Hi. My eight year old daughter has been on singular for 6 months....

Hello, my seven year old daughter has been onSingulair for five months now and we have noticed a lot of changes in her behaviour,mood,and her sleep. She has periods where she breaks out in a sweat. She has become very asggressive, and has been waking up at night and staying up for hours,as well as wondering around in her sleep. It's been exhausting,and I never thought of singulair causing this but after reading up on it,I'm sure she is having effects.She also complained of numbness in her hands.The meds have controlled her asthma wonderfully this winter but I am considering taking her off of it, as I am worried about the long term effects.I am going to talk to her doctor ASAP>

I previously posted my experience here in the fall of 2007. Wanted to post again in response to more recent postings. I also have a 7 year old daughter who was put on Singular after several visits to the doctor for relentless coughing . She'd start with a cold, end up with a cough and when they'd listen to her chest, they would hear a wheeze. They said she had "cold induced asthma" and told me to see the Asthma specialist/ educator in the office. I was skeptical since we had no history of asthma but agreed to use a nebulizer when necessary and put her on Singulair as a preventative med during the winter months. I was told it was safe, commonly prescribed with virtually no side effects. The first time she was on it (4mg of Singulair) was when she was 6 years old and she was on it for aprrox. 1 1/2 months( the remainder of last winter) and was taken off it last spring when the threat of colds had mostly passed . At that time I didn't connect the side effects she had. Stomach aches, leg pain and head aches. I thought the headaches were sinus related from stuffy nose. I thought the leg pain/cramps were from her getting taller / growing pains. Summer came and went without Singulair and all was fine. When the school year in Fall of 2007 came, I was told to put her back on Singulair as a preventative med. This time 5mg. because of her age, now 7. She was on it for approximately 6 weeks and let me tell you she was just horrible to deal with. If she wasn't angry and picking a fight with me she was sad and moody. She showed no interest in her homework, couldn't seem to focus long enough to finish anything and not eating right. When I tried to talk to her and help her or ask why she was so angry or sad, she would say, sometimes she didn't know why she acted like she did and said sometimes when she'd get upset about something she'd just get sooo mad that she just couldn't seem to control it. At first, I attributed the behavior to the fact that her friend had moved and it was a new school year etc...anything to explain her behavior. We even considered getting help for her it got so bad. The emotions she felt were so extreme to her and there was no rationalizing with her. This was not our daughter at all. She is usually a happy, funny, well adjusted, smart girl who liked school. She was a different person. As I was about to giver the med one night, it hit me! Could it be the Singulair. I searched the internet and thank God found this website! After reading all these posts and hearing the same things, I have no doubt it was the med. I stopped giving it to her and within days she was herself again. It was like night and day! I reported all this to my doctor and allergy educator. While I never actually talked to my Doctor personally, (unbelievable I know) the allergy educator called me back to discuss. She was polite but I could tell she was skeptical. She said she never had any bad reports of this medicine from other parents. I told her probably because these side effects aren't listed on the med. and doctors are telling them it's "safe" with no unusual or bad reported side effects. As such, people aren't connecting their problems with the Singulair. These poor kids are probably being put on additional meds for behavior problems and God knows what else to combat the "unrealized/unreported" side effect of Singulair. I recommended she go to this website and read it. I also wrote a letter to the FDA reporting the side effects. I strongly recommend everyone do this as well. It's the only way this drug may get properly labeled or even taken off the market. At the very least, they won't be so quick to prescribe it to children. Parent's can't make the proper choice for their kids if they don't have all the facts! I feel for al of you and wish you luck! You can also call a pharmacist to ask how long this med will stay in your system. Sometimes they can be more helpful then the doctors. We're 1/2 way through the winter and luckily have had no problems with coughing yet. But you can be sure I would never put her back on Singulair again.

Elizabeth, we had a similar situation a little over a year ago. My son is 9. He has always had asthma, allergies, and eczema. He has always been on Flovent for preventative and albuterol as needed. However, he started losing weight in the fall of '06 and complained of a lump feeling in his throat. He didn't have an appetite and went from 58 pounds to 53 in a very short amount of time. Our pediatrician sent us to a Gastroenterologist in Kansas City. He ordered an endoscopy asap. What they found was blood in his small intestines. Their diagnosis was that he was having an allergic reaction to something (they didn't know what it was though.) The doc started him on Singular but at the wrong dosage (10MG, adult dosage) and we didn't realize that was the adult dosage until we went to refill. It was literally making him crazy. We still wanted to know what was causing this allergic reation. So, we took it into our own hands and requested a food allergy test since it seemed to be internal. That test came back very interesting. He was very allergic to Corn (there is corn in most things Corn Syrup (Sodas), Corn starch etc.) potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts. They give you a numbering scale 1-6, 1, 2, and 3 not so bad, 4-6 stay away from. We modified his diet and stuck to the 1's and 2's for about 6 months, started him on a product found at Health Food stores called Goatein. It is a Goat milk based protein drink that helps heal the intestines. It also helps in the food digestion process. We have since stopped the Goatein, he is still on 5MG of Singular, and added some foods back in. We are just careful with what he eats. Within 1 year, he went from 53 pounds to 65 pounds today and doesn't complain of stomach problems or lumps in his throat. Still tall and pretty skinny but plays ice hockey 5 days a week with very few problems with asthma or eczema. I firmly believe we all have food allergies. It is just a matter of finding out what your body can handle and what it can't. The only side effect I am seeing from Singular is panic attacks especially in the car. I am trying to see if this is in fact caused by the Singular. Hope this helps. Thanks, Derek

Thanks for your reply. What you said is very interesting. It may help me when we see the gastro guy. Is that endoscopy scary for kids? do they sedate them? We have been off the Singular now for over a week and my daughter seems to have a better appetite already, although I don't think that is the whole story . SO I hope we can find the answer soon. I'll keep you posted, thanks, ELizabeth

The endoscopy wasn't scary. They do get fully sedated. The hardest part is seeing them being wheeled off knowing they are getting sedated. It surprised me how fast it all went. My son wasn't scared at all. Just to let you know, most doctors will blow off the food allergy thing. We had every other test done and everything was coming back negative. Food allergies were the only thing left that made sense. The hardest part of that test is getting the blood drawn. I think they took 4 or 5 vials. Good luck to you and keep us posted. Thanks, Derek