Parents symptoms and conditions

my granddaughter has been on singulair since she was 5 months old she is now 6yrs old and it does control her asthma, but lately i have noticed a lot of the symptoms posted here. Headache, stomach pains, nightmares, sleepwalking, and the episodes are getting more frequent. When she does this mostly at night it is scary to me especially when she is crying for help and you don't know how to help her. I was searching for something else and was brought to this site, like i was meant to see it and it really scared me. I have already called her doctor and got an appointment for tomorrow. I want her off this medicine as soon as possible.

I would like to know who is NOT experiencing side effects from Singulair.
We are not.
My 7 years old started Singulair three months ago because of allergy issues. She had asthma attack every other week, running nose all the time, she was so miserable, she missed many days of school and she couldn't exercise .Since she started to take SIngulair her allergy improved, no more asthma, no more running nose. SIngulair did not change her way to be. She is doing very good in school (she is above the average..) she does piano, ice skating, she is purple belt Tae Know Doe, speak two languages, she is doing great in everything. Of course she has her "bad moments" but which child does not?
I tried homeopathy, but it did not work, she got worst and worst. I was supposed to give SIngulair to my daughter a year ago, I did not because I was afraid of the side effects. But I wished I had started before because I could have avoid so much steroids since she had asthma most of the time. The doctor convinced me to use this medicine when she said " You think SIngulair has side effects, yes sometime it does, but do you know the danger of using steroids so frequently in a little body?" Then I thought I had to give a try. I am glad I did. Of course I keep watching my daughter behavior closely and reading all the possible side effects of this medication. I forgot to say that beside singulair my daughter is also taking Pulmicort, two puffs once a day.

We have a 5 year old daughter who has been on singulair for about 2 - 3 years. She went on singulair due to coughing asthma. We were soo happy about how well the medication worked, it took about three months, but wow, she finally got over her coughing and was living a more active life. I actually was soo impressed with it, I remember mentioning it and promoting it to some of our daughters friends' parents with children in similar situations....wow do I ever feel awful. Anyway, our daughter came down with a terrible flu a few weeks ago and although she didn't seem feverish, had not one, but 2 night terrors, something that we have been worried about and comforting her with for a couple of years. These 2 threw the 2 of us over the edge this time....we thought we had to get her to a psychologist.....she was terrified, and although we were holding her and comforting her, she was still screaming for us, and there was NOTHING we could do this time....we were doubting ourselves and the environments she was exposed to......what could have happened in her life to make her have such awful dreams??? It was about a 1/2 hour later when my husband asked about the possible side effects of the singulair.....I ran and grabbed the pamphlet, of course this is the first time that I actually sat down and read it, which I should have done some time ago....anyway it was then that I discovered how many issues weren't normal that everyone just kept ensuring us was fine. We had been questioning ADHD for some time, and had actually had it on our list to discuss with her teacher as she was sooo hyper on a regular basis...at the age of 5 she still couldn't sit through a movie at a movie theater, as much as she loved going, she couldn't sit through it....anyway, the only thing that made it difficult to think she could have ADHD was she was such a great learner. She was very eager to learn and loved learning and teaching things. But when giving her instructions or asking her to listen, she'd be so jumpy. She complained of severe leg pains which we chalked up to growing pains...poor thing! Her temper tantrums were out of this world.....she is a child that is soo full of love, but when she was in tantrum mode, she was soo destructive and she would feel soooooo awful for her actions, it was like she couldn't control herself. We just feel awful that we couldn't help her and we didn't realize that what she was experiencing was not so much disobedience, but an imbalance due to the medication. We have since taken her off the singulair, we took her off of it immediately following reading the pamphlet. We found that she was VERY emotional for about 3 days, then she pretty well recovered. She has since become a normally active 5 year old, she is soo good, and has not experienced any night terrors, complained of leg pains, and absolutely no tantrums. Oooh how we love her so much.

My three year old daughter was on in as a baby and it was great for her asthma. I stopped it for a year and now she is 3 and has started it again about two weeks. She sleeps at least 12hrs a night and has a nap. This is someone who slept maybe 8hrs a night and never a nap. Actual the sleep is so much its kinda worrying me. I have a hard time even waking her up. What should I do?

My 4 year old son started taking singulair when he was two. I don't think I picked up on his behavior change right away b/c I thought that he was just entering the "terrible two's". But over time, his allergist added on Nasonex (I know the docs say that it doesn't cause side-effects b/c it's a nasal spray, but I don't buy that...it's a steroid, plain and simple) and more recently zyrtec was added on for his hives. Well, the zyrtec was the straw that broke the camel's back. I mean, he has been a real "handful" since the singulair, but after zyrtec was added 5 months ago - let's just say he was completely out of my control. His meltdowns were so bad that I couldn't go ANYWHERE with him. I either got a sitter or just didn't go anywhere. He became aggressive, defiant, emotional, unhappy. And to top it off he started to have serious "autistic-like" self-stimulatory behaviors (grinding teeth, squinting eyes shut, flapping his hands, punching himself...). At this point my life had become a complete nightmare, and my poor 10 month old son was getting NO attention b/c my 4 year old was so out of control and aggressive. I was afraid for the baby's safety...oh, I could go on all night. This medication has impacted my marriage, my finances, my sanity. Shortly after he started Singulair I had to go on an antidepressant b/c it too so much out of me just to be his mommy. Anyway, a week ago I had him scheduled for a psych evaluation (thought for sure we were going to walk away with either autism or bipolar diagnosis), but two days before I decided to look up the meds he is on and BINGO! All of these posts sound like what we have been going through. I stopped all of his meds that night, cold-turkey, and he has been the most pleasant little boy I have ever met!! My husband and I have fallen in love with him over the past week - we had no idea he was such a sweet child.

Now, while I'm ecstatic that we have found the answer to our nightmare, I also feel SO STINKIN' ANGRY! We lost out on 2 years with our sweet boy, there were times when we raised our voices at him when he just couldn't help himself - he was suffering inside!! When I went to talk to the allergist about my findings this past week, he said, "well, maybe he just had a good day. I'd like to see what happens if he goes off all his meds for a week". Well, there you have it, he has been off for one week and he's an absolute angel. He has an amazing heart and is so caring!!!

Singulair is awful (and so is zyrtec). Please don't give this drug to your children. Research other alternatives (I am giving my son Nordic Naturals Fish Oil, Culturelle probiotics, vitamin c, and am changing his diet - increased magnesium and decreased dairy. I came up with this after hours of research...).

There is a woman on this site whose daughter committed suicide after 3 years on Singulair. This is no joke and the FDA needs to get with it.

BTW, I used to date a Singulair rep (I knew there was something I didn't like about that guy:)

I have been taking this since March and I have lost half my hair, it is so depressing. I only realized this evening that the Wellbutrin is maybe causing it. I am so upset. I can see my scalp, and it is so bad, I canceled my vacation home to see my parents who haven't seen me for 2 years - what on earth will they think? My question is:

Did your hair grow back after stopping the drug? If so, how long did it take?

I am taking 300 mg XL.

I have also noticed that my eyebrows have thinned.

i had posted back a few weeks about my daughters situation on singulair well she has been off of the medication now for 3 and 1/2 weeks now and just starting last night she seemed to be a different child she has been on the med for about 14 months she is doing better in school not wanting to fight me on everything. now she is eating great which is scary when your child goes 3 weeks not eating due to being afraid.she was sent to mental health and the doctor said he had never heard of a reaction to singulair and she could go back on it we said it was not going to happen they said it was her being bull headed which we knew different.we were almost to the point where the doctor wanted to admit her to a physic unit . we had her off the med and within 1 week she started eating little by little we just about have her back to where she was.we video taped her having her fits and showed the dr. he just stated she is a handful. we let her see the tapes the other night she started to cry and asked what was wrong with her and we explained nothing baby it was the medicine that was making you do that and now everything is going to be ok .this is the 3rd time she has quit eating in 1 yr and we could not pin point it well now we think we know it was the medicine.they put her on zyrtec we only give it to her as needed not on a daily basis.

My 7-1/2-year-old son was on Singulair for 5 months for asthma and possible allergies. He had been on medication for ADHD for almost a year at that point and had been doing well with it. Singulair made him into a monster. He could not be reasoned with and was constantly overreacting to everything. Just asking him to put on his shoes caused explosive reactions, even to the point of threatening us (his parents) with bodily harm if he did not get his way. We unexpectedly stayed the night out of town and did not give him his Singulair for a few days and started noticing that he was much more rational, calm, and more like his old self. I had heard of the depression risk with Singulair and googled about it this morning and was floored by the amount of children with these type reactions. It is now listed as an allergy for my son and I will never give it to him again.

I posted serveral weeks ago about taking my 5 1/2 yr old off singulair. He has done great as far as the asthma, no problems what so ever. The main reason I took him off was due to his behavior. Very moody, hyper, aggitates easily and so on. Well, after the 2nd week, he was like a NEW child...very calm and behaving in school. Well, he has pretty much regressed back to the behavior before taking him off this med. He has now been off of it for 5 weeks. His teacher asked me last week, if I had to put him back on this med, because he was getting back to his old ways.
He is currently going the an evaluation for ADHD. I have stuggled with the fact that my son may suffer from this and have tried almost everything to avoid medicating him...I was really hoping this was the culprit to his behavior..He had been on singulair for over 4yrs...Is it just going to take longer to see the full effect of NO SINGULAIR???

My 3 year old is on 5mg of singular daily for her constant allergy issues and has had NO trouble at all with it. Her personality has not changed.. she's happy, outgoing, friendly and MUCH better than she was before she started the medication. Prior to starting she was constantly dripping from her nose, she had both ears filled with fluid, had bags under her eyes and was tired and grumpy all the time, due to allergies we could not get under control with other over the counter or prescription meds. Since being on Singulair she's been 100% better than she was. I'm sad to hear that others are having so much trouble with it, but I can say that I am happy my little girl is feeling better.

I found this web site while searching side effect of Singulair. My Son - 7 years old is experiencing same issue - Severe random leg pain in both legs or 1 leg as mentioned by few others. He can not walk when it happened and I have to carry him. The pain disappear in 2-3 days or sometimes it takes 5-6 days.

We did X-Ray and doc could not find anything wrong.

Others..who are facing same issue...I would appreciate if u can send me an email to ****** so that we can talk in detail.

My son is 3 and has been on Singulair since around springtime (I think... I've lost count). Anyway, during this summer we noticed his behavior had just gone straight to hell. At first I was attributing it to the wonderful world of the three year old, but it was just getting ridiculous. He was having countless meltdowns, screaming bloody murder (I mean SCREAMING to the point of going hoarse), hitting, punching, slamming, banging, crying hysterically for ridiculous reasons, yelling out during the night, and showing OCD behaviors. I was fearing that he might have ADHD/OCD until my husband stumbled upon this website. I remember hearing stories about teenagers having horrible side effects from singulair, but didn't think it was affecting my son at 3. As I read the entries on this website I felt like they were talking about my son.

I am taking him off of it to see what happens, but now I'm nervous that his asthma will flare. He's had quite a few asthma episodes since the fall allergy season has started. I suppose he'll need to go for awhile to get everything out of his system to see if the behavior changes, and then I hope to find a new preventative. We have Pulmicort and Xopenex and an inhaler ready!

*UPDATE* Well, it hasn't quite been two weeks since I've taken James off of Singulair and - I am not kidding you - his behavior improved the FIRST day. I want anyone who reads this to know that I am not an "alarmist", I DON'T freak out over everything I read, I do a lot of research (kind of obsessive myself :), so please understand that I am not one to usually write things like this...I mean, I pushed my allergist to give it to him in the first place! There are plenty of kids out there that are fine on Singulair, but some are not. I didn't make the connection to the Singulair since the average three year old is irrational and unpredictable anyway, but I KNEW something wasn't right. It wasn't just tantrums and whatever, his overall personality had done a 180. In the last two weeks my son has returned. He still, of course, has three year old moments, but he is back to the caring, loving, curious, excited, social, happy kid I had last year. One of the worst things we were seeing two weeks ago was bedtime behavior. BAD OCD behaviors - everything in his room had to be PERFECT. The curtains couldn't have a peek of light shining through, there could be nothing on the floor, everything had to be in order. He would obsess about things (creatures) coming into his room, when we would say goodnight and close the door he would scream and cry like someone was stabbing him and was petrified. The FIRST night that we stopped the Singulair he laid his head on his pillow, said goodnight and went to sleep. Please keep an eye out for personality changes in your kids.
*November update* it's been almost two months since we took James off Singulair and we haven't seen ONE BIT of the horrible behavior that we had w/ the Singulair! Normal "three-year-old moments", but no return of the "devil child", no OCD, nighttime freak-outs, violence, or any of it.

So happy to find this site. I never noticed My son never had an eye tick until last month, ironically we started giving him Singular on a daily basis about the same time. My son just turned two and is has also been waking up screaming 3 times every night. Have others reported this same problem...also he is on Pulmicort too, have you read that it is linked to Glaucoma and Cataracts? Do you think that this could be causing the tick? Please HELP! I want a parent's opinion before bringing this up to the doctor...they are so quick to jump to more drugs it makes me sick! Thank you! Any other children with eye "ticks" like really quick consecutive blinks?

OK MY DOC JUST GAVE MY 14 MONTH OLD SINGULAIR THE YOUNGEST IVE SEEN IN HERE WAS 2O MONTHS. WHAT WAS SOME OF THE FIRST SIDE EFFECT THAT YOU ALL SOW THAT I NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON

my 6yr old daughter was put on singulair at the age of 4 she had a reaction to nuts and had the allergy testing she was put on singulair and claritin and nasacort .(so she has been on the medication now for 14 months) about 3and 1/2 weeks ago she quit eating we had her to the dr several times they said it was all in her head that she could eat if she wanted to.she was then put in the hospital for 4 days they did the scope down the stomach found nothing i took her off all her meds because i didn't want her taking them with no food in her. she came home from the hospital and i put her back on the meds as the doctor requested and within 2 days she was crying non stop hitting me and telling me that she wanted to kill herself and everyone around her.she was putting her fists in everyines face and was very angry.she would cry and tell us that she didn't know why she was so angry.we took her back off of the meds because we were treating her for the stomach acid from not eating and within 4 days she was like a new kid.she is now eating ..happy ..and doing good in school..this is the 3rd time this yr on this med that she has quit eating we were told that it was all in her head .after reading everyones comments on here i called her doctor today and he said it could be the medication but they would have to put her back on it to check and i refused.no more singulair or clairitin for my children

October 22, 1998 I had resp. failure (with intubation). My new pulmonary doctor put me on Singulair 10 mg once a day, a few weeks after. Within time, I started to have numbing and tingling in my face, arms, and legs. March of 1999 the symptoms worsened and started causing pressure in my face, arms, and legs, and anxiety started to kick in. I was told I had neuropathy and to take mobic. Symptoms getting worse, and went to a rheumatologist in June 1999, and he was suspect of singulair. The doctor thought that what I was experiencing was due to the singulair. He (the rheumatologist) discussed this with the pulmonary doctor and the pulmonary doctor did not believe this to be the case. Not forgetting, in March of 1999, I had a ct of the sinus area, and low and behold 1/3 of the cavity was and probably still is full of polyps.

As time went on, symptoms getting worse, and not one bloody doctor could figure out why I was feeling this way. In addition, at times, I was put on steroids for my asthma (not including my inhalers).

Two years ago, my body went into shock, leaving my left side very different than my right side. Affecting: my head, my face, my eye, my ear, my esophogus, my lungs, my arm, my leg.

I have been depressed and anxious not knowing what the heck was going on with me.

Recently ruled out thyroid, and lupus, and possibly ms.

Last weekend, I reviewed the letter from the rheumatologist (dated 1999) and the ct report from March 1999 (regarding the sinus/ polyps) and made copies to present to a pulmonary doctor that I have recently been seeing.

This past Monday the 10th, I had my appt with him. He knew of my situation from the last few visits (in addition, I had met him this past March for a pulmonary rehab program, and thought he seemed to be knowledgeable and compassionate). While waiting for him to enter the exam room, he had read those reports before entering.

The doctor looked at my hands (red as a beet and swollen) and said "You have Churg-Strauss Syndrome, and get off the singulair."

I had done my homework from a few weeks ago, where I looked up untreated polyps.
Untreated polyps, can turn into vasculitis. There are many types of vasculitis, to include Churg-Strauss Syndrome.

I then cross ref CSS and singulair, and low and behold, BINGO!

I have been suffering for ten years, physically and emotionally because of this drug!

There is also recent updates from the fda (fda.gov) regarding singulair, of which most recently includes anxiety and depression.

I suggest before taking singulair, be aware of the side effects. As soon as a side effect comes up, contact your doctor. Also, be aware of existing conditions (like me, sinus problems and asthma) for this could lead to churg-strauss syndrome.

This info is indicated on the actual disclosure (the paper insert that indicates studies, side effects, etc...) not the handout that is given with the drug.

By the way, I am now working with a new rheumatologist in Los Angeles (Cedar-Sinai affiliated) and a new neurologist.

mdklezmer

I started getting my shot (im on 2nd), im getting the third one in a month.im only 11 and im maturing very quickly.i'm scared because and i'm feeling pains around the middle waist-to the point to collapsing.i'm having minor headaches.and im nausea and sick a lot.i sometimes have trouble breathing.i wake up in the middle of the night sometimes almost screaming because of the pain.i know it doesn't have to do with my period or growing pains. i haven't told told my parents because im scared they'll overact.ive only told 1 of my bff's. i don't know what to do so please send advice.............is it even this shot!?
thanks, A.

Hi, All

I normally do not post on websites, however, the issues that I read about in other toddler has me concerned for my grandson as well..

He started to live with us in Georgia three months ago. He was 20 months old. Over Labor Day weekend he developed a severe sinus infection and virus with a fever. Against our better judgment then, we allowed his doctor to prescribe an antibiotic which seem to help him for about two weeks, but her began having excessive mucus and coughing constantly. He had no fever. When we returned to the doctor, they suggested that he use Claritin because he had no infections, but a lot of mucus and drainage. Claritin worked, however, the side effects were he was a little sluggish. The doctor recommended trying Singular. We tried it for three weeks. Over that three weeks, we noticed that his appetite decreased and his aggression level increased where he started a fight with another toddler. He is normally an easy going little boy. He has been very aggressive lately, plus he has had dry coughing and gagging worse than when he was on Claritin. When I read the literature that says this medication causes sinusitis, I immediately decided to discontinue it. He will not be using this medicine again. It may be great for some children, but they really ought to make parents aware of the side effects. They are awful.

I was first given Singulair at the age of 21. At which time, I quit a job in which I have yet (at 28) to match its income. My doctor continued to give me samples as I could not afford the medication. During this time, I was very depressed, contemplated suicide often and was given a serious of antidepressants-non of which helped. For one reason or another, I stopped taking everything. At which time, it seemed I had a new lease on life. I went back to college, finished my degree, and got a job in decorating. My asthma began acting up again, and again I took singulair and again had to be given antidepressants. I wound up quiting that job too and worked a serious of low paying jobs. Again, I quit, and again found the urge to "live" again. I never connected the two, until this past week. I was given singulair again by another doctor on Wednesday. Thursday I had nightmares, Friday I spent the day crying, Saturday night I began to think of leaving my husband (I also did that ALL the other times I took the drug and we've been together 14 years-I love him). Today is Sunday, I normally go to bed around 12 or 1 a.m., but I am making myself stay awake and have all day. This drug has ruined a large part of my life, please, if anyone notices even a little depression with this drug, Stop!!!! It is not in your head, it is this drug!!!!

This is my first month on this pill, and i started my period two weeks before i was suppose to start. I've had AWFUL mood swings, and there have been a couple of sleepless nights due to cramps. My periods usually last no more than a week, and I've been on it for close to two weeks, and might I add that it is VERY heavy. My face hardly ever breaks out ( knock on wood ) and now its broken out everywhere! Randomly throughout the day, I feel like i could just collapse at any given time. I got on the pill to regulate everything, not make it worse. Hopefully this is just my body getting use to it!

Everyone should go to 2004 postings for a reality check. It blows my mind that people were reporting disturbing behaviors/moods in their children in 2004 and we're still talking about it in 2008. Where's the oversight?

It really is surprising that this drug is used. I had an episode when I was 18. My parents were out of town and I got a really bad migraine. I called them and they told me I should go to the emergency room. I went by myself and I don't remember what they gave me, but it must have been Reglan. With in minutes of the IV I got really nervous and agitated. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I buzzed the nurse button like 3 times and after 10 minutes and no one came I panicked. I pulled the IV out and left the hospital. Crazy I know but I couldn't think clearly. I went home and after a few hours I was okay.

Well this brings me to 9 years later and to my most recent experience. I am pregnant and I got a really nasty migraine. I was puking, couldn't see out of my right eye. Since there wasn't anything I could take I called my OB. He told me I should go to the ER and so I went with my husband. They said they wanted to give me Reglan and Benadryl, since I didn't know that was what they gave my when I was 18 I said okay. With in minutes I was having the same reaction I did 9 years ago. I went nuts. I started freaking out. I told my husband I wanted to leave. I needed the IV out of me. My skin was itchy and burning. I was nervous, shaking, and having a hard time breathing. When I husband got the nurse she was really condescending. She was like, “Do you have a history panic attacks?” I said, "no." Then she got the Dr., who ordered more Benadryl. After about 15 more minutes I calmed down. This was an extremely unpleasant experience; I will never take this medicine again.

I have been making inquires as to how and if the fda will conduct investigations in to permanent damage left from this drug.Although on taking my son off this drug i saw a 90% improvement,i am still missing the final piece,is it that he lost 3 years to this drug or did it do damage that cannot be fixed,we as parents need to know.The FDA responded to my letter,they said if they see a trend in reports from medwatch,it may prompt an investigation .I am asking all who still have missing pieces to file a report.What has happened is a tragedy,we need to explore ever option for continued success for our childrens future.Good Luck to all,Keep Fighting