Stuffy head symptoms and conditions

I am 39 years old and very active. I have been on Singulair for about 2 years now. I did not think I had any problems while on the medication because it did help my breathing. I am now on an antidepressant (Lexapro)which I began about a year after I began the singulair. My depression however started almost a year before I actually got on the Lexapro. I had alot going on in my life so I just equated my depression to that. However I am realizing now that maybe the singulair triggered my depression. I ran out of singulair two days ago and am experiencing withdrawal symptoms, extreme tiredness, stuffy head, and I had heart palpitations last night, which I have never had. The withdrawal symptoms are why I began researching the medication because I couldn't understand how being off of it for such a short time could cause such an effect. I was on Singulair once before about 6 years ago before I retired from the military while I was at Ft Hood before I deployed to Iraq. By the time I left Iraq I was on multiple medications, Singulair, Claritin, Advair, Emergency Inhaler, When I arrived in Iraq I became ill and listed my medications. They were in shock and took me off everything except Claritin and I was fine. It wasn't until I returned home I began the Singulair again. (Why? I guess I never equated it to causing my other issues until now), I am also taking Zyzal and Lexapro. I see now that every time I take the Singulair it leads to additional medications to other things. I am going to stay off of it and hopefully be able to wean myself off of the Lexapro as a result. Unfortunately I probably will still need to take an allergy medicine. Thanks everyone for posting this useful information. I have two kids 6yrs and 12yrs and I know now that they will never take this medication. They have allergies like me so it is very probable that eventually it would have been mentioned. The allergist/asthma doctor is adamant the 12 year old has asthma but I never gave him the advair that he wanted him to take because I did have side effects from that medication that I did recognize myself and my son is the fastest runner on his select soccer team and extremely athletic without it, no emergency inhaler needed or anything.

I just started Singulair 10 days ago and 3 days after I started I developed what I thought was a massive head cold. Pains at the base of my neck, followed by a stuffy head, sore throat, and a nasty cough. This dry, never-ending cough keeps me up at night. It takes over an hour to go to bed even after taking Nyquil and last night I even tried Rx cough syrup w/codeine, still over an hour to get to sleep. I cough to the point of gagging and sweating. This has been happening since last Monday and it's so embarrassing at work. I know people are afraid they are going to catch my "cold" If it were a cold, I would think I would be getting better by now, not worse. This morning I felt so bad that I decided to search the internet and found this post. I beginning to think it's the Singulair. I'm going to the doctor and then depending on what he says, I may try quitting the Singulair. I am miserable. I was reading the other posts and was amazed at the symptoms I've had but had not connected to Singulair yet. I had a vivid, scary dream last night and I don't usually dream much, but this was very real. I also had noticed lately that I keep thinking I see someone coming or passing by out of the corner of my eye, and I read someone's post that referred to shadows in your peripheral and I was shocked! This is exactly what I've been seeing. I would have never blamed it on the drug. I will see how things go once I quit taking it. This is unbelievable!

I get HEADACHES that don't go away. I know this a listed side-efect, but I was given this inhaler the last time I got Bronchitis. The name Albuterol was in the name of the inhaler so I assumed it was like other inhalers I was given when I would get bad Bronchitis (turns out it was Albuteral Sulfate HFA). The Bronchitis I get, happens at least once every 2 years and on down years mabe twice a year or twice every 15 months. I don't smoke, rarely drink, have no medical conditions (including Asthma), and I'm in the fitness industry, so I'm in great shape, eat a damn good diet, etc.. But nothing can overcome, either bad luck or bad genes or certain physical weaknesses. Not sure which it is that makes me so susceptible to Bronchitis, but I have to deal with it quite often it seems. It happens the same way each time - Beginning with a sore throat & stuffy head (no headache just horribly stuffed up) then after 3-5 days the sore thoat goes away and it moves down into my chest to a cough, then in about 48hrs it turns into full-blown Bronchitis where I can't breathe w/o wheezing and eventually coughing - nights are the worst.
So I go to my doctor and am prescribed antibiotics, sometimes narcotic cough syrup (yum) and an inhaler. It was ALWAYS just Albuterol in th past ( I know it was different because there was no 'Sulfate' or 'HFA' in the name and the inhaler looked different (color, length, even the horrible aftertaste it gave - but I knew it worked). With this Albuterol Sulfate HFA inhaler, yes it has a different color, packaging, length etc.. and all together which I would chalk up to no big deal (I'm not a M.D. or Pharmacist, so maybe it's a different company making the same medication). But the addition of 'Sulfate on the end of the name and the missing horrible aftertaste (which I miss only because the previous Albuterol inhalers I recieved worked great and I felt better in hours despite the wretched taste), let me suspect I was given a new inhaler medication. Well I got all better in about 5 days (about 3 more than t usually takes me) and it turns out I was given a different medication because the government seems to think my previous inhaler was for only those with certain medical conditions, was often abused(? news to me, why would somne abuse something that tastes so bad - I guess it got them feeling high - I don't know or care to),
Anyway, this inhaler was also responsible for TERRIBLE HEADACHES ( and I was already sick with a sever cough, congestion, a little fever, sore throat, and lots of yellowish mucus(sorry for the description),. I sure as hell didn't need a horrible headache to follow that, and these would only appear after I used the inhaler (it took me a couple days to figure this out), and they'sd stick around for about 12 hrs. I didn't want to take anymore advil or tylenol than I already was considering the rest of the medicine I was already taking.
So apparently my M.D. could've prescribed me the old Albuterol (I think), but for some reason the government put restrictins on it's distribution, either that or he was very scared to prescribe it. And this was coming from a M.D. who at the same time prescribed 300ml of Vicodin Tuss cough syrup. I know the horror stories of Vicodin, and I didn't even come close to sing all that cough syrup.
I just can't help but wonder why the previous Albuterol inhaler that helped so well over the years suddenly has a problem with the AMA or DEA or one of those agencies. This was the same type of inaler that worked well for my Bronchitis - and I'm sure thousands of other patients - over the past several years.) Again, I usually get it once a year, and go to the same M.D. who prescribes me the same Antibiotic, Cough syrup, and inhaler).
Whatever the case, I plan on politely asking my M.D. the next time I'm in there, but I've read quite a bit about Albuterol's sudden problems with dispensing now that this SulfateHFA has come along.
Well... WARNING: It will give you HORRIBLE HEADACHES and according to the post above me, it might even give you BRONCHITIS!!! The same stuff I was prescibed it to get rid of. This is just a microchosim of a microchosim of what is wrong with our government - in particular the Health Care industry. Find something that works.... might as well get rid of it, because a few bad apples are spoiling the bunch.
Imagine what would happen if they stopped using Morphine or Morphine derivitive pankillers just because there is a huge segment of this country's society abusing them? Don't get me wrong, painkiler abuse has become an epidemic in this country and a cousn of mine blew his head off after getting hooked to Oxycontin after severe back surgery, and when the Dr. wouldn't give him anymore for his pain, he went to the streets - a few months later he committed suicide and left behind a wife a baby boy. All due to getting what the Dr's and specialists told him was surgery ( he was a farmer and manual labor, including bending over, was something he did for years - but he had a wife and family to support)on his lower back that was absolutely necessary, and he was told it would give him a pain free life from then on and he could return to work. So I understand when companies are scared of drug abuse, or use for other than what wa intended. And for the record I'm so happy Oxycontin got their pants sued off for millions of dollars(and on a side note Rudy Guiliani, who wants to be outr next President, lobbyed on behalf of Purdue Pharma (makes of Oxycontin) for lenancy before the criminal sentance came down. And that supposed 'Great Leader' Guliani, knew full well of the misleading info that Purdue gave to Doctors about Oxycontn being a 'safe alternative' to addictive painkillers, and he knew how Purdue spent millions promoting Oxycontn's 'almost non-existant potential for abuse,' even after all these overdoses, addictions, and suicides that have been blamed on the drug. Yet due to his stake in the stock and his close position with Purdue's CEOs, even after everything, after Oxy's horror stories and addiction potential was fully known, and after thousands have either died or become addicted to this drug, and even after Purdue Pharma was found GUILTY in a Criminal Caseof misleading the Public(including Doctors) in the abusive potential of what has become one of the most abused drug in decades, Oxycontin, Rudy Guliani still got up in front of a judge in court to ask for leniency in his punishment of Purdue Pharma.
But is Albuterol Oxycontin - I don't think so.
If you are prescibes Albuterol Sulfate HFA - ask for something else, the side effects can hurt an already bad situation and there is already a different inhaler out there with Albuterol that works like a charm. And it certainly isn't addictive as a dirivite of morphine and heroin - like Oxycontin.

I took Neo 12 hour twice in the prescribed 24 hour period. I noticed the next morning that my heart rate was elevated upon rising, and while taking a shower, noticed that I was having lots of palpitations or "skipped beats" followed by a refreshing feeling...you know, the feeling you get after you hold your breath for a minute and then let it out and take a deep breath. I didn't think the episode was due to the Neo 12 hour, but changed to the Neo 4 hour because I wanted the stuffy head/nose to clear up sooner than 12 hours. I wanted to know if the Neo could interact with Sudafed or not, and if so, could it cause this problem to be worse than just one of these meds by itself?

I have been taking Levall for 3 days and have had no major side effects, I tink when i go to sleep I am not sleeping as long, I wake after a few hours. They are working great with the stuffy head and conjestion.