Singulair and allergy

My 3 year old daughter was put on Singulair for her asthma and supposed allergies. I did not notice any behavior issues, but when I read the very very fine print saying that it could cause stunted growth AND had had no clinical trials in children, I took her off. I have cured her asthma with herbal supplements (a combo that fights bronchial inflammation ans desensitizes the liver to minimize/eliminate allergic reactions - from GAIA labs, look up asthma/bronchitis / allergy). She is now 11 and has not needed any treatment of any kind for at least 6 years now.

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.

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.

On the fda;s cder web site is a calender of meetings,there is also a calender for tentative meetings,tentively scheduled on dec 10 and 11 is a meeting of asthma allergy,risk management and drug safety,we know they hired public relations so we wonder if maybe they will be there,as this investigation comes to an end,i wonder is there more we could have done,i don't think so,i am perturbed that we were not contacted after we filed our reports,as i wonder how they will get the rest of the story.It is my understanding that these meetings are open to the public,unless otherwise specified,there is no specification on this one yet,i hope if any one is in the Dc area and they have a chance to go they will tell us what is said.I hope they look into the chances of some having maybe perm issues and give us guidance,they have been silent for so long as we have battled this in the dark.If by scheduling this meeting the investigation is over and they have a conclusion and our not going public yet ,well shame on them,if there is one thing we are disparate for is information as to what to do next,heres hoping every one,keep fighting

Singular has been recommended to my 3 1/2 year old son. I didn't feel good about it, so I declined and decided to look up possible side effects. Wow! I will NOT be giving it to him!
I have always been cautious on giving him antihistamines because prior bad side effects (which I never heard anyone else complain about).
When he was a few months old, he had cold like symptoms (runny nose, congestion, etc.) and was really suffering. I gave him the over-counter Pediacare and he could breathe better but he became something out of a horror film. He screamed constantly for over 48 hours and did NOT sleep a wink! Like a "crack baby" or something. (I assure you I am not exaggerating). I too became sleep deprived and crazed by his constant screaming, it took me some time to realize it was the meds. When I quit giving it to him, he became normal again. I decided I had to deal with the symptoms and not give him meds.
A year later, different medicine, I tried again. Same results.
When he was 2 1/2 we took a road trip from KY to KS. I thought I would try Benedryl, he had 2 older syblings that it benefited. NOT for him. He became "crazy" and screamed to the top of his lungs for the entire 12 hour drive. I vowed never again (for him or his family).
I have had success with Claritin in less than normal dosing. With no side effects. I have been assured, however, that Singular would work better for the symptoms. No thanks.
I feel really bad everyone this has effected negatively. I understand the side effects first hand.
I too have heard of the "antihistamine blocker" but don't know if it works.
I plan on trying a "nettie pot" (natural alternative) and have heard great allergy success stories. You can get them for about $5 at Walmart.
Hang in there parents! Do what you have to do for your child. Trust your instinks even over the Peditrician. I love Docs but YOU know your child. :)

My son requires two forms of medications to stop the running nose, singulair and pediox. The two together were a very good combination and it did work. By eliminating the signulair on Oct. 6th, his nose is already running and he is coughing. We have tried Zyrtek and a few others I can't even remember, but none work as well. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I will be calling his pediatrician for other suggestions, but I know she will be against us taking him off of the singulair, especially since he has had pneumonia in the past.

Wow- this floors me. My daughter is 20 now- we had her on Singulair for years for her asthma. She suffered from horrible leg pain, but she was a 4-sport varsity athlete and we attributed the pain to over training.

Her first year at college she started suffering from severe depression and lost a lot- I mean a LOT of weight. She went about a year and a half with no period due to low body weight. We wanted to check her into an inpatient treatment center for eating disorders but couldn't because she was over 18 and didn't want to go.

In June we sent her to a new allergy doc who retested her and switched her from Singulair to Symbicort as the Singulair was not managing the asthma well. It was like we flipped a switch- she stopped having vision problems, stomach pain, and insomnia almost overnight. She has gained back at least 10 pounds and is looking like her old self again.

I'm so glad we stopped the Singulair, even though it was accidental. A year ago, we thought we might lose our bright and beautiful daughter. We had no idea it could be as simple as the asthma med. I'm telling everyone I know about possible side effects of Singulair.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with this medication. My 4 (almost 5) yo has been on Singulair for almost 2 years now for allergies. I've noticed over the past few months a slow change in his behavior/attitude, not positive changes. He's become an aggressive, angry child that can be set off in a split second over nothing. He's also getting worse with not wanting to go into other parts of our home alone. He won't even walk down a short hall to go to the bathroom alone - is afraid of I don't know what. Lately, he's also been obviously having bad dreams because he kicks and yells in his sleep. I've just chalked all of this up to his age. While taking a walk yesterday I ran into a neighbor that was telling me the doctors want to put her son on Singulair but because of the possible hyperactivity and other side effects she won't do it. I came home and found this site along with others describing similar side effects as my sons. As of last night, we took him off of Singulair. I'm curious to see if this is the problem. I'll keep you posted.

I am happy I found this website to express my concerns about singulair. My husband and I are still shellshocked about how singulair turned our lives upside down. My son was on singulair for 5 years. During that time he had extreme anxiety, nightmares, stomach aches, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, difficulty in school, aggressive behavior. We were at our wits end when we sought therapy at an anxiety clinic a year ago. He never went on any antidepressants or anti anxiety pills, just behavioral therapy. He went to therapy for approximately 5 months once a week. At the time he started therapy, I happened to switch doctors for his asthma due to an asthma flare up. He went to a pulmonology specialist at CHOP. He was taken off of singulair and put on other inhaler medications. Slowly, we began to see improvement in his behavior. I was holding my breath, thinking I was imagining his improvements and hoping his symptoms would not return. My son is now 9 years old and has been off singulair for one year. His horrific symptoms are gone and he no longer needs therapy. He is a happy, active nine year old. He had a successful year in second grade last year. I never realized it could have been singulair that caused his symptoms until I heard it on the news. His symptoms were always related to "behavioral problems". It was such a heart wrenching, frustrating experience because we could not figure out why he was behaving this way. My heart goes out to all the families who have experienced devastating symptoms. I contacted merck and the FDA. I want to contact my state representative. I am looking forward to seeing the results of the FDA study. I am curious how they are obtaining their data because I was never questioned about the details of my experience.

5 months Singulair free,yesterday was Matts first day of high school,his first day of regular school in 2 years as he could not leave the house or cope with out panic and fear.7am he awoke by himself and got ready for school,the only thing i saw in his eyes was excitement,he left the house smiling.While he was gone i passed and worried waiting for the phone to ring in case he needed me ,watching the clock and wondering how his day was. he arrived home at 2 thirty still smiling,i asked him how his day was he said fine, i asked him what they did he said nothing ,lol all is good ,thank you thank you thank you

negative -aches all over, joint pain, lack of energy and motivation, positive -nil asthma, greatly improved sinuses, less head congestion, was told this was the best drug for asthma, polyps-sinus, aspirin allergy. Have been taking singulair for two months, concerned have also noticed feelings of anger/mild depression. Am female 50yrs, breast ca 3 years ago taking femera for 8 months. Am worried whether to continue singulair aches are killing me but could be side effects of femera to scared to go off it. Want to live and have quality of live, have 13 year old, I need to be fit for parental duties/work.

My son has been taking Singular as well as Advair and Zyrtec and Nasonix for the past 6 months. He is doing so well. He has not had to go to emergency, he has not been sick, and he has not had mood swings. If you look at the prescription information that comes with Singular, you can see what the side effects can be. My recommendation is to take your child off of them if they have a side effect. I contacted my Dr. and Merck is studying only 1 case with a child that had side effects, but they did not say if this child was on other Psych medicine at the same time. The 2 psych meds that have shown a bad interaction with Singular are Phenobarbital and Rifanpin (spelling may be wrong). With all the posts I have read, very few people indicate if they are taking other medications at the same time as Singular. My suggestion is that you consult your Dr. and then send your case to Merck for more studies. If all you are doing is posting on the web, you are not solving this issue with the makers of the medication.

Just an update. Went to FDA.gov and submitted a complaint and then called Merck and told them as well. The rep I spoke with sent me to the prescribing information, how am I supposed to know about any of this? I am not the Doctor, I can't prescribe meds! She pointed out that this the mood changes is in the info...that I don't get b/c I am not the doctor, duh! Anyway I just wanted to vent and tell about our experience. Will give an update tomorrow after I talk to the ENT. I have also decided to take him off of any and all allergy meds for a good long time. I would rather wipe a runny nose all day and have my happy baby boy back then to have to battle a monster...

Last week, I had a PhD psychologist tell me that she is seeing a lot of patients come forward with Singulair stories, much like these. She's had at least 8 patients so far, and she has now added questions about allergy and Singulair to her patient intake procedures. Basically, they've all suffered from some sort of depression and personality change.

My baby (1 yr) was just prescribed Singulair from a CHOP doctor. I am so thankful that I found this website. I certainly will not fill the prescription. I was hesitant at first anyway because he only had one fluke "asthmatic" insident that sent him to the ER (but has many food allergies and dog allergy). Anyone have any advice on where I should go from here? Honestly, I am afraid to go back to that doctor and they told me it would be very difficult to switch doctors at CHOP. Everyone knows CHOP is one of the best. It is so hard to get honest advice. Every doctor thinks you will sue. Or they're out to use you for their research. He thinks this was the beginning of asthma and it will get worse. It was a scary episode...first time I ever called 911 for one of my children. Breathing is obviously very important, but he never has any problems breathing otherwise (running, laughing, playing) Just got a cold that turned bad quickly. Should I prevent with meds.? My thought is to just keep the neb. and Albuterol handy. I hate giving daily meds. to a developing baby. My gut says to let God develops his immune system naturally. (Not against periodic meds. - So thankful for Benadryl!) Please help! Mommy of 4

HI,

As with many others I found singulair to be a miracle with asthma. No more rescue inhalers. I am not sure which of my current meds is causing the very vivid, often gruesome dreaming I have been having as THREE of them show this as a side effect. I am referring to Cymbalta, Xanax and Singulair. It may be that the combination of the three is just too much and is causing brain toxicity of some sort. I started cutting down the cymbalta, and also the Xanax days ago. I found myself still waking up remembering vivid dreams that I would rather forget. I remember them all like they just happened in living color and detail, days and weeks later. At first I thought it was interesting, but now I just want to FORGET THEM, anyone have ideas???? Help!!! ( I also developed depression and anxiety after being on singulair for several years which is how I ended up with the two additional meds.

I have a three year old son who has severe allergies. He's been taking singulair for 2 years on & off just in the allergy season. He started taking, singulair again in the beginning of April. One morning he woke up and both eyes were really swollen and red, I called his doctor's office and told them i thought he had pink eye, after 2 different drops and no change I brought him into the doctor's to see if it could be his allergies, and they agreed and started him on Zyrtec. I still was not impressed with the results so i brought him back yet again to see if we could see a specialist. Instead they put him on nasonex to try.
In the beginning of March I started to see a change in my usual happy fun loving son. He was scared to sleep in his bed, waking up in the middle of the night from bad dreams, uncontrollable screaming fits that would last up to an hour, saying he wants a Boo Boo. At first we thought it could be jealously over his new brother, or maybe something at his school.
Then i found this website and everything clicked, how scary it must be for a child to have these horrible thoughts and not be able to understand or stop them. What are the people at merck thinking??
Can any one tell me when the symptoms stop. He's been off for a week and we see some improvements. But he still has these fits with almost an OCD tendency to them (mainly when he's overtired), stomach pains, lack of appetite.

My nephew is 7 and has been on Singulair for probably 4 years. His symptoms developed over time but recently have exploded. He has epilepsy so most of the things that he has experienced has been blamed on that. However, today his doctor took him off singulair and said he believes his symptoms are caused from the drug. He started having head drop seizures, fell out of his desk and cut his face one day. He has also been depressed, had severe anxiety attacks for the past 8 months. Several months ago, he started having such severe nightmares that it is almost impossible to get him to go to bed and go to sleep. Recently he began "seeing dead people" and "monsters" that we trying to kill him even when he was awake. He has also cried many nights with leg cramps and severe stomach pain. I will update this page in two - three weeks to let you know if these problems go away now that we have stopped the singulair.

I am just wondering how long does it take for this drug to get out of their system. My daughter is better-she is sleeping and her energy is better, but some of the other side effects she is still experiencing. She has been off the drug for about one week.

This is a follow-up. I have posted about our experience before, but to summarize: 6 year old boy on Singulair for over three years for Asthma. Drug worked wonders, but side effects developed so slowly that we thought those were "phases" that would go away. Side effects were just as everyone else reported: nightmares, fears, depression/sadness (we even went to a child psychologist since we thought this behavior was all due to father's deployment), aggressiveness, crying at the drop off a hat (like a 2 year old, not age appropriate), attention deficit, school performance dropped, and also, at the very end, obsessive compulsive behavior.
We stopped Singulair as soon as we heard about the FDA investigation (on NPR, about 6 to 7 weeks ago). Asthma has not worsened, thank goodness, so we make due with the Flovent for now. Most of the side effects were less prominent after some time, however the obsessive compulsive behavior stopped only a few days ago. We have better days, we have worse days, but slowly the better days outnumber the bad, aggressive, and negative ways.
What I read again and again in the postings is that we all assumed our children entered a bad "phase." A phase that just got worse and never ended!
Reading about the very same side effects in our children, over and over again, alarmed me. Taking my son off the Singulair and seeing the improvements, some faster some slower, totally convinced me. I will never ever have Singulair in my house again.

My son is almost 6 yrs old. He has been taking Singular for approx 3 years, in addition to Claritin and Nasonex. This is all for his allergy to mold. His doctor started him on these meds after a 6 month episode with sinus infections leading to asthma-like symptoms. We have not noticed anything unusual about his behavior until approx 3 months ago. He started waking up every night (2-3 hours after going to bed) with bad dreams. At first he would not fully awaken and fall back asleep immediately. After a month or so of this happening most nights, he had two nights in a row where he woke up screaming and was inconsolable for about 30 minutes. We initially thought it was night terrors, but he was not scared or fearful, he was just upset/angry. He would hit the bed repeatedly and yell. He didn't know what he was upset about but would talk about how he thought we hated him, he was dumb, etc. After about 30 min he would 'snap out of it' and return to his normal self and go back to sleep easily.
At first we thought these were night terror brought on by a recent fever, but he had another episode last night. He has also been falling apart at the littlest things and getting quite violent (for a 6 yr old). He was sent to his room yesterday evening because he was complaining about the dinner his mom made (lots of complaining these days..). He had a total melt down an started throwing things and hitting the door so hard he put a hole in it.
Some of this behavior I would chalk up to normal kid stuff, new baby brother, etc. But I am suspicious about the negative thoughts, bad dreams, and instant melt downs... I stopped giving him Singular today and we will see what happens. God bless you all as we figure these things out...

I forgot to add my son was also on zyrtec & claritin b4 singulair & they caused similar side effects as singulair but not nearly as severe & I didn't realize all this till after I stopped the singulair & started looking up all the old meds. he was on

I am a 47 year old male who took 3 days of 10mg singulair ending April the 16th. On the 4th day, I was walking around in a national chain store and started getting severe numbness and tingling in my arms and legs.
According to the info. pamphlet that comes with the drug, this can be a serious adverse reaction.
About 13 days later, I still get episodes of tingling and numbness in different areas of my arms and legs, and now, some areas on my face. My family doctor says there is nothing to be done about it, and my allergist says I may need to see a neurologist. I think the doctors need to go see a neurologist and have their heads examined for giving us this garbage to take in the first place!
Never had any of these problems until a took singulair! Hope these side effects aren't permanent!
Good Luck to you all, and may all of us get healthy again real soon!

I usually have allergy headaches in the morning which would go away after taking 1 Benadryl w/ Tylenol. About a week ago my doctor started me on Singulair because she was concerned about me taking Tylenol daily. The last few days I've had terrible headaches that linger most of the day. (I've continued to take the Benadryl w/ Tylenol to try to help the headaches, but it's just not working.) Today is day 7 with the Singulair, and the headaches seem to be getting worse. Are headaches common with Singulair?

Hi.

I was put on Singulair toward the end of February. At the beginning of March I started getting hives all over my body and becoming very itchy for no reason at all. The allergist said it couldn't have been from the medicine. The frequency of the hives/itchiness have slowed, but I still get them. I was also getting a little dizzy when I'd put my hed back or lay down, but I knew that was one of the side effect. But, the past several days, I've been getting very dizzy when I walk. I'm worried this is from the Singulair -- nothing else has changed. Could these effects show up after a month? My allergist doesn't seem too concerned, but I am.

Singulair does interact with the astrocyte in the brain.

The role of the cysLT1 receptor (Singulair blocks this receptor) and the astrocyte in the brain has been studied. For anyone from Merck to say that there are no mechanisms by which Singulair can affect the
brain is ludicrous. If the Chinese researchers are correct, then Singulair very clearly affects the brain. Certainly, we don't know exactly how or when the effect would be good or bad. Under what circumstances would it be beneficial and under what circumstances would it be harmful.

For quite a while, researchers have been hypothesizing about the role of the astrocyte in brain function. If we go to look for theories, we will find them. Here is the theory of Dr. Dale Antanitus. I am no here to promote anyone's theory in particular but just to point out that they exist.

http://www.antanitus.com/hypothesis

We can see that the Chinese researchers have gone forward to look at potential links between the cysLT1 receptor (Singulair receptor) and inflammatory response in the brain. The 2008 study showed a link between the astrocyte and the cysLT1 receptor (Singulair receptor)

1: Glia. 2008 Jan 1;56(1):27-37. Links
Activation of CysLT receptors induces astrocyte proliferation and death after oxygen-glucose deprivation.

Huang XJ, Zhang WP, Li CT, Shi WZ, Fang SH, Lu YB, Chen Z, Wei EQ.
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People's Republic of China.

We recently found that 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) is activated to produce cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs), and CysLTs may cause neuronal injury and astrocytosis through activation of CysLT(1) and CysLT(2) receptors in the brain after focal cerebral ischemia. However, the property of astrocyte responses to in vitro ischemic injury is not clear; whether 5-LOX, CysLTs, and their receptors are also involved in the responses of ischemic astrocytes remains unknown. In the present study, we performed oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by recovery to induce ischemic-like injury in the cultured rat astrocytes. We found that 1-h OGD did not injure astrocytes (sub-lethal OGD) but induced astrocyte proliferation 48 and 72 h after recovery; whereas 4-h OGD moderately injured the cells (moderate OGD) and led to death 24-72 h after recovery. Inhibition of phospholipase A(2) and 5-LOX attenuated both the proliferation and death. Sub-lethal and moderate OGD enhanced the production of CysLTs that was inhibited by 5-LOX inhibitors. Sub-lethal OGD increased the expressions of CysLT(1) receptor mRNA and protein, while moderate OGD induced the expression of CysLT(2) receptor mRNA. Exogenously applied leukotriene D(4) (LTD(4)) induced astrocyte proliferation at 1-10 nM and astrocyte death at 100-1,000 nM. The CysLT(1) receptor antagonist montelukast attenuated astrocyte proliferation, the CysLT(2) receptor antagonist BAY cysLT2 reversed astrocyte death, and the dual CysLT receptor antagonist BAY u9773 exhibited both effects. In addition, LTD(4) (100 nM) increased the expression of CysLT(2) receptor mRNA. Thus, in vitro ischemia activates astrocyte 5-LOX to produce CysLTs, and CysLTs result in CysLT(1) receptor-mediated proliferation and CysLT(2) receptor-mediated death. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 17910051

The astrocyte has been studied to see how it functions in the brain. The astrocyte:

1. may perform a role in the physical structuring of the brain
2. may perform a role in providing neurons with nutrients
3. may perform a minor role in the maintenance of the blood brain barrier
4. may perform a role in neurotransmitters
5. may perform a role in the regulation of ion concentration in the extracellular spaces
6. may perform a role in neuronal regulation of blood flood
7. may perform a role in the protection and repair of neurons

TO LIE TO PEOPLE REGARDING THEIR HEALTH IS CRIMINAL AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED. PEOPLE OUT THERE ARE GETTING SICKER IF THEY ARE EXPERIENCING SIDE EFFECTS BECAUSE MERCK IS LYING. SOME PEOPLE MAY NOT EXPERIENCE SIDE EFFECTS BUT WHY NOT TELL THE TRUTH AND SAY THAT THERE COULD BE SOME PEOPLE WHO HAVE PSYCHIATRIC SIDE EFFECTS BECAUSE THERE IS A PATHWAY FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.

My M.D had prescribed Singulair approximately 3 months ago. I was extremely hesitant to take it and did research online before i made my final decision. I am/was fortunate not to have many of the side effects as stated in the other postings. Upon filing the second refill, I noticed I was putting on weight. My eating habits and daily routine has not changed prior to taking Singular or during taking the course of taking the pill. I started to become very concerned and I too found this site. I can tell you for a fact, that there is a very definite side effect of weight gain. I have gained weight all over my body, not only limited to the stomach area. As a result, I too, will NOT continue taking this pill, not only because of the weight gain, but in addition to the fact that my allergies are still bothering me. I am going to try Zyrtec, which is now an over- the -counter allergy pill. Zyrtec, until last year, was by prescription only. In final, to all those that are complaining of weight gain and various serious side effects, you are not crazy, The symptoms you are experiencing are real. Good luck to all of you.

While I do agree that research and public awareness of the possible side-effects should be done, there are some of us that take Singulair without negative side-effects. I have been taking it for eight years, since I was 16 and have never had any of these side-effects. There was a couple of months that I did not take it because of financial issues, and the only thing that I noticed was that my asthma and allergies were horribly worse. These were both relieved dramatically when I resumed taking it. Without it, I would spend my days in an allergy/anti-histamine fog not being able to breathe while still taking my inhaler 4+ times a day and several during the night. That is just the beauty and flawed nature of medicine: they work perfectly for some but for others the negative side effects outweigh the benefits. I am sorry that so many have had negative experiences with it themselves or in their family, but please have an objective attitude toward it. Some people need it to live normal lives.

I am a mother of four children (21, 19, 15 and 15) who have varying degrees of asthma and allergy. All of them have some degree of ADHD as well. The oldest took Singulair from grades 7 to 12. It was great for his allergy, but he had a depression which was attributed to his ADHD.

The second is still taking Singulair. She is highly asthmatic and it has been beneficial for her. The severity of her asthma went down to the controllable range, and her migraines (suffered since second grade) significantly decreased (documented side effect).

The last two, identical twins, began taking Singulair four years ago when they developed asthma as they entered puberty. They became oppositional, defiant, prone to rages, and curiously not hustling hard enough at their sports. Prior to this, they were solid, dependable students, with moments of inspiration - and aggressive athletes, leaders at their sports. We always thought the problems were related to puberty and the ADHD. More and more ADHD meds were applied. No more weekends off the meds - because our house would be destroyed.

As 2008 began, my own allergies flared. When the doc offered Singulair, I looked forward to feeling better. Within 48 hours, I could breathe at night, and the tightness in my chest went away. Even my allergic dermatitis improved.

Then a weird thing happened. I got lazy. I heard myself saying things like, "I don't care if I'm fat." I stopped doing my evening chores. I stopped pursuing my hobbies. I almost stopped making dinner. I was wondering why I didn't care, but I didn't care enough to pursue that, either.

Then it got worse. I couldn't handle the least criticism. I was in tears over almost anything. Within a few days, I was trying to find a way to leave my family. I just didn't care about anything any more.

The water-cooler crowd at work was chatting about the news reports about Singulair and suicide. I started to wonder: gee, doesn't depression preceed suicide? Maybe this hopeless feeling I had was related to the Singulair.

So I stopped taking it. 48 hours later, I started to laugh at jokes again. Five days later, I cleaned my kitchen. Now it's been three weeks and I'm back at my hobbies and loving life.

Two weeks ago, I realized that the never-ending laziness and argumentation we've been getting from our twins might be related to Singulair. I checked with the ADHD doc, and their general doc, and got the go-ahead to discontinue the medicine (although not both of them at once). I did this without telling anyone: not the twins, not my husband, no one.

Forty-eight hours after the first kid had stopped taking the Singulair, I came home to a grinning, hugging, 15 year old, who sat me down at the kitchen table to explain the strategy he'd designed to study for his upcoming exams. I was speechless and numb. I didn't tell anyone that he was no longer taking the Singulair (he takes a variety of vitamins and ADHD meds every day). The next day, my husband called me excitedly: the kid was cooperating with him! He didn't know what to make of it. I kept him in the dark for a few more days.

The other twin had been on a lower dose (5mg rather than 10 mg). I stopped his medication as well. The change in him has been more gradual.

Neither of them takes ADHD medicine now on non-school days. They are happy and cooperative. We ask ONCE for chores. There are still a few arguments and stormy moods - but I no longer wonder what's going to get broken next. And they seem to love working as hard as possible at their sports.

The good news is, we all feel better. The bad news is -- how did this happen? How can it be that such an obvious side effect was missed?

It's not like the effect of montelukast on the brain is unexplored. Try searching on "montelukast brain ischemia" - there are many studies that show that montelukast (Singulair) dramatically reduces brain swelling. What does it do for an uninjured brain? Does it dehydrate it? Deprive it of nutrition? If I had to characterize the behavior I saw in my twins, it's this: they acted the way hypoglycemic patients do, when they're late for their next snack. REALLY GRUMPY.

Or do some research on migraines and Singulair. There's an effect there, too. Many asthma patients on Singulair report that their migraines improve.

So the drug clearly affects the brain, and Merck's position that Singulair doesn't cause suicidal ideation is almost irrelevant. The fact is, montelukast has a significant, often-studied effect in the brain. That effect is not fully understood.

In our house, the effect of montelukast on the brain has been significant. We have dragged two kids to many psychiatric evaluations. We've spent hours and hours with teachers and principals and counselors, trying to understand why they just won't get their work done. We've used every performance-management trick in the books to get them to work - without much benefit. The kids have swallowed an awful lot of stimulant medication because it was the only thing that controlled their rages. Who knows what their teachers think of them - are they forever branded as the lazy kids? And we are lucky. From this forum, I've learned that it could have been a lot worse.

Well I just got back from my psy. appt. for anxiety for myself my 11 yr old son was the one on the monster drug anyways I made sure I told her about all this (she treats only adults But still thought I'd mention it) & even mentioned this w/s I dont know if she'll check it out but at least I feel like I'm holding to my promise about spreading the word about this I have posted it on a birth community with hundreds of parents on it, I have told the allergy doc, reported the S/E's to the FDA, I told my therapist & also my son's therapist Both were in shock!! & also I will be tellling my son's psy. next week when he sees him, I want all the docs to know what is happening to hundreds of ppl on this drug maybe some will actually look at the other meds someone takes & think hmmmm maybe try stopping the singulair to see if they improve?

I hope I'm helping I feel as though I am, too bad I have no idea if the docs will even care or listen But At least I feel good for telling them our story :)

My 9 year old daughter has been on singulair for about 5 months now and she is moody and not a very nice person sometimes. Now she in complaining of headaches and even cry's with the pain I want to take her off but I am a bit scared that if I take her off to quick this might be harmful can anyone let me know if they had any problems when they stopped their childs singulair.
Worried Mum
Australia

Oh my gosh, I am just shocked after reading these posts. I am taking my son off of Singulair immediatedly!!!! I knew I wasn't crazy!! My son was on Singulair for over 2 years and it was awful. He was so hyper and uncontrollable. He couldn't control his temper. He had headaches everyday. He was put on it due to severe allergies and asthma. He is on other medications as well as allergy shots. I kept telling the doctor that I think the singulair was causing his bad behavior problems. He was just so hard to handle. He couldn't sit still for anything. The teacher couldn't get him to sit still in his chair. It just wasn't normal behavior for him. The teacher even thought he had ADD!! I didn't accept that however. The doctor just thought I was crazy and told me that Singulair wouldn't cause those symptoms. She said it actually would work opposit that and cause him to be sleepy. Well I took him off of it anyways and he did get pretty sick. His asthma acted up ect. But he eventually felt better and his behavior improved drastically. He wasn't so hyper and he could actually sleep at night and wasn't so scared at night. Just within the last week he has been pretty sick due to allergy season, his asthma has been bad and the doctor told me to put him back on the Singulair. So I did he has been on it for four days now and he is HORRIBLE.. It was an instant change. My husband and I can't control him and he can't sleep at night and has headaches every day. I am so glad I found this sight. I am taking him off immediately.
Thank you all so much for your comments. This medicine should be outlawed. I don't care what the doctors say. By the way my son is 9 years old. I certainly had no idea that it has caused suicide. I am so sorry to you all that have experienced such horrible things. Come to think of it my son used to say he hated himself all of the time when he was on this medicine.
God Bless You All

Ok I haven't been following along for several days so I may have missed some info. But what I'm wanting to know is if anyone out there has had the their child off singular for several months and had the attitude problem get worse rather than better. I don't know what is going on with my son but he has been off the meds for almost 7 months and within the last month turned very mean and ill-tempered. We would get this reaction sometimes while he was on the medicine but now it's 10X worse. Could be totally unrelated, but I thought I'd through it out there just to see.

I am starting a new post in the hopes that others will see what I am trying to say about the delayed reaction in those that took Singulair for allergies.

If it is consistent that Singulair does not stop allergy symptoms immediately, then the pathways that eventually stop allergy symptoms involve a change in the mast cell function, development and migration (or some combination).

I asked this question for a reason. Are allergy symptoms stopped immediatedly. My question below:

I have a question that will help me continuing looking for information. I can understand that in the case of asthma that Singulair would provide immediate relief. If it is used for seasonal allergies or other allergies without asthma, does it work right away or does it take a period of days or weeks to be effective? If it takes time, could you tell me how long it took in your situation?

My thinking was going in the right direction if the answer below is consistent of everyone or most.

about 2 hours ago on Apr 11, 2008 by catherineevans, #7045
My granddaughter was put on Singulair for allergy symptoms without asthma. Itching, red eyes, terrible congestion, etc. dark circles under her eyes all the time. When we first put her on this, we didn't see any consistent results for 2-3 weeks, then it seemed to 'kick in.' I don't know if this helps. By the way, she was 9, now she's almost 12 and was immediately taken off when this story came out 2 weeks ago.

Then after seeing one response, I gave my reason for asking.

I asked this question because I have a theory of how montelukast really works for allergies as compared to how it works for asthma.

Asthma is a hyper-sensitive state that gets going because the mast cell has a receptor (the leukotriene receptor that Singulair blocks) that sends a signal along a pathway that causes lung tissue to have that extreme response - the wheezing, the airway constriction.

On the mast cell is another receptor the histamine receptor that causes the secretions that make our noses runs and and stuff up. This is not the same immune response as the asthma response. When I saw a post that somebody's doctor said that Singulair is an anti-histamine, NO it is NOT.

So if Singulair does not block histamine immediately and your child's allergies did not go away immediately, then maybe Singulair is working through some other means such as changing normal mast cell homeostasis.
I know that this seems like "what does this mean?" I am really writing this hoping to God that there are people reading this site that know what I am talking about.

Thank you so much for responding. Your answer actually told me what I wanted to know and confirmed my hypothesis. More answers will help. I hope others respond.

PLEASE respond about the length of time that allergies disappeared if you took Singulair for allergies.

has anyone took their child off of singular for more than 2 weeks and has the child had any breathing issues since being off?

I just came back home from the dr. We made some tests and my 5 years old daughter is allergic to house dust mites and has beeing diagnosticated with athopic asthma. The dr. prescribed Singulair. Now, after reading all the posts, I freaked out and I have not idea what to do. I am really sorry I did't ask about side effect, but I considered, her beeing a dr, knows better than me. My thought now is: I'm not going to give my daughter Singulair.

UPDATE: Our nightmare with SINGULAIR has not ended! After reading "conerned citizens" report discussing the possiblility of Singulair causing asthma blew me away. My son was put on this drug for food allergies not asthma b/c they thought of his two anaphylaxsis episodes in 5 days. 1 food related the other unknown (maybe outdoor mold?) He had no prior issues with breathing.

He has been off of it for almost 2 weeks however over the last week he has slowly developed some breathing issues. After getting off of it, he still has his ear infection from the second day of being on it and last Friday after playing some basketball began to seem like he was winded so I brought him in. He was having trouble breathing. I called the Dr. and he said it could be excercised induced asthma. He is a very active boy who runs non stop and has NEVER had breathing issues before Singulair! It seemed to pass after a few hours. The next fews days he coughed a few times when playing and I thought what the heck is happening to him. Monday at school they didn't go outside so he was fine b/c he didn't run around. Tuesday, they came to get me b/c he was having trouble breathing and one of his teachers whose son has asthma said I think you better give him an inhaler. I called the Dr. ASAP and he approved us to borrow another child's. He freaked out and wouldn't let us give it to him. After 2 epi-shots in the previous weeks, he wanted nothing to do with that. At school the next day, we made him take the inhaler if he wanted to go out to playso he did. He didn't cough but a few times. No excercise at all. Then last night, he got really bad. He started to cough and couldn't stop to the point of gaging and it seemed as though he had developed a ton of phlem and kept trying to swallow. We ended up in the ER where we were told that he has asthma! I am so furious! I don't get this at all! If this report is accurate and my son got asthma by going on it - this will be devastating. We kept him home today from school and took him into the Dr. b/c he continued to cough all night. He is now on Flovent, Albuterol and has an enebulizer. I'm probably the only one of all of us who child did not have asthma to begin with.

Has anyone who did not have asthma before singulair now have any issues? Please let me know!

I noticed a lot of postings about weight gain on Singulair, which is nowhere listed by Merck as a possible side effect. My 15 y.o. daughter experienced sudden weight gain at the age of 9 when she was actually underweight (BMI went from 17 to 21). To make a long story short, after being off Singulair for over a year, she is now over-weight, and diet/exercise have never made a big difference (gymnastics, swim team, figure skating, trampoline, etc.) Extensive labwork is always normal & there is no family history of obesity. It's a shame the quality of life of a child is RUINED by a drug that is deemed to have "no side effects", and the many drs. & specialists out there take it very lightly. We continually worry about our daughter's self-esteem, risk of diabetes, and other complications from weight gain which is not hereditary and goes on unexplained by the drug co. Reversing this weight gain has been nearly impossible. Everytime I hear a news report about our children being overweight and obese, it makes me angry because I think about the many kids that are taking this highly prescribed drug (for even the mildest allergy or asthma) and who knows how many parents don't make the connection!

P.S. I also forgot to mention that after I stopped taking Singulair, I started wheezing, especially while working out. I'm not asthmatic, but I've been told by all my allergy doctors that I'm at high risk for it.

I am one of many that has decided to stop giving my child Singulair. And like many others, I have noticed a great improvement in her behavior.

My question is for those who have done the same. What medication have you replaced the Singulair with and have you noticed any of the same side effects that Singulair was causing? What are your thoughts on Flovent inhaler?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

My name is Candyce Donovan and I am a healthy 38 year old ---healthy except for an occasional cold or sinus infection. A few years ago I was put on the drug Singulair to help cure an allergy type infection. I was only on it for a few weeks and discontinued it myself because it was making me worse. Earlier last year, I went to a different doctor for the same type of thing and was put on the drug again. At time while on the drug I had a few "episodes" where my body was shaking while I was sleeping and I thought I was just having a bad dream. Then in August of 2007, I experienced 2 grand mal seizures while sleeping each one lasting about an hour from the time I had the seizure til the time I came out of it... and was in the hopsital for 2 days. I had numerous tests done and things like a brain tumor etc were ruled out, and it was the conclusion of the ER doctors that my seizures were brought on by a very bad case of sinusitis as that was the only thing that showed up on my tests. At that time my sister brought in the medication that I was on at the time...the Singulair...and the doctors said that that would not cause seizures. The Neurologist that I went to disagreed with them and said that we would never find a cause. I continued on the drug until early December , having another seizure in November. I have now since November, moved in with my sister for the 6 months or more that I have been with out my license as in NY state one cannot drive for 6 months after having a seizure....you have to be totally seizure free for those 6 months, and it was the advice of the doctors to not stay alone. I went to see another Neurologist who again said that there would never be a known cause for the seizures, and in fact he diagnosed me with having epilespy/seizrue disorder....up until August I had never had a seizure. An uncle of mine had seizures when he was a baby that lasted until his teens but the Neurologist stated that he didnt think that was passed on to me. With the recent findings with the Singulair drug that are on the website now...I am finding that I have had many of the side effects and I believe this was the cause of my seizures as my seizures co-incided with the frame time I was on the drug.

I'm also back with an update
I posted a few days ago about the extreme change for the better I saw in my son when I took him off the Singulair & that this week I was planning to put him back on just to make sure it was the singulair causing his crazy behavior & not a new bipolar med working

well I have now decided not to reintroude it, I think I have tortured him enough this past year that he was on it & I now know in my heart Singulair was the cause of making our lives a miserable living hell this past year :(

I have just sent my complaint to the FDA I also plan to let his psy. know what I think about Singulair & also the allergy doc within the next few wks! so now my ? is what do I do next I dont want to just sit here & do nothing when there are so my families dealing with this

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do right now?
I'll continue to pray for those families affected by this

Our son was put on several medications 9/07 due to bad asthma and allergies. Since then we saw his behavior begin to go down hill. He would complain of stomaches, not want to go to school, became increasingly more irritable and has mood swings. He was a good student and we have never had a problem with him attending school. Since 9/07 we have taken him to a total of 10 different doctors. Pediatricians, therapist, allergy doctor and three licensed psychiatrists. Everyone said that we were crazy when we suggested that this behavior was linked to the medication. The psychiatrist diagnosed him with anxiety disorder along with school phobia. This has been a nightmare. I finally took him to an acupuncture doctor as a last resort because the doctors wanted us to put him on Prozac for the anxiety. Our family doctor has even suggested he is Bipolar! The acupuncture doctor has recommended a diet change and some treatments with her so that we can remove him from all his medications. I am so glad that I listened to my instincts and did not put him on the Prozac. I was so upset when this story aired about the Singulair. We have been trying to get the doctors to listen to us since 9/07 about the possible link. They still deny the connection and advised us to not remove him from the medicine. But for once I am going to handle things my way and we have already seen a difference in his behavior. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. My heart goes out to everyone that has had similiar experiences. These doctors should listen to the parents instead of assuming we are all trying to blame behavior problems on medication.

I have a 15 yr old son, that has been on Singulair for 4 years. He used to complain to me about not being able to sleep through the night, he couldn't concentrate at school. He was an honor roll student. Then he became short tempered. He also isolated himself, and no motivation. He would not want to do anything. He was depressed. Does not want to shower or anything. He has absolutely no self worth. He would talk about having these problems and I would just say to him that maybe it was just the changes going on. New school, changes to his body, it's just those times where changes and expectations are harder. Some handle it better than others. Than everything just continued to go down hill. My son is very intelligent, so when mom did not listen, he decided to self medicate. Went online to try find out what was going on. Tried to find what would help him. He learned quite alot about pharmacology(spelling???) at any rate he then started experimenting with other drugs. Prescriptions drugs. He just wanted desperately to be happy. I found out about this. He was getting into trouble at school, grades fell. So we then sought counceling and then a psychiatrist. They put him on all kinds of meds. Prozac, Ridilin anti pshychotic drugs. You name it my son has probably done it. Now my son is an addict. I now hear all these things about Singulair don't know what to think.??????? I have had him a drug treatment program of which he was kicked out for overdosing. Then, the hospital of which just put him on more drugs. I don't know what to do. He has asthma, when he does not take his Singulair the asthma really kicks in. I know this we are going to look for something else to treat his asthma. I need input. My thoughts are simple. I believe that it is possible that the problems my have started with Singulair but then my son took a step further. I think to try to survive. But in the mean time he is now an addict and I'm scared of whatever permanent damage that may have occured over the years. Are there any other parents out there, that think their teenager might be going through the same problems? If so PLEASE reply to this message.

Here is some perspective for you all. I take Singulair and do well on it and in ACTUAL studies it has one of the safest safety records. Understand that post marketing reporting does not mean there is a correlation between the event and the product. Throughout the life of a drug the companies must disclose any report of side effects reported to them REGARDLESS of causality. A popular antihistamine that is OVER THE COUNTER also has suicidal thinking/behavior listed in its post marketing section. However, just because patients who had reported having these thoughts while taking the product doesn't mean it was a result of the product! Maybe they had a depressive personality and were also on multiple other medicines to treat that. You must look at the "Adverse Reactions, Warnings and Precautions" sections of package inserts to see the side effects that were actually seen in studies. You can die from ulcers derived from over use of aspirin or ibuprofen. Decongestants can throw off your blood pressure and these events are documented in actual studies! Listen to your bodies when taking any med. If you feel differently report it to your doctor.

These are all drugs people, there are potential side effects. There are also side effects to those "natural" over the counter remedies that are not nearly as regulated by the FDA or studies by the drug companies.

To anyone out there who has experienced side effects to singulair timed to when you started it, talk to your doctor, stop taking it and see if it goes away. Same advice for any product prescription or over the counter medicine. Side effects can be a combination of many factors (what other meds are you taking?) But understand for many people this product is the safest and most effective treatment for them. The FDA and Merck are reviewing all information to see if there is any correlation to the reporting. But singulair been around for about 10 years and prescibed to billions of people and is known to be one of the safer medicines out there overall.

In between the legitimate posts on this site I get the sense there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. People looking to cash in on this big drug companies. We want drugs, we want them cheap and with no side effects which is not a reality. Keep stepping up the regulation and make the companies hire more lawers to protect themselves and jump through even more hoops and see what happens to the price and access to new meds. Even better, see how regulation has impacted the development of new medicines around the world (here's a tip, it will dramatically decrease). Drug companies certainly aren't perfect but which industry is?

Please, when taking any medicine over the counter, prescription or herbal supplement listen to your bodies to see if the potential benefits of the product outway the risks or side effects. Report any changes to your doctor.

I am very upset!!! My son was diagnosed with asthma at 3yrs old. He had been taking Singulair for about 5yrs. He seemed to be growing out of his allergy and asthma, so I thought. So I took him off of it. Last spring he got really sick and the doctor asked why he wasn't taking his Singulair and insisted we put him back on it. Well for the past year I have noticed my son had been showing signs of Anxiety and Depression and becoming really withdrawn and lately complaining of severe stomach pain everyday. I couldn't understand what was happening. Then my mother called me and told me what she had heard on the news and I was shocked! He is now off Singulair and you better believe I will be calling the doctor, FDA and anyone else I can get a hold of. I think This drug company needs to be sued and everyone that has been affected needs to report them.

What's the safe replacement drug for Singulair? I took my son off it before and he had his worst asthma attack ever. I see all the same symptoms in my son who's 9 and has been on it for 4 years now. It's so scary. We're off to the doctors to see what can be done. My Pharmacist has never indicated that there was ever a change in the side effects to Singulair. Thank you for all your helpful postings.

When I saw this story on in the news I could not believe it. My 9 year old has been taking this for 2 years and has had all of the problems I have read with other children. We too were told it was add or ocd or bipolar or some other
medical term. Never once was this one and only medication questioned.
I cried when I realized I had been torchering him with this allergy pill.
He has been off of it for 4 days now and says he " feels like a brand new me"
He is happy, fun, interested in everything and no more headaches or stomach pain, or depression.

Please take your child off of this medicine if you are not sure and contact your MD. Listen to your child and your instinct as a parent.

I heard about this on NPR on Friday morning and cannot believe what all I have read about to date. We have been to so many psychologists, psychiatrists, play therapists, neurology, allergy, and so forth trying to explain her behavior. We have had so many different theories thrown our way that it's hard to know what to believe anymore. Not one medical professional noted that her allergy meds could be partly to blame. After I listened to the initial report, I was talking to my small circle of friends about some of the problems we have been experiencing with our daughter for years. Everyone that I have spoken with that has children on Singulair all complain of similar problems in their children- they say they wish they weren't alive, show extreme rage , hate to be alone, etc. I am no medical professional, but I cannot afford to see if this isn't what is causing our daughter's behavior. Certainly after reading these postings I'm even more convinced about the connections. I would be remiss if I followed my pediatrician's advice and continued her on Singulair. Finally, I see some light at the end of this long tunnel and I no longer feel so isolated.

I have a 15 yr old son, that has been on Singulair for 4 years. He used to complain to me about not being able to sleep through the night, he would be short tempered. He also isolated himself, and no motivation. He would not want to do anything. He was depressed. Does not want to shower or anything. He has absolutely no self worth. He would talk about having these problems and I would just say to him that maybe it was just the changes going on. New school, changes to his body, it's just those times where changes and expectations are harder. Some handle it better than others. Than everything just continued to go down hill. My son is very intelligent, so when mom did not listen, he decided to self medicate. Went online to try find out what was going on. Tried to find what would help him. He learned quite alot about pharmacology(spelling???) at any rate he then started experimenting with other drugs. Prescriptions drugs. He just wanted desperately to be happy. I found out about this. He was getting into trouble at school, grades fell. So we then sought counseling and then a psychiatrist. They put him on all kinds of meds. Prozac, Ritalin anti psychotic drugs. You name it my son has probably done it. Now my son is an addict. I now hear all these things about Singulair don't know what to think.??????? I have had him a drug treatment program of which he was kicked out for overdosing. Then, the hospital of which just put him on more drugs. I don't know what to do. He has asthma, when he does not take his Singulair the asthma really kicks in. I know this we are going to look for something else to treat his asthma. I need input. My thoughts are simple. I believe that it is possible that the problems my have started with Singulair but then my son took a step further. I think to try to survive. But in the mean time he is now an addict and I'm scared of whatever permanent damage that may have occurred over the years.
bydesperatemom