July 2th
2008
10:56 PM
In response to Wewe's post, I've been wondering the same thing. Since taking my daughter off Singular almost 2 months ago, I'm seeing a different almost typical kid. Four years ago about 2 months after starting Singular my daughter was diagnosed with anxiety. As her condition got worse she was diagnosed with depression. We started to see OCD and tics so they were added as a diagnosis It was determined that it was related to strep infections so she was diagnosed with PANDAS. She was started on Zoloft and klonidine. The Zoloft made her worse. Her fears of hurting herself got so intrusive she was hospitalized. Her cholesterol was high too. The Zoloft was discontinued and Prozac was started. She's had therapy all 4 years. She also neede physical therapy due to muscle and joint pain. Now she's doing better, off Singular. Does she really have PANDAS, OCD? I don't know. She's still on Prozac, we just did a slight decrease this week. Is this medication the trigger for underlying conditions. Learned behaviors can be unlearned, but are there lasting physical effects? If a gene has been turned on, can it be turned off? I wish we knew the answers to help all of our kids.
-- By judyhk | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
June 21th
2008
10:19 AM
My son is 6 years old and he has been on and off Singulair for about 2 years. He was off since last Fall 2007, but was put back on in April 2008 for allergies. He began telling me that he was having "dreams" during the day. He would then tell me these totally bizarre thoughts, "dreams" that he was having. They were very strange and perverted and violent. I asked him why he was saying this stuff and he said, "I just can't help it, they pop into my mind." I thought that he was going through a phase because he was bored. He is in 1/2 day kindergarten and I attributed this to too much television and boredom. I was thinking that someone was feeding him this crazy information (kids on bus, class, etc.) and he was repeating it to me. He was too showing OCD symptoms, afraid if he touched his feet- "is that dirty??" afraid if he touched someone's hand, "is that dirty if I touched Tim's hand?" He would also cry and whine often over the simplest things. I thought this was a phase. Our prescription for Singulair ran out and I did not fill. I started noticing a change over a week's time period. My little boy who was coming to me several times a day with bizarre "dreams" had not mentioned them at all. His compulsive behavior has stopped and so has the whining. I feel lucky that I did not fill the prescription because I would not have even thought it was the singular, since there are no side effects like the one's I mentioned above on the label. I am sick about this!!
-- By mattiak | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
May 15th
2008
10:29 AM
Wow, I just found this site. The child that had strep especially caught my attention. My daughter, 11, has been diagnosed with PANDAS, which is also a controversial diagnosis. I'm not sure when she went on Singular, but it was a couple of years ago due to allergies. She had bad reactions to anti-histamines. For the past two years we have been dealing with just about every issue posted here. Physical pains, stomach, headaches, joints. urination issues, high cholesterol, but the worst have been the irritability , mood issues, OCD, fears of cutting herself, bad thoughts, suicidal ideation. She was on Zoloft which made things worse, She was hospitalized at her own request. She was placed on Prozac. She's had years of therapy. She would say life is just so hard and she wants to be a normal kid. About a month ago her pediatrician mentioned that there were some reports about Singular and it would be something to watch for and discuss with the psychiatrist, He didn't seem to know much about it. Last week after another suicidal ideation I decided to research the singular issue. I had been attributing everything to the PANDAs. I was so surprised to see the similarities. I took her off of it Friday and have seen some changes already. I hope we see that continued improvement. Thanks to all who have shared stories, it's so helpful. To have hope that you'll get your kid back is great.
-- By judyhk | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
April 30th
2008
11:14 AM
I posted this question in the question section, but wanted to know if anyone else has experienced hair pulling as a side effect. My 10 year old son has been on Singulair for about a year and 3 months ago he started pulling out his eyelashes and eyebrows as well as other body hair ( a disorder known as trichotillomania). He also has been talking about being sad, hating his life, etc. We are worried sick and his self esteem is taking a huge hit due to the hair pulling. He says he is a freak and he hates himself because he can't stop it. We took him off Singulair 2 days ago and are waiting to see if there are improvements in his behavior. Thanks.
-- By ginalynn2 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
April 16th
2008
12:10 AM
My 4 year old daughter has been on Singulair daily for approximately 2 months. We started noticing some minor changes in her behavior early on (shyness, separation anxiety, anger, moodiness) but chalked it up to starting a new pre-school and arguing with her older sister. Then about two weeks ago, she started having an obsessive-compulsive type behavior about wiping herself. My first inclination was that she had some type of infection (yeast, UTI, bladder, etc) but all of the tests came back negative. My doctor told us to stop the Singulair, so we have been off for about a week now, but the OCD symptoms haven't lessened. I would say that some of the other behaviors are improving somewhat, but I am not seeing a "whole new kid" effect after being off for one week. Has anyone had a similar experience with OCD type behaviors? I am beside myself with concern! Thanks for any help.
-- By freakedoutmom | Reply | (8) replies | Private Message me
March 30th
2008
10:17 AM
As a pediatrician I write for singulair every day.
The medication is for allergies.
Allergies cause adenoidal swelling, which cause sleep disturbances which makes the child tired the next day with makes him over weight, less attentive, hyper and eventually act out.
This in turn makes the child experience parental, peers and teachers criticism/ abuse, with leads to the child feel inadequate, embarrassed, frustrated and eventually depressed and suicidal.
Yes, singulair does cause behavioral change but they appear within the first couple of peels, the rest is due to allergies, lack of medical care, i.e. sleep, singulair, and zyrtec deficiency.
Allergy shots cause 4 times the incidence of suicidally than singulair, and Ritalin 10 times more.
They say in hebrew "once a stone is thrown into a well, thousands of smart people won't find it".
Check it, it's true.
December 27th
2007
6:34 PM
I can't even describe how this website is making me feel. How could I be so stupid as not to consider my birth control as having large effects on my body. I was on Ortho Cyclen before and it was fine but I wanted to switch to something else because I gained weight on it. I switched to Yasmin and didn't notice much of a difference besides the annoying thing that I still get severe cramps and back pain during my period. In probably the last almost 2 years I have been suffering from depression and OCD symptoms that are very bad. I was not sure what was wrong with me! I have also developed IBS symptoms to the point that I can't even go out and eat dinner with my boyfriend or family without being anxious about having stomach pain, nausea, and having to run to the bathroom. I was tested for an ulcer (it's genetic in my family) but it has been confirmed otherwise. I am on Omeprazole (to decrease stomach acid) and feel at lest functional on it but still get severe stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea. No one seems to understand!!! I also get dizzy spells and feel faint and weak frequently. I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease but have been on medication for that and never really felt many side-effects from that anyway. I am going to request a different medication the next time I see my gyno and hopefully I'll be back to the fun-loving spontaneous person I once was.
-- By leelee | Reply | Private Message me
September 20th
2008
1:58 AM
I was on Luvox since it became available in the United States;Over 12 years. I was prescribed Luvox mainly for my OCD and as the years passed, I noticed obvious emotional blunting, lethargy;Mind was in a fog, retarded ejaculation, the works.
Have slowly reduced dosage from 300 Mg/Dy to 100 Mg/Dy with INCREDIBLE RESULTS such as greater energy, weight loss, feeling less "detached" and "cold," SOME anger (harmless & intermittent), lucid thinking-NO change in OCD symptoms whatsoever. Less impotence-All positives.
Will soon begin taking Choline and other B-Vitamin supplements to ease the final stages of withdrawal from this highly addictive drug that thankfully has the shortest half life of the SSRIs.
Turns out that Luvox leaves the brain BEFORE it leaves some of the internal organs it "lingers" in before total clearance from the body.
Plan to deal with my OCD and severe depression with a combination of therapy;A serious attitude change, nutrition, SENSIBLE supplementation and exercise.
Will STAY on my Klonopin (2 1/2 Mg/Dy) because I have a phobic mindset RE: My panic attacks which the Klonopin has kept at bay for the most part.
ALL psychotropics, neuroleptics and other "mind candy" is toxic and usually only MASKS the symptoms, giving the illusion of "treating the symptoms" of a particular disorder (set of).
And for what its worth, I USED to be super-pro medication. Just too many bad side-effects from various medications, including Luvox over most of my life.
Plan on going off of the last 100 Mg of Luvox VERY, VERY SLOWLY;Don't need any "Seretonin rebound syndrome."
-- By dumbfounded | Reply | Private Message me