Can corticosteroids produce the effect of 'roid rage'?

Question

My child is currently taking a steroid based inhaler as well as steroid from the singulair. She is asthmatic. She takes two 'puffs' of the inhaler (advair) in the morning and again at night. Also at night she takes one chewable singulair tablet. It has been about 4 or 5 weeks since we've started this regimen. I have noticed that she went from being a mild mannered little angel to a screaming demon. She is more aggressive, in as much as hitting, pushing, and yelling at her sister and even myself. The difference in her behavior is completely obvious. She went from being a fairly easy going child to being a high strung and aggressive child. Could this be caused by this medicine? She literally will 'attack' you if you don't comply with her requests, she's NEVER done things like that. I am unsure what to do. I think maybe she's OVER medicated and it agitates her. Can anybody tell me what may cause this Jeckyl and Hyde behavior?

Just got off the phone with Pulmonologist. He told me it was probably the Singulair tablet. He has told me to discontinue it's use and see if I notice any changes in behavior.

Answer 1

I am glad that you say you have a Pulmonolgist. However, I am going to say that I don't think he is correct with his answer. There are no steroids in Singulair. I double checked my info with the Singulair website. Corticosteroids act directly on the adrenal glands making your child ever so hyper. I know that whenever we give my son Pulmocort, we always warn his teachers to not let him get away with bad behavior, but that he will be a little hyper.

How old is your child? What strength of Advair is your child taking? 150/50 is generally recommended for children over 4 years old.

I am not trying to step on your Doctor's toes or anything. So please know that I looked this up on Singulairs website just to make sure. I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist and I respect what your doctor says, I just think that he may be mistaken in this case.

"SINGULAIR is indicated for prophylaxis and chronic treatment of asthma in patients 12 months and older.

SINGULAIR should not be used as rescue medication to treat acute asthma episodes. Patients should be advised to have appropriate rescue medication available.

Use of SINGULAIR may not eliminate the need for inhaled or systemic corticosteroids. Patients should not decrease the dose or stop taking any other anti-asthma medications unless instructed by a physician."

--From the Singulair website.

Answer 2

YES and NO.

In the "baseball player" form of "roid rage", it has to do with the testosterone levels being at a dangerously elevated levels.

In the case of the asthma/allergy medicine steroids (corticosteroids), it can have an effect on the brain and hormones. Alot of docs discount this. I saw this with many patients YEARS before they finally starting putting the warning about depression being a side effect of the corticosteroids.

The singulair can ALSO cause changes in mood.

I would go talk to both the pharmacist AND her doctor immediately to see about changing her medications. You may not be able to stop the medications "cold turkey"....this is why I mention speak to the pharmacist first. BELIEVE alot of what the pharmacist tells you---they know more about the medications then the doc does---this is their JOB.

Good luck to you.

ps---steroids like this are known to cause aggression in dogs after a while---not all dogs get it, and mine got it when he was being weaned off his prednisone---he only had 3 days left at every other day...and he got REALLY aggressive about things. It was a reaction to the steroids---the vet and I talked about it, and I mentioned I knew it could happen in people...and he told me that it can happen in dogs too. So, my dog now wont be on this ever again....to keep him from turning into mean puppy!!

Answer 3

Absolutely. The manufacturers seem to play this down, but people that use Nasonex, Flonase, Nasocort, and similar products report mood changes fairly frequently. Advair contains the same medication as Flonase.

The rage problem happened to me when taking Flonase. This was extremely scary - I became moody, and for the only time in my life, I was constantly angry, and thinking negative thoughts - even my dreams changed from happy and abstract to vivid, realistic, and violent. The problems kind of crept up on me several months after starting flonase, so I didn't immediately figure out what was going on. I finally realized something was wrong when I had to abandon my full shopping cart at the grocery store when a person bumped into my cart, and my first impulse was to literally kill them. I got out of the store as fast as i could because i was not certain i would be able to maintain control. Fortunately, nothing actually happened and the person probably didn't even know they were a half-second away from a violent encounter.

I stopped the flonase and I started seeing improvements in mood within about 4 days, but it took about 2 weeks to get completely back to normal. I wanted to see if flonase was the actual cause, so, i started taking it again as before, and i started having violent dreams and mood problems within 3-4 days. I stopped and things returned to normal. I waited 2 weeks and tried flonase again at half the dose. The problems still returned in few days, and went away after I permanently discontinued the product.

Answer 4

Flonase Side Effects In Children

Answer 5

specific, Lila - re-study the questions. It says REPEATED concussions. One single blow to the returned of the top won't have brought about intense strategies trauma, yet repeated blows over a 20 12 months occupation provides up and might reason intense harm. in basic terms ask Troy Aikman what repeated concussions can do to you.

Answer 6

Yes. Treating my asthma for over 40 years, I have a great deal of experience with medications. One thing you learn over time, is there are a lot more implications/side effects that occur than what doctors/drug manufacturers tell you. This was proven to me several times, with several drugs. One drug that was extremely harmful to me, is still not listing these side effects, but my doctor sent me copies of the medical association journals of similar reported side effects. Each individual is different and may be more sensitive to side effects, when others are not. I am quite sensitive. My inhaled steroids worK very well. Unfortunately they cause me to be angry, in a bad mood, negative etc. I take these meds when I am in very bad shape to keep from being hospitalized, but otherwise I avoid them because of the side effects. Each time I have to take them, the same thing happens. It s quite a horrible thing, to need a medication, but know it s going to make your life horrible while using it. Not everyone is the same, but we know our bodies and our usual behaviours. Those who think they have this side effect, withdraw from the drug (slowly..as quick withdrawal also produces side effects)..then go without for awhile, notice the difference. Then try again. Prove this for yourself, and then discuss it with your doctor. For the poor children experiencing this, it s worth investigating. If your child is misbehaving..ok...but if your child is suffering a side effect, it isn t fair to punish a child for something out of his/her control. Those afraid of the inhaled steroids, be assured that the amount of steroids in these meds really is small, and not enough to cause a lot of damage unless they are taken for very long periods of time. Many people don t experience severe side effects. I m discussing the small percentage who do.

Answer 7

If taken by injection(like baseball players) than yes, but inhalers are so diluted that it would take her using the whole inhaler in one sitting for it to give her roid rage. She's just being a brat, Sorry.