Going back to school symptoms and conditions

Our son started taking Singulair when he was 2 for severe allergic rhinitis and cough variant asthma (in addition to Zyrtec, which didn’t control all of his symptoms). He is 5 now. For the last three years, he has been an increasingly violent, difficult, defiant, argumentative, volatile child who has intense mood swings--one minute he’s laughing uncontrollably, the next he’s weeping over nothing. His doctor and therapist recommended that we see a psychiatrist to have him evaluated for bipolar disorder, which used to be unknown in children. Because he has such chronic sleep problems, the doctor also suggested we take him off Singulair (and increase his Zyrtec dose) to see if it improved his sleep issues. Within a week, he was sleeping much better and was a calmer, happier, gentler boy. He suddenly could take “no” for an answer without flipping out and trying to hurt me. We thought that we were just in an unusual, calm window that would shift either to mania or intense sadness or both, any minute. We also thought that his behavior change might be due to sleeping better. We were enjoying the rare reprieve. Over the last weekend, his springtime allergies really flared up. We gave him Singulair on Monday and by noon, he was completely out of control. I had to strap him into his car seat at one point to keep him from hurting either me or himself. It finally occurred to me that Singulair might be causing his “bipolar” disorder. Of course, we stopped the Singulair. After two days he was a new boy. Yesterday, I Googled “Singulair bipolar children” and got a few hits. I am stunned to read how similar other families’ experiences have been to ours and I feel sick that we gave this drug to our child for three years.

My 5 year old daughter was prescribed this med in late November for asthma. After about 3 weeks I started noticing some unusual behavior patterns - waking up in at night, waking up earlier, complaining of being tired, not listening, aggressive behaviors. Upon going back to school after the holiday her teacher said that she's not listening, is not 'herself', not doing her work. Yesterday her teacher called me at home to describe her uncooperative behavior. I made the connection to Singulair and found this web site. Boy, do I feel sick and angry at the myself, the pharmaceutical industry, and my pediatrician who called this 'the perfect drug with no side effects' when I asked her what the side effects are. I will not continue this medication and will not put my children on any meds without fully researching them first. I intend to look into alternative and natural treatments for her asthma.

I have been on NuvaRing for approximately two weeks now. I really don't feel like writing a response right now because I am in such a bad mood. I usually am a happy go lucky person. I am 24 years old and only started birth control because I am going back to school, love my boyfriend, and really know this isn't the best time to get pregnant. Anyways, I really APPRECIATE ALL THE RESPONSES FROM ALL YOU GIRLS!. I feel I should tell you how I feel and let you all know that you are not alone. I have been moody, depressed and the worst thing of all no matter how much alcohol I drink I still don't feel happy. I don't want to be touched, I can't stand people that make 'funny', EVERYTHING IRRITATES ME!. So I decided to give it two more weeks. And if I don't feel any better I'm just gonna flush it down the toilet. Just tell your boyfriends to PULL OUT!. Thanks for all your advice. LOVE YOU GIRLS. Hope all works out for you.