This is the beginning of day four with no Singulair. I can still ...

This is the beginning of day four with no Singulair. I can still breathe, but I switched from one puff of Advair per day to two. I decided to look Advair up as well and was dismayed to find similar negative experiences with THAT drug. Hopefully for me eliminating one is enough, because I know that I need something to be able to breathe. So far yesterday was the best day emotionally, I felt a sense of calm several times throughout the day, and didn't need to be occupied with busywork to distract myself from my own thoughts. I don't have stomach pains anymore, which like most of the other symptoms I never attributed to Singulair, my head and heart just feel much "lighter" if that makes any sense. I don't feel sad, or anxious, or suicidal. I feel like I have some focus back, not completely, but a lot more than last week! I also feel like I am better equipped to handle upsetting information instead of feeling overwhelmingly sad about everything. I had my boyfriend read some of these posts yesterday, because he has been trying to accomodate my behavior for a while now, and he pointed out not only some of the obvious side effects, but there was a post about hand and joint pain, and I was constantly asking him rub my hands. I hope that sharing will help others if they are feeling anything similar, and if it's possible to stop Singulair and still breathe okay that they should try it. It is a synthetic chemical and none of us really know exactly what the short-term and long-term effects of any of these medications really are. I mean, Thalidomide was great for pregnant women who suffered from morning sickness in the '50's. Vioxx I'm sure helped many people with painful arthritis. It's only later do we find out the negatives to taking these drugs. I hate that illegal drugs are so very frowned upon in this society but "medicine" from your "doctor"is okay. Doctors nowadays I think are overwhelmed with their caseload and they read the same pamphlets that are handled out to us, laypeople, and recommend these pills to us. Drug company representatives spend a trememdous amount of money on free lunches and mugs and mouse pads and of course, if it's passed by the FDA it must be a-ok! so why not? Many patients come in ASKING for a particular drug because it is advertised on TV!!! Hard alcohol and cigarette commercials are banned, right? So how it is ok to peddle pills to us? I so many times wanted to ask my doctor about Lunesta because I couldn't sleep, and Cymbalta because "depression hurts everywhere AND everyone" and I was in so much psychological and physical pain but something told me that I didn't want to keep adding to the list, I wanted to be healthy enough someday to take some medications away! So I suffered with insomnia and debilitating depression hoping someday I could get better on my own. I wonder how many other people out there on medications who have complete faith in our healthcare system are doing more harm to themselves than good?