My 9 1/2 yr old son started Singulair in July 2004 when he was 5 yrs old.Looking back now we realize that he started showing signs immediately. We only gave him Singulair in the fall when he had the most trouble with his asthma. His asthma was under control immediately but was not worth the damage that was done. He complained of pains in his legs that I just thought was growing pains. He would sometimes run a fever with no other symptoms of being sick and then the fever would go away. He would also feel like he always had to go to the bathroom, especially after he went to bed. I gave him Singulair at 7pm before he went to bed. The biggest change we noticed in him was the signs of attention deficit. We first noticed that he kept getting out of his seat at dinner time. No matter how many times we told him to sit down he would sit down and then a little while later he would get right back up. We realized after a while that he wasn't doing it to be defient he just couldn't help himself. I asked his Kindergarten teacher if he had trouble sitting in his seat or with attention but she didn't think he was any worse than any of the other Kindergarten kids. In 1st grade, at the beginning of the year, his teacher said he had trouble keeping his attention but then by January she said he was a different kid. We usually stopped giving him Singulair in December. The same thing happened with his 2nd grade teacher. I question his allergist in the fall of 2nd grade but his allergist said Singulair wasn't the cause for his ADHD symptoms. When his 3rd grade teacher contacted us in Oct 07 with the same complaints I realized that it must be the Singulair. I looked online for Singulair side effects and came across this website. I couldn't believe it. I was so disappointed in myself for not doing it sooner but we took him off Singulair immediately. I called his allergist the next morning and questioned him for a second time and he told me that sometimes parents of kids with ADHD just look for something to blame for their childs behavior. I couldn't believe he said it to me. We made an appointment at Children's Hospital Boston to have him evaluated for ADHD just in case but couldn't get an appointment until Feb 08. When we had him evaluated he had been off Singulair for over 3 months. The neurologist said he did not have ADHD. When I asked him if he thought Singulair could have been to blame for the symptoms he was showing and he said there was "compelling evidence" that showed Singulair does cause ADHD symptoms in some children. We were happy that he did not have ADHD but were so sad that we gave him this medicine for 3 years without realizing what damage it was doing. My biggest fear now is that there may be long term damage. All his symptoms have gone away but sometimes he still seems a little out of it and I don't know if it is just his age or his personality or if it might still be some long term effect from the Singulair. He is such a sweet, loving, caring boy and I hope that I didn't do any long term damage by giving his this horrible medicine. I hope that something will be done soon to get this medicine off the market. My prayers go out to all the families who lost children on this medicine. I can't even imagine the pain you are feeling but I thank you for getting your story out and saving other children! I am thankful that I was able to get informed by this website because God knows my allergist wasn't looking out for my son! His asthma has been under control since being off Singulair and just seems like a happier child over all!
Thank you!