I am 34 years old. I am a pharmacy tech. I have asthma and allerg...

What exactly is a "hot mcdonald coffee society" i think maybe she was able to sue,because the information on her cup did not say caution HOT COFFEE.Being a child that was poisoned tortured and whose life completly interrupted,because we were not informed of the very dangerous side effects of this drug,are unable to sue,because the laws protect the drug companies,maybe madonalds should hire their lawyers,or pay off those responsible for writing the laws,as the drug companies have.This is a society of greed and corruption not fairness or morals

Every drug has a side effect. But why would I give my child something reported to cause psychiatric disorders to clear up a runny nose? I might give it to my child for asthma if it was the best medication on the market - but it's not! It is not the scientifically recommended treatment for allergies OR asthma. If steroids made asthma worse then why are inhaled corticosteriods the recommended treatment for asthma, according the the NHLBI, NIH; and intranasal corticosteroids the recommended treatment for allergic rhinitis according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; and the Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology?

Natural supplements have been reported to ease the symptoms of asthma and allergies and should be used under the supervision of a licensed healthcare practitioner. The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health website has more information. You are correct, asthma MUST be treated proactively - I don't think any parent who has posted on this site has recommended not treating asthma - we just recommend not using Singulair because it caused terrible psychiatric and physical problems in our children and we don't want any other children to suffer. True, everybody has nightmares, everybody feels down, but when children start taking Singulair and suddenly experience night terrors every night, hallucinations, seizures, crippling leg pain, complete personality changes, ADHD symptoms, debilitating anxiety, depression so severe it requires hospitalization, self-mutilation, homicidal thoughts, suicidal thoughts...and then stop taking the drug and the symptoms begin to resolve, it's almost indisputable that the symptoms were caused by Singulair.

For you Singulair works and does not cause problems. That is wonderful. I wouldn't wish what happened to my child - and my family - on anyone. The bottom line is that if a child is taking Singulair and develops any of the symptoms of an adverse reaction, treatment with Singulair should be stopped to see if symptoms resolve. If they do, then Singulair is obviously the problem and should not be taken; if they don't, Singulair may not be the problem and other causes should certainly be investigated.

Implying that not using Singulair is choosing not to breathe is cruelly misleading to those who are here desperately seeking answers to their or their childrens frightening symptoms. I do not understand the relevance of your comment about medical research. We support medical research and wish more had been conducted before Singulair was approved for use in children and babies. We also wish someone would conduct research to answer the questions we have about why this happened to our children and will they recover 100%. I also do not understand what connections vaccinations have to Singulair's side effects.

We raise awareness because we feel a responsiblity to share vital information with other parents. If you went to a restaurant and got food poisoning, wouldn't you tell people about it to spare them the same suffering? If you took you car to a mechanic who installed your brakes improperly and you wrecked your car, would't you warn people not to go there? You have NO IDEA of the fear, heartbreak, and pain we parents of children who had adverse reactions to Singulair have endured as we watched our children's health deteriorate, or lost them to suicide.

I sincerely hope that as a pharmacy tech you are informing your customers about ALL the possible side effects of Singulair and not just the ones YOU believe can occur.

This is a board to report side effects....not a board to make insinuations. Why are you here?
Look into the eyes of the children and adults that this drug has caused immeasurable pain and I'm sure you'd change your tune. There is no doubt that this drug can have devestating side effects and cause adverse reactions.
Your insinuations are extremely shortsighted and in fact, frightening since you say you are a pharmacy tech. That's quite a poorly written post.

In addition....none of the parents whos children suffered horribly from Singulair want money like the "hot mcdonalds coffee" person.......they simply want public awareness. Very big difference. I hope you can digest that.

I am with you about the "McDonalds Society" on this blog website. As I have been reading posts for close to a year now, I have come to the conclusion in some cases the apple does not fall far from the tree. Seems to me a lot of people on this list want to blame Singulair because it is easier than blaming themselves for being bad parents or their genetics or whatever. As for the comment about Asthma versus a runny nose, then I am guessing there would be nothing for a kid or adult to take if you had your way and had everything pulled off the market that has "behavioral issues" listed. If you are so hell bent on raising awareness, why are you just targeting Singulair? Why dont I ever see any reference on your website about Zyrtec. That can "cause" suicidal thinking too, but I dont see you asking the FDA to pull that off the shelves of WalMart. How about Advair which has proven to cause death in patients? I dont see you complaining about that one. The list can go on and on, but I think you get my drift.

When I read about moody teens or cranky toddlers it does not make me leap to the conclusion it was any one thing that causes that. Why should I take your word for it? I dont know anything about you or your life. I would rather put my faith in science and not speculation.

Hey, Chris is back....I didn't think we'd see her again. :-)

If you want to start an argument again let's take it offline.

let's face it: drug companies minimize the side effects of drugs to maximize their profits. please don't talk about all the wonderful drugs that have saved lives- most of what appears to be "medical" advances came from public safety changes, better plumbing, access to food, etc. drugs have very little to do with it.
medical research hasn't thought about saving a life in over a generation. they are thinking about viagra and going to the bathroom too often. drug companies aren't interested in developing new antibiotics that you take only when you are sick. they want to create "lifestyle" drugs that you stay on forever. they don't cure and with long term use they cause lots of side effects that require other drugs to moderate. what a nice deal they've cooked up for themselves at our expense.
you might as well ask why you and so many people are getting asthma in the first place- the bad synthetic food? the toxic air? the pharmaceutical run off in drinking water? the degradation of your mother's breast milk with DDT, etc that she fed directly to you before you had a working immune system.
there is one reason and one reason only for singulair to exist and that is money! if these drugs were any good, if they were necessary to save lives, they wouldn't be spending money on television commercials to try to convince you that "my drug is better than his drug."
you've never seen a commercial for penicillin or insulin, have you? that's because when you need it, you need it. you can't consider the side effects because the alternative is death
every drug advertised on television is optional. if you needed it, they wouldn't have to try to convince you that you needed it

So Propsguy, it sounds like you just finished an Intro to Public Health class. Not all of the worlds evils can be blamed on pharmaceutical companies. You mention these companies have not cared about saving lives, yet look at the reduction in mortality from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma (which by the way, left untreated does cause death), HIV, etc. because of their discoveries.

So tell me this, if you were to step on a rusty nail, I am guessing you would refuse that tetanus shot because of the potential for side effects and the profits you would contribute to a pharmaceutical company.

Hi Matt, did you miss me? As for our lively discussions, I am more that happy to keep them right here. Healthy debate is good for everyone.

What I said was that there maybe another cause for your child's depression. I don't discount any pain that any child has suffered through medication use. But at the same time, I would not want a child to suffer because a parent got caught up in the side effects that could happen with a medication. Would you deny this medcaition to a child or an adult that it has worked for?? Each person is affected by medication in different ways. I had a tumor removed from my tonsil after about 10 years of using Vanceril. I lost alot of weight because it hurt too much to swallow. I was very hesitant about starting another corticosteriod after that. But I didn't like using my rescue inhaler all the time and I didn't like feeling out of breath and wheezing. So I tried Advair. Added singulair when it came on the market. Last year I considered switching to Symbicort. Tried it for a few weeks but it made me feel anxious. Reported it to my doctor and started back on Advair. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need medications in our day to day life. And we don't need to see a commercial for penicillin .. cause we know that most Americans will run to their doctor and demand an antiobiotic for a runny nose. What the medical company needs to stress is that people need be more proactive. Know how to properly take your medication, know it's side effects.
Here's an intresting article on the link of seasonal allergies and depression
https://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/184765323.html

no chris555, if i stepped on a rusty nail, i would have a tetanus shot. however, i would not take a tetanus pill for life. my 85 yr old father has been on various asthma medications since he was 40 and he recently, after reading some books, took himself off all medications. he reports that his "fog" is lifting and a mysterious rash he had is going away.
i also have asthma. i took singulair for a month years ago and felt nothing. i stopped because i wasn't about to pay then $90 a month for the rest of my life for something that wasn't proven to work (i read the package insert and it was pretty inconclusive).

what i'm opposed to is the wholesale placing of every young child who has a sniffle on a powerful medicine that seems to cross the blood-brain barrier

what i'm opposed to is doctors ignoring parents common sense observations that their children have been altered

what i'm opposed to is doctors using drugs before trying other less toxic methods

we need drugs. we don't need so many, we don't need them to be so expensive, we don't need to see commercials for them on tv and we don't need to take them forever

BTW, if drugs, as you claim, have reduced mortality from cardiovascular & diabetes, why have both conditions reached epidemic proportions in the last few decades

Even if, after exhaustive scientific investigation, the mechanism by which Singulair causes side effects is identified and permanent damage from an adverse reaction to Singulair is conclusively ruled out, Singulair will continue to pose a danger to children. Singulair will still have the potential to cause psychiatric symptoms. These psychiatric symptoms will still have the potential to be overlooked, misdiagnosed, or attributed to causes other than Singulair - as were our children’s - especially if symptoms develop gradually during the course of treatment with Singulair. Children will still suffer...................IN a NUTSHELL

Dear Vabenavidez -

I spent years trying to find the "underlying cause" to my son's severe anxiety and depression. I questioned every experience he had been through, I questioned our parenting, I questioned our genetic history. It took me a long time to consider that those cute little pink pills that were so helpful for his asthma could have anything to do with his mental state.

But when I read other people on this board describe their children it was like they were describing my son. And when I stopped the medication, the depression went away immediately and the anxiety steadily receded into a very minor case.

I want to help others who are suffering and don't know why. If Singulair is contributing - how simple their solution is. There are plenty of other asthma medications. My son's now only needs albuterol from time to time. I'm grateful for medication, but the costs were much too high for this one.

Anyone on this board who is just trying to rile up others who have suffered, go take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself - why are you doing this? Do you really feel good about yourself?

We are trying to help others - are you?

Telling the whole truth about the risks of a medication is something we should all agree on, no matter what the consequences. If, after knowing the risks, you are willing to stay on the medication, that is your choice. But I think that we can all agree that millions of people who take Singulair remain unaware of the risk of neuropsychiatric symptoms. And no one really knows the exact percentage of people who are vulnerable. We are trying to clarify this information, so that anyone who prescribes or takes this drug knows the full risk.

If you had a child who was three when he started this medication, as I did, I think you might really want to know the risk before you gave it to him. So please, think about this.

Science has NOT conclusively ruled out a link between SIngulair and neuropsychiatric problems. In fact, science DID reveal a link between Singulair and depression. In the clinical trials one of the montelukast participants dropped out and the investigator cited the reason as depression that was drug related. Additionally, in the primary and Phase II/BIII Studies, 12 out of 1955 participants taking montelukast reported depression, vs. 5 out of 1108 on placebo, and 1 out of 251 on beclomathasone. Does this prove Singulair causes depression - no. Does it prove it doesn't - NO. I would like to see the scientific evidence that proves that Singulair is safe. As the FDA explained in their update to the investigation, Singulair's clinical trials were not designed to measure neuropsychiatric events so some may not have been reported. Using clinical trial data to prove that this drug is 100% safe is as foolish as discounting post-marketing rports to show that it is not.

Chris: The reason nobody is talking about Advair and Zyrtec here is because this is the Singulair page . The other reason is that those drugs weren't the ones that destroyed our children's mental health. I would think this is obvious.

I apologize for the typo - I mean "postmarketing reports THAT show that is it not.

So what I am hearing you say Propsguy is there is equal responsibility and accountability on the part of the doctors and the consumers? If people did not go to the doctor and demand a pill to provide a quick fix their problem then the doctors would not give prescriptions out like candy?

As for the comment about diabetes and cardiovascular disease reaching epidemic proportions, I would presume it is because the population is aging. This is only a guess, but logic would tell me that the baby boomers, and there are lot of them, are getting older and getting these diseases. Many cannot take medication to control their disease for many reasons. Maybe they have not been diagnosed yet, maybe they cannot afford it, I really dont know.

MS76, I know that the reason people are talking about Singulair on this site is because it is a Singulair site. What I was referring to in my previous post was the internet web site that was set up. I cannot remember the name of it off the top of my head, but it is the one set up as an activist web site to help change legislation. It's called something like "parents for safe medicine".

Hello Chris,

I started Parents United for Pharmaceutical Safety and Accountability after I discovered that Singulair was the cause of 5 1/2 years of misery for my son and my family and I wanted to spread awareness so that no other family had to experience what we did. The reason this happened was because nobody ever told me that my son's symptoms could be caused by Singulair. That information was not shared with me by the prescribing physician or the dispensing pharmacy. It never occurred to me that I needed to check the information regularly because I erroneously assumed that my son's physician would alert me to any important information updates. I happened to check the information early this spring, but the only psychiatric symptoms listed were "mood/behavior changes, depression and suicidal behavior". Anxiety, which was added to Singulair's label in Feb 2008 was not listed. My son suffered for anxiety for years, and had been on the medication so long from such a young age, he never exhibited an obvious mood or behavior change. At the time, he seemed neither depressed nor suicidal. But by the end of the summer he began exhibiting clear cut signs of depression and crying "I wish I was dead so I wouldn't have to feel this way" and complaining that "nothing was fun anymore" and refused to socialize. He told us he always felt sad and angry and he didn't know why. (Looking back I think he may have shown signs earlier but I did not correctly identify them.) It was only then that I made the connection to Singulair. When I had complained to doctors about his symptoms (several of which had been on Singulair's label for years) the year before, they never told me Singulair had any psychiatric side effects. When I stopped the Singulair (he has asthma) I called his physician to tell him. I left a message with the nurse. The doctor never even called me back! When I stopped the Singulair he experienced a remission in symptoms so I KNOW it was the drug. Nobody will ever convince me that Singulair does not cause anxiety, depression, and can cause suicide. I shudder to think of what may have happened if I hadn't made the connection and kept giving him the Singulair.

When I found this website and read all these horror stories I cried for hours. I cried for the pain my son and these children endured, and the pain, fear, and helplessness their parents must have felt. I blamed myself for what happened for a long time before I realized that it wasn't my fault, but the fault of an ineffecient and unaccountable system that let my child's mental health fall through the cracks.

I might not have been able to help my son while he was suffering so badly, but I can help other children by sharing the knowledge I now have with their parents. I didn't have this experience with Zyrtec or Advair. I had it with Singulair. Singulair ruined my son's early childhood.

What happened to my son, and the other children you have read about on this site is a tragedy and an outrage. We parents were denied the right to make informed choices about our chidren's health. That's why we are working for better notification, better reporting, better information, more responsibility, and more awareness. Pharmaceutical companies should not be allowed to leave any possible side effects off a product's label, as was done with Singulair.

If we can use the knowledge we have gained from our horrible experiences with Singulair to initiate positive changes in "the system" then all children - and adults - will benefit from it. Including YOU and your children if you have any.

I think it is disgraceful the way you come to this site and antagonize others. This is a site for sharing information and helping others. You do neither. Matt and his family suffered horribly. You seem to derive joy from goading him into an argument. I think it is reprehensible.

wow chris555, i just reread my two posts here and i said nothing, nothing at all that would indicate that i felt that "there is equal responsibility and accountability on the part of the doctors and the consumers? If people did not go to the doctor and demand a pill to provide a quick fix their problem then the doctors would not give prescriptions out like candy"
you really are a provocateur, aren't you?
since you asked, yes, i do believe that people ask for drugs too often and expect them to provide easy miracles; however, in the last 10 years we have been bombarded with television commercials selling us on the virtues of drugs. new zealand is the only other country that allows DTC marketing of prescription medication on television.
i also believe that doctors prescribe drugs too easily, but the stresses of managed care limit their time and relationships with patients and so it is much easier to write a scrip for a pill than it is to counsel a person about their diet, etc. also, many doctors are rewarded, financially and otherwise for handing out medications.
the FDA also approves drugs too quickly, before sufficient research has been done. this is in part the fault of the AIDS movement, which demanded, understandably enough, faster access to potentially life saving drugs.
it is also due to the policies of the soon to be past, thank god, administration, which funded its tax cuts by slashing federal program budgets like the FDA's and made up the difference by making drug companies pay the FDA to approve their drugs, setting up a horrific conflict of interest.
as far as the aging population getting heart disease and diabetes 2 and not being able to control their diseases because they can't afford medication, surely you know that is bunk. heart disease and diabetes 2 are not a function of age (in fact adult onset diabetes is now so prevelant among our overweight children that the "adult-onset" part of the name has been replaced with the "2"); they are a product of our lousy food supply and our inactivity. add cancer to the group and they are referred to collectively as the "diseases of western civilization" and contrary to advertising, there are no drugs that can control them.
statin drugs do not prevent deaths from cardiac events (tim russert was on all kinds of medication) and several diabetes 2 drugs have already been yanked for causing deaths due to liver failure.
here again, we can blame the population for eating too much of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right stuff, but we must also lay some blame on the food manufacturers who make processed garbage filled with HFCS and our government which bowed to pressure from the sugar lobby and set the cut off for sugar added to processed food at 25% (europe has a 10% cut off).
it may not be that people are too poor to afford medication, but that they are too poor to afford quality food.
europeans eat real foods full of all the fat nature put into them and they are thin and not dropping dead of heart disease and diabetes. americans eat processed "food products" that are all "low fat" and enriched with this nutrient and that vitamin and we are getting fatter and sicker by the minute.
i realize this has little to do with singulair but you did ask

HI, I was an EMT in the USAF. I was stationed in the Philippines for 2 years. I was in from 1987-95. About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, asthma, sinus problems, chronic bronchitis, DDD, Chronic Muscle spasms in my neck that never go away and Chronic fatigue. IF, I repear, IF you REALLY want to get better, then do some research on what I am about to share. It has helped me immensely.

1) Do a Bowel Detox, I personally recommend "Dr. Natura"
2) Remove processed foods, sugar, dairy, meat, McDonald's etc. (Start with 1 thing at a time or you will get overwhelmed and quit._
3) Start Juicing every single day. (I personally recommend a "Champion Juicer". Use only fresh organic vegtables.
4) Take "AIM" Barley Green.
5) Take herbal supplements related to your symptoms and diagnoses.
6) No Sodas
7) Do a liver and kidney detox
8) Cleanse your body of all metals, remover your metal fillings and replace with porcelin, if you can.

I have been doing this for over 2 years and I can't tell you what it has done for me. Remember all of your symptoms are related to all the environmental toxins that enter your body. It has taken a long time for these to build up in your body. Your BOWELS are the ONLY place you start to cleanse yourself first or nothing else you do will matter.

Do some research on it, trust me, don't wait your health is important.
Take care
Lisa

chris is an employee of Merck. This is standard for these companies to pay their minions to come on these sites and try and negate the truth. I work in the health field and talk to drug reps every day. I submitted my granddaughter's story to the FDA last April and her recovery from the hell of this drug was due to the brave people that came here and posted their experiences. Within 2 weeks after stopping this drug her symptoms of self destructive impulses, severe mood changes, depression, insomnia, nightmares and anxiety lessened 90%. Now a year later it all seems like a horrible, surreal experience that we all went through. She was nine years old and had been on this drug for almost 2 years, nine years old Chris and SHE had a loving childhood. So you need to really start asking yourself whether this is something you really want to do, if it's moral, if it's right.

With all due respect, you are not a child and most of the posts are regarding children and this drug. Being a pharmacy tech, you should also know that an adults mind, body, and hormones are very different from that of a child that is still in the growth stage. My son has been taking this drug for a few months and he has many of the side effects such as stomach pains, diarrhea, dizziness (to the point that he needs to sit down or he'll fall down), and hallucinations. He also feels hot at night. I have a hard time swallowing your opinion since all children seem to have the same side effects. You may be satisfied with this drug and able to live with the side effects, however, I think you are wrong about the "McDonald's hot coffee" society. There is a serious concern linked with this drug and children. I will be taking my son off of this medication starting now. Even though he has asthma and allergies, he was able to fully participate in sports before he began taking this drug so it is still possible to have a "normal" life without it.

Finally, someone w/ common sense. All meds have side effects. Not everyone experiences all, some, or even 1. The people that do, do so in varying intensities. I appreciate reading all the information, but some people have gone overboard w/ accusations. I'm not demeaning what they or their child have gone through, but information should be posted w/ tact and not such hostility. It's more reliable and easier to swallow when it's put kindly. My son was on Singulair and Zyrtec. He did great. My daughter is now on Singulair and Zyrtec. I'll see how she does. I can only hope for the best.