Time outs symptoms and conditions

My 4 year old son started taking singulair when he was two. I don't think I picked up on his behavior change right away b/c I thought that he was just entering the "terrible two's". But over time, his allergist added on Nasonex (I know the docs say that it doesn't cause side-effects b/c it's a nasal spray, but I don't buy that...it's a steroid, plain and simple) and more recently zyrtec was added on for his hives. Well, the zyrtec was the straw that broke the camel's back. I mean, he has been a real "handful" since the singulair, but after zyrtec was added 5 months ago - let's just say he was completely out of my control. His meltdowns were so bad that I couldn't go ANYWHERE with him. I either got a sitter or just didn't go anywhere. He became aggressive, defiant, emotional, unhappy. And to top it off he started to have serious "autistic-like" self-stimulatory behaviors (grinding teeth, squinting eyes shut, flapping his hands, punching himself...). At this point my life had become a complete nightmare, and my poor 10 month old son was getting NO attention b/c my 4 year old was so out of control and aggressive. I was afraid for the baby's safety...oh, I could go on all night. This medication has impacted my marriage, my finances, my sanity. Shortly after he started Singulair I had to go on an antidepressant b/c it too so much out of me just to be his mommy. Anyway, a week ago I had him scheduled for a psych evaluation (thought for sure we were going to walk away with either autism or bipolar diagnosis), but two days before I decided to look up the meds he is on and BINGO! All of these posts sound like what we have been going through. I stopped all of his meds that night, cold-turkey, and he has been the most pleasant little boy I have ever met!! My husband and I have fallen in love with him over the past week - we had no idea he was such a sweet child.

Now, while I'm ecstatic that we have found the answer to our nightmare, I also feel SO STINKIN' ANGRY! We lost out on 2 years with our sweet boy, there were times when we raised our voices at him when he just couldn't help himself - he was suffering inside!! When I went to talk to the allergist about my findings this past week, he said, "well, maybe he just had a good day. I'd like to see what happens if he goes off all his meds for a week". Well, there you have it, he has been off for one week and he's an absolute angel. He has an amazing heart and is so caring!!!

Singulair is awful (and so is zyrtec). Please don't give this drug to your children. Research other alternatives (I am giving my son Nordic Naturals Fish Oil, Culturelle probiotics, vitamin c, and am changing his diet - increased magnesium and decreased dairy. I came up with this after hours of research...).

There is a woman on this site whose daughter committed suicide after 3 years on Singulair. This is no joke and the FDA needs to get with it.

BTW, I used to date a Singulair rep (I knew there was something I didn't like about that guy:)

My son is 6 years old, and I started crying when I read the above stories. My son, too, was a completely different person when he took Singulair. Prior to taking it, we had a wonderful, close relationship and he was a well behaved child that excelled in school and got along well with friends. His behavior changed for the worse, but until now, I didn't connect it to the use of Singulair-I thought maybe he had childhood depression but didn't know why, as his life is stable and happy, and no major life changes had happened to cause the mood swings.
He would say his life was bad and he wanted to die for the slightest thing, he would say he hated us and punch us for just simple time outs that he usually complied to and he never ever hit us before. I have had him off of Singulair the past month, and give him Zyrtec occasionally when he really needs it, and he has not had one major moody episode, and he is back to his happy self again. I am joining the class action lawsuit above.

I am replying to my first post here yesterday....So today I didn't give my 3 yr old son the singulair and do not plan on it ever again! I have to say though...I am very very concerned. I think tonight I truly saw one of the bad behavioral side effects :( He got upset over something so small. Said he didn't love any of us, he didn't want Chinese which is his favorite! He didn't want to do any of the things that we gave him options on that he normally would jump right up to do! This devastated me! I right away thought to myself is this going to get worse before it gets better? He is still complaining of back pain which I know that will take some time. He punched a little boy just before dinner in the neck. He walked out of the neighbors house to go home and usually I have to carry him out. This is seriously scaring me! I'm not sure what to do ? My fiance, his father, doesn't understand and started to yell at him for his behavior. (We don't get much time to talk and when I try to his dad just says he is ok but I know, deep down he isn't) I am the one with him everyday at home taking care of him. I am now being more patient with this behavior when normally I would lose patience and punish him with time outs. Do I continue to do time outs?
Why should I punish him when its not all him ? This is so unfair :( I mean, he is a boy and yes he acts like one. Doesn't share at times, hits sometimes, he is a or was a normal 3 year old boy. His dad will follow my footsteps on this as he see's how I handle things but I'm a little witty on how to handle it now. At this point I am babying my baby! I will tell him when things he does is not right but I'm at the point now that I don't want to send him to preschool! Do I inform the teachers? Can someone give me some words? Its just hard because he is my oldest and is only 3 so not only am I learning to deal with regular behaviors, I now have to understand how to cope and deal with this until its over. Thank you in advance very much for any help and advice!!!!

Well after reading these posts...I am very sad that I didn't read this before I allowed my 3 year old son to start Singulair! The last month he has been complaining of lower back pain. Just recently, stomach pain as well. Says his head hurts, and at times is not himself. I pick him up from preschool awaiting a very energized little boy to talk nonstop about what he did and he doesn't:( He was put on this med for allergies with Flonase and Zyrtec as needed. I took him to the doctors for this lower back pain and they said it possibly was from playing too hard or growing pains. Trusting our pediatrician I took it as that. My son continued to complain and continued to, at times, seem depressed. I took him to the ER because the last week and a half he has had fevers of 100-102. They said its all viral. I came home, looked Singulair up trying to figure out what was wrong and found all of this. I am so sad I never researched this before and continued to give this to my little boy trusting it to be good for him. Needless to say, I am making another appointment for him tomorrow to discuss other options. Thank you all for the information!

My son is 5 years old. He was put on Singulair in August following a case of pnemonia. He has asthma. I found it worked well since I was barely using inhalers anymore. His eczema was even getting better. So I was happy with the medication. He also seemed to be getting more agitated with us. At least three times a day he would have an outburst towards his brother or us, like he was going to punch or hit us. Then I would say "why are you mad at me" and he would say "I'm not mad, I'm frustrated" and then burst in tears. He was getting a lot of time outs. Then two months ago he started saying "this is not a good day" or "this is a sad day". I was wondering if singulair was to blame, but it wasn't until I heard concerns from other moms. I took him off it as an experiment and noticed the next day was without his outbursts. Then I just never gave him anymore...and I am relieved to say he is as "normal" as I remember him before Singulair!!! He also was unable to get to sleep easily on Singulair, sometimes 1, 2 and even three hours to get to sleep. Now he is out in 20 minutes if not less. I haven't talked to the Doctor yet. I have noticed his eczema is flaring up again and he has used his inhaler this week (although he has a cold). I think I can deal with that without Singulair and the problems I am suspicious come from it's use.

I am really happy to have discovered this site. I got a bit of a fright today with my 4 yo who has been quite aggressive towards his younger siblings, hyperactive, non responsive to time outs etc. He ran out impulsively today in front of a car coming home from school. it was a near miss. He has been on Singulair for afew days only. He had been on Singulair for a time previously and similar out of character behaviour was noted. We had suspected inhaled salbutamol was causing him to be a bit hyper, but Singulair the effects were multiples of it. I was wondering if we were imagining these side effects but I see and identify with a lot that has been said on the board so far. I will not give my son singulair again. Thanks again.