Tonsil symptoms and conditions

I'm so glad I found this! I thought I was going mad for a while there. Background: I'm a 34 yr old female. Diagnosed w/ asthma at 12, but they suspect I had it before that. Used only Ventolin for a long time. Five years ago, right around the time I had my second child, my symptoms (and allergies) seemed to get much worse. We moved around that time, to a house with a HUGE Chinese elm in the backyard (which I now know I'm allergic to) and right next to a main freeway. Around this time, Dr. prescribed Advair 250/50 when he realized I was using Ventolin up to 6 & 7 times/ day. The first year, I actually felt so much better (I could BREATHE!!) that I think I wouldn't have noticed any side affects. Year two I had MAJOR hair thinning. Dr said "age and hormones". Following 3 years on it: Almost constant nasal congestion (despite always being on a decongestant), sinus infection, tonsil infections, laryngitis, TWO bouts of pneumonia in 3 years. Around the year mark on it, I did experience the depression and anxiety, however, I had had the "baby blues" with my first child and just thought it was a more severe version of that. Now, I feel CONSTANTLY "run down" and almost always have some low-grade infection (yeast, UTI, sinus, bronchitis...etc.), am always hoarse and am just waiting for another round of pneumonia. I also get dizzy A LOT. I am in the second day of a cold turkey quit and am looking for alternative diet/exercise therapies. Good Luck to everyone!

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 got a large dose. I think 120 mg. in a shot. I had strep throat and had severe tonsil swelling and the uvula was enlarged at least three times the normal size. I'm concerned now as to what to do next. I have a prescription for a week where I wean down the dose to I believe, 80 mg for three days, then to 40 for three or two days (I'm not sure cause I didn't get the prescription picked up yet. I just am remembering what the doctor said. ) I'm so concerned that it'll mess me up! The dosage continues to one pill for so many days and then to a half. The swelling has subsided substantially, and it really helped. I don't have any other symptoms as yet. Maybe a sour stomach. I'm afraid of the symptoms and any weight gain.

Concerned citizen!!!
Just had to share the news! 3 months after stopping singulair and taking omega 3 (for last 3 months) has resulted in my 6yrs olds cholesterol going down from 236 to 202! Absolutely no diet change, in fact he has been eating worse due to throat condition/tonsils. Makes me go HMMMMM!!!

PRAISE GOD for all of the stories shared on this site. And I've only read page one. My husband called me back today to say that he "googled" Singulair and found some interesting things (to say the least). While we were on the phone, my three-year-old was in the throes of another meltdown, kicking me, hitting me, throwing whatever he could get his hands on. My older two boys, 8 and 12, were ordered, once again, to lock themselves in their rooms to avoid being hurt by him. He will throw stuff, bite, hit, kick, and, at times, spit on us. This disturbing behavior is rather constant lately. He is like a mad man. Very scary.

Caleb has been on Singulair since about age 1, when he was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis. Unfortunately, we initially equated his rages with the onset of "terrible two's" and dismissed his behavior to a chorus of "oh, he's just a boy!" My husband felt, at times, that I was just not disciplining him properly. I intuitively knew, having raised two other boys, that this behavior was abnormal, even for severe tantrums. We received a variety of suggestions from his pediatrician, caregivers, and grandparents, all to no avail. We have several calm days but things always deteriorate back to insanity. He is VERY unpredictable.

Last Thanksgiving, Caleb (age 3) was kicked out of his daycare setting for biting and hitting. Once I witnessed him run as fast as he could into a group of playing children, falling on them, kicking them. He would walk up to sweet little girls half his size and push them down as hard as he could. It was a nightmare. My husband had to take 3 weeks of leave to stay home with him while we prayed and searched for new care. We had him evaluated and he was staffed into the "developmentally delayed" program in our school district (for poor adaptive skills and personal/social behaviors). We recently had his tonsils removed, hoping that some of the sinusitis symptoms and behaviors would improve. They really haven't. This past week we have been looking into the Feingold diet. We have been PRAYING for answers. The last time we spoke with his developmental neurologist, he recommended a trial of Risperdol (sp?). We feel like more meds would be like a band-aid, not a solution. But his rage is becoming unbearable.

So, that brings us to today. I was so moved by your accounts. Unlike so many of you, we don't have much of a "before" to go by. But his "after" sounds VERY much like what you have all described. It's probably the pure rage that I see on his face that is the scariest part. And at the same time he seems desperate and vulnerable. He truly seems to snap. If we had pool chairs, I can just picture him throwing them (citing another post :).

We are going to throw the Singulair away. He will never, ever have it again. Even if this isn't the cause of his problems, I certainly don't want to exacerbate any behaviors with this toxic medicine. I will post again just to let anyone who's interested know if this changes his behavior. I am praying that my entry will help someone else, just as all the other postings have helped me. I have renewed hope.

I have copied many of your comments to a Word document. I will be sharing it with a high ranking officer at the medical clinic/hospital on Keesler Air Force Base. I hope that he will discuss this with his staff and that perhaps we can at least make a difference here. I, too, will be filing a report with the FDA. I can only pray that this medicine has not permanently altered his developing brain.

WOW!!! I am glad I came across this website. I have twin boys that will be 7 this month. One has been on Singulair for about 3 years for allergy induced asthma and my other son has been on it for 9 months for allergies. I am taking them both off of it today. The son that is taking the medicine for 3 years has become increasingly angry and gets upset over small things. Over Memorial weekend, he lost a game he was playing on the wii and exploded. He was banging his head and then started to hit me. NEVER in my life have I seen him attack anyone. A few days later he threw rocks at his friend because he wanted the wagon. Over the past 3 years I have noticed some change in him and just took it as growing pains. He has always been a strong will child. However, over the past 3 years he has gotten worse and since he has physically attacked me and his friend, I have decided to send him to counseling. Now I firmly believe it is the Singulair.

My other son has been on it since August. He started to have anxiety within a month of taking it. His behavior has been stressed, depressed and not wanting to play with other kids. He was biting his nails to a nub, licking his hands, not talking to anyone at school and rubbing his head. I have also noticed he does like to look at the person he is talking too. Of course I thought the worse and thought he was being molested. I went to his Teacher and she has worked very hard with him, but he is still a loner. If you knew him before, he played with everyone and enjoyed life. I was told by his Ped. that he had anxiety and to have him see a shrink.

I am hoping that after taking them both off this medicine, I will see improvement.

Wierd. I have taken Bactrim before and had no incicent - that I can recall. Well, today I was diagnosed with Bladder infection - took 1st dose of bactrim and about twenty minutes later (as i'm walking into a restaurant), everything starts going haywire. First wicked itching, flushing of the skin - then eyes turn BLOOD red, face swells, tongue starts feeling fat and hurts - heart is pounding. I freak out - and throw some money on the table for a glass of tea - that I didn't drink - Husband rushes me back to clinic - as we both think I am having aniphilactic reaction. Terrified. Never experienced anything like it - my face swole up on the way - horrible. Wanted to scratch my skin off. Palms of hands, feet everything feels like its "asleep" and has needle like sensations. They ask if my airway is tightening (!) not yet? They give me a "steroid" shot (generic term I guess), and a Zyrtec. I start calming down on the way home - itching subsides and then chest pains begin - now I think i'm having a heart attack. I don't know if the trembling is from Bactrim or terror. I crawl into bed and start bawling - cuz I feel like I almost died. It scared the shit out of me. Husband paces and wrings hands. Now, hours later - I have sweats, fatigue (dramatic day), and heartrate is still elevated. Left tonsil hurts when I swallow. Yikes.

I was prescribed Sulfameth/Trimethoprim 800/160 Tabs a little over a year ago for acne. Not long afterwards started getting bad headaches and dizziness spells, occasionally strong enough to cause vomiting and be temporarily debilitating, resembling vertigo-like symptoms. Began having very vivid dreams/nightmares and waking up exhausted from not getting any rest because of it. Then I started having major post-nasal drip and getting bad sinus/throat infections, a few of which were positively diagnosed as strep. One of the throat infections was bad enough to cause an abscess on my left tonsil which ruptured, causing me to have to go to the ER and get 5 stiches in my throat. At 3 am. Throughout this entire time I kept asking my doctors (dermatologist AND primary physician) if this drug could be causing any of this, they told me basically that it was impossible and even the suggestion of such a thing was ridiculous. I finally took it upon myself and discontinued the use of the drug when I started getting yet another sinus infection, and it cleared up on its own within a day or two, at which time I went back on the meds just for argument's sake if nothing else. Of course, the same symptoms eventually returned and I again stopped taking the meds, and again everything cleared right up. I repeated this process probably 4 or 5 times just to verify and every time was pretty much the exact same sequence of events. I began taking 1/2 the original dosage by breaking the big horse tabs in half and have been doing so ever since with no probs but great results as far as no acne.

Sorry for the long post but felt this could help a lot of people out there with similar situations. The moral of the story? Never doubt yourself and NEVER completely trust your doctors- they are just tools of the drug industry.

I started lisinopril 5mg 7 months ago. Before that I tried Hctz to control my BP. At about the same time I thought I was having trouble with my tonsils (it was a tickle in the throat). I did have a lesion of some sort on a tonsil, the ENT didnt think it was a problem, but I continued to have this choking feeling and cough. So we tried antibiotics which did nothing. After so long I opted to have my tonsils out in Sep '04. No one brought up to me there are side effects on lisinipril like a cough, except a new Pharmacist that I work with. So here I am, hoping to get off this stuff, by doing some exercising, and cutting out salt.....The tonsilectomy was horrible.....(Im 39) and I sure home this feeling in my throat stops!! OH....I also have a lost of taste!! I want to swallow again without this feeling!!! Pray for me.
Connie