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My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 ...

Posted at 2:13 PM on Jun 27, 2008 by cindy48, #31847
My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 years old and has been on it for the past 3.5 years. My son at an early age was affected by a bad marriage and then the divorce when he was 5 yrs old. So we always suspected that his behavior issues were caused by this and I had done everything I possibly could to give them the help he needed to get over and through his issues. He was held back his first year of Kindergarden and during his second year midstream he was placed in a special class for behavioral problem children. Nothing ever seemed to help him, everytime we would see some progress and encouragement we were always blind sighted by a behavior that was always worse. Two steps forward and them 5 steps backwards. I always knew that his problems would never get better overnight so I just kept on going. He was diagnosed with ADHD but because he has some ticking issues I had to put him on Strattera which was did not do a thing for him. I always described him as my Dr. Jeckyll/ Mr. Hyde child. He could be really good and sit still and behave but I think he had to try really hard to do so. He eventually was always overpower by the impulse to show negative behaviors. Defiant, extremely impulsive, always negative and completely miserable all the time. He also went through phases of compulsions. There was always a compulsion of the month- germs, bathroom habits, noises, repetitive words. He hated school and always complained of a stomach ache which i thought he was always faking to get out of school. He had confrontations in school everyday for most of the day. I often thought some of this was because of being tired all the time. We had battled over bedtime every single night. He was terrified to go to bed alone, I tried everything to get him to sleep alone. I wore myself out falling asleep next to him, I would then go to my own bed only to be up with him half the night going back and forth. I gave in many a night and slept with him just so we could get a good nights sleep. At age 8.5 I finally got him to go to sleep alone but the lights haf to be on and he has to know that I am still awake before he will fall asleep. He would always say he didn't want to go to sleep because when he does he has bad thoughts about me and people that he loves. He always had an extremely hard time excepting the word "no"- he would flip out and hit his head with whatever was handy, throw things, break things, scream holler etc. It would take hours to get over it. When he did he would be very remorseful and lovable. He was always in turmoil. Finally in February of this year, this graduated to a new level where he would want to just kill himself and would actually go and pull a knife out of the drawer and just shake with anger as he held the knife to his throat. I was terrified although i really didn't think he was going to harm himself he just wanted to scare me. Then at the end of March when i first heard the news about the possible side effects of Singulair, I had only heard about the suicide effect. Oh great just what I needed was this medicine causing him to do that. The doctor was thinking about taking him off if this summer because he wanted to see if he out grew his seasonal allergies so I took him off immediately. Well I had no idea about the other side effects until my son turned into a completely different kid. School noticed a huge difference in him! His grades went up, his is able to control his behavior, he is happy he is NORMAL. I never suspected this drug as the culprit due to the timing of taking it. Our lives have changed completely. When i first found this site, it seemed as though some of the parents were writing about my child. It is amazing. My son still has some old habits to break but overall he is a wonderful and normal 10 year old boy. He did not outgrow his seasonal allergies but Allegra seems to help in through it. I get so angry- his whole early childhood was ruined by this medicine. He is a labled kid in our school system. This whole experience has opened up my eyes. Thank you for letting me share my story.
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Reply 3 months ago on Jun 27, 2008 by flindy, #9596

Dont you just want to slap somebody hard,i am furious for what has happened,everyday i have to tell myself i cant go to new jersey and sit in mercks offices throwing a fit,now,now i want answers,how many stories like ours do the fda need before it is enough to tell us our children were poisoned.Good luck you are not alone

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Reply 3 months ago on Jun 27, 2008 by mhjslu, #9597

I am so sorry to hear about your experiences. My son, who was on Singulair on and off for seasonal allergies, became aggressive also. After he started taking the medicine in March, be changed so much. He was starting to hit, kick or trip me. I even took him to the police station to try and scare him. It didn't. He was so defiant! He, too, couldn't take the word "no". He also had stomach aches and headaches. He would scream in his sleep. The psychologist thought it was time for medication. We were going to try family crisis counseling. WE WERE BESIDE OURSELVES. Then, out of desparation, I took him off Singulair. We had three days of total peace. On the fourth day, another outburst - then he told me he took singulair the night before!! Needless to say, we no longer have any of those pills in the house. I did have to deal with the aftermath. I had to explain to my son that this medicine was causing his anger. I had to explain to his younger brother that his older brother wasn't a bad kid. When I told the psychologist, she actually gave me Merck's number to complain! Good luck. It seems that we have some learned behaviors to deal with. But at least there's some breathing room now.

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Reply 3 months ago on Jun 28, 2008 by concernedcitizen, #9606

flindy,

We need proof that these side effects are physiologically possible because of the mode of action of montelukast. Once we get that there will be accountability.

Hopefully some day in the future there will no such thing as a drug company failing to reveal everything about a drug to the FDA. There will be no such thing as a drug company who says that they don't really know how a drug works. Hopefully the FDA will say to every new drug application " that if you don't know how it works come back when you do. Bye-bye."

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Reply 3 months ago on Jul 05, 2008 by chatterbox3240, #9791

I know exactly what you mean when you say you read the previous posts and they could be written about your child. That is how I feel as well. My son was on this drug for three years and I would love to get them back. Of course we can't , but I hope some day Merck will be help liable. Please write to FDA.gov about your experience. Hopefully if they get enough complaints they will one day DO SOMETHING!!! God Bless you and your family.

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Reply 2 months ago on Aug 07, 2008 by dhsheddan, #10850

I am at this sight to research side-effects of both singulair and zyrtec. My 3 year old son was diagnosed with severe allergies to cats/dogs, dust mites and peanuts. Our allergist recommended both along with nasonex. I have only given him 2 evening doses and was shocked at his behavior both nights. Unbearable. I'm responding to your post because I am a spec ed teacher who works with students labeled emotionally disturbed. After the state that I saw my son in- stating to my husband that he is behaving like many of the students at our therapeutic day school- I truly question how many labeled as ADD/ADHD are mislabeled. Thanks for your post. I will not take this route with my son. There must be an alternative solution. This sickens me. I am so sorry for your experience.

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