April 8th
2008
2:53 AM
I am currently a junior in college and I have had severe allergies my whole life. Last summer my doctor prescribed Singulair and I really liked it as an allergy medicine (except for pollen). As a person, I am usually optimistic, happy go lucky, and always trying to make people laugh. I am also an avid learner, and I love school. I usually never miss class...well that was until last fall. I would get up everyday for my 930 class and take a shower and then for some reason just go back to bed. As Christmas approached- I failed my first class, got pneumonia, went on probation for my honor fraternity in which I was an officer, and was close to losing my academic scholarship. I changed my major to something easier in order to bring my grades back up this spring. I was actually excited about my new classes but then the semester started. Same routine- get up, take a shower, sleep and cry all day. I have lost most of friends due to my antisocial habits, gained 45 pounds to become 180 lbs on my 5'1 frame (borderline morbid obese). My parents and lifelong friends were worried I was going to commit suicide due to my downward spiral. My mother and doctor didn't want me to go on antidepressants in fear i would gain more weight. So they decided to change my ADD medicine which helped but not a lot. Then the suicidal effects of Singulair hit the news. I stopped taking it and within a week (spring break) I was back to my normal self like nothing ever happened. Except something did happen- I lost a huge part of me that is going to take awhile to get back. I was so convinced that I was causing the depression on myself and that I was crazy. Now the end of my school semester is wrapping up and I have a lot of catching up to do. There are times out of habit that I still act antisocial (which is completely uncharacteristic of me), but I'm hoping that will fade and I can get back to truly being myself. It's just so scary for me to think that there are unsuspecting prescription drugs that can cause so much pain. If I didn't have my family and true friends supporting me all year and sticking with me through all this, I know for a fact that I wouldn't be here today..
-- By ktutt2 | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
March 28th
2008
6:43 PM
I'm a 35 yr male and have been dealing with depression/anxiety for years due to current & past issues in my life. This post IS dealing with singulair side effects but want to give some history as to why I think it's singular and not something else. For the past 2 or so years I've been using xanax which has worked fairly well in controlling my anxiety, but my doctor preferred I stop taking it because of it's potential for abuse. I've been on SSRI's before and I hated them, so I did some research and decided to try wellbutrin which works differently from the SSRI's. I was still using xanax while ramping up on wellbutrin the end of February. To my relief, the wellbutrin started working wonderfully - felt like I could cope with life, increased energy, better mood, with no negative side effects (actually some positive ones) - the only problem I was having is I traveled during this time frame and developed a bad case of sinus rhinitis due to the climate changes. I've had chronic sinus problems my whole life so it's no surprise. I tried most otc meds and nothing was helping. In the meantime I was feeling so much better (other than the rhinitis) that I decided to start tapering myself off the xanax. When I got to the point where I'd stop taking the minimal dosage I would start getting physical withdrawal symptoms (headaches, dizziness, etc) which is fairly common after taking for a prolonged period of time. The side effects were strictly physical - no excessive anxiety or psychological craving My sinuses were still really bothering me so I had two reasons to visit the doctor - try to get something to relieve my sinuses and to get a short supply of a benzo with a longer half-life to ease the withdrawal from xanax. The doctor gave me a prescription for a month of diazepam and 9 weeks of singulair samples. That was 3 weeks ago. I immediately begin using the singulair, but still had some xanax left so I decided to continue on a minimal dosage and use it up before I went to fill my rx, which I just started several days ago. Coinciding with when I started taking the singulair, all the positive benefits I was feeling from the wellbutrin just suddenly stopped. My depression and anxiety came back worse than they were before - another persons post describes the change in me: feel very anxious, fearful, reclusive, depressed, that everything is going to go wrong, or is always wrong. I'll have extreme anxiety about small everyday things. I’m unable to concentrate. I've also become more irritable, argumentative, and aggressive. I have difficulty falling and staying asleep. I also experienced a very noticeable decrease in sexual energy after a very noticeable increase which is a side effect of wellbutrin. I can even understand the rationale for suicide just to be free of this emotional nightmare - not that I would do it - but can understand it. I couldn't figure out why I went from finally feeling good about life to suddenly feeling worse than ever before. I guess I didn't realize it right away because my sinuses were much better, but I know these symptoms began occurring very shortly after I started to take the singulair. I was trying to figure out what was going wrong with me and yesterday I did a web search on 'singulair side effects' (since it’s the only variable I could think of that changed within that time period) and came across this site and several similar ones. It blew my mind how many people were talking about the exact things I was feeling. Yesterday was my last dose. Does anybody know how long it takes for this crap to work its way out of your system after 3 weeks of use???
-- By detersde | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
March 4th
2008
6:45 PM
I just took my daughter to the doctor for her 8 year check up. As her pediatrician was looking through the chart, she noticed she takes singulair and said that 1 of her patients had just informed her about the recent news story about the suicide connection, she said to have my daughter stop taking it and she would look up some info and call me. My daughter had been diagnosed with "possible asthma" when she was 2 and I gave her singulair during allergy seasons, but when she wasn't taking it I noticed the night time coughing would happen occasionally and she would have times where she was short of breath. I believe at about 6 we started to give her singulair all the time. The coughing and shortness of breath did stop. Now that I've been informed of these side effects, (I had previously asked pharmacists & doctors several times and all assured me it was completely safe to take) I wonder if some of her attitude/moodiness could be related to this drug. Then I remembered a time a couple months ago when she was frantic about my husband leaving for the weekend...she was staying with her grandparents, whom she loves and has stayed w/ her whole life. For a week before she was absolutely hysterical, crying and saying she didn't want us to leave, she had a bad feeling she couldn't explain. We tried to understand her feelings, but could find no reasonable explanation. She came to me the day before we left and said" if you go, I'll kill myself." This bothered me coming from my 7 year old daughter, but I spoke to her about what she said, what it actually meant etc. Now months later I can only wonder, but am taking her off the drug and we'll see if anything changes.
-- By kassismom | Reply | Private Message me
March 3th
2008
10:09 PM
I have only been on Singulair for allergies for 4 days. This was added to my Symbicort inhaler (for maintenance) along with a Proventil inhaler (rescue inhaler). About the same time I changed my make-up and facial cleanser. Day 2 of the new meds...Singulair and Proventil I have developed a breakout of hives all around my mouth, jawline, chin, and upper neck under my jawline. I seriously thought it was the makeup and soap until I read some of the posts here.
As for other side effects, only a headache but that seems to be after the Proventil puffs.
I am 30 y/o and only recently found out that I have asthma and severe allergies and probably have my whole life. The last 7 years have been hell, with one "upper respiratory infection" after another.
Thank goodness I found a new doctor who took the time to find out what was really wrong with me, but I am upset that he prescribed the Singulair, as he should be aware of the side effects.
As of tomorrow I am done with this drug and we will see if the hives go away. I do not want to get to the point that some other patients have gotten to, with the stomach pains, moodiness, etc.
I only the last year got the depression and irritable bowel syndrome under control and do not need a relapse.
Thank you to all who post and God bless.
-- By kpage97 | Reply | Private Message me
February 29th
2008
5:25 AM
My son had his tonsils taken out at the beginning of this year, last night I told him not to take the Singulair and so far so good. No coughing or wheezing. How long does this medication take to get out of his system? I'm not saying that Singulair didn't work for him it did, there was no coughing at night while he was on it unless he was sick, but at the same time I did read the side effects and just like every drug out there theres going to be side effects. I just didn't think that Singulair could be the cause of some of the problems he was having. I chalked it up as having ADD with depression. The psychiatrist didn't need to see him anymore and the neurologist said he was fine. As to the post of get him into sports he doesn't want too, and I can't make him. He's so small. I have asthma and I've dealt with it my whole life, I have the nebulizer and the inhalers, I know what to do if he has problems with allergies or asthma. I just didn't know what to do about his moodiness or depression and I sure as heck didn't want to have him put on another drug. I can't get him into the doctor until the end of March so I guess I'll just take him of the Singulair and see how he does.
-- By samantha48091 | Reply | Private Message me
April 30th
2008
11:41 PM
I'm an 18 year old male and I've been taking Singulair for years; I don't even remember when I started taking it. I've had chronic sinusitis my whole life, and use a Singulair 10mg/ Allegra 180mg combo to control it. I never gave it a second thought. From my adolescent years on, I've been able to sleep (if undisturbed) for 15, 16+ hours a night, and have always felt like I was in a fog during everyday life. Getting out of bed has always been a terrible problem for me.
Throughout high school, I became progressively more depressed and apathetic toward school work, to the point where I dropped a number of classes my junior year. Got put on Prozac for a while, it helped a great deal with the depression, and seemed to give me enough energy to get through the week. I discontinued it after a year or so, everything was going okay (aside from mood swings and tiredness- explained away as symptoms of my age/hormones/going to bed too late), and then I went to college.
I had a mild depression that I think most people get upon leaving home for the first time, but the real problem was anxiety; I had a number of anxiety attacks, and decided to transfer to a school closer to home. I started Celexa and therapy- the celexa seems to take the edge off, but I fear its making me even more tired than before.
I've just heard about the whole Singulair controversy, and I am not taking it from here on out. I really hope that this whole ordeal was brought on primarily by the Singulair. After a month or two, I'll repost to report whether the symptoms went away.
-- By wargasmic | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me