Younger son symptoms and conditions

My eldest son was diagnosed as a Severe Asthmatic at the age of 3. He was put on Flovent 110, 5mg of Zyrtec and Singulair. I cried thinking about my little guy having to be on daily meds for who knows how long. I decided that I would just try the Zyrtec and Flovent 110, it worked wonderfully. When my eldest was 4, my other son, 2, was put on Flovent 44. Never gave them to my youngest because I knew it was not asthma. I ended up lowering my eldest's dose to the 44 and giving him 1 puff a day with the Zyrtec, he is now 7 and is still under control. As for my younger son, he was not asthmatic, he had sleep apnea, had his tonsils and adenoids removed and is now perfect. Just be careful with these doctors, they seem to diagnose these little ones too quickly......most of the time they are not even right. My eldest went through many many doctors before he was finally diagnosed in the ER and sent to peds for 2 weeks. My youngest went through many doctors too, none would do anything, I had so many excuses as to why my son was such a heavy breather and why he had difficulty swallowing and sleeping. Sorry guys, I ran off here, just want you guys to know that all that are diagnosed with asthma do not necessarily have asthma and I believe way too many drugs are prescribed for these little ones.

My experience with Mirena has been awful. I had it inserted a little over a year ago (2 months after the birth of my younger son). Since then I had cramping ALL the time, significant hair loss, periods every three weeks, then every two, then every week and a half. They only last three days on average, but I go through a heavy tampon an hour. I lost a lot of weight while on Mirena, but I don't know if that can be attributed to it-just diet and exercise. I had severe bloating, depression and mood swings, complete lack of sex drive (very much unlike me), here's the kicker. When I went to get it out (last week), they couldn't find it. So after 3 ultrasounds, 2 xrays, and a CT scan, they found it. It's perforated my uterus and is floating around in my abdomen. The evil thing has gone rogue!!! I'm scheduled for a laproscopic surgery next week to find the damn thing, followed by a more in-depth surgery to remove the evil.

If you're thinking about getting it---DON'T!!!

Our son has a non-allergic rash to penicillin at age 1, so he was put on zithromax to cure his bronchitis. Since then, he's had no antibiotics. Until last week, at age 6-and-a-half, when the doctor diagnosed an ear infection. He's been on Omnicef for a week, and has been very irritable! Flies off the handle at any moment, growls at his siblings... he has just generally lost the ability to "deal" with things. Our younger son has been on Omnicef twice for ear infections, and has had NO adverse reactions to it, other than some very loose stool, which is almost expected. I guess it works differently for each person!

I have 2 sons with asthma that have both been taken singulair (the oldest for 3 years & his brother for 2). My younger son's asthma got alot better since he was diagnosed & he was recently taken off Singulair thanks also to my husband hearing a report about the moodiness caused. When he was on it he would cry for no reason, get very irrational & seemed to think the world was against him. In just 2 weeks he is happy & cheerful and has told me he thinks it is due to being off singulair. His older brother's asthma has gotten worse over the years & I'm concerned about taking him off but he too has crazy moods. Just tonight he started a new soccer team & got crazy & suddenly didn't even want to participate in something he loves (wanted me to let him quit right then) until we argued enough he reluctantly participated. He then came home complained of a headache (which is also way too frequent) and now has been asleep for hours. Are there any alternatives to this drug? I'm a stressed out mom that doesn't deal well with these mood swings. He is normally a social butterfly & a sweet kid but lately seems more withdrawn, more irritable (especially tonight) & complaining about leg cramps in addition to these frequent headaches. I can't deal with too many more of these evenings & wonder if all these things are possible side effects. I'm glad to see my other son doing well but miss his normally sweet brother! Even his siblings think he is acting crazy :(

After reading the other posts, I was flabbergasted at the side effects posted. My sons 8 and 10 have been on this medication for two plus years after seeing a specialist for asthma and allergies. During that time, my younger son was sent to "family therapy" for behavioral problems at school. Bedwetting and nightmares began for both boys, as well as stomach aches and a huge weight increase. They are both active and in sports. Upon reading this information on your post, I was floored when I read another child said "My brain makes me do it". My youngest son says that all the time in response to bad behavior and I never understood why he would say such a thing. After talking to him and explaining that I was taking him off the meds immediately, my older son overheard the conversation and said he wanted to go off them as well right away. He explained he's been sad since taking them and didn't know why as there is nothing to be sad about. We are a close knit family who spends all their time together. Singulair has helped my oldest son's asthma, but I'm so upset at the other side effects and not having this information from the FDA. I've spend thousands of dollars in family therapy only to find out it's the drug my physican prescribes that causes the problem. Do not take Singulair!

Our doctor started two of my children (one diagnosed ADHD the other ADD) on Adderall after watching both of them struggle at school for a couple of years. The older one was held back for lack of attentiveness and disorganization (diagnosed ADD). He was 14 at the time. My younger son was 9 and was not only inattentive but terribly disruptive at school.

Upon taking Adderall the younger son calmed down noticeably (20mg of Adderall XR). It was absolutely amazing. The teacher noticed immediately that this restless boy who would ask the same question over and over without listening to the answer was suddenly attentive and well-mannered. The side-effects are concerning however. This child is naturally thin and not a terribly good eater. His eating diminished and I took to forcing him to drink an Ensure every day. He also was not sleeping as well. I noticed that the side-effects passed after the first couple of weeks. I refrain from giving him the Adderall on weekends and days off, as I am worried about addiction and long-term addiction. He has now gone all summer without any - but there are days that his ADHD is especially frustrating (for everyone around him - and him too. I will see his face fall when he has annoyed someone and he gets barked at for bothering others) and I wonder if I should have continued so as not to shock his system again when school starts in the fall.

The older child takes the Adderall very rarely now. When he knows he will have a big test at school or feels "out of it" he will take one...but seems to have learned to deal with the ADD problem a bit better naturally. He is not a straight A student - even though I know he has the potential to be one. I feel that for him it is optional and at present, he dislikes the feeling he has on it - so chooses not to take it.

I can only hope that the decisions that we've made are the right ones. I have read a lot of posts here about not giving this to children. We have tried other methods, but nothing else seems to work. One person here mentioned focusing for 10 minutes a day on something and giving the child more attention. Sounds like a good plan, but in action nearly impossible. This child's attention span is almost non-existant at times. He cannot focus on the activity at hand and interupts constantly. He will ask a question and when I respond he will ask the same question over and over. I can tell him something 10 times and it doesn't seem to "sink in" to his brain. When he takes the Adderall he is focused and attentive and I will only need to tell him something once in order for him to understand.