. For most drugs, the genetic variations that potentially characterize drug-responsive patients from non-responders remain unknown.
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In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method for predicting the efficacy in a human asthma patient of leukotriene antagonists including, but not limited to, montelukast (a.k.a., SINGULAIR™; Merck, Whitehouse Station, N.J.), zafirlukast (a.k.a., ACCOLATE™, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Del.), and zileuton (a.k.a., ZYFLO™; Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, Ill.), comprising: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile from the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarity in expression profiles between the sample and reference profiles predicts the efficacy in the human asthmatic patient of leukotriene antagonists.

Many of the cells involved in causing airway inflammation are known to produce signaling molecules within the body called "leukotrienes." Leukotrienes are responsible for causing the contraction of the airway smooth muscle, increasing leakage of fluid from blood vessels in the lung, and further promoting inflammation by attracting other inflammatory cells into the airways. Oral anti-leukotriene medications have been introduced to fight the inflammatory response typical of allergic disease. These drugs are used in the treatment of chronic asthma. Recent data demonstrates that prescribed anti-leukotriene medications can be beneficial for many patients with asthma, however, a significant number of patients do not respond to anti-leukotriene drugs.

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The genes selected are those that have been determined to be differentially expressed in either a disease, drug-responsiveness, or drug-sensitive cell relative to a normal cell and confer power to predict the response to the drug. By comparing tissue samples from patients with these reference expression profiles, the patient's susceptibility to a particular disease, drug-responsiveness, or drug-resistance can be determined.

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7148008-description.html

The inventor's website: Hakon Hakonarson M.D. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

http://stokes.chop.edu/research/profiles/?ID=251

I have been crying for almost 24 hours now. I cannot believe what I am reading and hearing about Singulair. My son has been to hell and back again and again. I cannot say for sure the Singulair is the culprit. But after reading all of the other stories on this website, I am convinced it is a strong possibility.

My son is 11 years old. He has severe allergies and asthma. He takes many, many medications for this including Singulair. He as been on Singulair for about 8 years now (my best guess because he has been on it for sooooo long.)

My son was diagnosed with ADHD in pre-school. He has taken many medications for the ADHD, but none have ever done any good at all. We thought some of the medications even made things worse. Now, I'm not so sure.

After exhausting all the ADHD medications, our pediatrician sent my son to a psychiatrist and a counselor. The psychiatrist put him on 2 different antipsychotic medications. Again, neither one did any good and seemed to make matters worse. The psychiatrist sent my son to a psychologist to be tested for Asperger's. For those of you who don't know Asperger's is a high functioning form of autism. The psychologist ruled out Asperger's by diagnosed ADHD and Anxiety Disorder. He did not prescribe any medication.

For some unknown reason, I've only given my son the Singulair off and on for the last year. My son had the best year in school ever. However, his pediatrician was still not satisfied. He sent him to see another psychiatrist at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. We were told he is believed to have more than one disability. He is believed to have ADHD, Aspergers, Teurettes and a possible 4th medical problem that has not yet come to light.

We are scheduled to see a neurologist at Children's Hospital on the 15th of April to rule out any medical reasons for his tics. We see the psychiatrist again on the 18th of April.

I am so tormented by this recent news. Has all of these problems been caused from him taking the Singulair for so long? Although he has had his best year in school yet, he still has a lot of problems. Are the side effects of the Singulair permanent.

The other side of the coin is this: It is also very scary to watch my son not be able to breath. Asthma can also be life threatening. What is a parent supposed to do.

Also, I now don't know whether to keep these appointments that are coming up. I hate so much to put him through more. He has endured enough doctors and tests to last him a lifetime. However, what if it is not the Singulair and there is help out there for him that I am not aware of.

Please if anyone else has had a similar experiences e-mail me. I would love to hear from you.

God Bless everyone who has been through this kind of hell.

My almost 7 year old son was prescribed Singulair 3 years ago for severe asthma and allergies. It worked great--for a while. No hospitalizations, incidences of bi-lateral mucous plugs and pneumonia decreased, etc. I thought it was a miracle drug for him. This past summer/fall however, the nightmares, sleepless nights, multiple sinus infections, moodiness and mild anxiety, extreme hunger (he can now eat my 6'7" 260 lb. husband under the table and my son only weighs 52 lbs.), thirst, leg pains, reflux and very frequent complaints of stomach aches and nausea, etc. began. He was even admitted to our local Children's hospital in November for a severe upper respiratory infection that affected his asthma and blood oxygen levels and for the first time ever, did not respond to therapy. He was on oxygen for 3 days. Not realizing all this was likely due to Singulair, I took him to his ped. pulmonologist, pediatrician, ped. allergist, a ped. gasteroenterologist, and an ENT. None of our doctors suspected the Singulair--and I still have confidence that they are all good doctors. In December, he had surgery to cauterize the inferior turbinates in his nose and remove his adenoids to try to alleviate the sinus infections. At the same time, we had an upper G.I. series done to see if we could find what was causing all the stomach aches and reflux. The GI doctor found nothing. I am just sick to think that Singulair did all this to him, that we put him through surgery to try and "fix" the symptoms, and doctors and parents didn't know enough about the side effects of this drug to suspect it as a possible culprit!! I called our pulmonologist and pediatrician this morning to report my suspicions and took him off it. I sure hope his symptoms will improve.

I'm 17 and I took Levaquin back in November and still have to use a wheelchair to get around. I ended up having to go to the Mayo clinic because there were so many factors to my case, and we were not getting anywhere with my doctors at children's hospital. i also have mono and west nile virus and so all that viral activity made the reaction so much worse. They discovered Levaquin caused severe tendinitis in each and every tendon, but my hips mainly affected causing them to be extremely fluid-filled. I also have a permanent peripheral neuropathy from it. They discovered an autonomic syndrome called POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) , however that can logically be attributed to either the mono or the reaction.
I go to physical therapy every week now for my hips and my ability to be ambulating well enough to go to college in 6 months is being questioned.

My 15 year old daughter was prescribed this medication for a sinus infection. By the 2nd day she had a headache and by that night she was having nightmares bad enough that she wanted me to watch her fall asleep. She is now paranoid, anxious, she has slept the entire day for the last 5 days and hasn't wanted to leave the house. I left the house and she called me on the phone very paranoid to the point she asked me not to hang up the phone and she kept asking how long until I come home. I was just a few blocks away and she kept telling me to hurry home. I put her in the car with us just to get out of the house then she said she felt sick and threw up. She hasn't held a full conversation in 5 days and says she feels like she's crazy. I called the on-call doctor's hospital and they surprised a doctor prescribed this to a teenager.

Taking Topamax for 2 years started out at 25 mgs 3 times a day for a mood stabalizer (bi-polar). Had tingling in hands and feet sometimes in face. Lost waight, pop tasts nasty, sleepy, short term memory loss, slurred speach. Now I take 100mg at bed time have no symptoms except I still am able to controll my eating (had a problem with over eating) no more road rage but I still felf a little depressed and did cry so I was not to stable until Citalopram 10mg at bedtime and Adderall XL 10mg in the morning was added. Now I finally feel like a totaly normal person. No more anxiety, mood swings, crying, paranoia,or any other weird stuff. I feel pretty good. Rarely I get pins and needles in my hands or feet or I forget where I put something.

My cousins 5 year old daughter had a horrible experience with onmifef. She also had a terrible ear infection for which the antibiotic was prescribed. She woke up on the 10th day swollen from head to toe, terrible rash all over her body, fever, etc. Took her to pediatrician and he immediately sent her to children's hospital. There they were told by 3 different physicians, serum allergy. I cannot believe a physician would prescribe this after I had seen all the comments on this site. This is just horrible and to hear what all these young children have had to suffer just irritates me to no end. Something must be done about this medication!

My seven year old son has been on Lithium for a month. He had Smith-Magnis Syndrome and has severe behavior problems. After only one month of Lithium he is vomiting and has diarrhea. I am calling his pyschriatrist to find out what to do with him. I guess I'll take him to Children's Hospital for a work up.