Any Reactions to Xopenex or Pulmicort?

Dear L.-We have much in common-I had an in home daycare for 8 years and have 4 children. One of my children was on those and had such adverse reactions I had to check into something else-the health problems led to me finding alternatives. You do know that those "medicines" are steroids. They are going to cause more than behavioral issues and hyperactivity as you are seeing now with more severity in later years. If your child is having breathing difficulties it is many times because of dietary habits and fragrances that you are using in your home. Those "medicines" are some of the most dangerous to children in my opinion. A really great reference website is www.mercola.com and get some of the information for yourself. There are natural ways of dealing with his health issues. I have been studying alternatives for years and we have been "medicine" free for 6 years and I have helped many people naturally. There are also doctors in this area that do the same, my GP being one of them. Let me know if you would like further information.

T.

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Hi L.,

My son is 3 and has been on Xopenex for a year with treatments 2x a day. He has had no side effects. To get him to take the mask we have him pretend he is a fireman like his grampa and sits just fine.

Good Luck.

I am an allergist who deals with alot of little ones. We commonly receive this comoplaint from parents. Typically the issue will resove after the first few days but, if it persists you may want to contact your physician. They may be able to change the dosing slightly.

My daughter (4) was diagnosed with asthma this past Halloween. She had been on both xopenex and pulmicort since then. She was very hyper for the first few weeks on the medicine but I have not noticed this behavior in the last two months. Maybe children adjust to to the medicine? We are hoping to stop the xoponex once the cold/flu season is over and reduce her pulmicort to a smaller dosage. Good luck!

Have you done any allergy testing or eleminated any foods from the diet to see if that could be a cause for the breathing problems? We've recently figured out that our son, also 2, is allergic to dairy and eggs, and since we've eliminated them from his diet, he hasn't needed his asthma meds. He was on Pulimcort for over a year, then switched to Flovent (or something like that). We'll see if he needs his asthma meds once pollination starts this spring, but as of right now, elimanating the foods has helped. Just a thought!

My 18 month old son has been on both Xoponex and Pulmicort since he was about 4 months old and we have noticed no negetive side effects from it. He doesn't like getting his treatment, though. Try to make fun out of it and let him hold it, turn it on, throw the capsules away, things like that. For a 2 year old to sit for 10 minutes for a treatment is no fun for sure. Good luck!

Hi L.,

My son has been on pulmucort and singilair, I have noticed a change in his behavior such as being very very over active. He has told me that he feels shaky soemtimes but that was when he was taking another steroid and another treatment in January when his asthma was acting up really bad. I never really thought it could also be the singulair. I need to look into that because if this is causing some of the hyper active that sometimes he says he cant control then i would think of taking him off Singulair. I dont think i answered much of your question but I did get something off reading the responsed for you. Great Question.

Thanks,
C.

You can look at the Package Insert for these drugs online.
I did a google on xopenex package insert and you can download it of the drug's website:
http://www.xopenex.com/xopenexProviders/XopenexMDI_PI.pdf
They didn't have one for the solution, which is prob what's in your nebulizer, instead of the one above, which is an inhaler. i don't konw if the formulas are the same or not.

PRECAUTIONS section says "Clinically significant changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure have been seen in individual patients and could be expected..."

ADVERSE REACTIONS section says the most common side effects among children age 4-11 during clinical trials were
1) Accidental injury
2) Vomitting
3) Bronchitis, Pharyngitis

and in the POSTMARKETING section:
"In addition to the adverse events reported in clinical trials, the following adverse events have been observed in postapproval use of levalbuterol inhalation solution. These events have been chosen for inclusion due to their seriousness, their frequency of reporting, or their likely beta-mediated mechanism: angioedema, anaphylaxis, arrhythmias (including atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia,
extrasystoles), asthma, chest pain, cough increased, dyspnea, nausea, nervousness, rash, tachycardia, tremor, urticaria. Because these events have been reported spontaneously from a population of unknown size, estimates of frequency cannot be made.
"In addition, XOPENEX HFA Inhalation Aerosol, like other sympathomimetic agents, can cause adverse reactions such as hypertension,angina, vertigo, central nervous system stimulation, sleeplessness, headache, and drying or irritation of the oropharynx."

So, I'd guess this makes his heart race a bit.
--------------------------
That aside, my sis has had asthma since she was little. She started seeing a homeopathic Dr. here in Naperville and can take a homeopathic remedy instead of using inhalers now. Homeopathic remedies have no side effects and are very effective in healing children, most often a permanent cure, even at the youngest ages. The following link is a newsletter her homeopath wrote on Asthma. Her website is the root of the link if you'd like to read more on homeopathic treatment, which I highly endorse!
http://dupagehomeopathic.com/newsletters/asthma.pdf

Very best regards -
J. S.

Usually Xopenex has less issues with behaviors then Albutural, but they can happen. My husband seemed way more understanding after HE had to take a dose. he said it makes you feel horrible. Light headed, and a bit jittery. Pulmicort is a steroid.. corti-steroid, but still. Sometimes that has effects on 'mood' and behavior. you child could sort of be feeling those effects... Hope he's not on it long!!!

We have used the nebulizer but not with either of those medications. If those are steroid medications, it could be the steroids that are making him a little left of center. When my son has taken oral Albuterol, I might as well have given him sugar cubes.

On another note, although it may not what you want to hear, it could be the age. My son turned 18 months old recently. Within days of his 18 month check up, the fits have increased.

I will check to see what the medication is that we used (I'm at school right now!).

i know the pulmicort has corticosteroid which can cause hyperactivity in children. my daughter was on a nebulizer when she was about 1 1/2 for bronchitis and was always crazy after giving the treatment, also my friends dd is on it now and gets very hyper after her treatments. I would give her last treatment at least an hour before bedtime, so she would go down easier, hope this helps
S.

How strong is the script for the xopenex; as it is usally precribed for children over 6. My freind used it for her son but only gave the breathing treatment (nebulizer for 5-7 min instead of the 10-15 usually advised)therefore cutting the dose to age level. My daughter has pulmicort for her nebulizer and we've never had a problem, but she doesn't use xopenex. She had accuneb when she was younger but can now use regular albuterol in the nebulizer. I know the albuterol makes my son and daughter crazy. Pulmicort is an inhaled steroid so it may cause increased hunger. I know mine eat everything when they're on it. Prednisone also has this affect. Mother of 4 with 3 being asthmatic with food allergies.

My son was on a nebulizer with xopenex a couple of years ago on a regular basis and that medecine most definately makes them extra hyperactive. He would be bouncing off the walls.

the xopenex will make your child excitedable. I do not recommend within a fwe hours of nap or bed time

I don't know if I'm depressed or glad I'm not alone with having to use these medications with my little one.

We've been using Pulmicort and xoponex with my almost 4 year old since she was 2 1/2. Before then it was pulmicort and albuterol but she had scary reactions from the albuterol. Heart rates at 200 +. The xoponex is much better.

We also use the singulair but from everything I've read-- it has a very low risk for side effects-- I just don't know if it helps.

How often do you need to use these meds? It may be interesting to see if behavior changes when you can scale back on the medication.

Something to consider-- Not only do you have a 2 year old!! I'm not sure what "acting terrible" means but could it be simply age-appropriate behaviors? Remember you have a new baby at home to and that is very uprooting as well.

We are also seeing an accupressurist who does chinese herbs and we are starting homeopathic treatment as well.

The herbs have really helped the asthma and eczema a lot.

We haven't had to go to the ER since July!!

Unfortunately-- we have to use medications to keep our baby's breathing. The worst is that prednisone!

My guess is that your son has some sort of breathing incident. Did you go to ER? Did they give him prednisone? That may be causing some behavior issues as well.

Pulmicort is a steroid and that will make a child hyper and a side effect of xopenex is nervousness

My daughter (almost 3) uses both meds, and in the beginning seemed hyper. Someone suggested that I reduce the dose if she continued to act that way, but her behavior improved. Talk to your doctor- good luck!

Albuterol makes my 3yr old hyper, but we have had no issues with the pulmicort.

Hi L.,
My 3 year old son has been on Flovent since he was 9 months old and last winter got a terrible respiratory infection and was put on Pulmicort and Albuterol through a nebulizer. Yes, we have seen very intense emotional breakdowns and just frustration and irritation. I read that flax oil and flax in general will help with these symptoms. So I started adding about a Tbsp to his juice and/or pancake mix (for anything that needs cooking I use Ground Flax as the oil changes molecular structure when heated and is therefor less useful). We've been doing this for some time now and it DEFINATELY makes a difference in his overall well-being. :) I hope that helps.
blessings,
J.

Call the prescribing dr. and ask him? Dr. may have to change the prescription. Jeanne EGV, Il

Neither of those meds would make him behave badly...the most common side effect is the jitterness and shakiness as others have talked about-this usually goes away as they adjust to the medicine....just a suggestion-I know it may sound crazy, but have you thought about other alternatives? I would say try chiropractic care it is a long story, but the chiropractor has made a huge difference in the overall health of my 4 kids...if you would like me to tell you more you could private message me...good luck

Hi L....My son has used Pulmicort in the past for breathing treatments. After each treatment he seems to be really hyper. It usually lasted for about an hour or so after each treatment...Good Luck

I had to be on Xopenex for a while after getting the flu (make sure to get the flu shot). It made me feel horrible, depressed and a little bit crazy. Ask his Dr. if you can dilute the dose with saline, use only as needed, or try Abuterol instead.
Some people think that abuterol has more side effects and for some people that is true but everyone is different. Your son may tolerate abuterol better. Hospitals use abuterol because it hasn't actually been shown to have more side effects than Xopenex and it is much cheaper.

Our daughter has been on Pulmicort daily for 1 1/2 years now and there are no behavioral side affects. We have never used Xopenex. But in the beginning she was on Singulair and Pulmicort and she had behavioral issues and she could not sleep at night. I told the Dr. I thought it was the Pulmicort and he corrected me and told me it was likely the Singulair. We took her off of Singulair and the bad side affects went away. Her Dr. has suggested occasionally that we put her back on Singulair, but I refuse. It is my philosophy that if her medicine makes her feel that bad, what kind of quality of life does she have? -even for a 3 year old. Instead, we made lifestyle changes. She has severe asthma that has required hospitalization in the past, but since she has been on Pulmicort, and we added pillow and mattress covers, had our ducts cleaned, and only use non-toxic cleaning products, she is thriving. Talk to your Dr. and hold strong about not wanting the medicine to make your child's life worse.

All medications can cause different reactions in people. My now 12 year old son had to be on nebulizer treatments 4 times a day from age 18 months until he was 7. (Then we got allergy shots - the best thing we ever did.) Steroids can cause kids to be more hyperactive. Also, if you are using albuterol as well, it can make it even worse. It does get better with time as their bodies adjust to the meds. I actually used to give my son his last treatment of the day when he had already fallen asleep (holding the mask to his face as he breathed normally). Then he would continue sleeping instead of getting all wound up afterwards. He actually still takes nebs when he gets a bad upper resp. infection. It seems to still work better than regular inhalers for him. Good luck!

It has been 2 years since my daughter has needed the nebulizer but she used both of those medications 2+ years ago. At that time we were told that a side effect of the medication was the child acting "hyper". That definitely happened with my daughter and she was fine once the meds were stopped. So unless the meds have changed in the last 2 years, the behavior could just be a side effect. Good Luck!!

Hi L.,
Yes, my daughter has been on Pulmicort on and off for about 5 years, and at 6 1/2 it still makes her a bit hyperactive. She has told me she just feels funny and that she can't stop acting strange, and I notice it probably 1/2 hour after she has the Pulmicort. However, the medication is necessary and helps greatly, so it's a necessary change to deal with. We try to do things:
1) Give her the Pulmicort as far away from bedtime as possible within the timeframe she needs it
2) Try to anticipate her jumpy behavior and just roll with it and allow her some extra time to just be silly and play, within reason. Then we allow a lot of calmdown time with stories in bed before we put her to sleep. It really helps us to know it's not intentional and just to keep that in mind so we don't overreact to her behavior. However, she still needs to follow rules, etc.

Hope that helps!
K.
Mom of 6YO girl and 4YO boy

Both of my sons have used these and I believe it is the Pulmicort that can cause some hyperness. -K. Creaney

My 4 year old son has been using both medications since he was 18 months. We use Xopenex as a "rescue" medication (when he has a cold - which is his "trigger"). The Xopenex does make his heart race. I would say that the Xopenex is probably the culprit.
He was taken off Pulmicort last fall (at 2 yrs 10 months) and put on Flovent which is a inhaler that he takes through an Aerochamber. Much easier and faster. It takes about 20 seconds total for 2 puffs.

same as the rest, have heard it can make you hyper. My son didn't react that way. But also, if he isn't breathing right, that would make you cranky too!!! perhaps he needs a maintance medication if he's not on one already like singular?

I've heard similar stories that either of those to meds can cause kids to be more hyper, but haven't experience that personally.

Hopefully, your little guy will feel better soon, and you'll get some peace.