Allergies/Asthma questions?? (Updated Post 38)

[Aneille]

xx

 

[golfgal]

Well, I would rather my child have drug then be dead . If you are concerned about Singular and the side effects, talk to the doctor, there are other meds they can take that will help. Honestly, this is the first time I have heard about Singular and suicidal thoughts. Treating asthma with only a rescue inhaler is NOT a good idea.

I should add: DS15 was prescribed Nasonex but he couldn't take it because it gave him really bad headaches.

 

[Christine]

Before I give my opinion, I want to state a few "sort of" facts.

Asthma can be pretty sneaky disease. A child, especially, can become so accustomed to living with untreated asthma that they *think* they feel fine when in fact their measurable breathing could be quite poor. You get used to *your* normal. This is where it can get dangerous for kids and adults. You cannot use your daughter's perception of her own breathing. She will likely only know she's not doing well when it gets too far. Your doctor should have given you a little portable peak-flow monitor that you can use to check her breathing at various times a day. You determine what her good, normal level is and then you measure against that at all times.

Second, albuterol is a wonder medication for asthmatics but it is a "rescue" drug. It has it's own side effects, mainly in the stimulant area. You should not feel like this is your best option. Your best option is to do what you can to avoid using the albuterol, even if that means using drugs.

Now--I know everyone is different. I am very, very sensitive to meds so I sympathize with you being wary of trying these meds on your daughter.

Overall, Singulair is very safe and is used my many. Of course, there are listed side effects but they are on every drug, including the albuterol that you seem okay with that. My son has been taking Singulair since he was 6 and he has been okay with it. Most people are okay with it. I did know of some very young children that can get hyper on it but it seems to do fine with older kids (above age 5) and adults. In fact, it controls allergy/asthma symptoms so well for some that they never need another asthma medication. So I would try that for sure.

As for the Nasonex, my son also uses that and no side effects but he can also NOT use it and it doesn't seem to matter.

But your doctor obviously feels that this asthma is allergy induced as most are and if you control the allergies you control the asthma (which can be dangerous).

 

[Arielle22]

My dd (she is 14) takes Singular and has no problems with it. She is also has Advair twice a day and a rescue inhaler. For her allergies she takes Zyrtex.

I would also not treat only with a rescue inhaler. The problem may be that your DD does not recognize what she should feel like so to her any improvement is good but it may not be enough.

If a certain class of meds has bad side effects in your child then I can see not using those. For instance, my DD had a very bad reaction to Ceclor when she was young so no sulpha based drugs for her. However I would try a drug and monitor the child for side effects. You have no way of knowing how it will effect her. Maybe it will help without the side effects.

I understand your love for your dog but you may need to rethink keeping it if it bothers your dd. If you don't want to medicate her for her problems and don't limit her exposure to the allergen (ie dander) then she could be in for some problems.

My DD visits family and friends with pets. Unfortunately she always needs her rescue inhaler after each visit.

 

[Aneille]

I am going to just delete my orginal post.

I can feel where the thread is going already.

Thanks for the help Christine. I also thing I am going to get a second opinion. I am not against drugs if they are needed.

Golfgal -

http://singulair.com/montelukast_sod...umer/index.jsp

Copied from their website above:

"•Side effects vary by age and may include headache, ear infection, sore throat, and upper respiratory infection. Behavior and mood-related changes have been reported, including agitation, aggression or anger, bad or vivid dreams, depression, anxiety, hallucinations (seeing things that are not there), irritability, restlessness, sleepwalking, suicidal thoughts and actions (including suicide), trembling, and trouble sleeping. Tell the doctor if you have, or your child has, these or any other side effects while taking SINGULAIR."

 

[jazzielady]

Be glad your daughter has these medicines. When I was a kid diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma and numerous allergies, I was unable to do anything. These medicines didn't exist. I wasn't allowed to do any kind of sport or activity that might trigger my symptoms. I had to take a special phys. ed. class in school.

My daughter also has the same thing. Takes singulair (for about 5 years now) and is fine.

Many medications have the potential side effect of suicidal thoughts, including anti-depressants. Now isn't that an oxymoron!

 

[golfgal]

I am going to just delete my orginal post.

I can feel where the thread is going already.

Thanks for the help Christine. I also thing I am going to get a second opinion. I am not against drugs if they are needed.

Golfgal -

http://singulair.com/montelukast_sod...umer/index.jsp

Copied from their website above:

"•Side effects vary by age and may include headache, ear infection, sore throat, and upper respiratory infection. Behavior and mood-related changes have been reported, including agitation, aggression or anger, bad or vivid dreams, depression, anxiety, hallucinations (seeing things that are not there), irritability, restlessness, sleepwalking, suicidal thoughts and actions (including suicide), trembling, and trouble sleeping. Tell the doctor if you have, or your child has, these or any other side effects while taking SINGULAIR."

Dig deeper into that information-what percentage of people experienced those side effects during trials? Look at the side effects for albuterol, they aren't much different.

 

[Christine]

For instance, my DD had a very bad reaction to Ceclor when she was young so no sulpha based drugs for her.

Just for your info...Ceclor is part of a class of drugs known as Cephalosporins. Your daughter should not be taking any of those. They are not sulfa based at all. I have a sulfa allergy and cannot take all of those sulfa drugs, but Ceclor is not one of them.

 

[Arielle22]

Just for your info...Ceclor is part of a class of drugs known as Cephalosporins. Your daughter should not be taking any of those. They are not sulfa based at all. I have a sulfa allergy and cannot take all of those sulfa drugs, but Ceclor is not one of them.

Thanks for that information. When she was a year old she took Ceclor for an infection. It was her 2nd time on Ceclor. Her whole body swelled up and became spotted, her extremities turned black. We were camping in NH (spotty cell reception back in 1996) and had to find a local emergency room. Seeing her like that scared me quite a bit.

 

[Christine]

Thanks for that information. When she was a year old she took Ceclor for an infection. It was her 2nd time on Ceclor. Her whole body swelled up and became spotted, her extremities turned black. We were camping in NH (spotty cell reception back in 1996) and had to find a local emergency room. Seeing her like that scared me quite a bit.

I hear ya!

My daughter is allergic to:

Amoxicillan
Augmentin
Ceclor
Pediazole

That pretty much covers most classes of antibiotics. She took Clindamyacin once and did okay. Kind of scary...

 

[Aneille]

Update: I spoke to 2 different people now that did not like the Dr. that my dd saw yesterday. They both recommended the same allergy center. I have made an appointment for a second opinion.

I believe my questions stem a lot from the fact that her doctor did not take the time to explain anything to me and was somewhat evasive about the questions I did manage to ask. He did not explain her results at all. He just said this is what she has and gave me some paperwork and the prepscriptions. I needed to ask what the prescriptions were for and look them up online myself.

There is also a question in my mind about whether she truly has asthma. I am not sure how accurate her test was. She screwed it up many times. And there was some sort of disagreement about one of the plot lines of her test I tried to ask about the severity of her asthma and the dr. got somewhat defensive.

I am sorry I deleted my post but I took offensive to golfgal's comment that I would just let my kid drop dead rather than treat them. I did not want this to turn into a bash thread and was hesitant to post because of that. It seems many medical threads can get ugly.

I am not anti drug but I am drug cautious. She is not going to drop dead in the time it takes me to figure this all out and I am someone that wants and needs a lot of information before a decision is made. She wasn't supposed to be even seen by the allergist until next month but I got a cancellation. It is obviously not an emergency situation.

No one even knew she was having an issue except I noticed a cough here and there at soccer practice. Obviously I care about my child and want her to be healthy.

She does not have any allergy symptoms(runny nose, itchy or watery eyes or sneezing, hives or itchiness) and if it wasn't for the allergy test no one would suspect of her of being allergic to anything.

If she does not have asthma than I feel like she can live with her allergies quite fine as they do not affect her in any harmful way and perhaps taking Claritan or another over the counter drug occasionally will work well if they are bothering her.

If she does have asthma(that is being triggered by the allergies and exercise) than I need to find a doctor that will work with my family in finding a treatment that we find is acceptable.

 

[cepmom]

I didn't see what the original post was but gathered from other posts it was regarding the use of Singulair in kids. My DD has taken Singulair for a number of years without any of the listed side effects. I took her off it last summer as well as the Claritin to see how she could manage outside of allergy season. She did very well all fall and winter but she is back on all meds now (Singuliar, Cliritin and Nasonex)at her Dr's insistance becasue this year the tree pollen is expected to be awful due to all the rain we have had here. The good thing about listing those side effects is it gives you an idea of what to look for, but the bad thing is it does scare the crap out of you as a parent! I'd say if your Dr recommended Singulair to treat your DD's allergies/asthma, then try it and see how it goes. I think the chances are small that there would be any negative side effects. How old is your DD? It's possible depending on her age to talk with her about how she feels while on the medication and to talk to you if anything seems off you know...make her a part of the treatment plan.

 

[OK!]

FWIW, I'm allergic to most things outdoors (grass, trees, weeds, mold, ragweed) and I also don't experience the symptoms that the OP listed above. I do, however, get severe sinus headaches at least every other day throughout the spring and fall (or in summer when someone is mowing a lawn nearby). I'm getting ready to go see my doctor re. a link to my (previously) exercise-induced asthma, as I had a SEVERE reaction during the recent St. Louis half-marathon. I couldn't breathe normally for more than 2 hours and was in agony. Albuterol had no effect whatsoever. The only thing that made any difference was when I finished the race and finally got hold of a can of Diet Pepsi; I was able to breathe nearly pain-free in under 10 minutes after downing the caffeine. Never had a reaction like that before during any of my previous 8 half-marathons, and it scared the hell out of me. I'm praying it was allergy-related; going back on shots seems like a tiny price to pay compared to feeling like that ever again. But that's me.

 

[cepmom]

Update: I spoke to 2 different people now that did not like the Dr. that my dd saw yesterday. They both recommended the same allergy center. I have made an appointment for a second opinion.

I believe my questions stem a lot from the fact that her doctor did not take the time to explain anything to me and was somewhat evasive about the questions I did manage to ask. He did not explain her results at all. He just said this is what she has and gave me some paperwork and the prepscriptions. I needed to ask what the prescriptions were for and look them up online myself.

There is also a question in my mind about whether she truly has asthma. I am not sure how accurate her test was. She screwed it up many times. And there was some sort of disagreement about one of the plot lines of her test I tried to ask about the severity of her asthma and the dr. got somewhat defensive.

I am sorry I deleted my post but I took offensive to golfgal's comment that I would just let my kid drop dead rather than treat them. I did not want this to turn into a bash thread and was hesitant to post because of that. It seems many medical threads can get ugly.

I am not anti drug but I am drug cautious. She is not going to drop dead in the time it takes me to figure this all out and I am someone that wants and needs a lot of information before a decision is made. She wasn't supposed to be even seen by the allergist until next month but I got a cancellation. It is obviously not an emergency situation.

No one even knew she was having an issue except I noticed a cough here and there at soccer practice. Obviously I care about my child and want her to be healthy.

She does not have any allergy symptoms(runny nose, itchy or watery eyes or sneezing, hives or itchiness) and if it wasn't for the allergy test no one would suspect of her of being allergic to anything.

If she does not have asthma than I feel like she can live with her allergies quite fine as they do not affect her in any harmful way and perhaps taking Claritan or another over the counter drug occasionally will work well if they are bothering her.

If she does have asthma(that is being triggered by the allergies and exercise) than I need to find a doctor that will work with my family in finding a treatment that we find is acceptable.

when my DD was first diagnosed with allergies, she never had teh typical seasonal allergy symptoms either. She was about 5 at the time and ahd been having tons of ear infections. Our pediatrician recommended allergy testing. I was shocked to hear she was allergic to tree pollen and cats! She never had teh sneezxing itchy eyes etc, just the persistant ear infections. We treated the allergies and the ear infections went away. Some time later she did start having typical allergy symptoms if she didn't take her meds or if pollen was particularly bad. Just so you know allergies don't always manifest themselves in that way at first.

A little time later, DD had the coughing that woudl not go away and it was during tree pollen season; brought her in to the pediatrician a few times and she told us to go back to the allergust who then dignosed her with allergy indiced asthma. That's when she started the Singulair and we had to get an albuterol rescue inhalor for her. She very rarely has trouble when she takes the daily Singulair; only once I think last year at school when she had to run the mile in gym, she had trouble coughing when it was over. She has never had an "asthma attack" where she needed that rescue inhalor, but we get it for her just in case. In fact, I have to get more now that it's tree pollen season here.

I just noticed you are also in MA; the tree pollen here is going to bad this year. What is your DD allergic to? Are you on the South Shore? I could give you the name of our allergist if you want. He's pretty cut and dry but he's a good Dr.

 

[Aneille]

Thanks everyone telling me there positive experiences being on Singulair.

Since I restarted this: Her doctor said she needed to take Singulair once a day, Nasalex once a day, and her inhaler (albuterol) 15 minutes before she exercies.

Cepmom - I am on the s. shore. Please PM me your daughters doctor if you don't mind. I am getting her second opinion at at S. Shore Allergy.

I absolutely believe she is allergic to dog danger, cat danger, and multiple kinds of dust mites because I saw the reaction on her skin.

They did dog dander, cat dander, cat hair, and 3 types of dust mites under her skin and all reacted.

They did a set of pin prick ones on both forearms probably about 16 on each arm and only cockroach and dust mite had any type of reaction. It was not that noticable of a reaction.

My dd will need to use her inhaler almost everyday. She practices 6 or 7 times a week most of the year. As golfgal pointed out I really don't want her taking the inhaler everyday either.

I really need to find another doctor that will take the time to answer my questions and concerns and really explain to me her diagnosis and the severity of it. And help me find a treatment that I accept. If its Singulair, nasalex and the inhaler so be it but the dr. needs to explain it to me and also it would be nice if they could give me some alternatives to that.

 

[vettechick99]

For the cat and dog dander, ask your doctor for some spray you put on your animals. It does something like neutralizes? Anyway, I got that from my DDs allergist, as well as a carpet spray for the dust mites. You spray, let it set, and then vacuum. Do it once a month or every 45 days. Good luck!

 

[Christine]

I really need to find another doctor that will take the time to answer my questions and concerns and really explain to me her diagnosis and the severity of it. And help me find a treatment that I accept. If its Singulair, nasalex and the inhaler so be it but the dr. needs to explain it to me and also it would be nice if they could give me some alternatives to that.

By all means, if you are unhappy with this doctor then you should find one that you are comfortable with.

I will say that asthma care is pretty darned standard and the regime you posted above is very, very indicative of any child with allergies and/or asthma would be put on. There are very few, if any, alternatives. One thing you might consider (which I've tried and will try again) is immunotherapy (allergy shots). My son's doctor believes it will relieve the need for some of his meds. However, it will take a least a year of that to see any results.

 

[golfgal]

For the cat and dog dander, ask your doctor for some spray you put on your animals. It does something like neutralizes? Anyway, I got that from my DDs allergist, as well as a carpet spray for the dust mites. You spray, let it set, and then vacuum. Do it once a month or every 45 days. Good luck!

Ok, this is a totally serious question, will the dog dander spray work on a DOG that has allergies? Our dog has the worst allergies in the house. She is just miserable. We give her benedryl, fish oil, use a steroid spray as needed for the itching, bath her with medicated shampoo and conditioner and she STILL has bad symptoms.

 

[golfgal]

Update: I spoke to 2 different people now that did not like the Dr. that my dd saw yesterday. They both recommended the same allergy center. I have made an appointment for a second opinion.

I believe my questions stem a lot from the fact that her doctor did not take the time to explain anything to me and was somewhat evasive about the questions I did manage to ask. He did not explain her results at all. He just said this is what she has and gave me some paperwork and the prepscriptions. I needed to ask what the prescriptions were for and look them up online myself.

There is also a question in my mind about whether she truly has asthma. I am not sure how accurate her test was. She screwed it up many times. And there was some sort of disagreement about one of the plot lines of her test I tried to ask about the severity of her asthma and the dr. got somewhat defensive.

I am sorry I deleted my post but I took offensive to golfgal's comment that I would just let my kid drop dead rather than treat them. I did not want this to turn into a bash thread and was hesitant to post because of that. It seems many medical threads can get ugly.

I am not anti drug but I am drug cautious. She is not going to drop dead in the time it takes me to figure this all out and I am someone that wants and needs a lot of information before a decision is made. She wasn't supposed to be even seen by the allergist until next month but I got a cancellation. It is obviously not an emergency situation.

No one even knew she was having an issue except I noticed a cough here and there at soccer practice. Obviously I care about my child and want her to be healthy.

She does not have any allergy symptoms(runny nose, itchy or watery eyes or sneezing, hives or itchiness) and if it wasn't for the allergy test no one would suspect of her of being allergic to anything.

If she does not have asthma than I feel like she can live with her allergies quite fine as they do not affect her in any harmful way and perhaps taking Claritan or another over the counter drug occasionally will work well if they are bothering her.

If she does have asthma(that is being triggered by the allergies and exercise) than I need to find a doctor that will work with my family in finding a treatment that we find is acceptable.

Well I am sorry you took offense but your first post basically said that you didn't want her on medications and had you put information in there that you were not comfortable with the doctor and were questioning the results that would have been an entirely different story and response but your first post as it was indicated that you did not like your DD on medications and that was it.

 

[Arielle22]

Thanks everyone telling me there positive experiences being on Singulair.

Since I restarted this: Her doctor said she needed to take Singulair once a day, Nasalex once a day, and her inhaler (albuterol) 15 minutes before she exercies.

Cepmom - I am on the s. shore. Please PM me your daughters doctor if you don't mind. I am getting her second opinion at at S. Shore Allergy.

I absolutely believe she is allergic to dog danger, cat danger, and multiple kinds of dust mites because I saw the reaction on her skin.

They did dog dander, cat dander, cat hair, and 3 types of dust mites under her skin and all reacted.

They did a set of pin prick ones on both forearms probably about 16 on each arm and only cockroach and dust mite had any type of reaction. It was not that noticable of a reaction.

My dd will need to use her inhaler almost everyday. She practices 6 or 7 times a week most of the year. As golfgal pointed out I really don't want her taking the inhaler everyday either.

I really need to find another doctor that will take the time to answer my questions and concerns and really explain to me her diagnosis and the severity of it. And help me find a treatment that I accept. If its Singulair, nasalex and the inhaler so be it but the dr. needs to explain it to me and also it would be nice if they could give me some alternatives to that.

DD's dr told her that a rescue inhaler was not for everyday use. That if she was using it every day it meant that her other meds needed to be adjusted. My dd started softball 6 weeks ago and that was when she had her meds changed.

Also keep in mind your insurance coverage when you are choosing the meds. You should review how much each co-pay is and if the drug is covered. My dd's dr had to change her med when our insurance wouldn't cover the first one.