Smiley face symptoms and conditions

Both my son and I were on Singulair. As of Sat March 31st we both stopped taking it. My 6 yr boy has been on it for apprx 3 1/2 years for allergies along with nasonex and claritin when needed. He started pre k after being off the singulair for the summer. His first 3 weeks of school had no complaints. 3 weeks into school he started singulair and teacher immediately noticed the difference and brought it up to dr's who said it had nothing to do with his behavior. Over the years he has experienced, problems with excess urination after taking dose at night causing exploding pullups.. changed to day time and that helped somewhat. nightmares/ hyper /moody, irritable, leg pain, stomach pain,angry outburst (he says his brain made him do it), headaches, stuttering,sinus infections that he finally had his adnenoids removed in Feb.. He started kindergarten last Sept and it has been a nightmare..I tried to take him off Singulair in Oct but due to his enlarged adenoids his allergy symptons became so much worse I put him back on. The last few days where up and down as the Singulair was coming out of his system but I was seeing improvements.. Well I decided today to remove him also off the nasonex as I have read similar side effects about the nasonex. He had a pretty good morning today and went to school and came home for the FIRST time all year with smileys for the entire day!! I am overwhelmed with emotion! So happy that he is coming out of the fog and guilt that I have been giving him this medication and didn't follow my Mommy instinct to stop it years ago! I had side effects as well to the point people were telling me my personality had changed. I was irritable, short of patience and having alot of headaches. The last few weeks I was having days of depression and crying over little things especially with the stress of what my son was going through.... I am also coming out of the fog and happy to be back!

I have got to share my great news with anyone who will listen. My daughter has been Singulair free since Friday of last week. She has no idea that we are not giving her this pill at night and we haven't discussed any of our recent findings in front of her. In other words, she has no incentive to behave any differently than she ever has. The changes are so dramatic that at times it's hard for me to believe. On three different occasions today she made note of her positive change in mood (keep in mind she is 7). Right after school when she was going over some of her graded papers she pointed to a smiley face on her paper. She said, "Mommy, that's how I feel today." I replied, "That's great honey. Is there a reason why you are so happy today?" She stated, "I don't know why, I just am." Then a few hours later I overheard her talking to her younger brother at dinner say, "Will, I haven't cried at all today." Of course he didn't have much of a reply. Then at bedtime, she said, "This has been the best day ever!" These are all statements that quite honestly I have never heard her say before. It warms my heart to know that I do have a "normal" child in there. She's been on Singulair since she was 3, before she could verbalize many of her feelings. All we have known are negative, grumpy feelings and emotions.

But these are not the only changes we have noticed. I have had to wake her up for school the last two mornings in a row (hasn't happened since she began school). She has always been such a terrible sleeper and seems to never really get as much as she needs. She hasn't been so obessessive in the last two days about playing with her best friend. She actually asked if she could play cars with her younger brother instead of going to the park. She has eaten about half as much as she normally does. She has developed such a ferocious appetite that weight has become a huge problem. She has handled disappoints in stride when the same trigger would have totally set her off a few days ago. The list really does go on and on.

I can honestly say that the only thing that has changed is the absence of Singulair. I pray that I continue to discover more of my daughter's great qualities.

I have wondered so many times over the last few days, "What if I hadn't been listening to NPR?" I would have had no other reason to look into the matter further. All of our stories need to be told to the greater media. There are millions of children on this drug and based on this message board, millions of children sufferring negative side effects. Please join me in this crusade!

My daughter (now 4 1/2) has been on Singulair for two years. It has completely controlled her asthma but I was unaware of the serious side effects.

She had trouble sleeping after taking it. Looking back now she had what I would call "night terrors" where she woke up crying with vivd details about a dream. At the time I did not connect the two.

Due to the sleeplessness we now give it to her in the morning.

She also complians of itchiness, which we thought was sensitive skin. Now that I am connecting the dots seems like this only would occur right after taking the meds.

Lately, she has had severe behavioral problems. I am now wondering about hallucinations with some of her complaints about the "noise" etc.. and not being able to control what she does.

I was this close to seeing a behavioral psychologist but looked into the Singulair instead. The company's website even lists these side effects. When I called the doctor he WAS NOT EVEN AWARE of them.

We are off it now and the improvements are immediate. Today was her first smiley face day at preschool in a couple of weeks. It saddens me that she (and the rest of the family) may have had to suffer needlessly.

Be very careful and watch for these symptoms.