Unfortunate thing symptoms and conditions

My son began taking singulair when he was 6. About that time we were hading into the school years. He was labeled as a "special" child from that time on. Impulsive, aggressive, angry, anti-social, etc. He had a hard time focusing at school and every day was a battle. About 5th grade, after 3 schools, he was diagnosed with ADHD. I never, ever thought that it could be this medication. He was on it for about 4 years off and on during allergy season. I transferred him to a private school for children with behavioral issues and as time went on through therapy and special schooling it seemed to get better. I look back now and see that our "good" times were when he finally went off it for good. The beginning of his Freshman year was great! He had a 3.58 GPA, making friends and finally happy. The unfortunate thing is now that puberty has really kicked in, we are back to the old behaviors but much worse. Impulsive, angry, anxious, afraid of the dark, afraid of death. Violent thoughts, impulsive and very unhappy. I can see now that my son never had ADHD. He was misdiagnosed because thier were no warnings at that time. I don't think it ever "goes away". Even after years of being off of it. Something with the puberty hormones is re-triggering this behavior. IT IS LONG TERM!!!!! Even after discontinued use. Please, please keep an eye on your children. I AM SO ANGRY FOR HIM!! Also, for me. Special school $400 month, psychologist appointments, $300 month, my poor Son in a dark place I can't get him out, PRICELESS. . .I want my Son just to be happy. Thank you all for sharing your stories, it gives me strength that I need for him.

I repeat what I've seen here in so many posts. I can't believe it took so long, how did I not realize, my poor child has suffered etc... etc... His side effects were: restless sleep, night mares, NEVER slept through the night. Less and less willing to go to bed at all. Combative, aggressive, began biting, short tempered. Extreme and rapid mood swings, physical, throwing toys and household items. Disinterested in socializing with other children, afraid to be with anyone other than immediately family. Poor self image ("I'm a bad boy"). Plus others.
I have a similar story to many. My 3 year old has been on Singulair for over a year. He had sleep disturbances early on, but the doctor changed the time to administer the dose and it improved... at first. The unfortunate thing I have realized with this medication is that the side effects are gradual and varied. This makes it difficult to make a connection especially in small children. It wasn't until he had a frightening 4 hour night terror episode last week that something clicked, I did a web search, found this website and realized it was probably the singulair. I stopped giving it to him immediately. Within days his behavior improved. Within 2 nights he began sleeping through the night, his personality is completely opposite of what I've dealt with for the last year. He is evolving each day and while I feel guilty for not catching it sooner, I am so elated to watch him shine. I thank all of you for sharing this information, without it I may not have yet realized that my son was suffering.

I contacted the company and they said that all these things have been reported "after marketing" what this means to me is that salespeople can market this to the medical community and not mention theses side effects because they did not occur (or were not documented) during the trial period. I suggest that you share your story with your friends and get the word out. If this medication works for a patient that's great, but I think patients/consumers have the right to know what they may be getting themselves into.