Psychiatric effects symptoms and conditions

My 6 1/2 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 3 1/2 to 4 years now and we have had horrible experiences! She was having night terrors, mood swings, angry issues, self control issues, crying over small things, etc. We have been to psychiatrists and psychologists who have diagnosed her with mood disorder, sensory processing disorder and anxiety disorder! Well she has recently been having stomach problems so we have been going to a GI to figure that out. I got online to research and found numerous sites that told how Singulair causes all these things in children. We took my daughter off the meds and within 3 or 4 days seen a tremendous difference! She is a totally different child! It just really frustrates me and saddens me that all these children and their families are going through all this and the doctors do not seem to care. The allergist or psychiatrist didn't believe me. They say no study has ever proven such things. I don't care what they say we as parents know our children and we are the experts when it comes to seeing how they change when on this medicine, we are the ones that live with them and are with them everyday not the doctors! I think they just don't want to lose out on their money from prescribing this drug 90% of children with allergies and asthma!

I think that I can get my head around certain things and try to explain to you that medications do not work for all people or affect all people the same way. Well, that sounds simple enough to say - DUH. But, it is actually quite complicated chemically. Human beings are not chemically the same because we have variations in our genes. Would you be surprised to learn that about 60% of adverse drug reactions involve certain chemicals (in some cases enzymes) that we already know what these chemicals or enzymes are and what the variants are among populations groups? Some times we can predict who would have an adverse reaction to what medications if we knew what gene subgroup the patient was part of. We could also predict whether the patient would metabolize a drug at the same speed as others or not. Metabolize means utilize the drug and then discard the by-products--mostly the liver is the recycling center of chemical waste. Anything that the liver cannot re-use, the kidneys gets rid of in the urine. Speed of metabolism is a very important thing because people who are slow metabolizers might actually experience over-dose. There are other differences caused by genes that can cause different reactions according to the individual person.

I am interesting in following this site because I am wondering if the concept is flawed meaning that other parts of the body were ignored at the expense of controlling asthma and allergies of the nasal passages and lungs. OR - is there just a problem that relates to genetic differences in something such as enzymes and certain populations groups do just fine on Singulair with no problems and other people have some awful problems?

This isn't my area. But, sadly, if I can spend two weeks looking at this and come up with at least a road map of what I am looking for to answer some important questions then people who do this for Merck already know the answers. Why do I say that? Because, the adverse side effects (major categories) correspond to important areas of leukotriene receptor location and activity. Maybe not necessarily this receptor but part of a chemical process that involves this receptor.

The bottom line is that Singulair is the wrong medication for anyone that has adverse reactions. OR, there is a problem regarding the dosage that involves how fast the patient metabolizes the medication. Considering that there is a link to psychiatric adverse drugs reactions in Singulair and some medications for depression are linked to differences in metabolism due to enzymes, then there could be possibly something important to be learned from Singulair adverse drug reactions.

The biggest problem is that pharmaceutical companies are not properly communicating with the doctors who prescribe their medications. Why not communicate to doctors to look out for side effects and be aware that there are gene variations among people that are directly linked to how the patient might respond to the medication?

What happens if the patient belongs to the gene group that will have problems? If the pharm company does not tell the doctor to be on the alert, then the doctor tells the patient that it is not the drug that is causing the problem. Then the gene groups with the problems, go on the war path.

I read these posts and regarding my being quoted as saying that it is unclear whether there are leukotriene receptors in the brain, that isn't true, there are leukotriene receptors in the brain and the relationship between neural systems involved in inflammation and mood is well established. I don't think the misquote was deliberate, I wasnt that definitive when I commented to the reporter on the 'breaking' story (she called me because I had just blogged about it and I updated the blog after I got off the phone). There are a number of parallels with other drugs used to treat medical conditions that have been associated with psychiatric side effects, you can follow the links from the March 27 post "If they dont kill us they will drive us crazy" at
http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/blog.html

Doug Bremner MD

I thought everybody would be interested to know about the researcher from Emory that commented on possible psychiatric side effects of Singulair if leukotriene receptors exist in the brain. Here is a description of his book. I hope that we will hear more from Dr. Bremner. And, no I am not here to promote his book. I just saw this today when I was searching for other information. I was thinking about his quote and wanted to know his background.

Merck’s Singulair likely to see prescription drop-off only in high-risk populations
By Beth Herskovits and Gayatri Iyer in New York
Published: March 28 2008 19:52 | Last updated: March 28 2008 19:52
This article is provided to FT.com readers by Pharmawire—a news service focused on providing insight into the most price sensitive issues in the global pharmaceutical market. www.pharmawire.com

"Dr Douglas Bremner, director of Emory’s Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, noted that drugs can cause psychiatric effects when the targeted receptor also exists in the brain. But he added that it’s unclear whether the brain has leukotriene receptors.
He noted that despite the updated label, the side effects ”sort of flew below the radar.” However, he painted a grimmer picture of the effect on the market, saying this would affect Singular sales badly. People are likely to stop taking it, he added. "

Before You Take that Pill
Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health
J. Douglas Bremner - Author Book: Paperback | 8.26 x 5.23in | 448 pages | ISBN 9781583332955 | 28 Feb 2008 | Avery | Adult
A medical expert reveals risks of the most commonly prescribed drugs-and why the drug industry doesn't want consumers to know about them.

Recent scandals involving diabetes drugs, Vioxx, and many other medications reveal the serious and undisclosed risks of some of the most commonly used prescription drugs in this country. In Before You Take That Pill, Dr. J. Douglas Bremner, a researcher and clinician at Emory University whose study on Accutane and depression made headlines, offers an inside look at the pharmaceutical industry, as well as a scientifically backed assessment of the risks of more than three hundred prescribed medications, vitamins, and supplements.

While many drugs are essential to the health of consumers, as Dr. Bremner explains, for many people, the benefits may not outweigh the potential side effects. This book contains warnings that are not on the drug labels. It also exposes tricks of the trade that demonstrate how the profit-making interests of "big pharma" may not always be in line with the safety of the public - from the corruption that exists in the drug approval process to the tactics drug companies use to encourage doctors to prescribe their products. Most important, Before You Take That Pill empowers readers by giving them sound information on specific medications so they can understand and weigh the potential risk themselves. Backed by the latest studies, as well as insight from a doctor who is in the trenches, this book should be on the shelf of every drug consumer.

I have started taking Singulair for my fall allergies and noticed I have been feeling antsy and anxious, like I've had too much caffeine (which I avoid) or about to have a panic attack the whole past week and it just dawned on me that the cause might be the Singulair, and I thought I'd come check online! It is definitely making me extremely hyper and nervous and after reading about the effects it has on people, I think I'd better stop it! The psychiatric effects it is having on children are very frightening to hear about!
(I certainly don't need the weight gain either, and I am very sensitive to sodium and retaining fluid.)