Signals symptoms and conditions

I already posted about my son's behavioral changes while on the drug from the time he was 4-7. He is now 9 years old and has been back to "normal now for 18 months. BUT- we recently had his immune system checked though a blood test and he does not have sufficient immunity for ANY viruses. My 6 year old could fight 8 out of the 14, but my son who was on Singulair for almost 4 years has a severely depleted immune system. And from what I have read, could clearly be attributed to the drug. BUYER BEWARE~!

Adderall Xr 20 mg, after a few hours i am so exhausted i can barely stay awake. but at night , evan as exhausted as i am i can't seem to fall asleep

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.

I know that many here would like the FDA to take a very serious took at the problem. I personally don't see how a review of their data is going to make any difference at all. But, if there are experts who can propose a model of the pathways of cell signalling that include the possibility that these symptoms can occur (and under what circumstance), then maybe the problem will look like something much more than statistics.

This is not my field. But I tried to follow the possible pathways to see if I could identify a possible area of concern. Then I looked for someone who had written in the area and read their abstract. A place to start may be to get an opinion from those who know something about "normal homeostasis of the mast cell." Singular blocks the cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 which is a site on the outer membrane of the mast cell (other cells also). The mast cell which is produced in the bone marrow is released in a immature state and matures after it arrives at it's destination. The mast cell does not become active unless it's receptor sites come in contact with the activating agent. So, what happens when a receptor site on the mast cell is suppressed by Singular, a receptor antagonist.

You see, I don't have a clue what the signals are that tell the bone marrow to make mast cells (or what the signals are that tell them where to go after they are made in the bone marrow). Does Singular interfere with something that tells the bone marrow what to do? If Singular does interfere with that process, then what is happening and what period of time does it take to happen? Could we wonder whether Singular is interfering with the NUMBER of mast cells that are produced over time? And, of course, maybe there is some OTHER kind of explanation for why the adverse drug reactions are happening. But, at this level, I got lost and can't go any further.

Maybe this group would be interested in the Singulair problems or could suggest somebody else?

http://www.edata-center.com/journals/2ff21abf44b19838,0a1257122f661a7e,0d8ee7116ef23452.html

I apologize if this lead doesn't produce any results but at least it could be a place to start.

I was diagnosed with asthma 8 months ago at 45 years old. It was quite a shock considering I never had sympthoms untill recently. The doctors thought that abulterol would be enough to control it but unfortunately the events become too frequent. They then swictched me to Singular. Wow, what a mistake that wa! Yes, my breathing improved but the side effects were frightening and painful. After only two or three days my arms, hands and fingers were numb and tingling...constant pins and needles...and virtually useless. At night I had the worst most vivid nightmares I've ever had. And I was unable to fall asleep because my mind was constantly racing. It's almost enough to make one psychotic. Plus I had sudden, very painful ear and tooth aches.

All this cleared up a few days after stopping Singualr.

This drugs is suppose to interfere with your body's signals to produce inflammation but it has to be doing so much more, and most of that not good. It seems clear based on my side effects and others I've read about it has a huge impact on the central nervous system too.

This is not a safe drug. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, some day uses it as an excuse for some really bad behaviour. In fact, I'm shocked that this is given to kids at all. If I had to take this for months I would go insane.

BTW, months later, on advice of my doctor, I tried it again with the intent of taking it every other day to limit dose. Nice idea, but no cigar. After just one dose I was once again "flipping out" in bed.

If you have really bad asthma and singular works for you without side effects that's great news. But I'd still ask myself what kind of impact is it having on your body if it does so much damage to so many other people. How safe can it really be?

If you have kids, and they're taking it, please keep a close eye on them. Sometimes kids don't have the communication tools to explain to parents what they're experiencing. Don't make them suffer...and don't let them be punished at school because their behaviour is uncontrollable. It could very well be this med.