Mood and behavioral side effects from asthma meds

[Anonymous]

Our toddler has asthma. He was on budesonide (pulmicort) from 11 months - 25 months, and was also on singulair for part of that time. We suspected the meds were effecting his mood, so took the summer off preventative medication. Sure enough, the behavioral issues subsided significantly. He did ok with the asthma because it was summer and he wasn't catching colds. Now back on budesonide for fall and winter and he is an emotional hot mess. Tearful, beyond irritable, biting his sister (never a problem before), just so incredibly unhappy. We see a specialist and have been told there is no alternative to the budesonide/albuteral combo and that he needs the Asthma control meds to keep him from repeated prednisone/er, etc.

If anyone has dealt with his, what has helped? Any out of the box ideas or alternative treatments? Also, how do you teach a 2 year old good behavior when his starting point is one of such irritability. I am struggling with the urge to just give in at the slightest disagreement to avoid an hour long crying fit, but I know that sets us up for more heartache down the road. Help!

[Anonymous]

Is he also back on singular? That pretty much makes my son act crazy. It is awful to watch bc it subsides as soon as he is off it. He's 4.5 now & we normally do albuterol/pulmicort oct-mar, but it seems to have struck earlier this year. We were able to drop the singular last spring & did ok.

[Anonymous]

This is op. We stopped singulair in the spring and the doctor is ok giving just budesonide and albuterol a try for now. He was definitely worse on singulair. Hoping to avoid it...

[Anonymous]

I don't have a child with asthma so I can only come at this from my own history of pediatric asthma and now, much less bothersome adult asthma. Have you tried the meds yourself, just so you know the effect it has? Albuterol makes me nervous/heart fluttery. When I take it for myself, I try to take half the dose to reduce the effect. I remember when I took a drug similar to albuterol as a child it would make me feel very revved up inside.

Are there any allergens in your home that could be contributing, like pets in the house? I'm just trying to think of ways to reduce sources of asthma so that less medication is needed. Does the medication need to be given all the time or can they, or one of them (like the albuterol) be used just when your child has a cold or plays outside or encounters triggers? Sorry if that's a dumb question. That's how I use it but I guess that's because I don't have asthma attacks very often. I hope you find a solution!

[Anonymous]

We switched from albuterol to Xopenex for this reason and it made a huge difference! The friend who recommended had exactly the same issue.

[Anonymous]

Singulair made both of my kids incredibly anxious....even just one or two doses. Never again.

[Anonymous]

I have bad asthma myself. Interestingly, I found it was really connected to food. I didn't even know sulfites were a food additive, but they are, they are in everything, and they really bother me.

You could so try tinctures of lobelia and horehound. They work similarly to asthma meds.

[Anonymous]

It could definitely be the Pulmicort. My DD turned into a demon in Pulmicort. Albuterol makes her jittery and a literal irritable, but the Pulmicort was awful.

We switched her to Flovent instead and that worked for her without the behavioral issues.

[Anonymous]

We also switched from Pulmicort to Flovent. She only gets albuterol at first sign of cold. With the daily treatment of Flovent, we don't notice any out of the ordinary behavior. But when we have to increase her flovent and add in the albuterol - that's when we get the hot mess, tears - she goes from laughing to crying back to laughing all in one breath sometimes. She just turned 3 (for reference).

We have managed to get the doctors to agree to hold off on the singulair. We don't feel comfortable with that based on the side effects we've read. My nephew was on it and had night terrors. So until we have to go down that road - we're avoiding.

[Anonymous]

Can you use flovent and xopenex instead? I find a lot fewer side effects on xopenex than on albuterol. My kids have side effects for the first week or two on flovent, then they seem ok. We just went back on flovent 2 weeks ago because of this enterovirus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also switched from Pulmicort to Flovent. She only gets albuterol at first sign of cold. With the daily treatment of Flovent, we don't notice any out of the ordinary behavior. But when we have to increase her flovent and add in the albuterol - that's when we get the hot mess, tears - she goes from laughing to crying back to laughing all in one breath sometimes. She just turned 3 (for reference).

We have managed to get the doctors to agree to hold off on the singulair. We don't feel comfortable with that based on the side effects we've read. My nephew was on it and had night terrors. So until we have to go down that road - we're avoiding.

Our 3 yr old is on Flovent, 2 puffs a day and albuterol when a bad cold/cough comes on. The albuterol makes her hyperactive. We hate that we have to give her Flovent, but the alternative, more trips to the hospital and pred, is worse.

[Anonymous]

NP: Sigh, there's my answer. Been on Singulair for a month and my joyful kiddo is a hot mess -- thanks for that description, ladies, it is spot on.