Singulair and stomach

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

Wow! I can't believe what I'm reading. My son just turned 5 years old. He was put on Singular when he was 2 years old because he constantly had sinus infections. For the past year, I've just used it off and on when he starts to get stuffy. He is very well behaved, but has has trouble with nightmares. He just told me a few weeks ago that he knows that monsters aren't real, but he can't get them out of his head. I know people think I'm a softie because I let him fall asleep with me every night (his dad puts him in his own bed after he's fast asleep), but he is petrified to go to sleep by himself. I didn't understand it, but I could see the terror in his eyes. It all makes sense, now. Sometimes he plays so well by himself in his room, but other times he doesn't even want to go to the bathroom by himself because he's scared. I'm betting he was taking Singulair during the times he was scared to go into the bathroom himself. Unbelievable. We have to get the word out about this drug. I feel like such a horrible parent for not searching for these side effects sooner.

I came to the website to see if Singular suppressed the immune system because he's been getting horrible cold sores in the fall for the past 3 years. It seems to correspond with the time he started taking Singular. I know that Singulair can't cause cold sores, but if his immune system was suppressed, his body can't fight off the virus. 80% of us have the virus that causes cold sores, but most of our immune systems are able to keep the virus in check. During a cold or other illness which compromises the immune system, cold sores can pop out.

In any case, I've already flushed the remainder of his pills. He's also complained of stomach and leg aches. In fact, the docs made him give-up milk thinking he was lactose intolerant but it didn't help the stomach aches. Hopefully giving-up Singulair will help his tummy aches, too.

I also have a child who has been on this drug for about a month and as I sit here and read these blogs the more I am remembering complaints made by my son. He has been getting into trouble at school lately, irritable, angry, sad, leg pains, stomach aches and also having trouble getting to sleep at night. I am an RN and it took me to glance at the pill bottle today to realize that I needed to do a little more research about this drug when I saw that it said "mood changes and depression". I feel horrible because after a great 2nd grade year I was disappointed that he was not behaving as well this year. I know know that the $60.00 wasted and tiring reprimanding was all a waste of my time! I owe my poor son an apology as I will be taking him off of this drug today! More information and advocacy needs to be available especially when core users are children who have little to no voice!!!

POLL: If you or your child have been adversely affected by Singulair could you please reply to this and let me know what ethnicity you are and skin tone. (fair, med., dark, etc.) I'm interested in the demographics of this drugs effects.
Thank you!

My 12 year old son started on Singulair 10 days ago. Yesterday, he threw up blood twice, so I took him to urgent care. He said it felt like someone was shoving knives into his stomach. He had blood tests and a CAT scan -- the connective tissue in his abdomen was inflamed and his lymph nodes are slightly enlarged. His white blood cell count is up slightly -- just above normal -- and his liver enzymes are elevated, which the doctor said is common with a viral infection. He has also had migraine-type headaches twice in the last week. HOWEVER: my 16 year old son has been on Singulair for four years, and it has been a lifesaver. He has had some hand tremors, which could also be aggravated by the decongestant he also takes, but no other side effects.

My son has been on singulair for the past 6 to 8 months and my husband and i have had a very difficult time with him and his behavior. We have noticed him being very angry, mad, sad, screaming out for no reason, very defiant and not listening. He has been making threats to me for a while now, saying he wants to kill me, but only to me, his mother. He has become physically violent to himself and household items and me at times. He has night terrors and screams out at least 6 nights out of the week. He has bad headaches and often doesn't feel good. His stomach bothers him a lot. He makes constant threats to me and seems to not be able o handle the simplest task. I will not be giving my son this medication ever again after reading on this site. My son has suffered long enough as have we, his family. I want my loving sweet baby boy back! It makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with our society that they would continue to prescribe this medication knowing the horrible affects that our children endure. Shame on you! You deserve more than a slap on the hand! You should have your licensed stripped and e put out of business!

My 13 year old son has been on sigulair now for several years. I only give it to him during the school year. I have come to realize taht every fall when I restart it he complains of severe stomach aches. As well we have noticed a him morphing into a defiant, easily angered young man. Totally out of character for him. I have now taken him off and will hopefully be able to contro; his asthma with inhalers. No more singulair for us

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.

I just read an article dated 9/1/08 that stated that the American Lung Association just cleared Singulair as causing depression and suicide. They had researchers study the results from the original test trials because they are supposedly more accurate than after market reports. The article is at ******. I cried when I read this report. My now 8 year old daughter has been on this medication for mild asthma since she was 4. We have thought the stomach aches and tantrums were related to moving to a new town around the time she started taking singulair. But, 3 months ago, she all of a sudden started having depression, ocd about germs, afraid she might hurt herself and then depression and suicidal thoughts. She has been off meds for 8 weeks and still has some problems with thinking she wants to hurt herself and feeling down. She is normally very happy and our family is happy and normal, but dealing with this is difficult. How long does it take to get out of their system?

I wish I would have read the side effects before trying this med on my 4 year old. I've been receiving complaints from his preschool teachers in the last few weeks about him throwing things, hitting kids and adults, yelling, spitting, name calling and the length of time it takes him to calm down. He can't tell me why he is doing these things but can give me a detailed account of all he is doing and to whom and admits its wrong. I've ignored the messages he's sent me saying his stomach hurts even to the point of crying about it 1 day, complaining of headaches that he is sleepy at home and school no matter how early he goes to bed or how late he wakes, a little vomitting, eye swelling occasionally, stuffy nose, thirst leading to increased accidental bed wetting and all this has been going on since he started the med in late July. I even took him to a child psych who said he couldn't find any reason he would act out and that he is well spoken, mannared, entertaining and knowledgeable for his age. Starting today he will never take this med again! The doctor says give him 5 days for the med to be out of his system. I hope this is the problem and feel terrible for putting him, his classmates, and teachers through this.

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

My son, who just turned 14 this month, was on Singulair for over 2 years.
He was diagnosed with reactive airway disease and possibly Asthma--and prescribed this awful drug-even back in 2004. The doctor said how wonderful this med was and prevents any further attacks.. So, for 2 years-every night, he took this mood altering, destructive drug. He lost all interest in school, his athletics-soccer, skateboarding, biking..in fact became almost a vacant , very unhappy, child-had stomach aches, joint pains and reflux--why--I brought him to the doctor and Pediatric center so frequently--all they kept saying his --his asthma is better, much be other issues...Even after the March 2008 suicide--his doctor said-that is just an isolated incident-just monitor him--It is a good drug. Right, month by month his behavior escalated to wanting to die, no reason to go to school-he said he was stupid and a failure and why don't I understand there is no reason to his life. A usually happy fun-loving boy -my son- didn't want to live. Nothing made him happy-I started to believe what the doctors said--maybe something or someone at school (bully, pedophile??) caused this change. Terrible nightmares and vivid dreams...Until this past July, I asked him want to go to the library for some books or dvd's...he went ballistic-threw everything off his computer desk and tried to break his chair. He is not an aggressive boy but this behavior was becoming a daily issue. Along with everything flying off his table, was his bottle of Singulair pills. It then dawned on me..I have been poisoning my only son. The child I know and love and gave birth to returned within a few days--although I am worried sick about further asthma attacks --all the doctors can prescribe is a steroid drug-asthmex or Pulmicort.. I cannot understand nor comprehend why this drug is being prescribed for children and young adults. The guilt I live with is terrible as my son has lost 2 years of his life--
and thought there was something really wrong with him-At least we woke up---in time--how about some other parents..thinking it's just normal adolescent behavior for their child or their fault???

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.

I have posted several times. My 16 year old daughter took singulair for 4.5 years starting 11-17-03 and ending 3-28-08. She was the dancer,cheerleader who starting cutting her legs with razors and completely changed. Lost friends, depressed, withdrawn,anxiey attacks,headaches,stomach aches on and on and on..... I took her to a Psychiatrist who gave her Fluoxetine which did not help. She is doing much better now that she is off Singulair but will never be the same. She found a lump in the back of her neck and a lump in the groin area. I remember Concerned citizen mentioning Lymphoma(cancer) discovered in some of the Singulair Children because of the reduced immune system connection. I have also found some info on this on line. We are going to the Doctor Thursday and I will have tests run. Concerned citizen are you still out there? Have you found out anything else? Sue

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.

I am finally writing after reading these posts since the end of April. That is when I took my 11 year old son off singulair, in an act of desperation. He has been on singulair on and off for about five years for seasonal allergies. He started again in mid-March so it could get into his system, before the allergies started. Immediately thereafter his behavior changed. He was arguing on a daily basis. He would hit, kick or trip me when he was angry. He was starting to destroy things in anger. He seemed to be fueled by anger. It was affecting the whole family. He was starting fights with his younger brother, my husband's heart was palpitating and I was crying every day. I heard about Singulair side effects and looked it up. I saw that it caused behavioral changes and out of desperation, took him off, not knowing what to expect. We had three days of total peace, then on the fourth day another outburst. Then my son told me he had taken a singulair the night before. That was it. I threw every pill in the garbage. He no longers acts like that. It's been almost two months so I am convinced it was the Singulair. By the way, he always complained of headaches, stomach aches and would scream in his sleep. Who knew - it was the singulair all along.

PRAISE GOD for all of the stories shared on this site. And I've only read page one. My husband called me back today to say that he "googled" Singulair and found some interesting things (to say the least). While we were on the phone, my three-year-old was in the throes of another meltdown, kicking me, hitting me, throwing whatever he could get his hands on. My older two boys, 8 and 12, were ordered, once again, to lock themselves in their rooms to avoid being hurt by him. He will throw stuff, bite, hit, kick, and, at times, spit on us. This disturbing behavior is rather constant lately. He is like a mad man. Very scary.

Caleb has been on Singulair since about age 1, when he was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis. Unfortunately, we initially equated his rages with the onset of "terrible two's" and dismissed his behavior to a chorus of "oh, he's just a boy!" My husband felt, at times, that I was just not disciplining him properly. I intuitively knew, having raised two other boys, that this behavior was abnormal, even for severe tantrums. We received a variety of suggestions from his pediatrician, caregivers, and grandparents, all to no avail. We have several calm days but things always deteriorate back to insanity. He is VERY unpredictable.

Last Thanksgiving, Caleb (age 3) was kicked out of his daycare setting for biting and hitting. Once I witnessed him run as fast as he could into a group of playing children, falling on them, kicking them. He would walk up to sweet little girls half his size and push them down as hard as he could. It was a nightmare. My husband had to take 3 weeks of leave to stay home with him while we prayed and searched for new care. We had him evaluated and he was staffed into the "developmentally delayed" program in our school district (for poor adaptive skills and personal/social behaviors). We recently had his tonsils removed, hoping that some of the sinusitis symptoms and behaviors would improve. They really haven't. This past week we have been looking into the Feingold diet. We have been PRAYING for answers. The last time we spoke with his developmental neurologist, he recommended a trial of Risperdol (sp?). We feel like more meds would be like a band-aid, not a solution. But his rage is becoming unbearable.

So, that brings us to today. I was so moved by your accounts. Unlike so many of you, we don't have much of a "before" to go by. But his "after" sounds VERY much like what you have all described. It's probably the pure rage that I see on his face that is the scariest part. And at the same time he seems desperate and vulnerable. He truly seems to snap. If we had pool chairs, I can just picture him throwing them (citing another post :).

We are going to throw the Singulair away. He will never, ever have it again. Even if this isn't the cause of his problems, I certainly don't want to exacerbate any behaviors with this toxic medicine. I will post again just to let anyone who's interested know if this changes his behavior. I am praying that my entry will help someone else, just as all the other postings have helped me. I have renewed hope.

I have copied many of your comments to a Word document. I will be sharing it with a high ranking officer at the medical clinic/hospital on Keesler Air Force Base. I hope that he will discuss this with his staff and that perhaps we can at least make a difference here. I, too, will be filing a report with the FDA. I can only pray that this medicine has not permanently altered his developing brain.

I am a 56 yr. old female who just began taking Singulair the past month. I've had bad stomach aches, rash on both forearms, hands, and in my hair at the back of my head, and fatigue. I have been able to taste a chemical taste in my mouth. I'm stopping the medicine today. Thank you for all of testimonies that will help so many others.

My daughter is 4 and has allergies. Last year she was briefly on Zyrtec and I immediately noticed that she became very aggressive. This year her doctor prescribed Singular. She has been on Singular for 8 days. Her appetite has dwindled. She has complained that her stomach hurt which I thought was due to not eating. Last night, she had nightmares - screaming out in a panic. This afternoon she couldn't sleep. This evening she fell asleep in my arms. Suddenly she sat up with glazed eyes wide open and began to relive when she fell and hurt her hand a few days earlier. I thought she was sleep talking with her eyes open. She was in a total panic but appeared to be sleeping. Yet, when her dad approached she held out her arms for him to pick her up. She eventually fell back asleep only to awaken two more times with similar sceneros played out. I could not get these scenes out of my mind. Given the previous experience with Zyrtec, I looked over the side effects of Singular and the word Hallucination jumped out at me. I spoke with a pharmacist who was not aware of anything I have since read on this site. I decided to Google Singular Side Effects and came upon this site. Tears well in my eyes after I read posting after posting. Thank you, thank you to all who have posted their experiences. You have saved my daughter and our family from a true nightmare. Bless you and your family.

In September of 2007 my then 13 year old daughter was put on Singular for mild asthma. At the time she was a straight A student, vice president of our school and a popular girl who's guidance counselor described as "the glue of her grade" because she was so well liked. In November she told me that she was struggling with advanced Latin and Science. She asked to drop down to on grade Latin so we did. In December her science teacher notified us that she had a C average. She told me that she thought she had ADD/ADHD and she couldn't keep up. At the same time she was having a lot of problems with friends at school and we just attributed it to being 14. 3 weeks ago we discovered that she is significantly behind in English and it was then that she told me that she is been having horrific night mares. She said that they usually involve someone killing her or her killing herself. She said that they were so graphic that she couldn't repeat it out loud. She also said that she would feel waves of anxiety that would come over her at school and she would act "witchy" to the kids in her class for no real reason. She said that sometimes when she is trying to do her homework she will read the same passage for 2 hours and still have no idea what it's about. She also said that the suicidal thoughts from her sleep happened during they day and that she had thoughts of her harming herself. Fortunately her pulminologist told us that this may be caused by singular and we immediately took her off of it which was 2 weeks ago. She has only had 1 "bad dream" not even a nightmare since. She had one anxiety attack 3 days after she was off it and she describes her moods as the "cloud lifting....slowly". Now, we have to pick up the pieces. Her grades have suffered, her friendships have suffered and most of all her self esteem is very low. I'm grateful that we found out the cause but I feel as if my daughter lost a year of her life and I worry that because Merck won't admit there are side effects we can't find out how long it remains in their system. Is anyone else concerned about the long term affect and has anyone pursued a class action suit to try to get this drug tested properly?

Wow, I just found this site. The child that had strep especially caught my attention. My daughter, 11, has been diagnosed with PANDAS, which is also a controversial diagnosis. I'm not sure when she went on Singular, but it was a couple of years ago due to allergies. She had bad reactions to anti-histamines. For the past two years we have been dealing with just about every issue posted here. Physical pains, stomach, headaches, joints. urination issues, high cholesterol, but the worst have been the irritability , mood issues, OCD, fears of cutting herself, bad thoughts, suicidal ideation. She was on Zoloft which made things worse, She was hospitalized at her own request. She was placed on Prozac. She's had years of therapy. She would say life is just so hard and she wants to be a normal kid. About a month ago her pediatrician mentioned that there were some reports about Singular and it would be something to watch for and discuss with the psychiatrist, He didn't seem to know much about it. Last week after another suicidal ideation I decided to research the singular issue. I had been attributing everything to the PANDAs. I was so surprised to see the similarities. I took her off of it Friday and have seen some changes already. I hope we see that continued improvement. Thanks to all who have shared stories, it's so helpful. To have hope that you'll get your kid back is great.

My daughter has been off of Singulair for about 6 weeks now and is still having "explosive" reactions to minor issues. My daughter's personality is better - no more dark thoughts, etc, but the anxiety/aggressiveness is still hanging on. Anyone having similar issues? We are also still dealing with the OCD behaviors as well. She is 4 and I really think her brain chemistry is still altered. At what point should I recognize that this new child may be my new reality? I would really appreciate any thoughts from those of you that have been off for more than 6 weeks. Are you back to 100%?

In response to dtrzaski post Im am sending out this question to everyone. We know there have been stool/stomach/weight issues. Are there any other children that it has been discovered to have high cholesterol. My son was discovered to have high cholesterol at around 3yrs old, apprx 6 months after starting Singulair (regardless of a very healthy diet lots of fruit and veggies!) Any thoughts out there?

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…

Hi, njcukett posted 2 days ago asking if anyone is still having abdominal pain after being off singuliar awhile.My 7 yr.old (on singuliar at least 3 yrs.) is still having pain.She also had bladder issues for the past 2 yrs.(Frequent dripping and urgency to void).This went unexplained by doctors.Over the past 6 weeks since she stopped taking singuliar,I have noticed a complete change in her stools.While on singuliar they had become grayish in color.She would have 2-3 of these movements a day.The color of her stools are now normal,but the lower abdominal pain is still present.So I am wondering if the pain is coming from the bladder, not the stomach.I am going in(without my daughter) to discuss this with her pediatrician next week.Singuliar also made her very anxious,do not want to add to that,by discussing this in front of her.For the people having abdominal pain,did the stools change while on singuliar compared to when off?Just curious.

Chris, truthfully your posts were a waste of your time. The majority of the people here who have actual instances that they can account for. For you to dismiss that is ignorance in it's true form. QUESTION? what drug company do you work for? As you have a valid point there are side effects with any medication prescription/over the counter/herbal, whatever organic/inorganic source it may be. As a medical professional I HAVE SEEN THESE SIDE EFFECTS FIRST HAND! I also have a friend who works for the FDA who has informed me of many developments that unfortunately because it is under investigation I can not post. I also have had a first hand experience with this drug with a young child. I understand some parent/people may also be ignorant and be quick to blame the singulair without ruling out any other possibilities. However the fact of the matter exists here. So again for you to dismiss what the majority of the people here are trying to do is quite frankly rude. To go through hell and back with my four year old innocent child, to take him off the med and now everything is fine. Coincidence... I think not. He was evaluated by psychiatrist, neurologist, his pediatrician-who consulted with 3 others, and an allergist and all come to the same conclusion. I will advocate until every parent/patient knows the risks. It is my responsibility as a parent. If I can prevent another child from going through this, even just one then I accomplished something. So again I ask you to be sensitive here and not try to make those of us who have valid concerns feel as if it may be otherwise. Do your research first!

These posts about contacting a bad viral infection while the immune system is suppressed by Singulair are particularly worrisome. This was from 2007 so it has nothing to do with the FDA investigation. Epstein Barr causes some really bad illnesses including lymphoma.

The scary part is that children are the most susceptible to viruses. They need to develop immunity at a young age that will build up over time to levels that will protect them for the rest of their lives. Why are we giving children a drug that will suppress the leukotrienes? Why do we think that it is okay to take away one of the bodies defense mechanisms? Wouldn't it be logical that a drug that suppresses the immune system is a last resort option not handed out like lollipops?

www.iddb.org/drugs/singulair/ - 243k
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Anonymous Immune System Dysfunction September 13th, 2007

Do users of Singulair and Advair understand how these products work? In order to understand how they work, you must first know what happens in the body during an allergic attack.

Allergic response is a function of the body's immune system. When an allergen enters the body through the nose or the lungs (e.g., a bit of pollen or cat dander), it is recognized by the body as a foreign substance, and the immune system then produces histamines to fight the intruder. Singulair and Advair work by disabling the body's immune system, so that there is no allergic response.

I too thought these drugs were wonderful. I was on both Singulair and Advair to combat asthma from my new husband's cat. I took high strengths of these drugs for approximately three years.

During the time I was on these drugs, some disease entity, most likely a virus (e.g., Epstein-Barr, Herpes Simplex I, HTLV I). I have been sick with a fever for the last four and a half years. My immune system seems to have been permanently impaired, and every organ in my body is now compromised. I have a fever, night sweats, liver and spleen enlargement, digestive problems, skin infections, hypertension, rapid-onset insulin-dependent diabetes and other endocrino;ogical problems, blood cell abnormalities, and neurological problems (e.g., tremors, myoclonic seizures, muscle cramps and weakness, vertigo, incoordination).

I am about to undergo a spinal tap and other tests, looking for the causative entity. Whatever it is entered my nervous system when I had an epidural anesthetic while on these immune system depressants. I have not been the same since. I have been too sick to work. This has ruined my life.

As we have all learned from recent reports of heart damage from Vioxx, the FDA no longer has the money to fully test new drugs entering the market. The "clinical trials" are a drug's entry into the population. If it kills or sickens too many people, they withdraw it. However, the drug companies define "too many people" as a number that could potentially ruin profits through lawsuits.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't rely on the government to protect you. Before putting any drug into your body, do the research into how it works. Read comments from other users. I wish I had done that.

Hey Singulair Friends - My son has been off of it a little over a month and is still complaining of stomach aches. Are any of your kids still complaining of that? I am concerned that maybe there may a bigger underlying issue. Any feedback would be appreciated!

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.

My daughter, a happy, stable 13 year old had been taking Singulair for many years for her allergies. Last summer she suffered deep depression with symptoms including self-mutilation ans suicidal ideation. She had to be hospitalized and is now on anti-depressants and in outpatient treatment. I stopped her Singulair as soon as I read the stories at the end of March.

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

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.

My son is three and a half and has been taking singulair for a little over two years. But only when his seasonal asthma flares up or when I know it is that time of year that he has problems. While taking singulair he has always complained of headaches, stomach and leg pains, and of course it never occured to me that it could be a perscribed medication. However after hearing the affect it had on another little girl and that leading me to research it to find all of these postings from other parents. What really brought on the investigation is the last week. My sweet little boy turned into a monster. He kicked, hit, screamed, pinched, bit, scratched or anything he could do to physically hurt you. We were all freaked out by this because he is such a sweet, gentle little boy, one of his teachers made every excuse she could think of. Because this was not in his character at all, then of he did it to her. She described it as a switch going off inside him. I believe he was also hallucinating, he told me someone told him to do it. This is by far the most scary thing I have ever been through and will never give my son singulair again. Further more I am going to pass this information along to all my friends and family and hope and pray that it makes is to everyone so this madness this perscription medication causes.

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.

My 13 year old son has been on Singulair for about 4 years. I considered it a wonder drug because he would always get sick from his asthma. For the past couple of years my son has been very inattentive. I blew it off as the preteen hormones. It wasn't until recently his dad made a comment about him never smiling or enjoying things they use to do together. If you saw any of his recent photos compared to his past pics, he appear dazed and depressed. I would always ask he's okay, any new changes in school. OMG! I can't believe they are marketing this medicine to our children.

He always complained of stomach upsets, really bad headaches every week, pain in his legs and hallucinations. I know this sounds crazy, but I would have never considered it may be the medicine, but after reading the blogs, I'm starting to realize it could be contributed to Singulair. It's been two days since I've taken him off Singulair and I can only hope and pray his asthma does not flair up like it has in the past. I also pray that Merck is reading these blogs and will take Singulair off the market until a more detailed research is conducted. I at one time looked at Singulair as being the greater good for my son's asthma, but it's not worth risking my son's mental health. I wonder if Merck would give this medicine to there children?

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.

We have been through hell for the past three years with my son, who is now 18. He went from a very happy, confident kid who had lots of friends, loved playing several sports, played the piano, enjoyed going to school where he got straight A's, to a complete disaster. I cried when I read many of these postings. All these stories sound so similar to ours. He had trouble sleeping where he couldn't get to sleep at night and then his sleep would be very restless (one time he punched a hole in the wall in his sleep, several times he fell out of bed) and he would be all twisted up in his blankets in the morning. Getting him up in the morning became a complete nightmare, I dreaded getting up in the morning because our mornings had become so stressful. He just could not seem to wake up no matter what method we tried and sometimes it could get quite ugly. We took him in for several sleep studies which didn't yield any results. He started feeling sick all of the time with frequent stomach aches and ended up missing alot of school. We had a CT scan done on his abdomin which didn't show anything abnormal. Because he missed alot of school he fell behind and his grades dropped, he stopped hanging out with all of his old buddies and he started getting into trouble. There were days when he would be rolled up in a ball in his bed crying, telling me that he couldn't stand the thought of going to school. This was not the son we knew and we, like most people with teenagers, figured it was just a phase and would go away. Unfortunately, he ended up getting thrown out of school and has moved out of state. He will not be graduating with his class this spring which is a tragedy. Although he has been away from us now for 10 months, we keep in touch regularly and he is doing great (he stopped taking Singulair well over a year ago). He has had a steady job that he loves for the past 10 months and is apparently able to get himself up in the mornings and to work on time. He has been living on his own, paying rent and all of the other associated expenses that go with this, he has not asked us for any assistance and appears to be coping very well. He has made a lot of new friends and seems to be thriving. We are very proud of him! He would like to get his GED and go to college. His transformation has been dramatic. The frustrating part is that it didn't have to be this way. We feel like we have pretty much lost the last three years of our son's life, and we're not sure when he will be coming home. We all miss him terribly, especially his brother and sister, there is a big hole in our family. And the stress of the last three years has taken a toll on our family. I have passed some of these postings on to our Dr. I hope all of the information on these postings will help to spare other families the sadness and heartache that we have gone through. If there is going to be a class-action suit I would appreciate receiving any information regarding that.

Both my children, ages 4 and 7, are currently taking Singulair chewable tablets for their seasonal allergies. They have been doing so for about three months. At first, I was not consistent in giving them the medicine. It wasn't until recently that I decided I should give it to them as prescribed, once daily before bedtime. During this time I heard about an incident linking this medication to a suicide. I shrugged it off thinking this could not happen to my children. Little did I know that this medication has other serious side effects linked to it. For the past few weeks, my own 7 year old daughter has experienced many of those side effects including stomache aches, headaches, trouble falling asleep, irritability, mood swings, crying spells, and traumatic nightmares. She used to be a fun loving child who loved waking up to go to school. Now she does not want to get up in the morning and hates going to school. She cries easily over the smallest thing and complains frequently of headaches and stomach aches. My son on the other hand has become overly aggressive and I had concluded that maybe his video games or cartoons were to blame. Well, today I found your website and I will take them both off the medication indefinitely! Their allergies were not as severe to begin with so I figure that they should do okay without it. I will probably look into more natural/ herbal remedies to soothe them when they do get their allergies. I will definitley be reporting back as to their results.

Thank you so much for all the information! My son was prescribed Singulair pills this fall. He has been taking them for seasonal allergies and we had no problems. These were the sample chewable kind. Then came the pills... Unfortunately I did not see the news or read the article about the side affects of Singulair. Within 4 days my happy well adjusted 10 year old had serious sleeping problems along with stomach aches. He will wake up screaming and crying and cannot tell me what is wrong. He said he had a nightmare but doesn't remember what it was about.

My husband was away on a business trip when I started him on the medicine. He came back to a very unhappy and sleepy child. I asked my son what he was scared of and he asked me to tell daddy that he does not feel safe while he is out of town. He can't sleep unless he is by one of us. He's not safe. His bedroom is 15' from our bedroom! He loves his doctor and begged that I call Dr. Becky so he can talk to her.

I could not take this anymore and started thinking about what was wrong. I went through all his activities, friends he's played with, school problems, anything! Then it hit me, effects of Singulair!

Wow, what an eye opener. Fortunately my husband did not have him take it this morning. He will not be going back to this medication. Ever!

Thank you for the information once again. I hope everyone's child gets better. Everyone wants a happy well child. No child should have to go through this. They have enough pressure as it is without the meds making things worse.

Maeri

Well, it has been 11 days since my 8 year old daughter has been off Singulair and what a difference! The tantrums and anger are gone. She is sleeping peacefully through the night. She says her stomach no longer hurts. She also said (like a previous poster) that she feels "lighter". I didn't know what she meant by that until I saw someone else say the same thing. She completes her homework quickly and without errors. She just seems "clearer" in her brain and so HAPPY! It saddens me to think what I did to her for so many years.

After reading the other posts, I was flabbergasted at the side effects posted. My sons 8 and 10 have been on this medication for two plus years after seeing a specialist for asthma and allergies. During that time, my younger son was sent to "family therapy" for behavioral problems at school. Bedwetting and nightmares began for both boys, as well as stomach aches and a huge weight increase. They are both active and in sports. Upon reading this information on your post, I was floored when I read another child said "My brain makes me do it". My youngest son says that all the time in response to bad behavior and I never understood why he would say such a thing. After talking to him and explaining that I was taking him off the meds immediately, my older son overheard the conversation and said he wanted to go off them as well right away. He explained he's been sad since taking them and didn't know why as there is nothing to be sad about. We are a close knit family who spends all their time together. Singulair has helped my oldest son's asthma, but I'm so upset at the other side effects and not having this information from the FDA. I've spend thousands of dollars in family therapy only to find out it's the drug my physican prescribes that causes the problem. Do not take Singulair!

My 6 year old daughter has been off the Singulair for 5 days, after being on it for like 4 years. I have noticed some big changes for the positive... but she is still yelling at me when I have to get her up for school...and ight before bed. She is falling asleep a little better, and waking up less. But this screaming is so bad. I need to videotape it so people will believe me..as to how bad it is! Anyone else have some side effects still left, or did the all go away right away?

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???

My 9 yo daughter has been off and on Singulair for several years trying to get her athsma and allergies regulated. She has been put on zyrtec, and claritin and it has been a constant battle with her. She has been in and out of children's mental health facilities 3 times in the past year and has been diagnosed as having ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), Mood Disorder, Depression, Severe ADHD, Bi-Polar as well as ADO (Adjustment Disorder) and emotional disorder, just to name some of the diagnosis she has had. SHE IS ONLY NINE YEARS OLD. Due to ALL these other diagnosis, she has been on and off so many different medications that I cannot help but wonder if some of these diagnosis are due to her taking the Singulair. When she was taking the SINGULAIR, she could not sleep at night, she complained about her stomach hurting all the time, she was very angry, emotional, and cried very easily for no reason at all. I have not given her any SINGULAIR since I first heard about all this stuff two days ago and can already see a difference. The fact that these people are doing this to our children infuriates me and something needs to be done!!!!!!!!

I have 3 children on singulair they are 11,8 and 4. My 4 yr old started it when he was almost 1 when we found out he had asthma and the other two were put on it for allergies for about a year now. I have heard from my 4 yr old that his stomach hurts, he says it all the time, everyday I keep getting on to my 11 yr old telling her if she wouldnt say things like that he wouldnt hear it and repeat it. My 11 yr old has ADD and is on Ritlin.My 8 yr old is ADHD and has been on different Meds to figure out which is the best for him. He has been really depressed and so has my 11 yr old. I put both of them on anti-depressents. My 11 yr old had to be hospitalized in October of 07 for taking medications, anything she could get her hands on. I would find baby tylenol missing knowing I hadnt used it all.Then it was pain pills and muscle relaxers that I had put up from when I hurt my back. When I first found out what she was doing I locked everything up took her to see her Psychiatrist and her Psycologist and I was told by one of them not to worry It was her age that it was normal and basicaly blamed it on tv. I spent more time taking her to her doctors. I asked question with so many people on what to do I got nowhere. I finally found a hospital they took her for a week, her answer to taking the pills was if she took them then she would die and everything bad in her life would all go away. She was released before she could finish treatment because insurance wouldnt cover her stay inless it was outpatient. I couldnt find a place that would was close to do out patient so we stopped going. I finally found a doctor that treated everything her eatting disorder,nightmares,ithching,depression,moodiness,anger,stomach aches,crying and leg cramps, We have been going to these doctors and it has never helped. My 8 yr old has been mean, screaming at everyone crying all the time for no reason you ask him why he cries and all he can say is he doesnt know why. The crying is different than any other crying its not the same as when he gets into trouble or when he gets hurt, its just a very sad cry.He has OCD, seavere depression, ticks, anger, night mares and is very moody.He is never happy, he never smiles. Its really sad to see him like this and to not know why and what to do. My 4 yr old He has asthma that is why he was put on it. He used to get ear infections all the time, no sooner than he got over one, another one started. He is always saying his stomach hurts. I took him to the doctor she said nothing was wrong. He has been really mean I just always thought he see's his brother and sister acting this way so he learned it from them. He has been in Speech therapy since he was 2 and is finally doing better, I always thought because of the ear infections thats why his speech has been so bad, the school thought the same thing, he has been tested and and everything is normal so the infections have been to blame. He wont sleep in his own bed he is afraid we are going to leave him. I took them off of it and it has been about 7 days now and my 8 yr old has stopped crying, he is happy I dont have to get onto him for being mean, My 4 yr old has not complained about his stomach hurting. He has been nicer to his brother and sister. Its amazing at how there is such a big difference in them and I can only hope it will get better since it has only been a few days. I have pulled them off of there anti-depressents and they havent needed them. Its amazing at how there is such a big difference in them and I can only hope it will get better since it has only been a few days.

My son is 11 yrs old. I can not believe what I am reading. My son has been taking Singular for about 3 yrs for asthma and allergies. My son was always
happy and the most confident child I know, he did great in school. All of a sudden about 2 years ago everything has changed. He is always moody,
upset, has fits and argues about everything no matter where. My husband and I could not understand it, he was never like this. His grades have gone
down dramatically. One teacher told us she taught he had hearing problems
and that I should have him tested. We did last year and they said he had no
problem and that he needed his adenoids taken out that were swollen and compressing his ear drums so we had them taken out. I do not see a difference we still believe he has problems hearing at times we have even
kind of test him at home at times and he can not hear well, he has even
been talking very loud as if he had a hearing problem. His academics still
continue to drop. We taught this is just a phase he is going through.
Recently at school the teacher told me he might have ADHD and that maybe
I should put him on Medication. I refused !! You see I have a 16 yr old
that has ADHD and had all the symptoms from an early age. But my other
son never showed the signs he was alway attentive and did well in school.
He has been complaining of headaches and stomach aches we had him checked out and nothing we taught maybe he does not want to go to school
or wants attention. He is also depressed at times. My question is will this
go away when he stops taking this medicine. I have not given it to him since
3/21/08 that my sister in law told me about the news. I have an appointment
with his doctor next week. I feel so horrible for not even considering that this
medication might be the problem.

My son started Singulair when he was 5 for asthma. He is now 7. We have noticed that he has went from a happy go lucky boy to very sad and depressed at times. He complains of headaches, stomach aches, leg aches, and cries very easily. He has lost his confidence at times and low self esteem. We never saw this behavior before taking this medicine. He has always loved to play sports and now is afraid of getting hurt. After reading these posts, I am taking my son off this medication. He has even complained that he cannot shut off his brain at night when he goes to sleep. We have also noticed him sleep walking. He has had to get glasses for farsightedness and complains that at times he feels dizzy. His breath smells awful despite he has brushed and flossed teeth. He also was very social and we noticed that he has started acting shy when he talks to people and making no eye contact. We have worked through the behaviors with prayer and counseling, but still battle it. I am wondering if he is having reactions to this medication. I am stopping it tonight. I want my happy-go-lucky little boy back. I will repost if I notice a difference. HJ

My son 10, has been on Singulair since he was 4 yrs old for Asthma and allergies. His last dose was 3/26/08. He has always been my emotional child, he is 2yrs older than this younger brother. Some of his side effects included headaches, stomaches, leg cramps, emotional breakdowns, major mood swings, crying outbursts over small situations, night sweats, lack of motivation, weight gain, ADHD, wishing he were dead and the list goes on. His younger brother has always been involved in sports but he was always too afraid he would get hurt. This medication has robbed my 10 yr old son from 6 yrs of his childhood. Since he has been off Singulair he feels motivated and looks forward to joining the football team his younger brother plays for. I look forward to meeting this new young man who for so long has been hiding behind this so called allergy medicine. I am so thankful to know that my son can look forward to a bright future without these side effects. God Bless you all who are going through this as well.

We've been searching and wondering for the last 4 1/2 years what happened that November night that our 15 year old son suddenly took his own life. This boy was a fun, loving, jokester that was loved by everyone he came in contact with. We always had a stream of kids in and out of our home. He had just gotten his drivers license, went to homecoming and played on the football team.
Andrew had been on Singulair for about 3 years. He would get the stomach aches, leg cramping, odd sleeping habits and moodiness at times, but we attributed it to a young boy going through puberty. He also experienced the shakes which we were told were from the inhaler.
We had no dramatic warning signs nor was there a note. It all happened so fast that evening. He walked out of the house and 10 minutes later he was gone. Our whole community was in disbelief and devastated.
After speaking with Miller's and reading many, many testimonies on numerous sites, We feel we may have our answer to our years of wondering.

Thanks for all the information on this site. What a shocking "heads up" I have received! My daughter is 10 and has been taking Singulair since she was about 5 years old. (She has also been on Claritin since she was 2-3 years old and hasn't seemed to have a problem with it.) My daughter has had unexplained headaches, stomach aches/pains, nausea, mood swings, depression...a lot of the same side effects that people are listing here, for years. I knew there had to be something going on, but couldn't figure out what it was. I recently started suspecting Singulair, before I even knew about all of the recent side effect links to it. I took it upon myself to start halfing her doses, and she says the headaches are starting to go away, so there must be some connection. Her pediatrician has actually RECOMMENDED taking her OFF of Singulair for about a year now, but he never explained WHY, and every time I tried to get her completely off of it, her allergy problems flared up again. So I didn't know what to do. I think now though, it's time to find an alternative. Thanks to everyone for sharing. It's nice to know that I wasn't crazy for suspecting Singulair after all. Bless all of you (and my daughter) who have suffered with this.

*One other note: My daughter was recently diagnosed with an early stage of the flu and was given TAMIFLU for treatment. This med made the headaches, stomach aches, and mood swings MUCH worse. She cried every day, and her crying was not because she had been sick. I didn't even finish giving her the full course of the med. I couldn't, it was hurting her so badly.