Has anyone's child use a nebulizer with Xopenex or Pulmicort and had any behavioral reactions? My 2 year old has been acting terrible lately and we have been using these medications for a few days. Just wondering if there could be a connection?
Thanks!
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.
My son, who just turned 2, has been on both for over a year and currently takes Pulmicort twice daily...he's never had any sort of side effects like that. He doesn't always enjoy getting the treatments and that can make it difficult but nothing out of the oridnary behavior wise. Good Luck!
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!!!
Albuterol makes my 3yr old hyper, but we have had no issues with the pulmicort.
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 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.
the xopenex will make your child excitedable. I do not recommend within a fwe hours of nap or bed time
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!
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!).
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.
Hi Linda,
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!
Kylie
Mom of 6YO girl and 4YO boy
Call the prescribing dr. and ask him? Dr. may have to change the prescription. Jeanne EGV, Il
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!
Hi Linda,
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,
Cynthia
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."
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 -
Jennifer S.
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!!
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 Linda,
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,
Jessica
I have a 3 yr old who is on Pulmicort 2x a day and albuteral periodically. He is more hyper than when not on them. He has been on pulmicort daily for almost a year now, I think we have all just become accustomed to it.