Singulair and stomach pain

My 9 year old son started Singulair 5mg about 8 months ago. Shortly after, he started to occasionally complain of stomach pain and not being hungry. About 2 months ago, they changed the dosage to 10mg. He now has chronic diarrhea and severe weight loss. We stopped the medicine about 2 weeks ago, but he's not "back to normal" yet. He's never had any digestive problems before. The doctor's recommending endoscopes, and we're at our wit's end.

MY APOLOGIES TO ALL FOR AN ERROR IN MY PRIOR POST. WHEN I CUT AND PASTED THE INFORMATION FROM MERCK'S WEBSITE NOT ALL OF IT APPEARED IN MY POST FOR SOME REASON. THE CORRECTED INFORMATION IS BELOW. CHECK THEIR WEBSITE FOR YOURSELVES TO VERIFY THIS.

THIS IS FROM THE PATIENT INFORMATION:

"What are the possible side effects of SINGULAIR?

The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side
effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).
The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:
• stomach pain
• stomach or intestinal upset
• heartburn
• tiredness
• fever
• stuffy nose
• cough
• flu
• upper respiratory infection
• dizziness
• headache
• rash

Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include:
• increased bleeding tendency
• allergic reactions
• behavior and mood related changes
• drowsiness, pins and needles/numbness, seizures (convulsions or fits)
• palpitations
• nose bleed
• diarrhea, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, nausea, vomiting
• hepatitis
• bruising
• joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps
• swelling

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped.
Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right away if you get one or more of these symptoms:
• a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
• a flu-like illness
• rash
• severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)
These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR."

d27gayle POSTED INCORRECT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF SINGULAIR. I JUST COPIED THIS FROM MERCK'S SINGULAIR WEBSITE. THIS IS THE CORRECT AND UPDATED INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION DOES LIST DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR AS SIDE EFFECTS.

IF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SHARE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE, PLEASE MAKE SURE IT IS CORRECT BEFORE POSTING!!!!!!!!!

What are the possible side effects of SINGULAIR?
The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).
The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:
• stomach pain
• stomach or intestinal upset
• heartburn
• tiredness
• fever
• stuffy nose
• cough
• flu
• upper respiratory infection
dizziness
• headache
• rash

Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include:
• increased bleeding tendency
• allergic reactions
• behavior and mood related changes
• drowsiness, pins and needles/numbness, seizures (convulsions or fits)
• palpitations
• nose bleed
• diarrhea, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, nausea, vomiting
• hepatitis
• bruising
• joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps
• swelling

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain
symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who
were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped.
Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right
away if you get one or more of these symptoms:
• a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
• a flu-like illness
• rash
• severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)

These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist. Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR.

THE FOLLOWING IS COPIED DIRECTLY FROM THE SINGULAIR WEBSITE.....

The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).

The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:

stomach pain
stomach or intestinal upset
heartburn
tiredness
fever
stuffy nose
cough
flu
upper respiratory infection
dizziness
headache
rash
Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include (listed alphabetically):

agitation including aggressive behavior, allergic reactions (including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat, which may cause trouble breathing or swallowing), hives, and itching, bad/vivid dreams, increased bleeding tendency, bruising, diarrhea, drowsiness, hallucinations (seeing things that are not there), hepatitis, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, irritability, joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps, nausea, palpitations, pins and needles/numbness, restlessness, seizures (convulsions or fits), swelling, trouble sleeping, and vomiting.

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped. Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right away if you get one or more of these symptoms:

a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
a flu-like illness
rash
severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)
These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR.

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

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

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

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

I am a loving mother of a 5 1/2 year old boy. He has been on Singulair for over 3 years. In this past 3 years my son has suffered in an unspeakable amount. He came down with Rota Virus and was hospitalized at 2. He then came in contact with Pneumonia in the hospital while he was there. They automatically put him on Singulair, Zyrtec, Prednisone, and antibiotics to treat the pneumonia. Since that day, my son has gone though more tests than I have in my entire life. He has had asthma, sinusitis, leg cramping ( to the point he cannot walk for 2 years), IBS, Acid reflux,(they gave him laxatives for a year that made things worse and addicted to them also), stomach pain, constipation and diarrhea back and forth. He also got Erythema Mulitforme TWICE, while on this drug. All of which the doctors said could NOT be caused by Singulair. He has had several Upper GI's and CT scans. Along with Barium enemas, several hundreds of blood tests, and many many pokes and prodded that were not necessary. All since he has been on Singulair. He now has frequent bathroom trips, depression, confusion, and anger outbursts. He also has to go to the restroom every 5 minutes. He has had genital swelling, and many other aches and pains. None of which his "doctor" ever said could be a result of Singulair. I am 100% sure it was!!!! He currently has anxiety and emotional sporadic issues causing problems in school The teachers and counselors say that it is so strange because there is no TRIGGER and the outbursts are completely inconsistent. His preschool teacher and director are sure he has ADHD. Well, we had him tested and he does not have any part of it. He has no learning disability what-so-ever. So that brought me back to square one. He is in a positive loving enviroment. How could he be depressed and want to hurt everyone around him? He cannot sit still. He cries and says he is 'stupid" and "can't think" like the other boys. He has nightmares and cannot sleep alone. He is scared of everyone and everything. So, as I sit here crying, I realized that this has all been a reaction of his "medicine" Singulair. He never should have gone through all of those painful tests, only to prove they couldn't find anything. So many treatments and sound full advice speeches from his doctors. How could they be so naive and selfish in the life of my son?

When I called my pediatrician of 5 years, she told me that " parents that have children with behavioral problems will LOOK for something to blame their problems on." She also said "drug companies only put side effects on their labels to PROTECT the drug companies. (as she laughed at me) They are not always valid". Then she said "if you take you child off of Singulair you will be playing Russian Roulette in his life." Then she said that all children around 5 or 6 go though this emotional time in their lives." She told me that if I take my child off of Singulair that she would no longer be a part of his health regimen for his asthma. She told me to see a Pulmonologist for further treatment.
Who is paying who? This is my son's life???????? I decided to go with my mother-gut instinct and get him off of this medicine. No matter what. He has been a different person since. He is currently going though a lot of side effects and withdrawals (leg pain, insomnia, hic-ups, emotional distress) but every day is getting better. How can the drug companies say that this is a "wonder drug?" There are more reported side effected patients then clinical studied patients! How can a "medication" that stimulates the brain not be connected to other problems? This "medication" interferes with the bio synthesis and action of LTs and has been marketed as NOVEL medication against asthma and allergic rhinitis. Who the hell is playing God here??? The pocket books of Merck or our over PAID "doctors?" Who pays the price? Our children? Or us. Thank god I found this before it was too late. I would not be able to withstand the pain of losing my son due to their lack of scientific evidence. They are lucky I am one of the smart ones. I will not settle for less than Justice for the drug companies and their paid "doctors?" You all end up in the same place. HELL

There are 18 million people on this drug. Most of them are children. Please save a life if not your own child's life. Thank You

My Daughter has been the same way .. she had the headaches, stomach pain, very depressed .. she has missed 6 months of school she was afraid to go to school, shopping, and being left alone.. I have put her on medication for her depression, and anxiety . i have her in therapy for this... she is not the same child i just want my beautiful daughter back..We are having a hard time with her from school to he social life.. and from her tring to kill herself.. My daughter is only 13 years old...I think someone needs to pay for this... please there must be help out there...How long must this go on before people (FDA, Merck, ALA, etc.) will take this seriously?!?!?!?!
I want my beautiful katelynn back........................
--

Well after reading these posts...I am very sad that I didn't read this before I allowed my 3 year old son to start Singulair! The last month he has been complaining of lower back pain. Just recently, stomach pain as well. Says his head hurts, and at times is not himself. I pick him up from preschool awaiting a very energized little boy to talk nonstop about what he did and he doesn't:( He was put on this med for allergies with Flonase and Zyrtec as needed. I took him to the doctors for this lower back pain and they said it possibly was from playing too hard or growing pains. Trusting our pediatrician I took it as that. My son continued to complain and continued to, at times, seem depressed. I took him to the ER because the last week and a half he has had fevers of 100-102. They said its all viral. I came home, looked Singulair up trying to figure out what was wrong and found all of this. I am so sad I never researched this before and continued to give this to my little boy trusting it to be good for him. Needless to say, I am making another appointment for him tomorrow to discuss other options. Thank you all for the information!

Hey to All.
I know that the ALA study got everyone upset and I am happy we all emailed her.We all pretty much got the same response from Heather,defending the study and the integrity of the results.If only this investigation would conclude!
The Merck company contacted our Senator and indicated there was a conclusion and then ,they never got back to her before the weekend.I will have news early in the week.Please everyone just keep on voicing your concerns by reaching out any way you can.Sometimes it seems unbearable and I have to take a break with the communications on this website but,I continue my communication with my local contacts and the FDA.
I would love quick results and everyone would love this to get the publicity this story deserves but,if you look at how far we have come getting attention focused on this drug it is amazing.
This website has been here for years and people have complained and nothing has been accomplished until now.Our system is so broken it will take time to fix it.Drugs get approved everyday and when they are put out for multi use,the population benefit -risk ratio changes and there is little oversight on this matter.
The problem is much bigger than just notification of updated side effects,which indeed is why our son died from this drug.It is reporting adverse events to the FDA and the drug company and following up on your report.We can only fight within the system of the government that is in place at the moment and push for change to take place in there programs.
This is what has take place as of this year,The FDA's new 'Safe Use "iniative(which when it gets further developed will increase our partnerships with physicians as well as patients) and the July 2008 AAM report" Education in Safe and Effective Prescribing Practices" which aims to address the education of the next generation of physicians on how to best use medicines.This may help in notification practices and over prescribing but, we want the drug companies to lose the unprecedented control over the clinical research and and evaluation of there own drugs.What other company in the USA, gets to self regulate.Change will come ,we have asked for accountability by having a signature exchange when new and updated side effects are found.Full disclosure of all reported adverse events to doctors from the company representatives,with signature required upon full understanding of the benefit -risk ratio change. A prescriber should know all the good and the bad about a medicine they have chosen to dispense,if not then they should not be able to dispense it.If we were not knowledgeable about selling mushrooms and we sold the poisonous ones ,because we did not take the time it would take to educate ourselves about them,would we not be legally responsible for our actions.
Accountability is what we are asking for and maybe the candyland doctor prescribing practices would stop.They seem to ,not have a responsibility to their patients and the company has no responsibility to the prescribers,so who is responsible for our safety?
I will keep fighting for real change and all you people must do the same ,make an appointment with your representatives and have them contact our Congress representative of NY,maybe with enough onboard we can get the legislation we need to put a law in place for proper notification practices.Kirsten E. Gillibrand Member of the US House of Representatives 120 Cannon House Office Builing Washington, D.C. 20515
This is how change is made ,if you want to help please go forward and do this and don't stop until they listen.I am always willing to do whatever I can,it is physically exhausting and sometimes I just have to step away but, my daily review of this site has not stopped and my fight will continue.Dave and I sit here and our hearts just break for all but, we need people to push their Representatives they do work for the people just remind them of that.Any one with questions or that wants to communicate via private email just ask for my email address or phone number or leave me yours and a time and I will be sure to contact you,Kate M.

I have been reading all of these posts and have another question. I hope that someone can help. My daughter, 8 years old, has been on Singulair since she was 4. She is normally a very happy girl with a wonderful disposition. For the last year or so, she has been having trouble getting herself to sleep at night. She says that she hears things in her head such as ringing or "noises". A few hours before she knows it's bedtime, she cries and when we ask her why she's crying, she can't give us a reason. We initially thought that she was crying for no reason because she didn't want to go to sleep. I remember reading about the side effects of Singulair causing mood swings, etc., but her's are not violent mood swings. Just very emotional and has a hard time coming down from the "episode". I'm at a loss...I have not talked to her doctor yet about it, but have told her that we will make an appointment this week to discuss it with him. My husband suggested that maybe it sounded like she was having a panic attack or anxiety attack. I hate to label her as that at such a young age. My mind now goes back to the side effects of Singulair and maybe this is to blame. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Concerned Mom

I am so thankful to have found this information!!!!! We have an appt tomorrow afternoon because of my 3 1/2 yr old daughters chronic leg pain. It hasn't fit the growing pains symptoms and I have to give her Tylenol or ibuprofen every day - she is inconsolable with pain at times. (She has been on Singulair for 2 years!!!) After reading these situations, I checked singulair's side effects which include 2 other symptoms that my daughter has all the time without explanation - nose bleeds and stomach pain!!! I am taking all this to the doctor appt tomorrow. We missed a nightly dose of Singulair once before and she had to start breathing treatments the next day, every 2 hrs for a few days until we got her breathing under control again. I am anxious as to what our alternatives are and what they're side effects may be....
Thank y'all for sharing your experiences !!!!

Leukotriene receptor cysLT1 in intestinal epithelial cells and variation in montelukast blood levels between individuals.

We know many things about this topic:

1. Montelukast enters the blood stream through the intestines
2. the cysLT1 (receptor that Singulair blocks) exists in intestinal epithelial cells
3. montelukast will bind with high affinity to the ideal gene type cysLT1 receptor
4. after montelukast enters into the blood stream is it 99% bound to plasma proteins (that point is hypothesized to be the reason that montelukast does not inhibit CYP2C8 in vivo but it does in vitro if it is true that in vivo it does not inhibit CYP2C8)
5. there is variation between individuals on how much montelukast makes it into the blood stream

Well, did anybody out there in science land think of trying to find out how much montelukast binds to the cysLT1 receptors in intestinal epithelial cells? They got all interested in transport proteins but where are the studies about the cysLT1 receptors in intestinal epithelial. And, what is the effect of montelukast if it binds to intestinal cysLT1receptors?

Now, concernedcitizen believes that if montelukast binds to intestinal epithelial cysLT1receptors that could be a BIG problem because those receptors have a different function than in respiratory tissue. In the one place, we gotta' breathe. In the other place, we gotta' digest food properly.

We have all of these children who have stomach pain. Does anybody want to find out why?

This drug belongs in the science HALL OF SHAME. Somebody please call Arnold Diaz. I am quite discussed today.

Oncogene. 2006 Oct 26;25(50):6660-5. Epub 2006 May 22. Links
Endogenous production of leukotriene D4 mediates autocrine survival and proliferation via CysLT1 receptor signalling in intestinal epithelial cells.Paruchuri S, Mezhybovska M, Juhas M, Sjölander A.
Cell and Experimental Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.

The cysteinyl leukotriene1 (CysLT1) receptor (CysLT1R) enhances survival and proliferation of intestinal cells via distinct pathways. Here, we have demonstrated that there is significant endogenous production of CysLTs from both non-tumour- and tumour-derived intestinal epithelial cells. Treatment of two non-tumour cell lines, Int 407 and IEC-6, with CysLT1R antagonists led to shrinkage and detachment of cells, confirmed as apoptotic cell death, and a dose-dependent reduction in proliferation. However, in the tumour intestinal cell lines Caco-2, SW480, HCT-116 and HT-29, treatment with CysLT1R antagonists significantly reduced proliferation, but had no effect on apoptosis. A unique characteristic of intestinal cancer cells is the presence of nuclear CysLT1Rs, which are inaccessible to receptor antagonists. In these cells, inhibition of the endogenous production of CysLTs indirectly, by 5-lipoxygenase inhibition, impaired CysLT1R signalling throughout the cell, and resulted in apoptosis of the tumour cells. These data reveal the existence of constitutive CysLT1R signalling that mediates both survival and proliferation in intestinal cells. Importantly, we propose that tumour-derived intestinal cells are resistant to CysLT1R antagonist-induced apoptosis, a phenomena that could be explained by nuclear CysLT1R signalling.

PMID: 16715140

CLINICAL TRIAL - transport proteins and montelukast

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT00513760

Unusual weakness, stomach upset, diarrhea, dizziness, cough, headache, nausea, vomiting, trouble sleeping, or mouth pain may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medication because he or she has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: fever, persistent sore throat/earache, flu symptoms.

Tell your doctor immediately if any of these highly unlikely but very serious side effects occur: mental/mood changes (e.g., agitation, depression, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts), stomach pain, muscle aches/cramps, irregular heartbeat, dark urine, yellowing eyes and skin, numbness or tingling of the hands or feet, dull sense of touch, easy bruising or bleeding, swelling, seizures.

A serious allergic reaction to this drug is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include: rash, itching, severe swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing.

This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist
...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................just pulled this off web md,all the side effects are kids had were highly unlikely........yes right more BS

My daughter was on Singulair for about 4 weeks this spring. She went from an outgoing talkative 15 yr old to being withdrawn and sad. Her symptoms were feeling hopeless, headaches, stomach pain, constantly tired. She was sleeping 9-10 hours at night without feeling like she had slept at all. She would fall asleep in class (not her normal at all). Her teachers noticed that she had stopped participating in class and seemed "sad". I took her to her pediatrician and she ordered blood work and an ultrasound of the abdomen-all of which came back normal. I toyed with the idea that maybe she was becoming clinically depressed. I researched her symptoms and came across others who had similar symptoms while on Singulair. I took her off Singulair and have noticed an improvement in her mood. Her teacher commented yesterday that it was nice to see her smile again and being happy. She told her that she noticed that she had seemed "sad" these last few weeks. I hope that they take seriously these potential problems with this drug. I will never allow my daughter to take this or any other related drug.

My daughter has been off Singulair since March 29th. In my previous posting I explained that she had taken it for 2 years and last December started to experience stomach pain, and she became very anxious, agitated, and obsessive compulsive. We had every test possible and her anxiety only grew worse as the weeks went on. In February she was admitted for panic attacks and was given Paxil and Risperdal. When we stopped Singulair we noticed definite changes with her mood swings, personality, and affection. We saw a side of her that over time we forgot existed. She is so much better, but still on the medicines from her hospitalization. We have an appointment to discuss reducing these meds. But has SINGULAIR been out of her system long enough? She endured so much emotional stress that I know just stopping the Singulair will not be the cure all. Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

I spent the weekend reading about the development of Singulair. The early studies recognized that the first phase of the acute asthma response bronco-constriction was probably not caused by leukotrienes. They identified histamines and prostaglandins as the probable sources. I don't think that changed because the Singulair literature states that it should not be considered as a treatment for that. Leukotrienes were a source of inflammation caused by eosinophils and mast cells present in greater numbers (than normal) in airway tissue. So, it was beneficial to find a way to decrease that.

The cysLT1 receptor was identified as source of the signals that tell the cells to produce leukotriene. The receptor, a gene, consist of 337 (they think) amino acids. They modified a compound that would bind to that receptor thus blocking the cells ability to produce leukotrienes. This compound is very specific. It was formulated to bind to the "model" receptor. This compound will not even bind to cysLT receptor sub-types. (That is the good thing.) There is an enormous amount of research that discusses the genetic variability of the chemical reactions that occur in the leukotriene (calling it this for simplicity) pathway. We are also seeing that a number of researchers would like to use gene profiles to predict whether patients will respond favorably to different asthma/allergy drugs. ALL PATIENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW IF IT IS INHERENT THAT SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT RESPOND TO SINGULAIR OR RESPOND ADVERSELY.

There are many studies from the 1998 era that conclude that montelukast is not effective for everyone. Those researchers stated that it can be predicted that those people who are going to respond favorably will do that within the first 14 days or so. That conclusion would be consistent with a genetic component for efficacy and safety of Singulair. Those doctors concluded that those who did not respond within that time frame should not take Singulair for fear of harming them. That makes good sense.

The Italian researchers wanted to know if there was more going on than blocking leukotrienes in the action of montelukast. They set up a "test tube" study regarding montelukast, the cysLT1 receptor, and some t-cells that they selected. Why? Researchers always have something on their minds. They observed the death of these particular t-cells.

Montelukast is a quinoline. We basically know of quinilines and quinolones as compounds that were invented as broad spectrum antibiotics. They work because they interference with bacterial DNA so they cannot replicate themselves. Montelukast is a quinoline modified to bind with the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) and prevent that gene from activating. That's consistent with what a quinoline/quinolone does.

So what does montelukast do in blood plasma if it does not bind to the receptor because of genetic mis-match? (If montelukast does bind, then a chemical reaction has occurred and the liver will break down the by-products. Montelukast metabolized in 10-12 hours.) What happens if it doesn't bind? How long before it breaks down? Does it produce toxic by-products?

I want to know what happens to lymphocytes such as t-cells just because montelukast is a quinoline. Maybe nothing but what's up with the Italians researchers? I want to know if montelukast has the capability to interfere with lymphocytes who can clone themselves. That could be a good thing under circumstances when these lymphocytes are causing inflammation. But it could be a bad thing in the case of normal individuals with no problems.

I want to know if the bad side effects are due to the fact that the body has to break down and metabolize a quinoline that did not bind to the receptor for which it was created. The side effects of Singulair are strangely similar to what is observed in the quinolones such as levaquin. I have not as yet been able to compare montelukast as a quinoline to levaquin as a quinolone. I am hoping to find something on these categories. There may be no reason to worry that they cause similar damage. But frankly, I think that there is. There is some terrible chit happening to some people. The scariest is the neurological damage.

All of these questions would be in the everybody pharma knows to ask category. I don't know where the answers are. I haven't found them as of yet. Maybe there are no answers. We have to remember that Singulair and Vioxx were released in the same year. They have continued to be drugs under the current executive management of Merck. If the Vioxx marketing promoters had their ghost writers, why not the Singulair marketing promoters. The genetic component appears to be widely accepted but we haven't heard one thing about even that.

I think that it is sad that maybe the marketing of Singulair as one stop shopping for asthma/allergies may have destroyed the original concept. I really think from reading the original work that they knew that they couldn't engineer a drug for one size fits all. Everybody gets harmed when information is withheld.

Shame on the allergist who yelled at the mother who wanted to discuss issues. Does he know exactly who is allergic to Singulair and who isn't? Get him a dunce hat. Just because Singulair is marketed for allergies does not mean that you cannot be allergic to it. See the power of Madison Avenue? The ad agencies focus group these drugs to death. The ad agencies cleverly craft the product information. A good piece of legislation would be to prohibit consumer drugs ads.

After visiting this web site everyday for the past four weeks, I feel the need to share my daughter's (and my families') experience with singulair. My 8 year old daughter was put on singulair aprx. 2 years ago in addition to zyrtec to treat her allergies. Shortly after starting the drug, she developed stomach pain. After a few weeks of chronic pain, I pursued help from our pediatrician. After visits to two different pediatric GI doctors, an allergist (to test for food allergies), and an orthopedic surgeon ( because of sudden leg pain), the results were inconclusive. During this time my daughter also became very sad, angry and fatigued. She also completely lost her appetite and refused to eat much of the time. I attributed all of these symptoms to her stomach pain . In addition, she developed difficult sleep patterns and would often wake-up exhausted in the morning. Over time she also began to have more and more "melt-downs", breaking into crying spells over the smallest provocation or challenge. I recently contacted my daughters pediatrician to discuss what other testing or direction we could take to help my daughter. In the interim of making that contact, a friend told me about this web site. As I read page after page of other parent's experiences, I was in tears. I felt as if I was reading about my own family for the past two years. I say "family" because when one child is living through this kind trauma, everyone in the family is negatively affected in some way. My husband and I felt completely frustrated and unable to help our daughter. Our older children began to resent the great amount of time and energy I spent on behalf of our daughter. My younger daughter who had always looked up to and loved her older sister was sad and confused by her sister's anger and impatience.On March 29th I took my daughter off singulair. Unbelievable. Within 2 days, my daughter's appetite returned. On the second day, she came home from school and requested a corn dog and then some ice cream. She suddenly wanted to eat breakfast again. She started smiling and laughing again. She has suddenly become capable and responsible for doing her homework and chores. She is going to sleep more quickly and waking up happy. The best part is having our daughter back...the sweet, wonderful, happy six year old who I feel like I lost for two years of her life! As a side note-the return call I got from my pediatrician was that he wanted my daughter to see a psychiatrist. That's how close we were to taking another (completely unnecessary) path to helping my daughter. I also recently spoke with my daughter's allergist about our experience. At first he was somewhat dismissive. I asked him to listen to me parent, to parent for just a moment. He seemed to soften and said he would take a second look at singulair and its side effects. I encourage every parent who's child has been so adversely affected by this drug to be proactive. First, please contact the FDA to report your experience. Second, talk to your children's physicians and share, with confidence your experience. Third, share this web site or a similar one with everyone you know. I have been astounded how many children are on singulair just within my own small circle (school, church and play group). I really believe one voice can make a difference. I have to believe that for the sake of all the children still suffering.

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.

It has been 18 days since my 9 year old daughter has taken Singulair. Our daughter had been taking Singulair for approximately 2 years. It was in the last year that we started to notice some behavior changes and mood swings that were so often unprovoked. We were somewhat concerned and thought like so many other parents that it was a phase. Then in December 2007 she came home from school with a tummy ache and had several episodes of vomiting. She seemed better the following day, but we took her to the pediatrician to be sure that this was a virus. The stomach pains continued, and then anxiety attacks began. Over the next month she began to wake up each day with stomach aches and we began more visits to doctors and more testing. She had abdominal X-rays, CT scan, mekel scan, GI consult and endoscopy. All were ok except she did have some small amounts of acid in her stomach. She was treated with Prevacid with really no significant changes. As weeks passed she missed more and more school, she just could not make it through the day. She had intense separation anxiety, and developed OCD about being sick again and vomiting, fears that she may stop breathing; fear of dying and the list goes on. She was refusing to ride the bus to school, and was having more and more panic attacks that would last for hours. We finally took her to a psychiatrist after we had done every test we could possibly do and all were normal. She woke up with the fear and anxiety, and fell asleep each night the same way. The doctor said she had "OCD" which she believes was triggered by the fear from vomiting. "This was the first time she had vomited since she was an infant.” She was treated with Lexapro, and Klonopin. The symptoms worsened over the next few days even with the new medications. After many calls to the doctor we were finally advised to have her admitted to a children’s psychiatric hospital for closer evaluation where higher doses of medications could be administered. She was there for 4 horrible days with slight improvements. Over the next few weeks the medication did begin to help some and she was able to make it through school each day as long as she was able to call me a few times a day for re-assurance. I thank God each day for her wonderful teacher and staff that have helped us through this. They all have known her for 3 years and knew this was just not her character at all and she was truly struggling. She was always known as "Smiley" to everyone because she always wears a grin. We began therapy with a psychologist as well and she has good and bad days. Then we heard the news about Singulair and I began to trace back other issues she had with focusing in 2nd grade and how things just seemed to progress from there. It all happened so gradually that I would never have put two & two together. She is showing improvements every day with personality, mood, attitude, fears, and the "OCD". She told me today that this was the best day ever!! I have made all the Doctor's involved aware of this information and the progress she has made in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Her doctor did cut her meds in half this week as well. Thanks to everyone that has posted their nightmares as well, and we will pray for you and for full recovery for all those that have suffered.

My son is 21 month old and he's been taking singulair for two months now, and I can notice that after he started taking it he is having nightmares. Every night he starts crying while sleeping without any reason. So I am wondering could it be possible that these happens because of singulair just in 2 months or there is something else. Doctor told us to continue giving singulair for 6 months, Shall I stop giving it or not?

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....

My daughter had an appointment with a gastrointestinal doctor this morning because of her stomach problems. (She has been off of Singulair 10 days now and ALL symptoms- leg pains, abdominal pain, dizziness, sensitivity to light, severe mood swings, depression, anxiety, severe tantrums have all vanished) We kept the appointment with GI because our physician advised us to. He found it hard to believe that Singulair could be the cause of all of her symptoms. Well the GI also found it hard to believe that Singulair was the cause but said, "The proof is in the pudding." I have filed a complaint with the FDA on medwatch.com. It was very easy. I have also asked the doctor to file one as well. I also gave the doctor a printout of the studies done. Hopefully with more and more people filing complaints the FDA will act quickly. There is so much indisputable evidence regarding adverse reactions. It is unbelievable how many stories sound just alike. So many children have lost years of their life due to this drug. Parents have spent so much time and money trying to figure out what is "wrong" with their child. It is a shame so many have been incorrectly labeled all because of a drug they were taking!!

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!

Update.. well today is the 10th day off of Singulair for my 6yr old son. He is doing wonderful. One of the issues he has been dealing with over last year was constant sinus infections. Just curious if anyone else out there experienced thick mucus/sinus infections. His got to the point that his adenoids became enlarged from constant infections but even after surgery in Feb his sinus did not seem to drain completely. Well yesterday he finally started having discharge of what seems to be a lining in his sinus(what they saw on cat scan before surgery). He has no cold symptons and I have been giving him mucinex & saline washes to help thin it out but I have been doing this along.. I have been waiting for this to happen for months now! I don't feel its coincidence that its after we stopped the Singulair his sinuses are finally draining (without antibiotics)

My daughter is seven years old. She was diagnosed with asthma when she was around two years old and, for years, suffered with the night cough associated with childhood asthma.

When Singulair came along, my initial reaction was that of joy. My husband and I could not believe that we no longer heard coughing throughout the night. However, while on this drug, we also noticed that she underwent a change. Sometimes, she seemed terribly sad and withdrawn. Other times, she became angry and even aggressive. We rarely saw her smile. It also seemed like she was in some sort of fog much of the time. About a week ago, I found her on the floor of our office. She had just gotten out of the shower, and I was getting her pajamas for her. The towel was not around her and she was shaking violently and crying. She explained that she had the chills, but it was clear that she didn't even comprehend that her towel was not around her. We all know our kids, and, I'm telling you that this scene was frightening. This was not at all my daughter.

In addition to the mental/emotional changes, she also had physical symptoms including sudden and frequent headaches, fatique, stomach pain, and bed wetting. A day after her "breakdown" in our home office, my husband called me from work and told me that he had just been reading MSNBC and that there was an article about the negative side effects of Singulair. When he listed things that matched what our daughter had been going through since on this drug, it was both comforting and horrifying. I am relieved to know that there is nothing wrong with my daughter psychologically, but I am furious that she and so many others have been treated like guinea pigs. We took out daughter off Singulair the very same night that my husband came across the article on Singulair, and she hasn't had any of the mental or physical symptoms that she had been experiencing...the change was that drastic. Currently, we are only using her inhaler and Benadryl at night. She has a doctor's appointment next month, and I will tell the doctor about our experience.

I have my little girl back, but I can't help but wonder how many families are going through this and do not have a clue that Singulair could be the problem. Other than reporting this to our pediatrician, is their another agency I should contact?

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?

Both my son and I were on Singulair. As of Sat March 31st we both stopped taking it. My 6 yr boy has been on it for apprx 3 1/2 years for allergies along with nasonex and claritin when needed. He started pre k after being off the singulair for the summer. His first 3 weeks of school had no complaints. 3 weeks into school he started singulair and teacher immediately noticed the difference and brought it up to dr's who said it had nothing to do with his behavior. Over the years he has experienced, problems with excess urination after taking dose at night causing exploding pullups.. changed to day time and that helped somewhat. nightmares/ hyper /moody, irritable, leg pain, stomach pain,angry outburst (he says his brain made him do it), headaches, stuttering,sinus infections that he finally had his adnenoids removed in Feb.. He started kindergarten last Sept and it has been a nightmare..I tried to take him off Singulair in Oct but due to his enlarged adenoids his allergy symptons became so much worse I put him back on. The last few days where up and down as the Singulair was coming out of his system but I was seeing improvements.. Well I decided today to remove him also off the nasonex as I have read similar side effects about the nasonex. He had a pretty good morning today and went to school and came home for the FIRST time all year with smileys for the entire day!! I am overwhelmed with emotion! So happy that he is coming out of the fog and guilt that I have been giving him this medication and didn't follow my Mommy instinct to stop it years ago! I had side effects as well to the point people were telling me my personality had changed. I was irritable, short of patience and having alot of headaches. The last few weeks I was having days of depression and crying over little things especially with the stress of what my son was going through.... I am also coming out of the fog and happy to be back!

In response to the person inquiring about weight change since being off singuliar.My 7 yr. old daughters appetite has changed for the better.She had become anxious about food.She would want to eat within a half hour after eating a good meal.She would always tell me she was still hungry.Even as she was eating,she would worry that there was not going to be enough if she wanted more.I know its normal to happen sometimes,but for every meal?She had also developed chronic stomach pain.Which doctors could find no cause for,but stated she did have signs of GERD.I'm thrilled to say that her stomach pains are subsiding since stopping Singuliar.The doctor had said,that perhaps her over eating was in response to the stomach pain.Perhaps trying to appease it.These past few days she has eaten her meals not worrying if there is more for later.Actually,she has even left some food not eaten.The bloatiness in her stomach has diminished.So,as for the weight loss,time will tell.Right now she is about 10 pounds over weight,according to her height.I'm curios to see if that returns to normal,as are MANY other areas regarding her health.

I just wanted to post an update on my son. I posted his story on Sunday since hearing about this investigation. He took his last Singulair on Saturday night and every day I see my happy boy coming back! He tells me that he has had a great day at school for the past two days, and that he has decided he isn't as "stupid" as he used to be! He also comes to me for hugs and kisses now and for the last two nights at bedtime he has said he just loves me so much that he feels like he can't stand it and he likes to fall asleep hugging my arm! This has not happened before. He was a loving toddler before he was put on this medication for asthma at three years old. Not long after that he became very hard to please, very sad, at times violent, even throwing metal tonka trucks at his big brother and laughing when he cut him! He has had leg pain, constant stomach pain , night terrors and was convinced that every where we went people just would not stop staring at him...I could go on and on. We went out to eat last night and he did not even notice anyone "looking at him" and was even making cute funny faces at a little toddler at the next table to make him laugh. I am so glad to find this website to see that I am not alone in all this. As for the people who are saying that we are making these claims up, I am not pursuing any action toward anyone on this, I am so happy that my son is returning to normal and no amount of money could replace this feeling! If any other parents would like to email me for support and a shoulder to lean on, feel free to email me. Laura jtolto@aol.com

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

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

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

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

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

These stories sound all too familiar! What a nighmare this is for so many people. My son is 7 yrs. old and has been on Singulair for 5 YEARS! His dr. prescribed it for "cold induced asthma" which was a complication from RSV. Just about every time he got a cold he would develop pnemonia. The Singulair along with a nebulizer seemed to help his breathing. At first he was clingy. He wouldn't leave my side. We had to take him out of preschool because of it. Then, slowly his behaviors got really weird. He experienced severe anxiety, depression, self hatred, worried that me and his dad were going to die, sleeping problems, seperation anxiety, trouble focusing, stomach pain...etc. I too thought that I must be a horrible mother. My 9 yr. old isn't on any medication and he is a normal child. I thought I was doing something wrong with my youngest boy! My husband and I were seriously thinking about taking him for mental professional help. We have been to his dr. two seperate times to discuss his behavior problems and he basically blew us off! There are no side effects listed (from his prescription) that have anything to do with behavior problems. I always check the paper I get when I refill his prescription. I haven't given him this junk since March 28th as soon as I heard the news. Finally, all the pieces of the puzzle fit! I have seen improvement already! Last night he actually asked to go to bed. Before it was a terrible struggle to even suggest that he goes to bed. He did his homework tonight without any difficulty focusing!! That was awesome to watch! I hope he continues to get back to the sweet and happy boy he was a such a long time ago! He and his brother share a room and have bunk beds...right now I hear (for the first time in forever) him laughing with his big brother! Oh, what a beautiful sound!!!!!

My son is 10 yrs old and has been taking Singulair for over 4 years. My husband and I have seriously been talking about taking our son to counseling and have been feeling helpless on how to help him with his feelings. He gets good grades but over the last few months he has been so emotional and cries very easily. We could tell he was extremely sad at times and would have very high highs. and low lows. He would get angry quickly and also complain of stomach pain. My husband and I did ask ourselves if maybe he could harm himself. Although he never mentioned anything about hurting himself, he did say he was afraid to go sleep at night and thought about death. We have started going back to church and thought he was worried about what happens after you die ie, eternal life. Last month I asked my husband to check out one of his Asthma medicines (Advair) for side effects because I had a feeling that this could be from a medication. It never occurred to me that it would be Singulair. My mother called me this morning and read an article to me. She had noticed his "sadness" when she came to visit. So here I am reading all of these similar articles from families going through the same things!!!! I am in shock and in tears!!!! We have a doctors apt in two days and will not be taking this pill again. PLEASE LET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNOW ABOUT THIS! Many children will be diagnosed with add and given other medicine. My heart aches for what he has been going through! I am soooo glad I received that call about the article. My prays will be with you all.

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

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

My son is 10 years old and has severe allergies and asthma. He was hospitalized when he was 5 for asthma and at that time put on Flovent 110 mg twice in the morning and twice at night for awhile this seemed to work around the age of 7 he was put on Singular 5 mg to help with asthma and also his allergies. After a short period of time he began to complain of stomach pain he would get nauseated and sick with a 10 minute car ride, we took him in to the pediatrician and was told that there was no obvious cause and to basically deal with it. Around this same time he also began to have trouble in school he was not able to pay attention and was falling far behind we tried tutoring, extended day classes anything to keep him up with his other classmates. Needless to say all our efforts did not work and he got worse he was now moody and withdrawn. We thought it was his frustration with school that made him short tempered and emotional. At every parent-teacher conference it was the same report; being told how bright our child could be but his lack of focus and emotional state prevented this. My husband and I decided that we needed to be proactive and made an appointment with the pediatrician again we discussed all the issues and told the pediatrician that his mood has changed and he could not focus that homework was a battle each night usually resulting in a major meltdown. The pediatrician diagnosed my son with ADHD with ODD. Never would I have thought that my child with have behavioral or anger problems and I had a hard time coping with the idea at first but tried to make it okay for my son I did not want to make him feel like he did something wrong or that he was broken. The pediatrician prescribed Adderrall 5 mg at first and after three months we revisited and the dose was adjusted to 10 mg. School made a dramatic turn around and we were hopeful, however his mood was still all over the place he would get angry over small things, have a meltdown, and at some points would just wake up in a fowl mood and when asked what was wrong he could not explain it he just was not happy with anything. In the background of all of this was his asthma he was hospitalized again in when he was 8 after being discharged he was put on Zyrtec as well. So now his meds were Flovent 110 mg, Singular 5 mg, and now Zyrtec 10 mg. It was all overwhelming for all of us but we were trying to make it okay for him. He began to complain of restless nights, headaches and would get dizzy for no reason. Here we go again back to the doctor they attributed everything to the Adderrall. He passed out one day at daycare and we rushed him to the ER they did an EKG and found nothing and told us he was probably dehydrated. He constantly had a fowl smell coming from his mouth we asked his dentist they found nothing no cavities we asked the pediatrician no reason; no matter what we tried we could not get ride of it and he brushed, flossed and rinsed with mouthwash everyday three times a day. I was not making any connection on the side effects I guess you could say the left hand was not talking to the right. After we had wildfires that burned almost the entire city he had another asthma attack that lead us to the ER again after being treated we were assigned to a pediatric pulmonologist that added Nasonex to the regiment. Then in January we had him tested to learn what exactly his allergies were and was advised they wanted him to come in for allergy shots one in each arm once a week. In March 2008 we went in for his first set of allergy shots and right after had an appointment with his pulmonaligist he had a bad reaction to the shots and they changed his meds again. Now he is on Advair 250/50, Singular 5 mg, Zyrtec 10 mg, Nasonex, and Adderrall 10 mg. We decided to hold off on the allergy shots until he can better tolerate it. This entire time there has been little improvement on his attitude and he is withdrawn and seems disconnected now. When we try to talk to him he simply says he doesn't know what is wrong. It is all a roller coaster ride. Then on March 26, 2008 it all changed for me, I had put the kids in bed as normal and about an hours later heard someone up and in the bathroom I went to go check to make sure no one was sick and found my son in the bathroom and it appeared he was washing his hands and I asked if he was okay. He told me he was washing a cut, I looked at it and asked what happened he was hesitant and then pointed to his arms; he had bitten up and down both arms and on his hands to the point of bleeding I was shocked and did not really know what to say. We talked about it and he told me he could not control himself and even when he wanted to stop biting himself because it hurt could not resist the urge to to it over and over again. We talked calmly and after a long conversation he told me he needed to talk to someone about his problems. The next morning I called the pediatrician he said he could see him on March 30, 2008. On March 29th I heard about the side effects of Singular and was so shocked and angry how come no one told me what this could do to my baby; I wondered if he had never started this stupid drug if he would have been put on Adderrall. I would not let him take Singular that night or any night after. I will never let my son take this drug ever again. The following day I took him in for his appointment and after discussing everything the pediatrician agreed that it is best to leave him off Singular. I am taking my son to see a child physiologist as well. I am so upset that I did not make the connection myself.

My son is 11 years old and been on Singulair since around 2003. My mother called me and told me that she saw something about the drug on the news. As of today, I have called his Dr. and stopped the drug. He has changed over the years and I never thought it would be Singulair. Reading the stories, now it all makes sense. He always complains with his stomach and had even been to the ER with it before with no explanation from the Dr.s why he had stomach pain (rolling over pain) for a week and his blood pressure was over 150/80. It seems to get worse over time, he is having trouble staying focused in school and breaks out in sweats for not reason at all. Thanks for posting your stories.

Here's something to ponder...
Here's a quote from Merck's site "Merck voluntarily updated the worldwide product label for SINGULAIR in October 2007 to include "suicidal thinking and behavior" and included similar changes to the patient product information". So if they voluntarily updated their information, why aren't doctors aware, why is the public not privy to this information?

Moms, Dads, and everyone who is taking Singulair with these side effects..if you are wondering why you've changed since being on Singulair, it just may be the side effects of this drug. Please don't wonder anymore, and take yourself off. You don't need to wean off it (coming from my son's pediatrician). It may take a few weeks to really see results. With our 5 year old son, we saw results little by little, and now it's been a month and he's completely back to normal. No more suicidal thoughts, no more blank stare, completely focused, and is his loving self again.

Every time someone new comes here and posts their story, it just breaks my heart that we've all suffered silently for so long without knowing the causes. To all the Mom's and Dad's who've thought they were doing something wrong as a parent, I feel for you, I was there. We did do something wrong though, we trusted the very person who made an oath to protect our children, to help our children. But we cannot blame ourselves for that. We're doing everything in our power right now to make our children's lives better, be proud of yourselves that you're here, finding the answer. Now let's do something about it. It's important to educate everyone we can about this. Don't let these doctors or compassionless people come in here and tell you there are no side effects, trust your parental instincts and go with them!

My six year old son has been taking Singulair for almost three years for asthma and allergies. We have had such a hard time with him and it all started around the time he was prescribed this drug. He became very irritable, angry, hard to satisfy and generally unhappy. Now that he is six, the last two years have been the absolute worst with him saying he hates himself and just wants to die. He has stomach pain all the time and has had alternating daily diarrhea for over a year. Our pediatrician has done all sorts of tests and has referred us to a specialist. He has bad dreams every night and also complains of leg pain. He has been so depressed lately that he does not even want to go out and play after school and on weekends (not like him at all) and the teacher calls me several times a week to pick him up early because of stomach pain. I am so upset to think all this has been caused by this drug and he has suffered because of it! He also takes Zyrtec, as do all three of my sons, but the older two do not have asthma, just allergies. I gave him his last dose night before last because I just found out about the Singulair investigation. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

My 7 yr.old daughter has been having abdominal pain for the last 8 weeks or so.She had, blood tests,abdominal ultrasounds and has seen a gastrointestinal doctor.We have come up with no reason for this pain she has.It has awoken her every night for past weeks.I had asked the doctor if it could be Singuliar causing this.He said it is highly unlikely,and prescribed her prevacid.Well I guess its" highly unlikely time".I followed my sisters advice,her children had experienced problems with singuliar a few years back.I did not give my daughter the prevacid,instead I took her off singuliar.Guess what?The stomach pain went away,and last night was the first time she did not wake up with pain.I would not have believed it if I didn't see it for myself.It annoys me to think that her pain was caused by a medication that was prescribed to help her.Also, just think of all the $ made by these side affects.It is such a racket!

My daughter was prescribed singulair about six months ago when she was 4Yrs. old, after about a month on the medication she stated complaining about stomach pain, headaches, and refuses to eat. She recently started running high fevers at night and has been very emotional. The doctors only had great things to say about singulair,it makes me wonder if our childern's doctors may be getting some kind of financial incentive for prescribing these medications to our children.

I am 30 years old and have suffered with severe allergies all my life. My allergy doctor suggested Singulair in Sept. 03 and I have been taking it ever since. A couple of months later I had my first panic attack and have suffered from these ever since. I also suffer from frequent headaches, stomach pain, dizziness, tingling feelings in my arms and feet and leg pain. I am anxious all the time constantly worrying about things and paranoid. I have been to numerous doctors and had many tests run and they can never find anything. Before taking this medication I had never experienced any of these feelings. I feel like I have lost 5 years of my life and and wasted a lot of money. I wish I had known about these side effects. I am stopping this medication immediately and only hope these feeling will subside.

My Daughter is 15 she was put on singulair 2 years ago. She started having severe stomach pains. The doctor started her on pepcid ac. It never got better, just worse. A year later the stomach pain was so bad she was hospitalized. They couldn't find anything wrong. She had several c.t's and ultrasounds of the upper right abdominal area several times showing nothing.Then she got worse she was experiencing 51 side effects from the singulair she was in the e.r every week including Children's memorial in Chicago. Her eyes and lips swell till they bleed and crack along with the stomach pain and low grade fever for 2 weeks at a time. She would be literally in the fetal position telling the doctors she was in pain and they couldn't find anything wrong. So they would send her home. She began talking about suicide and we have her seeing a psychologist who kept saying nothing was wrong with her because the tests don't show anything. Our doctor bills exceed 40, 000 dollars from last year just ur portion. Never once did any of those doctors say maybe its the singulair. They keep changing and adding new meds and still couldn't figure it out. We had to get a tutor and have now got her on state disability an I.e.p for education because she swells everyday. Her skin peals off her face after the swelling goes down. She wont even go out in public. I mentioned it to the pharmacy and they said oh my god stop taking it. They asked why didn't our doctor take her off along time ago. The doctor still wont say that it is due to the singulair. Now the suicidal effect is coming forth for the f.d.a. I want every parent to know not to let their child take this drug! Please ! L.S in L.I.T.H., Il

My daughter who is 8 has been taking singulair for about 3 years. Her behavior has changed so much and the doctors said it was normal kid things......
She went from a sweet child to one who seems to have these horrible mood swings which cause her to lash out and say mean things, nobody loves her, she wants to run away, she hates me. She gets so angry and slams doors and acts like a child having a tantrum. She has had stomach problems which we went to doctors/specialists for a year......stomach aches at night/sometimes 24 hours a day. She has nightmares and wants me to sleep with her. She does not want to open her curtains because she thinks monsters will come in the windows. She has bad OCD related to germs. She now wants me to go with her when she plays at a neighbors house, she seems to want to know I am close by.
She is very independent and to start this clingy behavior this past year is not normal.
A relative is a doctor and thought my daughter has a touch of ADH but she is honor roll and very well behaved in school so maybe my relative is noticing anxiety in her. I need to call the doctor today and take her off this. I don't know if there is another medication to put her on or if she should be on it. She takes qvar and abuterol inhaler along with claritin D.
I just feel sick reading all these horror stories. I was being told her behavior is normal tantrums to get our attention. Now I know none of this is true.

We have the group called Americas Watchdog, we are taking on Bayer for the heart medication called Trasylol, and we would be very interested in hearing from anyone with problems related to Singulair. My e-mail is *******

My 9 year old daughter has been on sigulair since she was 5. She just recently started having trouble with concentration and behavior. She is always sad and cries alot .She is an honor/gt student but just recently has been having trouble with her school work.She has also begun to hurt her brother and talks about how she wishes she was dead.We are really concerned and she began counseling. Her nuerologists says it could be depression but im thinking i should take her off singulair.She has had headaches,stomach pain,depression ,mood swings and weight gain.

My poor 6 yr. old daughter has been taking this awful medicine since December. She has been complaining of stomach pain, headaches and not being able to breath. I called my doctor a few weeks ago to see if it could be from the Singulair she was on.. they told me "probably not". During her dance class she had to sit down because her stomach hurt so bad. I was writing everything down that she was eating (we have an appt. w/an allergist in 2 weeks.) .. thinking maybe she has food allergies now. She is constantly trying to clear her throat and telling me she felt like something was still coming down her throat. Until I found this site, I had no idea why she was behaving this way. I started putting blankets down on my husband and my floor because of her "bad dreams". This little pumpkin has always been an awesome sleeper, but at least 3x's a week comes running down the hall crying about her nightmares. I walked into my docs today with a print out of Merck's own website listing the side effects of this horrible med. She looked at me and said "you get the credit for diagnosis on this Mom!".. Praise God He led me to this website! My poor daughter will playfully start to feel better now that we have taken her off this junk!

Thanks for all these posts! My 4 year old daughter has a history of allergies which have in the past led to sinus infections and bronchitis. We used Xopenex and Pulmicort with the nebulizer along with Vazobid and Delsym and cleared up the bronchitis during Christmas 2007, but her pediatrician suggested her taking Singulair as a preventive medication for her allergies. This medication has turned our household upside down. She has taken it every night for 3 weeks and the side effects are the same as others have posted.......aggressive behavior, severe defiance to simple tasks, nightmares, stomach cramps, wetting accident at school (first time ever), weight gain, bruising, and vomiting. When told "no" she replies with wanting to kick me and tells me she doesn't want me as a mom anymore. The devilish behavior is intolerable. She was never like this before she started taking Singulair, and I am so thankful that I found this website quickly enough to put 2 and 2 together, and I am taking her off of it TODAY!!!

My son Colin who is 9 has been on Singulair for about two years now and I am getting very concerned about him. It started a few months back where the school nurse sent him home a couple of times because of an unexplained hives only on his hands. Every time the dog scratches him, the scratches swell . Yesterday he had red blotches just around his mouth. We are talking about an extremely shy boy who all of the sudden will not listen to the school teacher. He lashes out and goes into these unexplained rages.He complains of stomach pain and is nauseas all the time.He does get headaches and seems depressed.Last weekend and this weekend, friend of ours experienced the whole freaked out incident. One minute Colin will be fine, the next minute seems like a panic attack. I really was starting to believe it was behavioral but I now am convinced it is his medication Singulair!!

My normally healthy 3 year old daughter came down with a cough that she couldn't shake. My husband and I have both had the same thing, but I still thought I'd better take her to her pediatrician. He said he did not think she had asthma, but he would give me a 30 day chewable sample of Singulair to get rid of the cough. My husband nor I could really understand why we were giving her an asthma/allergy medication for what we took to be a cold with a cough (again, we both have had the same thing ourselves), but we figured the doctor knows better than us.

Wish I had listened to my gut reaction. I only had her on Singulair 2 days before deciding I needed to find some more information about Singulair. In those 2 days, she immediately began complaining that her belly hurt. She wouldn't eat, had trouble sleeping, became even more temperamental and moody than she's ever been. She woke from a fitful sleep the second night and even though I was sitting right beside her, she cried that she couldn't see me. I have had her off Singulair for 4 days now and tonight was the first time she's had any appetite since she started the medication. I'm hoping she's on her way back to her normal self.

I am so glad I found this website before I gave her any more of what I consider to be a poison. It outrages me that I took her to the doctor for a cough and instead put her through this. It bothers me to no end that kids who don't even have asthma or allergies are being given Singulair. I've always trusted our pediatrician, but now I have serious issues with going back to him.

My son is six years old and been on Singulair for 2 weeks, on the 3rd day he started complaining of stomach pain. That night he had a horrible nightmare and everyday since it has been something else it seems to get worse everyday. Sleepwalking uncontrollable rage that we have never seen before. He gets out of breath very easy and his comprehention is very bad since he has takin this drug. He is on day two of no Singulair and is still having trouble sleeping but the other effects are slowly ending thank god any parents thinking of this treatment for their child needs to do more research my doctor did not think it was the meds that it is just a normal child stage he is going through. (bull-h--t).

My 7 year old daughter just started singulair 3 nights ago. She took her first dose on wednesday night and thursday morning she started with bad stomach pains. later that day she went to the bathroom ( #2 ) alot and cried in pain when she went. We thought it was a stomach virus but after reading all of this I think it might be the singulair. That is the only symptom. Stomach pain and pain when going #2. Has any one else gone through this also??? I just gave her a pill a hour ago and decided to get on the internet to see if it might be the singulair. Now I feel bad for giving her that last dose. Does anyone know how long it takes to go through the system and how long till her pain goes away???