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While I do agree that research and public awareness of the possible side-effects should be done, there are some of us that take Singulair without negative side-effects. I have been taking it for eight years, since I was 16 and have never had any of these side-effects. There was a couple of months that I did not take it because of financial issues, and the only thing that I noticed was that my asthma and allergies were horribly worse. These were both relieved dramatically when I resumed taking it. Without it, I would spend my days in an allergy/anti-histamine fog not being able to breathe while still taking my inhaler 4+ times a day and several during the night. That is just the beauty and flawed nature of medicine: they work perfectly for some but for others the negative side effects outweigh the benefits. I am sorry that so many have had negative experiences with it themselves or in their family, but please have an objective attitude toward it. Some people need it to live normal lives.

I am a mother of four children (21, 19, 15 and 15) who have varying degrees of asthma and allergy. All of them have some degree of ADHD as well. The oldest took Singulair from grades 7 to 12. It was great for his allergy, but he had a depression which was attributed to his ADHD.

The second is still taking Singulair. She is highly asthmatic and it has been beneficial for her. The severity of her asthma went down to the controllable range, and her migraines (suffered since second grade) significantly decreased (documented side effect).

The last two, identical twins, began taking Singulair four years ago when they developed asthma as they entered puberty. They became oppositional, defiant, prone to rages, and curiously not hustling hard enough at their sports. Prior to this, they were solid, dependable students, with moments of inspiration - and aggressive athletes, leaders at their sports. We always thought the problems were related to puberty and the ADHD. More and more ADHD meds were applied. No more weekends off the meds - because our house would be destroyed.

As 2008 began, my own allergies flared. When the doc offered Singulair, I looked forward to feeling better. Within 48 hours, I could breathe at night, and the tightness in my chest went away. Even my allergic dermatitis improved.

Then a weird thing happened. I got lazy. I heard myself saying things like, "I don't care if I'm fat." I stopped doing my evening chores. I stopped pursuing my hobbies. I almost stopped making dinner. I was wondering why I didn't care, but I didn't care enough to pursue that, either.

Then it got worse. I couldn't handle the least criticism. I was in tears over almost anything. Within a few days, I was trying to find a way to leave my family. I just didn't care about anything any more.

The water-cooler crowd at work was chatting about the news reports about Singulair and suicide. I started to wonder: gee, doesn't depression preceed suicide? Maybe this hopeless feeling I had was related to the Singulair.

So I stopped taking it. 48 hours later, I started to laugh at jokes again. Five days later, I cleaned my kitchen. Now it's been three weeks and I'm back at my hobbies and loving life.

Two weeks ago, I realized that the never-ending laziness and argumentation we've been getting from our twins might be related to Singulair. I checked with the ADHD doc, and their general doc, and got the go-ahead to discontinue the medicine (although not both of them at once). I did this without telling anyone: not the twins, not my husband, no one.

Forty-eight hours after the first kid had stopped taking the Singulair, I came home to a grinning, hugging, 15 year old, who sat me down at the kitchen table to explain the strategy he'd designed to study for his upcoming exams. I was speechless and numb. I didn't tell anyone that he was no longer taking the Singulair (he takes a variety of vitamins and ADHD meds every day). The next day, my husband called me excitedly: the kid was cooperating with him! He didn't know what to make of it. I kept him in the dark for a few more days.

The other twin had been on a lower dose (5mg rather than 10 mg). I stopped his medication as well. The change in him has been more gradual.

Neither of them takes ADHD medicine now on non-school days. They are happy and cooperative. We ask ONCE for chores. There are still a few arguments and stormy moods - but I no longer wonder what's going to get broken next. And they seem to love working as hard as possible at their sports.

The good news is, we all feel better. The bad news is -- how did this happen? How can it be that such an obvious side effect was missed?

It's not like the effect of montelukast on the brain is unexplored. Try searching on "montelukast brain ischemia" - there are many studies that show that montelukast (Singulair) dramatically reduces brain swelling. What does it do for an uninjured brain? Does it dehydrate it? Deprive it of nutrition? If I had to characterize the behavior I saw in my twins, it's this: they acted the way hypoglycemic patients do, when they're late for their next snack. REALLY GRUMPY.

Or do some research on migraines and Singulair. There's an effect there, too. Many asthma patients on Singulair report that their migraines improve.

So the drug clearly affects the brain, and Merck's position that Singulair doesn't cause suicidal ideation is almost irrelevant. The fact is, montelukast has a significant, often-studied effect in the brain. That effect is not fully understood.

In our house, the effect of montelukast on the brain has been significant. We have dragged two kids to many psychiatric evaluations. We've spent hours and hours with teachers and principals and counselors, trying to understand why they just won't get their work done. We've used every performance-management trick in the books to get them to work - without much benefit. The kids have swallowed an awful lot of stimulant medication because it was the only thing that controlled their rages. Who knows what their teachers think of them - are they forever branded as the lazy kids? And we are lucky. From this forum, I've learned that it could have been a lot worse.

After reading the recent news reports and reading other parents opinions on Singulair I thought I should be fair to the company, and to other parents seeking advice on this drug, to write about our POSITIVE experience with Singulair. Our 7 year old son was diagnosed with seasonal Asthma when he was 3. We have him on the Ventilator and Advair. During spring time allergy season he would begin wheezing and coughing on a regular basis. We would then give him his puffers. While it would relieve him of the wheezing he would be quite hyper and out of control. Therefore, our goal was to wean him off the puffers. We added Claritin to his diet each day. When he was 5 he struggled through his spring soccer season. As the months went by he looked tired, very sickly, and worn out. His coach recommended that we investigate Singulair. It really turned his child's life around! We talked to our doctor about it. She wasn't familiar with children using Singulair but she prescribed the 5mg chewable but recommended that he use both puffers before his soccer games. We followed her advice. He took his Singulair before bed and the puffers before the game. Sadly, we noticed that he was completely "out of it" during his games. He had no focus (not shocking for a 6 year old boy), no real interest in the game, and no energy. We just assumed it was because he was tired after a full day of school. One day we forgot his puffers but decided to let him play anyway. He had a great game. During a daytime tournament he was back to having his head in the clouds, so for the second game we decided to "forget" his puffers again. He played a great game. But best of all..no breathing problems. We decided to omit the puffers for the rest of the season and just use Singulair. It worked wonderful for him. None of the side effects that the other parents have described. We use it when spring begins and for the the first part of the fall season. He doesn't use it during the winter months. We are experiencing a real dry March so I started the Singulair on Tuesday. Then all of the negative comments came out. I certainly will not dismiss the concerns of the product. We are watching him closely to make sure there are no negative side effects. So far, so good. And no need for the puffers!

I have posted before but wanted to update. Singulair ruined my life for nearly 2 years, but I did not realize it was the reason until about 2 months ago. About 4 months after being on singulair, I sought treatment for severe depression and anxiety. My docs/psychs thought that it was a delayed reaction to the death of my father a couple of years earlier, so we did lots of therapy and 3 different psych meds trying to help me adjust. After all this (and one suicide attempt), I was finally just starting to accept that I was a miserable excuse for a human being, and I should get used to the fact that my life was going to suck from here on out. Then, I developed GERD and could not see my regular doc. The new doc told me to research all my meds (I was taking FOUR a day at that point, including the singulair...I am 27...) to find out if any could be the cause. That was when I found out what singulair can do, and that it could be the cost of my problems. My doc checked my charts, and sure enough, I started taking it shortly before I developed all of these "psychological problems". I've been off singulair for 2 months and my psych meds for a month (had to wean off). I finally feel like myself again after two years of hell!!!! I still have a slightly foggy head and problems concentrating sometimes, but what can I expect? I've been on mind-altering drugs for a couple of years. I hope things continue to improve. Never again will I take any drugs without doing *thorough* research (not just reading the hand out that comes with it..when I started singulair, there was no information about all these problems on the leaflet).

I can't believe what I am reading. My son, who is 10 now has been on this med for 5 years now. The same amount of time that he has been dx with ad/hd. He started a new med for adhd this past summer and was doing wonderful, at the same time I had run out of Zyrtec for a couple of months and was giving him Claritin instead. Well we got a Zyrtec prescription on Oct. 1 and since then his behavior has went down hill. I thought that the adhd med had just stopped working, now I am wondering if it is the Zyrtec. The time the med seemed to stop being effective is the same time we had the Zyrtec filled. I am taking him off of it immediately. He has been angry, smart mouthed, disrespectful. Doesn't listen to anything I say. This summer and even until last month was wonderful. He did what I asked the first time, I didn't have to repeat myself, and he was calmer and nicer. I can't wait to see if this is the cause of a lot of his problems.