Singulair and god

My son who is 5 years old was on Singulair for 5months. He turned into a total different child. He developed extreme OCD, anxiety, excessive crying, scared at night, and irritability. After researching I found out it was the Singulair causing his symptoms, so I immediately took him off. After just a couple of days his mood lightened. It took a few weeks for the anxiety and OCD to go away, but it did thank God! Although, the main debilitating symptoms went away he still after 5 months is irritable and takes offense to anything and everything. It is like every time I talk to him I say something wrong and it annoys him or makes him mad. Our relationship is completely different now. It is like we are not as close. This was not my son before Singulair. I am heart broken. I read peoples post and most say after taking their children off Singulair all the symptoms went away and their children are back to normal. I feel there is 20% still missing after 5months of being off Singulair. My son is not 100%. I am beginning to feel like he may never be 100%. I feel like it causes some permanent damage. Does anyone else feel the same? Or have a similar situation? Or have still experienced recovery past 5months? I would love to hear your story. THANKS!!

I am totally upset by reading the posts here. my son is just now 8 months old. he was put on singulair when he was just 6 months old. at first it seemed to be working...for maybe 2 weeks...then everything went crazy. he was started out on it when his pediatrician stated that he had asthma and apparently was on a very high dosage of it. they started him on 10 mg of the oral granules. before taking it he was a very happy baby, even with him being so young i never had any problems with him crying excessively or being massively irritated. since he started on the medication he has had massive irritability spells, constant fussing and crying and cant seem to fall asleep at night let alone stay asleep very long. i had taken him to the emergency room on christmas eve because a new problem showed up. he now was having a massive hard time breathing, he had a persistant cough, congestion in his chest and was almost always gasping for air. the staff at the hospital were in disbelief when they were informed that his pediatrician had put him on singulair at such a young age and at such a high dosage. i am now in the process of obtaining a lawyer and filing a lawsuit against the pediatrician for medical malpractice. this drug is very dangerous for anyone especially children. i would suggest anyone else having these problems with their child and this drug do the same. it can apparently cause long term lung damage, pulmonary disorders and even death. my son has been off of the medication since christmas eve and has already done a massive turn around. he sleeps well and through the night again, his breathing has improved and his cough is almost gone. they did say in the E.R that he has congestion in his chest due to the singulair but it should clear up over time with the help of zyrtec. please help make a stand and protect our children from the dangers our own pediatricians present to them.

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:)

Thank you so much for this site. My 3 year old son was prescribed Singulair this morning for some mild asthma. I am pretty conservative about giving meds so i was doing some research and am so thankful I found this site. I haven't picked up the prescription yet and I will not be.
God bless you all and I pray everything turns out okay for your little ones.

My 12 year old was on Singulair from age 4 to 10. We too thought it was a life saving drug. The doctor then put my youngest son on it for allergy cough etc. That is when all hell broke loose. He immediately had signs of depression, anxiety, anger, nightmares, ocd and facial ticks. We took both boys of this drug and I will never use it again.

I've told every doctor that we visit about this and they have basically said they haven't heard this as a symptom. When I told his immunologist this was a symptom he said that if I'm telling him it's a symptom then they aren't going to dispute it. His lack of surprise led me to believe that this wasn't the first time he heard this. This is the same doctor that put my 12 year old on this drug as part of a study through U of M. (At the time, the drug wasn't available for 4 year old)

I would strongly caution anyone about the use of this drug and I wish I had done more research. My son has been off it for 2 years and still has
lingering effects.

My son is almost 5 now and has severe food and inhalant allergies, along with sever asthma. When he was 3 he was hospitalized for 4 days because of his asthma. I have been warned that only 1% of asthmatics will ever be hospitalized, so I've made sure he stays on all his meds. He has been on Singular ever since he was 15 months old. At first it was a God send. Everyday was a constant challenged, fussy, icthy red eyes, constant flow of mucous and wheezing. I would have to pin him down 6 times a day with the inhaler, but when Singular came "poof" it was like magic. He was on Singular when he was hospitalized and is now on 3 meds; Zrytec, Singular and Q-var all given to him everyday. Lately we have had some major issues come up for him. I think I have the next J. D. living with me. NO FOR REAL. My next step is a shrink. You might think I'm mean for saying it, but I don't know how else to describe it. When I was driving he asked for some gum, because I wouldn't let him pick out his own piece, he got out of his car seat and started hitting me over and over again, pulled my hair and tried to "break my arm" as he put it. I had to pull over and I couldn't get him to calm down he kept slapping me in the face and kicking me not only was I embarrassed, but it hurt, I was crying. I have finally come here trying to see if other children, who are on Singular, have had similar episodes. He is a very good boy most of the time and aggression is a hit and miss. I don't know what to do.

My son is now 31/2 years old and has been on Singulair since he was about 1 Yr. old. His pediatrician recommended this due to his allergies and runny nose. He has had fluid on his ears since age 1, at least that we had confirmed, and she thought that the Singulair combined with another type of antihistamine could dry up the dripping nose and clear up the ears. It did not clear up the ears, but it does stop the drip. He had tubes placed in his ears a year ago in May of 2007 and is looking now at his second set coming up in Mid-October of 2008. He has been taking this medication all but one summer of his short life. My husband and I have both had children, he a boy and I a girl, both 14 years old now. In comparison to the other two, our little one has been so completely different to raise. I've always seen children of "other parents" that have discipline problems with their children and wondered what might cause that type of action in such a small child. Now we have this beautiful little boy, but all we've ever known is how difficult he is to handle and how is anger, temper tantrums and stubborness have always put a damper on outings and even casual days at home. Due to the fluid on his ears, his speach was delayed and he has now really began to speak like a normal 3 year old. I have noticed within the last 2 weeks how he has really started saying things that I have not approved of, but have fluffed it off thinking that he has heard other children in his pre-school say these things, or heard it on a superhero show. Something happened today that really made me stop and think. I picked him up at pre-school like normal after work and he would not come to me. He looked slightly glazed in the eyes, totally not like himself at all. He talked very little on our 30 minute commute home, which was not like him. He said, "I hate you and you don't like me". I told him I do love him and he said, "NO". He said, "I'm bad for you and I have a dangerous heart". He then told me, "I kill you". This was so disturbing that I told my mother what he had said. She told me that it sounds so much like what she had heard on the news that I should check it out. This is how I've come to find this site. We have stopped giving this medication to our son and I am curious to see if there will be any change in his personality. Tubes will probably be placed in his ears again despite whether his nose drips again, so that is a mute issue at this point. When we voiced our concerns to his pediatrician when the information first surfaced several months ago regarding adult behavior and side effects of Singulair, she fluffed it off and told us she has many young patients on this medication with no adverse side effects. He is taking Pediox every 12 hours. I am worried that we may need a substitute med, but we have tried so many that haven't worked. He has Albuterol Inhaler and Xopenex Inhaler when his Asthma symptoms kick in, when his allergies are at his worst. He has had pnumonia 2 times, or one like run of it I should say. It's important to keep his allergies under control so he doesn't get something like this again, but his overall mental health and stability cannot be jeopardized. Since his brain has been developing on this medication for 2 and a half years, does anyone know if this has lasting effects? He is very active and has a very short attention span. He can however sit through an entire movie if it is something that he likes and he has nothing better he wants to do at home. I do not believe he is hyperactive or ADHD in the sense that he needs medication for that symptom. He can be a very loving child and he is very polite and knows his manners. He comes from a very loving home with loving siblings. We have wondered for so long how he could possibly have turned out this way, and I am truly scared to think that this medication could be the cause of so much turmoil in our lives. I will be monitoring his results.

I have a 26-month old grandson who has been on Singulair for "27 DAYS". His pediatrician knows that his immune system is already compromised due to some developmental delays. However, before he started taking his Singulair he was a very happy, funny and loving child. Within 2 weeks on this medicine we started to notice a few changes in him. He started waking up at night "screaming" and he has been sleeping through the night for at least a year now. And when his mother would go in to get him out of his crib, he would be so frightened and afraid to leave her side. It would take her a very long time to settle him down and put him back down for the night. At the same time, he started not wanting to drink his normal daily glasses of milk or eat his regular meals. He was simply a mess most of the day and would fuss, cry, bang his head and we were having a very hard time trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He is not yet talking due to his delayed speech, so he could not tell us what was going on. Yesterday, I told my daughter let's look at the side effects of Singulair since it was the only thing that had changed within the last few months. When I found this site, I could not believe what the parents/grandparents were saying about their children on this drug. We immediately took him off Singulair. This will be his second day without being on the drug. According to my pharmacist, it will take approximately 50 hours for it to get out of his little system. The pharmacist had not heard the latest that aired on the TV station, so she asked me to call her back in a few days to tell her how my grandson is doing. Parents should be able to trust the medications that are prescribed by their Pediatricians, especially at such young ages. My daughter is REALLY UPSET and has a call into my grandson's doctor. Thank God I found this website. I simply searched on "side effects of Singulair in children" and this site came up. I do believe the Lord is watching over my grandson. Thanks.

I have a 4yr old boy who has been on singulair for 5 months. Before he began singulair he was the most happy, kind, gentle, loving boy. We had an awesome close relationship. I enjoyed just sitting there watching him play. I could not wait for him to learn something new, but EVERYTHING has changed now. I took him off of singulair on Sept 19, 2008 after accidentally running into this site while looking up children and OCD. Thank God I did. It has been 12 days since I found this and took him off. I couldn't type then because I was to upset. My son who never had ANY mental problems or anxiety is now completely riddled with it. Instead of playing all day care free like 4yr old are supposed to do, my son spends his days now clinging to me in fear that I may leave or go into a room without him and he will not be there to open the door. He obsessively has to open every door now. He spends his days getting upset at the smallest things. He now gets mad at everything I say, or I don't say it right. Our relationship is not the same now, and I am devastated. Before Singulair he slept through the night every night. Now he wakes up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom and say "are you still there mom?" ok "I love you" "Don't let the bed bugs bite" I have to answer "I love you to" and "you either" If anything different is said he will go nuts, and he will obsessively say this over and over and over again. This is not my son. He is a totally different person. I am so very scared that this poison has permanently ruined him. I mean he is so young and his brain is developing. It has been developing with this poison in it, that has ruined him. It has been 12 days and he is still doing the same ocd stuff. He still seems really agitated. His muscles hurt, his tummy hurts, his eyes hurt, his ankles hurt, and he has diarrhea. My beautiful boy is now mentally and physically SICK because of singulair. I feel really bad to, because I did not know at first that the singulair was causing this and I was always getting on to him for his behavior and putting him in his room. At pre-school a couple of days after first giving singulair to him he started crying ALL DAY at school, and I made him stay there because I thought it was just because he had gotten a new teacher and he needed to get used to her. I feel terrible!! Does anyone know if the ocd will go away or has he now learned the behavior?

I aged ten years in a month. My legs lost any muscular power and I needed help to get up our 3 steps to the front door. My eyes are sore and my balance is also affected. What I do not know is how long am I going to be affected like this. I began to think that I was starting with either motor
neurone disease or Parkinson's disease.
Muscle weakness, loss of balance, bad dreams,anxiety, irritability.joint pain.sore itchy eyes and difficulty focusing on printed pages.
A., Yorkshire, England.I am 69 years old and prior to Singulaire I was pretty fit for my age.

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears to be giving priority to projects that benefit the pharmaceutical industry rather than helping consumers, a top Democratic lawmaker said on Wednesday.

The head of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee questioned how the FDA set its priorities given recent controversies over its handling of safety issues, including tracking tainted foods and inspecting drug manufacturers.

A 2007 list of top projects includes plans to offer advice to companies on promoting products, as well as guidance on offering reprints of journal articles to physicians, California Democrat Henry Waxman said in a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach.

The agency also planned to change its regulations to protect device makers from lawsuits as long as their products are FDA-approved with a so-called preemption clause.

"All appear to prioritize industry desires over consumer protection," Waxman wrote.

The FDA has come under fire in recent years following a string of highly-publicized safety scares, starting with the 2004 withdrawal of Merck & Co Inc's (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) painkiller Vioxx following heart problems.

The risk of suicide with antidepressants and other drugs, as well as tainted batches of blood-thinner heparin and bacteria-laced produce such as spinach and hot peppers have also fueled concerns.

Asked if it had any response, FDA spokeswoman Heidi Rebello said the agency would comment directly to Waxman
THE DAYS OF RECKONING ARE COMING

IS THIS SITE AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS?

A little while ago less than two hours, after a very emotional, difficult battle with my daughter, we had yet another heart to heart to try to do better. At the end of our talk WE PRAYED for guidance to know how to help the situation. So I'm here looking for a link to her behavior fron the ADHD medication and I see someone had posted about Singulair side effects. I was floored! I have never thought that Singulair was not a safe drug. No doctor has ever mentioned any negative side effects to me regarding it. The more I'm reading about it the more in shock I am. Have I and her doctors been doing this to my daughter? My 12 1/2 yo daughter has been on Singulair for probably 10 years. She was a 28 week preemie and had severe lung issues so it was a needed medication. Her behavior has worsened the older she has gotten. Because of mostly anger issues and problems in school about a year ago she was started on ADHD medications. We are currently trying to find "the right one" . I feel so awful. Could all her misery have been caused by this little pill that was suppose to help her? Why has her pulmonoligist continued to give it to her although she has not had any serious asthma problems in years? I think I will stop all medications and see what happens. My daughter has also been on amytriptylin for about six months also for severe migraines. What do you think? Should I stop all of them cold turkey or gradually decrease one at a time? I would GREATLY appreciate any advise.
Thank you

Thank GOD for this web site.. I was just prescribed this medication today and I will throw them in the trash and not take one.. Thanks. I already suffer from depression.. THIS I didn't need.

SINGULAIR AND ZYRTEC SAME MEDICATION made by different companies. Be careful!

Have been experiencing the same serious behavioral issues (screaming, launching every toy he has out of his room, knocking over his night stand, hitting, kicking and just being hateful) with my 4 year old who has been on Singulair for 2 years as I'm noticing many of you have here. My wife and I have a wonderful relationship and happy home and tons of love and support from other family that's close buy so the kid has a very nice environment. We have taken him off the medication as of yesterday. I have consulted his doctor but I'm anxious to hear what methods of treatment for the asthma all of have chosen in replacement of Singulair or did you just maintain with an inhaled maintenance program with something like Pulmicort? Also, how long was after taking your child off of Singulair did take to for the outburst to subside and the behavior to become more mellow and normal (what is normal for a 4 year old?). Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I am a parent of a 14 year old son. He has been on many meds due to having migraines, adhd, seizures, and asthma. For 3 years his ADHD meds have been switched. Now Thanks to a friend she told me about singular side effects. OH MY GOD. it blows my mind reading this stuff. He has been on singular for 3 years and never once did I think all these problems were caused by that drug. Flipping out over the smallest things, arguing with us his parents, his friends, being mean to us and a real smartass, depression, and MAJOR attitude. Getting upset over nothing at all then crying for no reason What was his Dr. thinking? Needless to say, I took the singular while she was telling me this stuff about her own son, and threw them away, I will never allow my son to take that shit again. I hope in three days like all of you say, that my son will be that loving, caring, friendly person he use to be ! Singular free is how he will be!!

My son suffered from pneumonia at age 6 months till age 2. They had him on Flovent and Singulair from the age of 1. For as long as we can remember, he has been an aggressive, mean, bitter, angry child. The slightest thing would set him off. The doctors had just had him tested for tumors and cancers and other serious head related problems because he was constantly complaining of headaches. All tests came back normal. Then we heard that Singulair can cause ADD amongst many other side effects, including headaches. We took him off of Singulair and after only 2 days off of it he was a completely different little boy. He is happy and loving, calm and patient. He isn't dissolving in a fit of rage at the simplest thing. We can not believe the difference in how he is acting.
We found about 2 years ago a natural supplement that has really helped control his and my asthma and allergies. It is called OPC-3. It is an incredible anti oxidant that helps with so many health problems! If you would like more info, just let me know. It has been a life saver for our family and many others! Here is a website where it can be found.
******
It is under the health and nutrition tab on the left side.
Good Luck!!

I have just come across this website and I am so upset. My 10 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 8 years. Since she was 2 years old. About 3 years ago I spoke to her pediatrician about the fact that I was concerned that she had been on it for so long and about the possible long term side effects. She brushed me off and told me that there weren't any.

Over the years she has complained often of stomach aches and pains. We even had her on Miralax for a couple years because the Dr. was sure it was constipation. The last couple of years she has been complaining of leg cramps and I sort of brushed that off as "growing pains."

She is extremely emotional and has serious mood swings. I even asked her Dr. about ADD and she said it was just her personality. I am almost in tears typing this because I have no way of knowing if her actions are because of her age, her personality, or because of this medication. She has been on it for so long that I wouldn't know what her personality would be if she had never taken it.

Her asthma tends to be seasonal and she hasn't had an attack in years. I took her off the meds as soon as I read about the disturbing side effects that hit too close to home. I am upset that her Dr. never warned me about these side effects (that were not listed on the label) and didn't take my concerns seriously.

She is very small for her age and I was concerned that the medication may have stunted her growth....little did I know there were so many other dangerous side effects. I just hope and pray that she doesn't suffer any long term negative effects from this medication that I have given her, thinking I was helping her.

My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 years old and has been on it for the past 3.5 years. My son at an early age was affected by a bad marriage and then the divorce when he was 5 yrs old. So we always suspected that his behavior issues were caused by this and I had done everything I possibly could to give them the help he needed to get over and through his issues. He was held back his first year of Kindergarden and during his second year midstream he was placed in a special class for behavioral problem children. Nothing ever seemed to help him, everytime we would see some progress and encouragement we were always blind sighted by a behavior that was always worse. Two steps forward and them 5 steps backwards. I always knew that his problems would never get better overnight so I just kept on going. He was diagnosed with ADHD but because he has some ticking issues I had to put him on Strattera which was did not do a thing for him. I always described him as my Dr. Jeckyll/ Mr. Hyde child. He could be really good and sit still and behave but I think he had to try really hard to do so. He eventually was always overpower by the impulse to show negative behaviors. Defiant, extremely impulsive, always negative and completely miserable all the time. He also went through phases of compulsions. There was always a compulsion of the month- germs, bathroom habits, noises, repetitive words. He hated school and always complained of a stomach ache which i thought he was always faking to get out of school. He had confrontations in school everyday for most of the day. I often thought some of this was because of being tired all the time. We had battled over bedtime every single night. He was terrified to go to bed alone, I tried everything to get him to sleep alone. I wore myself out falling asleep next to him, I would then go to my own bed only to be up with him half the night going back and forth. I gave in many a night and slept with him just so we could get a good nights sleep. At age 8.5 I finally got him to go to sleep alone but the lights haf to be on and he has to know that I am still awake before he will fall asleep. He would always say he didn't want to go to sleep because when he does he has bad thoughts about me and people that he loves. He always had an extremely hard time excepting the word "no"- he would flip out and hit his head with whatever was handy, throw things, break things, scream holler etc. It would take hours to get over it. When he did he would be very remorseful and lovable. He was always in turmoil. Finally in February of this year, this graduated to a new level where he would want to just kill himself and would actually go and pull a knife out of the drawer and just shake with anger as he held the knife to his throat. I was terrified although i really didn't think he was going to harm himself he just wanted to scare me. Then at the end of March when i first heard the news about the possible side effects of Singulair, I had only heard about the suicide effect. Oh great just what I needed was this medicine causing him to do that. The doctor was thinking about taking him off if this summer because he wanted to see if he out grew his seasonal allergies so I took him off immediately. Well I had no idea about the other side effects until my son turned into a completely different kid. School noticed a huge difference in him! His grades went up, his is able to control his behavior, he is happy he is NORMAL. I never suspected this drug as the culprit due to the timing of taking it. Our lives have changed completely. When i first found this site, it seemed as though some of the parents were writing about my child. It is amazing. My son still has some old habits to break but overall he is a wonderful and normal 10 year old boy. He did not outgrow his seasonal allergies but Allegra seems to help in through it. I get so angry- his whole early childhood was ruined by this medicine. He is a labled kid in our school system. This whole experience has opened up my eyes. Thank you for letting me share my story.

My son, now 10...has been on singular off and on, since I don't' know how long...today was the second time he was intentionally hurting his cat. He has told me time and time again about visions while he was awake, violent ones, he argues with anyone and everyone. He has no friends at school. Last year I took him off all his medications to see why his behavior was so drastic, he got so calm, it was like a new boy, but then when he started back to public school...he had to be put back on them again, and again with the singular...
If it was not for this site..I would think my son was sick mentally. But after this...he will see his doctor tomorrow and no more singular...
When I took him off all the meds I told his doctor I was really worried about his behavior and they said it will be okay...he went right back to just out of control. Could not sleep, concentrate at school or at home. He is so smart and he is failing school..not because he is slow, but they kept saying he was add...but when I home schooled him and took him off his meds...he was so great, obdient..not perfect by no means, but just a normal boy...
I hear him right now, in the other room, fighting imaginary people...he seems to go go go..and with no sleep...the dreams in the day time I just thought were his imagination...but now that i hear about other children like him...they are to him real..just like he tells me..he also always tells me how mad he stays..he says all the time I am just angry mom, and I would say at what..he just says everything...
Thank God for this site....now i know..it is not in his head, it is just like I told his doctor...it is his medication..now I know just the one it is..
THank you all..
God Bless all the others here suffering with the same problems...it is just shocking that we as parents and patients, even after telling the doctors, are right...I feel vindicated...I will be printing this off and taking it with us to the doctors...

I started full body internal itching after taking 10 days of Singulair. The physician that prescribed it said it couldn't cause itching. My new doctor tested for Lupus, I have an autoimmune disorder called Churg Strauss. After undergoing several steroid treatments and 3 days of IV Prednisone I got some relief. This has been going on for 6 months now. The itching becomes severe enough to make me want to commit suicide. Luckily it is pretty controlled by taking nightly doses of Atarax along with Periactin. Thank God I found a doctor who cared enough to search out the symptoms and help me get thru day by day.

We have an other update. Day four being off Singulair. I have seen a big change, back to his normal self (thank God). Everyday that he is off, he gets better and better. Yesterday there wasn't even a rage fit. He is sleeping better and no more screams at the top of his lungs. The screaming was the first that stopped and every day the fits get less and less. I understand that a growing baby is going to throw a fit here and there but the fits he was having were not normal ones at all. The funny part here is that after I took him off of all meds except the astinel (sp?) he is better all around. No runny nose, no cough, no sneezing, NOTHING!!! Good luck with your little ones. All I can say is everyday that he is off this awful stuff he will return back to you a little at a time.

Well, we just got out of the ENT and he couldn't believe that his ped put him on Singulair. He said he didn't like it, it wasn't a good drug, and hadn't heard of many good things about it. He also told me to take my son off immediately, to bad I already had. He also wanted me to put him back on Zyrtec but only when needed, not every day like he had been taking it. Told him about how the neb. had been talked about so he listened to my little one's lungs and he said that they are all clear and there is no need for one. While I was in this appointment, his ped. called. She said that she had never heard of any side effects with this and she wanted him to stay on it for a week to see if it worked or not. Sorry we aren't doing that, we had four doses of it and that is more than enough to say we aren't staying with it. This is just his first full day off the med and I shouldn't get all worked up but while in the waiting room to see the ENT we had two huge fits and even hit his head on one of the chairs because he didn't get his way. The ENT said to give him about a week to go threw "detox" and get it out of his system and then he should be back to himself.

Also, on top of the big mood changes and swings we didn't sleep good last night and had another fit of rage in the waiting room of the ENT. Not fun at all.

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

I am a 41-year old female with allergy induced asthma, who has been taking Singulair for almost 1 1/2 years now. I was diagnosed with depression about 5 years ago (after my sister's death) and was taking 100mg of Zoloft daily, which my doctor upped to 200mg around the same time I started Singulair for allergy problems. I did not know about the Singulair/depression warnings until searching today on Google for drug interactions on the meds I take in hopes of trying to find a reason for my overwhelming depression. For the past 1 1/2 years, I have lived like a zombie, numb to the world and my family, gave up a $72K job, gained alot of weight, have the weirdest and most vivid dreams, and am tired all of the time, only finding rest after 10-15 hours of sleep per day. I am a working professional, have a Master's degree, and have always considered myself a rational objective person, and not a "lemming" that follows the rest over the cliff. However, the side effects I am experiencing ARE NOT NORMAL and ARE NOT IMAGINARY. I do not know if Singulair is causing my symptoms or not, however, I am going to stop taking the medicine today, and switch to something else. For me, QUALITY OF LIFE is the major issue. While Singulair works great to help me breathe comfortably, I can find other meds to do the same thing. However, what I cannot take is a medication possibly responsible for taking my "life" away.

This is my story. My daughter 14, the most precious child ever born. She has a wonderful disposition always happy, loving, and determined to succeed in whatever she does. She just brightens everyone’s world.
She suffers from severe seasonal allergies and mild asthma. She takes approximately seven allergy/asthma medicines a day during peak season. Over the past two years she has been taking Singular as one of her medicines. Being 14, sick of taking medicine she would not take the Singular on a regular basis. Approximately four months ago “MOM” says, if you take nothing else take your Singular it will work both for the seasonal allergies and your asthma. She has been taking this regularly four the past four months.
She became paranoid, she became a compulsive eater and bites the skin on her fingers. She would eat and chew on her fingers at the same time, until she choked. She had so much anger, she could not even go to the mall without temper tantrums.(As a child she never had any tantrums ) Always afraid. Severe depression set in. She would cry at a moments notice. She would say, I have a very sad life, sad very sad, nothing makes me like this, I’m just sad. She felt she should go live with the homeless people. I asked her why, she didn’t know, she felt maybe that’s where she belonged. Nightmares and sleepless nights.
She needs help quickly. Before calling the Doctor, I went on the internet and entered Singular and depression and I found 1900 entries, all people telling me what I was experiencing. Could this possibly be the answer for us? I called her Dr and told him what I thought, he said he has never had anyone that this has happened to. He hoped it was the answer, but really didn’t think is. He said if it wasn’t the answer she would need therapy, mood stabilizer and Prozac.

Its day four off Singular, she smiling, no tears today, no temper tantrums, looking forward to school next week, wants to play volleyball next year, singing in the car,
I hear that happy voice again.(Hi, Mommy!!!!!!) Every once in a while a glaze comes over her face. She isn’t a 100% back, but I know it is coming.

To all the people that don’t have the happy ending, I will pray for you and hold you in my heart forever.

June 2, 2008

My 5 years old son has been on Singulair for 9 months. His allergy symptoms have completely gone away. He’s no longer has his night time cough, bloody nose, and frequent croup due to allergies.
My life has been a living HELL from the moment I started this medicine. Before he was on this medicine he was always a pleasant, smart, well-behaved child. Right after he started singulair he began having temper tantrums, becoming increasingly argumentative, not listening. He gets mood swings like you would not believe cry and/or yell at us over the silliest things, kicking, screaming, nightmares, and became very physically aggressive. We were unable to take him places because we never knew how he would behave in public .He was extremely unhappy little 5 year old boy. He also complained of upset stomach and fatigue. Even his school complained about his behavior and they said that he might have PDD. After consulting with doctors we got the assurance that he does not have PDD, but we end up changing his school anyway.
Being a first time mom I never thought it was the medication, I thought it was just a normal behavior. I thought as a parent I must be doing something wrong! I couldn't believe that other parents have gone through the same nightmare.
Two weeks ago the doctor handed me a report about singulair and its suicidal side effect and ask me to stop using this medicine for a while. Since then I started to notice a dramatic change in our son's behavior. He woke up singing, laughing. He wants to help with chores. He is doing great with his school lessons, and very patient with everyone. He is now a more stable and friendly 5 years old.
Wow, I have a completely different child, and thank God I took him off singulair.
As parents, please let’s do something to stop poisoning our children.

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'm a 30 year old male, and I've been on Singulair for eight years now to treat chronic asthma. Shortly after I started, there was a noticeable change in my mood and behavior. What I noticed included sadness, thoughts of death, anxiety, and fatigue. I knew that there was something wrong, but just chalked it up to changing life experiences. I was always heavily involved in organized sports (little league through college), but abruptly stopped after college. I thought that the moodiness (or depression) came on because I wasn't as active anymore. Correlation maybe? I don't know. But I do suspect that Singulair is the culprit. I would like to get off for a while, but I literally cannot breathe without it. Does anyone know of any comparable alternatives to Singulair that won't bring on these type of side effects? Thanks all for sharing. Blessings!

My 2 year old son was put on singulair to help with asthma and allergies. Within 2 weeks we noticed a change in him - he wasn't the happy boy he normally is. We wound up in the ER one weekend after he had 3 petit mal seizures. The ER doc diagnosed febrile seizures. I wasn't convinced. Our pediatrician didn't agree, either, and sent us to a neurologist (but he didn't think singulair was the cause). The neurologist also hadn't heard of seizures associated with the drug.

My poor boy had an EEG and was in doctors offices, hospitals at least once a week until the EEG results came back normal - scary for a 25 month old child. I stopped the medicine immediately after our ER visit - call it mother's intuition. He hasn't had a seizure since. Although the doctors aren't convinced singulair caused the seizures, I firmly believe it did.

My son, Wilson, is a bright, easy-going, athletic 12 year old who has a history of asthma and allergies. After several asthmatic episodes from age one year to about four, he was prescribed Singulair. The asthma triggers seemed to be change of season or congestion from a cold, but not from exercise or physical exertion. As I recall, his asthmatic episodes seemed to decrease after he was on 5-10 mg of Singulair, and even more so with each passing year. Over the years, of my three sons, Wilson was the one to catch any virus that came around and missed more school time than both of his brothers combined. Often, he was the only one to get sick from a virus, which never passed to anyone else in the family.
About five years ago, Wilson started complaining of stomach aches. He was tested and was prescribed Prevacid on and off since then with varying success. In the last couple of years, headaches would come and go. He was re-tested for allergies and blood work with no conclusive results. About 2-3 years ago he would complain that he “felt funny…like he needed to do something.” Further conversations revealed that he was expressing anxiety. He’s a good student, has lots of friends at school, and is popular among his sports team mates. Occasionally, a teacher here and there over the last couple of years would note that he did not participate enough in class, or did not appear to be attentive. We thought perhaps he is shy. Still his good behavior, agreeable personality and diligence otherwise earned him good grades overall. He loves school and was very unhappy having to stay home when he was sick.
This past winter, he seemed to catch a virus about once every month and a half which caused him to miss 2-3 days of school. Headaches and stomach aches were common with each illness (sometimes nausea), and sometimes these same symptoms when he was not ill. He would only complain when they were prolonged or significant. Trips to the doctor did not result in anything conclusive. Again, Wilson was only too happy once he returned to school.
He claims that sometimes in school he feels like he’s in a fog and has difficulty concentrating. He gets plenty of sleep and sometimes sleeps up to ten hours during the weekend. We attributed it to adolescence and a busy schedule. He claims that this year is the easiest for him at school, and his social life with his friends is very active. His friends’ parents like him and find him to be an agreeable child. Other adults mistake his sometime mumbling answers and lack of eye contact rude. We concluded that he is just shy. He is the most hyper of his brothers, and has difficulty sitting still and constantly exclaims that he’s bored. We chalked it up to being an active boy. His grades are good in school and we never get complaints about bad behavior.
The last illness started a week ago, and he’s still out of school. The doctor said he had no significant allergy symptoms, other bacterial infections, and his blood work all returned with normal results for white blood counts, liver and kidney functioning and anemia. He can’t return to school because of his constant headaches (which cause pain in different parts of his head), nausea, constant stomach aches, no matter what he eats, and feelings of anxiety, mostly in the evening hours. He’s also complaining of dizziness, leg cramps and other muscle soreness. The notable difference in this illness is the anxiety. My husband and I take turns staying home with him, but if we left him alone for a half an hour at a time while the other was in route picking up a sibling, he became very anxious. In the past, he seemed to enjoy some alone time at home so he could play his computer games. He also becomes easily dizzy with shooting pains in his muscles. The doctor said that viruses can manifest themselves in later stages in the form of sore muscles. However, he was concerned about Wilson’s feelings of anxiety. The anxiety had not been as prevalent in prior illnesses. I finally signed onto the internet reading all the stories about other parent’s observations of their children on Singulair. My husband cautioned me about “internet diagnosing” with symptoms and stories that can be easily taken out of context in hope of self-diagnosis. I’ve always thought that Wilson’s doctors have had good judgment. Both my primary physician and allergist don’t think that Singulair has caused these symptoms, but agreed to take him off as long as we monitored any effect on his asthma.
I don’t know what to think. I want the cause of these problems to be the Singulair, because it’s an easy answer. Today will be the first day he’s off the medication. He probably won’t go to school again tomorrow. We’ll wait and see what happens…

Sorry, I can't just walk away.

When you find patents or patent applications for certain purposes, then you know that your ideas are well founded. There are several patents for using an anti-malaria drug for asthma. I would bet that somebody had that idea all the way back to the 1960's. So it is very possibly no coincidence at all that a chloroquinoline or other quinoline ring would be part of montelukast's chemical structure.

Here is one of the patents.

******

It is well known that quinoline rings can be toxic to some people even very rapidly. As in this very extreme example.
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PEDIATRICS Vol. 27 No. 1 January 1961, pp. 95-102 This Article

FATAL ACUTE CHLOROQUINE POISONING IN CHILDREN
Howard M. Cann M.D.1 and Henry L. Verhulst M.S.1

1 National Clearinghouse for Poison Control Centers, Accident Prevention Program, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Four cases of acute chloroquine poisoning in children are presented. In three instances death occurred within 2 hours of ingestion of larger than therapeutic amounts of the drug. The rapid occurrence of death in acute chloroquine poisoning is probably explained by complete and rapid absorption of the drug from the gastrointestinal tract resulting in high blood concentrations which depress vasomotor function and respiration. Cardiac arrest follows and may be caused by the direct myocardial action of chloroquine, to anoxia, or to both. The similarity of the manifestations of acute chloroquine poisoning and those of acute quinine and quinidine poisoning suggests that acute toxicity may be attributed to the quinoline ring portion of these drugs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think that we are seeing extreme examples. But we may be seeing less extreme immediate reactions or reactions where the toxicity builds up over time.

Quinoline rings are know to cause neurotoxicity. There are theories about how that happens. One of the theories is about blocking connexins which are gap junction proteins in the brains.

I don't know how montelukast could be breaking up so that it causes toxicity. Or if the problem is the how rapidly the liver enzymes can metabolize it. But there is plenty, plenty, plenty of clinical evidence that there is a quinoline ring culprit somewhere in the picture. Or some by-product of that causing problems.

Somehow it was decided that montelukast did not have the safety issues that the other drugs in the same category have. See this.

"The starting point in the development of montelukast appears to be a quinoline-containing structure, likely identified as a weak random screening lead (Figure 3). The Merck group hypothesized that this molecule was mimicking the olefin backbone of cysLTs, and that the addition of mimics for the acid and peptide regions of LTD4, might improve its potency. As a first step, the dithioacetal linkage first seen in some SmithKline compounds was incorporated; this led to a compound with greatly increased in vitro potency but poor oral bioavailability. When one of the carboxylic acids was replaced by an amide, forming MK-571, the new antagonist had even greater potency and good efficacy following oral administration. The enantiomers were resolved to yield MK-679 (verlukast), a compound with better clinical effects than MK-571, but whose clinical development was stopped for safety reasons. Further structure-activity relationship studies led to the development of montelukast (16), an antagonist that appears free of the safety concerns plaguing earlier members of this series."

If we can find out why the earlier versions were not safe and how they thought fixed it, then maybe we can find out what is going on with the quinoline ring in some people.

I would be very surprised if the FDA will address our concerns. Why does it always seem like they wait for enough people to die like in Vioxx? Wasn't Vioxx responsible for thousands of deaths?

I took my 16 year old child off of singulair 6 weeks ago (3-28-2008). She started taking it 11-17-2003. She became dark, depressed, grades dropped, dropped out of dance and cheerleading, started cutting her legs with razors, stomachaches, headaches, anxiety attacks, trips to the emergency room. 6 months of fluoxetine given by her psychiatrist. Nothing helped her be happy again. Sad and Dark young woman. NOW: She smiles a lot, and is eating diner with the family. No headache or stomachache for a month now. She is sleeping better. Before she said that her mind would not stop thinking. She is taking pictures again and even asked me to order her book called "Understanding Exposure" and is talking about taking a class on digital photography at NMSU branch university to start on her college electives now. She is out more and even has a part time job at an ice cream parlor. Just lately I have stopped checking the trash for waded up tissues with blood (from cutting). Chris, I have had all her medical records sent to her primary Doctor and we are very willing to open them up. You have to have a child suffering to understand where we are coming from. The most dangerous place on earth is standing between a mother and her child. Singulair took our children from us and maybe changed them in some way forever.

I am posting an email address for people that have stopped dispensing this drug and see the symptoms of the side effects disappear.Please tell all who have seen a change in their child or loved one to email this woman.I met with Dr.Sarah Sellers and other members from the FDA in Washington DC she is in charge of Safety Review in the office of Surveillance and Epidemiology.This is critical in the investigation into SINGULAIR .Everyone wants to help and this is how to begin.The email is sarah.sellers@fda.hhs.gov Our Congresswoman has requested the TV advertisement for SINGULAIR to be changed,they are stating mild side effects and that is not known to be true at this time.I am reaching out to all of you who have posted and that know anyone who has ,to please do this along with filing on ******.We have to work within the guidelines of the system,this will certainly help the investigation to be more accurate.My husband and I are in this to help all the families that have suffered so greatly,take this opportunity to help also.Thank You in advance Kate and David M.

i don't need the fda investigation to tell me what this drug is capable of,i am so happy my son is off of it,the 3 year nightmare he lived is over,for that i thank god.He sleeps at night now,peacefully and soundly,he is no longer afraid to step outside,he can leave me and play with friends and not be afraid,he can go to school and learn,without letting his mind race in places no child should have to go.To all who knew of these side effects and chose to keep it quiet, shame shame shame on you.This drug poisoned and tortured and held captive in their minds the most precious and innocent victims.I am forever changed by this and will speak out loudly to all i meet

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

I have to say this after reviewing two major areas:

1. the brain
2. mast cell homeostasis

I desperately wanted to be POLITICALLY CORRECT and say that side effects can be confined to the minority. God, how do you fight Merck?

In this case, it would seem that the real benefit of this drug is to those with the extreme type immune responses whose body chemistry has been altered by being hyper-sensitive to some type of "invader. Extreme can be defined as just not the average or beyond that.

So, if the truth comes out that essentially normal immune systems don't need Singular at all, then I have come clean. I certainly have doubts whether essentially normal systems need this at all.

I have communicated directly with Leslie Hendeles, a leading professor of pharmacology and pediatrics at the University of Florida who's direct quote to me was:
"In response to your last comment, I thing Singulair has modest efficacy, and if we take all of our patients off this drug, THEY WON'T SUFFER. This is NOT an important drug for pediatric asthma, as are inhaled corticosteroids."

Ironically, this is the same individual who was quoted in an ABC news article as saying:
"We have hundreds of children on Singulair and have never heard parents make complaints about psychiatric side effects. Moreover, there is no mechanism for this reaction … We will be telling our patients not to worry about this."

WAKE UP EVERYONE...THIS IS AN ADMITTEDLY OVERPRESECRIBED DRUG THAT HAS WORKED WELL FOR MANY, BUT HAS ALSO RUINED MANY LIVES.

The manner in which this drug is casually overprescribed by so many doctors is freakish. I firmly believe that this drug has caused countless misdiagnoses such as ADHD, Bipolar disorder and others. IT FUELS A GOOD PART OF THE ECONOMY TO PUT SO MANY PEOPLE ON THESE DRUGS. I BELIEVE THE PHARM INDUSTRY IS VERY CALCULATED IN THIS MANNER.

Question what your doctors tell you.
See my other posts under matthewct1. I dealt with a situation where my 5 yr. old son was on the road to being diagnosed with ADHD which couldn't have been further from the truth. Singulair changed him. Since he's been off Singulair everyone (teachers, pediatrician, family, etc.) unanimously agree that he does not show the ADHD symptoms like he did on Singulair.

I've never written on a blog in my life, and now that I've just read this, my stomach is doing flip flops and my blood is runnung cold. I have an 11 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. They have both been on singulair for quite a few years. My son has been on ADHD meds now since about a year and a half after starting Singulair because we tried to avoid them. Every few weeks he tells me he has this empty feeling inside him that makes him really sad and he doesn't know what it is. It just feels empty. I'll usually read with him or play a game or walk our dog with him to help him feel better.
As for my daughter, she exhibits all of the symptoms I have read about. She talks about life being terrible( trust me, she has it pretty good), she has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, OCD and Tourette Syndrome. Every psychiatric medication we have tried has made her worse. She was always a confident, outgoing little girl, and then she just changed. She's had stomach aches, which the docs always thought were in her head. She gets headaches. She is extremely sensitive, won't let me even brush her hair or touch her. She has extreme mood swings and gets upset over the most miniscule things, then writes about them, even saying she realizes her anger was too much for what the situation was! I will stop Singulair immediately and see what happens. What a miracle it would be if all of their symptoms disappeared.

Hi guys,
I came to this forum after a client at our firm told me to check out whats happening with singular. I am not a lawyer, but I am a secretary for a med mal firm and I can tell you that we have already started taking these cases. I saw a few questions posted about whether you had to wait 9 months for the investigation to finish, but that doesn't stop you from filing suit. If it were my baby boy, I would switch meds, but if you can't--make sure you journal EVERYTHING. Take videos of outbursts, etc. We have one client who's son is self mutilating after using singular. If thats happening to you, try to document the episodes. Like I said, im not a lawyer, but I work for some so I can answer a lot of questions and I would be more than willing to help. I am so disgusted by what I have read. Please email me if you have any legal questions, etc. If i can't answer them, my boss will and if its a medical question, we have a staff nurse so I will give her a call. Again, I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. I pray to god I can help in some way.

Alright. After observing my daughter for two full weeks after discontinuing Singulair, I have decided to share our story.

Our daughter started taking Singulair last August (2007) to relieve her allergy symptoms. I'd like to add she is an identical twin, whose sister did not need to take the medication, for she had mild allergy symptoms that were easily relieved by taking Allegra. So we clearly have a side-by-side case study where one twin took the Singulair and the other did not. About two weeks later we noticed changes in her behavior and thought it was due to the new school routine and changes, etc. Then she started not eating, and when she did eat, she ate very little. Both girls are in a select soccer league are physically active 4-5 times a week.

Long story short - she stopped eating, lost weight, stopped growing and is now 2.5 inches shorter and 15 lbs. lighter than her identical twin. They are fifth graders, I might add, so 15 lbs is ALOT of weight at their age. She was withdrawn, known to have deep depressive episodes, reacted adversely to everything and, in general, wasn't acting herself since last August. She was not enjoying life at all.

She is usually a quick-witted child, one with a sunny disposition and who interacts with others very well. She is joy packaged in a colorful bottle, ready to share her thoughts with you.

We took her to her pediatrician, a nutritionist, a psychologist and all said she was clearly depressed and that is what led to her changes in eating. No kidding, I thought. But why? What has happened that could have changed her so drastically?

I had never felt so far away from my child as I had with her during this time period. We are a close family and we pride ourselves on being able to freely express how we feel.

My dear mother-in-law saw that the FDA was probing the side-effects of Singulair with children and she mentioned it to me, because she knew that is what my daughter was taking was taking. I never thought about the connection, because I take Singulair. I will add I also take an antidepressant and have made an appointment with my doctor to discuss all of this.

After talking with our pharmacist and getting an exact date as to when she started taking it, I called her pediatrician and discussed it with him. We had not been to him since October, because we took her to everyone else (psychologist, etc), so he had not known exactly what was going on with her mental health. He did, however write in his notes (and told me when I called), "Discontinue Singulair if symptoms persist." Hmmmm. Exactly why I wasn't told this from the beginning, I don't know and am very bothered knowing he wrote that on her chart.

Well, after taking her off it two weeks ago she is now back to her happy, connecting and eating self. People (her father, twin, and I included) noticed a change in three days from stopping use of Singulair.

She has changed IMMENSELY since getting off the Singulair that it has been easy to pinpoint her taking that medication as the reason she has been absolutely miserable for the past SEVEN MONTHS. I thank God it wasn't longer and that she didn't suffer any longer than she already did, but it was a true hell to watch her go through what she did and to watch her decline and to not know (professionals included) what to do. Words diminish how we felt and how we feel now after having her back.

So there you have a side-by-side comparison. One identical twin thrived while NOT taking Singulair and the twin who did take it suffered terribly, physically and mentally, while she was taking it.

The allergy relief she experienced was clearly not worth the internal suffering she endured while taking Singulair. I wish we could turn back time and give her those seven months back.

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

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.

i am so happy to hear all of these stories of recovery. i discovered my son's singulair side effects in march 2007, after 3 years of use. i can tell you from our experience that the most significant recovery comes within 3 weeks. after the 3 weeks, the more subtle improvements continued to occur for months and months after. without the effects of singulair, they experience life in a whole new way. my son's experiened 3 years of undetected side effects which included: irritability, FEAR, stomach / leg pains, poor appetite, difficulty with focusing / comprehension, restlessness and nightmares. the last 2 months on the 5mg dosage, he also experienced a facial tic, dilated pupils and hallucinations along with an increased in intensity of all the above. i thank god everyday for finding this website and removing my child from singulair.

My 6 year old son has been on Singulair for 2 years and I have noticed a big change in his behavior but it all started with leg cramps and falling down alot..I told my dr about what was going on but she told me that it was nothing to worry about that it is growing pains..Before he started the on the singulair he was always a happy go lucky kid never had problems with him back talking or ever really getting angry. Now that I read all these reports these are the problems I have with him now:
My child has never offered to hit, kick or slap me but in the past year he has gotten more aggressive not only toward me but others as well..
He is fearful of people now thinking that they are being mean to him or picking him out to pick on or make fun of.
He has problems of headaches on a regular basis but just thought it was due to his sinus infections...
I have also noticed that my child has started hurting himself like punching even slapping himself in the face when he gets really angery or fustrated about things..
Sometimes he has problems with nightmares but not that much..
He also has problems with stomach pain as well...
My concern is taking my son off Singulair with his asthma being under control right now and he just recently had sinus surgery but I think it will be the best thing for him just because I want my sweet child back not the aggressive and abusive child he is now.... That is why first thing in the morning he will be taking him to his dr to find another medication to put him on and take him off the Singulair....

I just want to make another post about studying Singulair in premature babies. There is a person who is very dear to me that I remind practically every day that a scientist proves what is NOT true just the same as a scientist proves what is true. I have read hundreds of Merck studies on montelukast. Does anybody ever say - NO - not true? So with all those YES men behind them, Merck experiments on premature babies. Oh, my God. Where does this end?

I would like other people's opinion of Merck's study about using Singulair (montelukast) on neo-nates - premature babies. This absolutely freaks me out. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00492102?intr=%22Montelukast%22&rank=7

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!

I was told to take Singulair by my doctor to help with my allergies and asthma. We trust what they tell us to take, I had a HORRIBLE experience with this medicine my mind was always racing, I was mean, and I HATED LIFE, and I never had these problems before. I thought my husband and I were just having stress problems with money, bills, etc. I stopped taking the medicine three months ago only because we couldnt' afford to get it. I pray and thank god for that because we almost ended up in a divorce and I have noticed A HUGE DIFFERENCE since I haven't been taking it. I have my patience back and I am not angry. My prayers and thoughts go out to ANYONE who has lost someone because of this, I do know how they felt, GOD BLESS you all!!!! This proves my husbands point...... DON'T TAKE ANY MEDICINE!!!!!! EVER!!!! TRY natural CURES!!!! You NEVER know what your taking!!! God bless you all!!!!

I am 13 years old i have been on singulair for 8 years. I use to be the kind of girl who loved art and i was always happy and active, but whene i started Singulair all that changed i didnt like any of the things i use to like my mood was conpletly different i always yelled at my mom and my little sister. About 4 years later whene i was 12 i was sent to a Psych Center because i attempted to kill my self and my mom. i have been off this for about a week and i have been feeling much happier.

Update: Our son has been off of singulair since the 28th of March.....he had experienced most of complaints and ailments that affect other children. Since then, he is still tough to get to sleep - probably a 3 year old thing - but is better that before. He is also sleeping much more soundly and waking on the right side of the bed. He is still complaining of the leg cramps and sometimes still limping around for a while, and also complaining of stomach aches... I suspect those too should disappear after some time, however, he is no longer complaining that the lights and sun hurt his eyes. It is as though a major fog has been lifted - he is listening to us more the first time we speak rather than having to fight over things such as cleaning, or behaving. He is not as physical with us or his brother as before. And, the most important thing....he seems truly HAPPY - he has been napping all week at day care, and is proud of his accomplishment! He is focused in Karate class - listens to his Sir - engages in the activity with the other children - is more vocal and energetic....and once again PROUD! His Karate teacher - Sir - noticed an immediate difference in our beloved son - he was so surprised that Singulair is to blame - he said that our son is a complete different child without a trace of the drugged, insecure, and quiet boy he knew a week ago.
This Saturday our little boy will be testing for his yellow belt and he is so excited that he can hardly contain his HAPPINESS!!!!!

One last thought though.....I am extremely worried of any lasting mental or physical implications this drug could have on him - what does the future hold for our son - could this drugs nasty side effects cause some crazy long term side effect we have yet to see???