My four old son has been on singulair for about two weeks. The ch...

Hi concerned dad. I post as concernedcitizen. I am helping by providing as much scientific research as I can find on Singulair. Your child responded to Singulair within the time frame that Canadian researchers and doctors say matches the efficacy profile. Some people here never responded to Singulair but got the side effects any way.

You are correct to worry about change of behavior and monitor that. Four year olds cannot verbal what is wrong. If you child is having night mares, how would a child that age know what a night mare was?. He could just be waking up afraid. Night mares would not be minor to a four year old. Negative behavioral patterns could develop from that alone.

I, myself, am allergic to dust mites, molds, grasses, penicillin plus food allergies wheat, grains, peanuts. My allergic pattern really centers around mold. Molds are on pollen, grasses, grains and peanuts. Penicillin is produced from mold. Dust mites live in harmony with aspergillus. Aspergillus is a dust mite's good digestive "bacteria." My body associates all proteins associated with mold as "allergens."

Singulair is a leukotriene receptor antagonist. It blocks leukotrienes that cause inflammatory response. The leukotriene receptor is a gene consisting of at least 337 amino acids. I went back and read as much of the original work on montelukast as I could find. From what I read, I deduced that during the research period that mold, particularly aspergillus, was of particular interest. When the researchers searched for known pharmacaphores that matched THEIR criteria, compounds known to be associated with molds were successful matches. The rest is a long story.

You mention wanting to know about natural cures. I don't take meds and I am highly allergic. I get along fine. We are in the allergy season. We have high pollen counts every where. There is mold on every grain of pollen that blows around. The weather is great for mold. Molds like warm and humid. The mold in our mattresses are multiplying. Dust mites are very happy because more mold means more food producers. Ha. Ha. Here are my ideas. As always, take every thing on the internet with a grain of salt.

1. In my opinion, as a former pharma employee, I do believe that Singulair could be useful as a therapy for a controlled period of time. I am highly against marketing Singulair as the "be all and end all of allergies." When the asthma/allergy is in the category that shows that it is not just a histamine problem meaning sneezing, itchy eyes, clear nasal discharge, then Singulair can help for some people that match the drug's efficacy profile. Because the leukotriene receptor is a gene, then genetics is a big component of efficacy. So it seems that your child is at least matching there. We can now expect that the allergy season will match the pollen count. If your child needs Singulair to get through the mold/pollen season, that is reasonable, IF YOUR CHILD DOES NOT DEVELOP NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS.

2. Singular suppress the immune system by inactivating the cysLT1 (leukotriene) receptor. I am completely against doing anything that involves suppressing natural immunities especially in children. The leukotriene receptors are highly involved in the development of immunity against viruses.

3. If you decide that a short term therapy on Singulair works without causing unlivable side effects, then Singulair could get your child through the bad season. Then if I were in charge, I would ask for allergy tests. I would do everything to eliminate allergens in the environment as possible. I would identify food allergies and eliminate the bad food from the diet.

There is no way in hell that I would allow my kid to be on a drug that will suppress the immune system for as long as you take that pill. In my opinion, Singulair is short term and closely monitored.

CC - I know this is an aside, but could you further explain the connection you are making between mold and peanuts? Thanks.

I know that I am allergic to molds in the Aspergillus category. Peanuts are known to get Aspergillus flavus. There are probably hundred of varieties of Aspergillus. Twenty or so are known to cause infections or allergies. Because I know that I am a mold person, I try to avoid all know mold connections.

Concerned citizen thank you for your insight and in depth posting. In addition to my post I contacted one of my buddies who was a pharmacuetical rep and he surmised all that you did. I am a social worker but trade and i deal directly with children/young adults who have severe and persistent mental illness, mostly axis I diagnoses. So it brought it home, literally, when i heard my little guy speaking in a way that indicated some internal unrest was brewing, which could result in self-harm. I concur with you and am definitely against suppressing the immune system of children and I have made an appt with the MD who gave the prescription to have a CONVERSATION. Knowingly doing so creates some unsettling feelings in myself to say the least. Going forward, I have actually been doing some research the past couple of days on immune boosters and natural detoxification and found oxysilver and spirulina to be among some of the safest options for boosting childrens immune systems. So as a follow up to everyone else on here (including you concerned citizen but im sure you knew about these already) if you are looking for options these may be a few you would want to give a go. I am going try them personally before giving them to my son and i will let you all know the results. Hope this finds you well. Be Well.