Singulair and stroke

My son is 8 and he has been on singulair for at least three years, maybe four. When I heard about the side effects a few weeks ago, I stopped his medication right away. I have since learned that it should be tapered off, but won't put him back on to do that. He had so many of the depression, I hate myself, everybody hates me, facial tic, stomach ache symptoms . . . Now he is almost two weeks off of singulair and he is throwing screaming fits, kicking, threatening, uncontrollable for up to two hours and more! Is this a side effect of coming off of the medication? Has anyone else had this experience? Please email me at amy-weaver4@sbcglobal.net - I'd really like to hear if anyone else has experienced these symptoms. Thank you! Amy

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!!!!!!!!

"OH MY GOD"!! Is all I have been able to say since I learned about this on Friday!!! Reading all these posts is just like reading a diary about my 5 1/2 yr old daughter. She was diagnosed with asthma when she was just 2yrs old....continual trips to the ER because she was wheezing, breathing sounded like she had swallowed something and it was lodged in her wind pipe, lethargic, high temp, etc only to be told it was bronchitis, pneumonia, a viral infection etc., until she was referred to the pulmonologist and he told me it was asthma, never the other diagnosis she was given, so he put her on SINGULAIR. Shortly after she started SINGULAIR she became an entirely different little girl. Threw "OUTRAGOUS" tantrums/fits, was "wild", moody, poor attention, uncontrollable, angry, screamed and cried all the time, very defiant.......just this being that I didn't recognize as my sweet affectionate little baby. Even the "please and thank you's" and the hugs and kisses just because eventually slipped away. I sit here today recalling the day that I was at my desk at work and called this doctor's office, spoke to the nurse and said to her..."I think that SINGULAIR is causing her to act like a totally different person, something is wrong, this is what she is doing, and I told her the symptoms, I think it is the medication"!! She spoke with the doc and called me back only to say, "It cant possibly be the medication, it isn't a steroid type med that causes behavioral problems, it has to be something else"! So knowing how well controlled her asthma was on this medication, I "fell for it"....who wants to see their child in such distress with asthma (not knowing that I was in fact right about the med being the culprit)?! Months went by and her behavior got increasingly worse, she would literally whip things off a counter with one stroke of her hand, she has knocked over 20 pound 4 foot high stereo speakers and took a big chunk out of my wall, she has hit and bit, the list goes on and on-keep in mind she was just 2 at the time. She was very unsafe to be allowed to play outside with out being in a fenced in back yard because she would dart to the street and pay no mind to that scared mom yelling for her to STOP, it was like she was in another state of mind, a different person, you could look at her face and see in her eyes, my baby just wasn't there. When she was 3 she got upset at day care lodged a toy at the teacher and jumped over the loft for no reason. She has been knick named "klutz butt" because she has been so unstable on her feet, she trips over her own 2 feet, falls all the time and we just look at her like, how in the world did ya do that---is that related to SINGULAIR as well?!?!? She was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, worked with an OT/PT, her behaviors got increasingly worse and I had no idea what was going on with her, I took her to see neuropsychologist and was told definite sensory issues, possible obstinate defiant disorder, taught how to do "the hold" when her behaviors got so out of control that either she was going to hurt herself or someone else, she has torn her room and the house apart in these fits of rage, at 4 took her to see a child counselor and told "Oh classic ADHD for sure"! All along I have told people I just don't feel in my heart that ADHD is what is going on with her, I think it is something else...her kindergarten teacher commented that her abilities in school are inconsistent, I note now that after her dose increased she forgot everything she knew academically and people thought I was crazy when I told them yes, she knows her ABC's, can identify numbers, etc! The behavioral things that this girl has done are just sooooo unexplainable and to now see all the posts that others who have loved ones on this drug have dealt with brings some relief to my mind to know that I am not crazy! but it brings deep sadness and anger to know that I suspected it to be the SINGULAIR early on and did not go with my gut and take my child off this drug!! She has been on this med since she was 2, she is now 5 1/2. In September 2007 her doctor suggested she be taken off SINGULAIR and put on Flovent because Flovent covers better......I was too scared to take her off (imagine that) so she did not come off SINGULAIR until January of this year- BEFORE I became aware of the risks. I have a strong glimpse of my baby again.....less and less of these horrendous fits she used to throw, less crying and screaming, her breath doesn't have that wrenched smell, she is doing much better in school, easier to get along with, is happier these days. I am now struggeling with the fact that after these last 3 1/2 years of literal turmoil and having been ridden with such anxiety of raising this child that acted like such a monster thinking that she was always going to be this uncontrollable child with all this anger and it would only get worse as she got older.............it's now a habit of being on the defense all the time, waiting for the next shoe to drop.....but that is over! so now we have to re-adjust our life....this is a horrible feeling to know that this medication has ruined the first forming years in my child's life and strained the bond between her and I.
Where do I go from here??? Do I call her doctor and start screaming at him? Do I call an attorney?? What do I do??? I know what I have done is thank GOD that I have the opportunity now to regain my sweet little baby and pray to Him that there are no lasting side affects from SINGULAIR!!!
If someone knows what it is that we are to do please feel free to comment me.

November 25, 2007 - I am a 42 year old woman, tall very thin, and always in good health. I was prescribed Singular for mild asthma symptoms, ie.. asthmatic cough-very mild, heavy feeling in the chest, constant sore throat (my work requires me to use my voice a lot). Initally my symptoms improved, I was thrilled! But, after about a month I got up one morning and thought I was having a stroke - my head was killing me, and my heart was pounding so hard! I took my blood pressure only to find that my normally low pressure was now 144/105! My pulse ws nearly 100 beats/min. That's just while I was sleeping! I was shocked! The only meds I was on was the Singular. I decided to do a little experiment on myself. I immediately stopped taking the Singular and kept a record of my blood pressure. It took about 3 days for my blood pressure to come back down to normal levels. I have noticed some weight gain as well. I will not take this drug again!

I have been taking Singulair for about three months. It seems to be giving me a really bad reaction in that the blood vessels in my mouth are really becoming pronounced and I am now itching and have severe lung pain. When I first started taking it it gave me monsterous headaches and enlarged a blood vessl in my temple so badly I stopped taking it for fear I would have a stroke, and the only resaon I began taking it again was worstening asthma symptoms. I want to stop taking it, but now am having trouble NOT taking it. I am afraid of this medication and I need to talk to my doctor. I wish I had never started taking it.