Facial tic symptoms and conditions

My son was put onto 4mg Singulair when he was three years old. He is now six years old. For the past three years he has been a very quiet child, to the point that people commented on how shy and withdrawn he was. He never wanted to go anywhere or do anything. His favorite activity was lying on the couch watching tv. He was always thirsty, frequently went to the toilet,often complained of a sore stomach & had several bowel movements every day, did not sleep well at night, was often grumpy, could not concentrate for very long, was frequently ill with cold-like symptoms and did not really like you to touch/hug him. At the beginning of the year he was diagnosed by an occupational therapist as having low muscle tone. In March of this year, his pediatrician increased his singulair to 5mg. He began having terrible pains in his legs, to the point that he would cry and be unable to walk to the toilet at night. I took him to my GP who did every blood test under the sun and x rays of his pelvis and legs. He could find nothing wrong. The only thing that had changed was the increase in Singulair. I had a look on the internet and found this website. I immediately decreased his dose to 1/2 a tablet for a week and then 1/4 tablet for a week before taking him completely off it. Within a few days our whole family and his teacher and therapist noticed a huge change in his personality! He talks all the time now, he laughs a lot, he loves playing outside and has lots of energy. He teacher says he is much more receptive at school. His occupational therapist says his muscle tone has improved. He has not had one single leg pain since coming off the medication. He is sleeping well at night, his stomach is never sore and he has not been sick at all. Not even one little sniffle!! Best of all he is a normal, affectionate little boy. I feel very angry with the manufacturers of Singulair and with his pediatrician, it feels as though my son has lost three years of being a child. He felt terrible all the time and I had no idea! I have told everyone I know who has a child on singulair to look at the side effects.

Just finished reading the posts and I feel like it was written about my 8 year old. I never connected the two issues of anxiety, frustration doing schoolwork, quick to tears and leg pains. I kept telling them they were growing pains. Last night he called me from his father's and said he has suicidal thoughts... not that he wanted to kill himself, just couldn't stop thinking about it... good lord. After months of dealing with him not wanting to go to bed and not feeling safe we have an answer. I told my ex husband to stop the medication today, I will post back after a few weeks to update the progress. I usually never post randomly on the internet, but this site might have just saved my son from emotional turmoil!

I discovered my son's side effects from singulair a little over 2 years ago. He had used Singulair for approx 3 years. I did not recognize that he was suffering side effects until his ped increased his dosage to 5mg. At that point, it was loud and clear. I discontinued the Singulair in March 2007. The most significant improvements happen after approx 3 weeks. He was like a different child. Even after the 3 weeks, it seemed like he continued to improve a little every day.

I can tell you from our experience that my son suffered many, many side effects that i did not recognize. He had nightmares, anxiety, fear, frustration, leg pains, stomach pains, dark circles under his eyes, poor appetite, quick to tears and restlessness...just to name a few. On the higher dosage, he began to have a facial tic, dilated pupils and hallucinations.

I am thankful everyday for this website and some higher power that helped me realize what was going on and get him off Singulair. The first week off Singulair, he slept like an angel. No night terrors, no thrashing in his sleep. Week 2, he continued to improve in so many ways. It was nothing short of amazing. Week 3, he began to realize the changes in himself. Fears were a HUGE side effect for him. During week 3, the fears, ALL of them disappeared. He never spoke of them again. It was very strange and truly amazing.

I don't want to tell you to stop the use of Singulair. Only you know your child's health status. I will tell you that stopping Singulair changed our lives and saved my son. He suffered the assault of Singulair for 3 long years. Good luck to you all and your families. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

My son is 8 and for the past 3 years has been on Singular for seasonal allergies. He has since been diagnose with asthma and he takes Singular daily. After being on it for 3 weeks he is now getting into trouble in school. The teachers say it was like a light switch being turned on. Completely out of character behavior. My question is this......has anyone experienced hyperactivity behavior on Singular?

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

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

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

I took reglan in 1990 for the treatment of escophagitis (sorry if spelling is wrong). Had severe life threatening reaction (acute dystonic) and was rushed to hospital. Basically, it started the day after taking it. My face was stuck in a permanent Joker-like smile and it was painful. Thought I was going nuts, I was only 18 at the time, and then took another pill as prescribed. Later, my face stuck in an open mouth gaze position, I could not shut my mouth, it would spring right back open. Then, I lost my speech and spoke like a baby. At that point, my parents realized there was something seriously wrong (they had previously thought it was just me being nervous or something) and called the doctor. I was rushed to the hospital, and on the way I couldn't breathe. My bottom jaw shifted to the right, and my top jaw shifted to the left, and the pain was excruciating. I chipped my front tooth right off. My face was all twisted.

This went away after I was given Benadryl in the ER but I then developed the facial tic associated with Reglan, on the left side of my face. I am 36 years old now and a trial lawyer and singer who is always in the public eye. Luckily, the twitch is slight and only affects my left side, and mostly when I speak because it involves muscle movement. I was prescribed this drug 14 years before it was approved by the FDA. I would tell everyone I know never to take this drug, not even once. Its so dangerous and if I knew of the side effects I would have ever agreed to take it. Its very, very embarrassing to have this twitch. No one ever told me how dangerous this drug was. Hope this post may help someone. Thanks for reading.

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

UPDATE:It is now a week since my 6 yr old son stopped taking singulair. My happy boy is back! He has now had a second day in a row with positive reports from school. These are the first 2 positive days of the entire school year!!! Its no mystery anymore! I am 100% positive it was the Singulair he was on. It may work for some people with no side effects and thats great for them. But for those parents out there that had the slightest doubt I am telling you from experience to go with your gut! Speak to your Dr for alternatives and get back your happy children!

Hi I was on Reglan for over six years for IBS and nausea.My GI never mentioned any side effects from use of the medicine.I have a c-spine injury that has caused some neuropathy. I never thought that symptoms that I have like extreme restlessness,shaking of my hands,feet and toes,sucking my tongue,my mouth puckers,my lips shake,my jaws tighten up,I now have a facial tic.I never even considered that taking the Reglan for so long could have caused these side effects until I was recently taken off of the medicine by my GI.He said that long term use could cause undesirable side effects like a facial tic.(Now he mentions side effects after over six years!) I then came home and looked it up on my computer and found all of these sights! I really need to get to a Neurologist one that specializes in movement disorders.If I had known of all of the side effects before taking the Reglan I could have prevented my Tardive Dyskinesia today!! My advice is always check the side effects of any medication before taking it.If only I would have I could have prevented so much long term damage! Pharmacy Companies should have better guidelines for testing their drugs before being allowed to have the drug on the market.We must send a clear message that as the public we demand better practices from our FDA.

For all of you "doubters":
This site is not full of a bunch of "gosipers" "trolling for a lawsuit".
It took me 6 years with my son on Singulair to realize it was the the
medicine causing his behavioral problems. Our family went through years of hell and major psychology expesnes as a result of this medication. Oh it was real, ask any mmber of our family. The lab results we had showing his liver enzyme (ast/got) sky high was real too. That was just before we took him off singulair. The liver enzyme returned to normal by one month off the med when he had his labs repeated. His behavior changed from violent (attacking people) to calm and reasonable also within the months time.
Would I like to see a lawsuit-yes !!! This medicine should be recalled. I have no doubt in my mind. Although evertyone reacts differently to all meds., there have been far too many reports that sed up red flags for this med.

Ever since I started taking this stuff I have had an intermittent facial tic on the right side in the cheek area. Sometimes the muscle spasms so hard I can see it in a mirror. Also, the area frequently feels "tight."