Drug side effects concern me

Friday was my last day of work before vacation, and I spent it moving my office from one side of a large classroom to another. I am allergic to dust and lots of other things, so when I woke up Saturday morning I took a Singulair allergy tablet. The rest of the morning deteriorated quickly. I could not find a nice bone in my body, I couldn't find a reason to go out of the house, a reason to stay in, no reason for anything. I felt hopeless, angry, and nervous. I wanted my husband as far away from me as possible and pretty much barked at him if he tried to talk to me.

I am finally tying my inexplicable tension/nervousness/depression (and rise in blood pressure) to the drug Singulair. Here is what I found on the Mayo Clinic website:

• Montelukast (Singulair) is a prescription medication that blocks symptom-causing chemicals called leukotrienes. This oral medication relieves allergy signs and symptoms including nasal congestion, runny nose and sneezing. Side effects can include upper respiratory infection in adults, and headache, ear infection and sore throat in children. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that in some people, leukotriene-blocking medications could possibly cause psychological symptoms, such as irritability, anxiousness, insomnia, hallucinations, aggression, depression, and suicidal thinking or behavior.

It really explains a lot of the problems I have wrestled with in the past. Since I have changed my diet more than a year ago I have rarely taken any allergy medication, and I have been living a peaceful life in which I eat healthy and exercise and believe the whole world is a wonderful place full of nice people.  What I wonder, with the horrors of mass killings and other homicide/suicides in the press, is whether investigators look at the drug and dietary habits of the perpetrators. It is my non-scientific belief these drug side effects (as listed above) could possibly, when combined with "energy" cocktails, bring on some seriously deviant behavior. I mean deviant for the person who is acting it out; not only socially deviant. I wish I could somehow study this to bring about a conclusion that could help prevent violent behavior. If I am capable of turning into someone I barely recognize as my loving, sincere adult self at the age of 54 with the ingestion of one small pill which, by the way is an incredible help for my allergy symptoms, how is a young person to know they are out of control as a side effect of prescribed medication?

I needed to have my say. I put it out there.

So what kind of food do I like to eat now that my diet is aimed toward the Dr. Fuhrman Eat to Live program?

Sometimes I have spinach, mushrooms and avocado sprinkled with a flax seed mixture,

and sometimes it can be some stir-fried vegetables and the same avocado dish. I am crazy about avocados. You see the pattern by my plate? It is for that denim quilt with the fabric squares that you quilt as you go in a cathedral window type method. I cannot wait to try it.

Oh, I finished that bag I was working on.

 I love it but just cannot seem to put my stuff in it to carry it. The home dec fabric I used has Washington DC landmarks all over it. I fell in love with the fabric the moment I saw it, but I have never been to D.C. It would be like walking around with "Paris" emblazoned on my t-shirt when I've never been there either. 

Then I read the StellaBellaQuilts blog post. Gretchen just got back from D.C., so guess who's getting a wonderful new bag with lots of roomy storage pockets?

Enjoy Gretchen! It is totally meant for you.