Wild child symptoms and conditions

I want to post this because this site has given me good perspective on this Rx and side effects experienced by others; its good to know I am not alone. As far as an agenda, I have none, in fact I was all for the Singulair initially, because it seemed to be a good alternative to inhaled steriods which I had read could interfere with normal growth. My son, 4 yrs. old, with a diagnosis of Asthma, started Singulair about 2 weeks ago. Asthma seems to have been improved by Singulair. Within a couple days of starting it, though, he reported vivid (but not nightmare-ish) dreams, a week later he dropped his afternoon nap, which we were expecting to happen eventually, so didn't think much of it. He is a wild child generally, but we also noticed an uptick in bad and aggressive behavior within a day or two of starting the Singulair; we really clamped down on him though, so that effect has been somewhat muted. He has always occasionally complained of indigestion stomach aches, but these complaints have increased to several times a day in the last week, also complain of lower abdominal pain which he says is "different" than his earlier indigestion stomach aches. Last week or so he's been up late at night, had trouble going to sleep, looks a little pale with dark circles under his eyes ("he's becoming a Goth" I joked with my wife). Last night he got out of bed late, appeared disoriented and seemed to be half awake, half asleep. He was talking, but not making sense and seemed to be upset and/or confused, but when pressed he assurred me nothing was wrong and nothing hurt--put him back to bed and this morning he remembers getting up, but also keeps telling me he had a "weird" (not scarry) dream and that he keeps seeing it while he's awake. Luckily this weird dream was not scarry for him, but he was clearly a little freaked out by seeing it again this morning. He seemed o.k. heading off to preschool, but we are taking him off the Singulair as a precaution. My advice to anyone else out there seeing similar symptoms in their kids is to go with your gut -- I always tell people that a Doctor's job is to tell you the odds, like only 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000 kids will have a certain reaction, or condition, or illness, it is the parents' job to be sure that their kid is not that 1. So I'm taking my kid off the Singulair because I think he may be that 1 kid who experiences these unusual side-effects. How wide spread they are, I have no idea. I will get on my soapbox and say I think it's time for the FDA to require drug companies to conduct long and short term clinical studies on kids for any drug that will be prescribed to kids--entrusting our childrens' health and well being to a drug company's own short term study conducted on fully developed adults is foolish and insane.

I feel Singulair has completely destroyed the beautiful, peaceful personality of my 6yo. Although it's helped with her allergies and allergy associated asthma, this poison has destroyed her life - and all those around her. Her fuse is so sort, there is none. She's gone from a calm child to a spaced out, angry wild child - throwing tantrums like she's never thrown, hitting, screaming, shouting. She has no reasoning capacity, she often seems like "the lights are on but no one's home", she's absolutely inconsolable when in one of these "rages". The aggression is unbelievable and uncontrollable. She, herself, feels out of control and explains she wants to stop screaming, but can't. She hates herself, poor little angel. She's also experienced tummy pain, headaches and numbness in her extremities. This drug is despicable. We should all demand that it's removed from the market...immediately! And what about the doctors telling us there are no side effects? Children could be put on anti-depressants or ADD medication to relieve the side effects of allergy medication, and it's considered to have no side effects! Incredible! Does anybody know how long it takes to get this poison out of the system? I took my little girl off it two days ago and she seems to be experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms.

My daughter has been on Singulair for almost 2 years. In this time I have noticed an extreme change in her behavior. Sometimes I refer to her as my "wild child" as she is so out of control. She has trouble sleeping, her behavior is unacceptable, she has trouble concentrating and focusing, and the list goes on. I unfortunately didn't realize this until late December when she woke up 17 times one night after an increase to her Singulair. I am taking her off this medication as of tonight and will try to find more natural ways to keep her asthma under control. Sometimes I feel so neglectful that I didn't recognize these symptoms sooner. My poor child has been suffering with consequences to behavioral issues and it hasn't even been her fault. I am so happy I found this site. It has eased my mind and hopefully it will now ease my child's mind. If anyone has any advice on natural ways to manage asthma please contact me. My child's Asthma is usually illness induced or caused by pollen in the air. Thanks