I have an 8y.o. daughter that has been on Singulair for about 3 y...

Great news that your daughter is doing better!

Please visit the following websites for more information about Singulair: www.parentsforsafety.org

the recommended treatement for asthma: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/asthgdln.htm

the recommended treatment for allergic rhinitis:
http://www.jcaai.org/file_depot/0-10000000/20000-30000/27387/folder/63948/Rhinitis_FINAL_06_2008.pdf
(note that this document does not mention the side effects of Singulair that are on the product label)

Please also sign the petition for labeling changes on the parentsforsafety.org website and follow the link to MedWatch to file an adverse event report with FDA.

Thanks and best wishes.

There are MANY alternatives to Singulair. In fact, Singulair is only proven to have modest efficacy. It is an admittedly overprescribed drug because of the money it makes. Talk to your doctor and demand an alternative. We give our son a Xoponex inhaler only when necessary.

I'm sad to say that you sound like you are talking about my daughter.
She will be 8 yrs old in February and has been on Singulair since she
was 3 yrs old. She has almost all the symptoms that you describe.
Some of the symptoms I had no idea would be related to Singulair.

She too has leg pains, mostly right before she comes down with pneumonia
or other chest infection etc. My doctor says leg pain is too non specific to be related with her coming down with anything. She had pneumonia when she was 3 & 5 yrs old. Several other chest infections when she was 5.
She used to be happy-go-lucky no matter what. She was always well behaved and happy all the time (except if she was sick or very hungry) She is not spoiled and we are not doing anything different except for the Singulair. Her behaviour just gets worse as time goes on. She cries and throws a fit if she doesn't get her own way, refuses to go to bed until she is so tired she falls alseep instantly, she has bad dreams frequently, sometimes she is afraid to go to sleep because she is sure she will have bad dreams. Her sister put her dream catcher in her room to comfort her and that seems to be working for now. She is very tired all the time. Recently she won't let me go anywhere (she throws a fit and gets herself all worked up and starts coughing and gagging) when I ask her why she doesn't want me to leave she just cries and says she doesn't know. It seems to me to be a type of anxiety attack. I can't even look at something in a store by myself because she won't let me leave her. She would rather look at jeans with me in a store than go with her Dad and sister to the toy department because she needs to be with me. She has dark circles under her eyes and doesn't look like she has slept a wink.
My daughter has been on Ventolin and Flovent since her first bought with pneumonia and then a few months later was put on Singulair because she
was still weezy and she seemed to have a stuffy nose alot and post nasel
drip constantly.
For the past few weeks she has complained of headaches. She is hungry all the time, my doctor says she is gaining too much weight. She is very tall for her age and she is considered obese by the doctor but she does not look
fat. She has been getting a belly on her but she is a very active child. She
sings and dances around the house when she is in a good mood, rides her
bike plays outside alot. After reading some side effects, I think the weight gain is again from the Singulair.
If anyone else has some theory, please share. Thank you.
I will be calling our doctor on Monday.

Take her off the Singulair!!!! It is poison.

i took singular for almost 3 years with increasingly severe depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I felt so awful I started seeing a psychiatrist. Both he and my internist said my symptoms had nothing to do with singulair. So I started on anti-depressants and concerta because I was either sleeping or crying. I am a college-educated, middle-aged mom working full-time. I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. After the well publicized death of a teenaged boy on singulair i stopped taking it in March, 2008. Within 2 weeks I felt like a happier, healthier person. i reported my experience to the FDA. I also discovered Japanese research on the internet suggesting that people with certain biological/genetic markers experience neuro-psych side-effects from singulair and those without them do not. I will never ever take singulair again. And I have learned to trust what my body and mind feel more than what my doctors tell me -- no matter how much I like and respect them.