side affects of asthma meds (inhaled steroids)?

[Anonymous]

16MO DS keeps ending up with respiratory issues every time he gets a cold (frequently, due to preschooler older brother). The pediatrician started us on a daily dose of steroids as a preventive measure, but he got sick again and we saw a specialist, who put him on a much higher daily dose. His sleeping has sucked lately. Related? Oral steroids (prednisone) have definitely messed up his sleeping, but inhaled ones dont absorb into the bloodstream as much, so at least with the lower doses we never had this problem. I'm wondering if the dose is so high it is affecting his sleep, or if something else is going on that we haven't figured out yet, like more teeth (although he has all his 1y molars). Anyway, looking for others with experience with these meds.

[Anonymous]

Hard to say with a 16 mo, but I will say that albuterol makes my 6yo hyper to the point where we've switched her to xopenex. I'd definitely consider it as a possible cause if you feel it's too much of a coincidence.

[Anonymous]

NHLBI just came out with a Quick Reference Guide that I think is available as a PDF online. There might be some useful info there. Try googling NHLBI, asthma, NACI, and Quick Reference Guide.

[Anonymous]

My almost three year old started waking up 2-3 times a night screaming when we were using albuterol heavily. It could have been that he was still sick, although since he didn't seem sick during the day, I'm blaming the albuterol.

[Anonymous]

21:50- albuterol is a broncial dialator not a steroid and yes it can amp you up. Pulmicort is the steroid and I have not noticed any side effects with my two. Our dosage is .5mg/2ml 2x daily. We have been doing it at that level during cold and flu season since they were 9 months old. Doesn't hurt to ask your ped, although I don't know of any other alternative.

[Anonymous]

albuterol is not an oral steroid. those are different drugs. albuterol definitely is a stimulant, although my son seemed to adapt to it after awhile. at first, he was wired if he took albuterol. when he was on oral steroids they did not have that effect on him, i don't think they usually do.

as he got older he no longer needed these drugs, relief not to give them to him but they definitely helped, especially the daily oral steroid.

[Anonymous]

My toddler was on a several day prescription of oral prednisone for a medical issue.

By the end of the cycle, we was out of control. An absolute monster, alternating between rage and wildness. For example, we were out shopping, and he decided he wanted to go to the Toys R Us on the other side of a major road. The fist time I responded with "no, not right now" he started screaming in a deep angry voice "I said I want to go to Toys R US!! Take me there now!" kicking, yelling and trying to hit me. If he wasn't strapped in a stroller he probably would have tried to run to the store.

This is my happy go lucky, sunshine child. I am sure we were quite the sight.

It was not pretty having him on that medicine.

[Anonymous]

Advair affected my DS sleep...pulm said it was very uncommon and tried to blame other factors but after months of trial and error it was def the advair!

[Anonymous]

My children and myself are on flovent, and it causes a few behavorial changes at first, but then they seem to calm down and adapt. Also, at first, I notice a bit more trouble falling asleep at night. But then too, they seem to adapt, and after awhile it is ok again. For me, I don't notice any difference.

[Anonymous]

My DS(7) has been on inhaled steriods his whole life for various allergic conditions. No side effects from the inhaled steroids as of yet (knock on wood). Terrible side effects from oral prednisone and Albuterol.

[Anonymous]

"Roid rage" in a 9 mo old is not pretty. My sunshine baby turned into a monster. Pulmicort/ albutrol mix in a nebulizer. Stopped that shit and found another doctor who prescribed singulair granules and xyzal. This was for minor asthma. He is still on it but no problems and he is five now!

[Anonymous]

I agree that behavioral side effects are much more common from albuterol and other bronchodilators, and from oral steroids than they are from inhaled steroids. I'd bet that neither the kid who reacted to Advair (which contains both a steroid and a bronchodilator) or the pulmicort/albuterol mix was reacting to the steroid.

If your kid is only on the inhaled steroid, and you're seeing the side effect of lack of sleep, I'd check with your pulmo/allergist. The other thing to think about is whether he's having more energy because he's feeling better, and has more energy. I know my kid, presteroids, slept a lot. If you watched how much he used his chest and stomach muscles to breathe it wasn't really surprising that he got tired.

[Anonymous]

Inhaled steroids can inhibit growth, so watch out for that if your child is on them long-term.

Our child had trouble with awful nightmares/night terrors when he used Singulair. Our pulmonologist said that it can have psychological effects on some people. We stopped the Singulair, and the nightmares went away within a few days. In a way, it was too bad, because the Singulair was very effective for my son's asthma, and our only other option was Pulmicort for maintenance.

Albuterol is quite the stimulant. We only use it when our son is quite sick and needs it to keep breathing, but it always makes him shaky and restless. And it seems to be a diuretic, too: lots of peeing! But he wouldn't be alive without it, so I'm grateful.

Thankfully, asthma seems to get easier to manage as kids get older/bigger.

[Anonymous]

Hi, OP, in my experience with a child who had asthma problems since birth (almost always triggered by colds), if your kid is having a severely hard time breathing -- that is when they give you the liquid/pill prednisone, and it isn't long term. do they only have you on it for a few more days? If so, I would stick with it. They tend to do the job quickly.

Do you have a nebulizer? That helps to get the medicine deeper too, when the airways are so constricted that a regular inhaler with a spacer doesn't do anything.

I hope you keep up with the specialist afterward to make sure the asthma gets under control as much as possible. We've had great experiences with the Institute for Allergy & Asthma (locations in Wheaton & Friendship Heights).

There is definitely some weighing to be done between the potential or actual side effects of a drug v. the need to make sure your kid can breathe. I understand that studies show that kids who grew up taking preventive inhaled steroids ended up being a half inch shorter than their peers... that's a little concerning, but more concerning to me is when my kid is having an asthma attack daily and needing albuterol on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, OP, in my experience with a child who had asthma problems since birth (almost always triggered by colds), if your kid is having a severely hard time breathing -- that is when they give you the liquid/pill prednisone, and it isn't long term. do they only have you on it for a few more days? If so, I would stick with it. They tend to do the job quickly.

Do you have a nebulizer? That helps to get the medicine deeper too, when the airways are so constricted that a regular inhaler with a spacer doesn't do anything.

I hope you keep up with the specialist afterward to make sure the asthma gets under control as much as possible. We've had great experiences with the Institute for Allergy & Asthma (locations in Wheaton & Friendship Heights).

There is definitely some weighing to be done between the potential or actual side effects of a drug v. the need to make sure your kid can breathe. I understand that studies show that kids who grew up taking preventive inhaled steroids ended up being a half inch shorter than their peers... that's a little concerning, but more concerning to me is when my kid is having an asthma attack daily and needing albuterol on a regular basis.

+1. This is almost exactly how I would respond. DC started having breathing issues at 4.5 months and now at 13 months I think we finally have found a regime that works. It's Pulmicort through the nebulizer once per day and Singulair through food at night. The Singulair (which comes with it's own interesting potential side effects) has been fantastic for us, though some kids do not respond well. Unfortunately, at this age, it really is trial and error. When DC really is having trouble breathing, we add in Albuterol every 4-6 hours through the nebulizer. We also saw the study that came out a couple of months ago about kids on inhaled steriods being 1/2 shorter than their peers. But like PP, we need our child to breathe so he can grow up and have have peers.

As for the liquid steriod, we were told that really only should be used when your child is very very sick. And you'll know when that it is. I used to think people were crazy when they would give me that ambiguous line, but it is so true. We've once used it for a 5 day stretch, twice per day. Then, it goes right back into the cabinet. Good luck figuring it all out.