Singulair and anxiety and depression

HI,

As with many others I found singulair to be a miracle with asthma. No more rescue inhalers. I am not sure which of my current meds is causing the very vivid, often gruesome dreaming I have been having as THREE of them show this as a side effect. I am referring to Cymbalta, Xanax and Singulair. It may be that the combination of the three is just too much and is causing brain toxicity of some sort. I started cutting down the cymbalta, and also the Xanax days ago. I found myself still waking up remembering vivid dreams that I would rather forget. I remember them all like they just happened in living color and detail, days and weeks later. At first I thought it was interesting, but now I just want to FORGET THEM, anyone have ideas???? Help!!! ( I also developed depression and anxiety after being on singulair for several years which is how I ended up with the two additional meds.

My daughter has been off Singulair since March 29th. In my previous posting I explained that she had taken it for 2 years and last December started to experience stomach pain, and she became very anxious, agitated, and obsessive compulsive. We had every test possible and her anxiety only grew worse as the weeks went on. In February she was admitted for panic attacks and was given Paxil and Risperdal. When we stopped Singulair we noticed definite changes with her mood swings, personality, and affection. We saw a side of her that over time we forgot existed. She is so much better, but still on the medicines from her hospitalization. We have an appointment to discuss reducing these meds. But has SINGULAIR been out of her system long enough? She endured so much emotional stress that I know just stopping the Singulair will not be the cure all. Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

I've never written on a blog in my life, and now that I've just read this, my stomach is doing flip flops and my blood is runnung cold. I have an 11 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. They have both been on singulair for quite a few years. My son has been on ADHD meds now since about a year and a half after starting Singulair because we tried to avoid them. Every few weeks he tells me he has this empty feeling inside him that makes him really sad and he doesn't know what it is. It just feels empty. I'll usually read with him or play a game or walk our dog with him to help him feel better.
As for my daughter, she exhibits all of the symptoms I have read about. She talks about life being terrible( trust me, she has it pretty good), she has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, OCD and Tourette Syndrome. Every psychiatric medication we have tried has made her worse. She was always a confident, outgoing little girl, and then she just changed. She's had stomach aches, which the docs always thought were in her head. She gets headaches. She is extremely sensitive, won't let me even brush her hair or touch her. She has extreme mood swings and gets upset over the most miniscule things, then writes about them, even saying she realizes her anger was too much for what the situation was! I will stop Singulair immediately and see what happens. What a miracle it would be if all of their symptoms disappeared.

My daughter took singulair for a number of years because she was asthmatic and the doctor recommended that she takes one each a day. At 13 she started acting differently and I thought it was just growing up and being a rebellious teenager. I later found track mark on her arms and she was hospitalized under suicide watch. She was not allowed in school until she had numerous therapy sessions. On top of everything she was giving topamax to control her anxiety and depression and now missed so much school that she has graduate a year later.

Alright. After observing my daughter for two full weeks after discontinuing Singulair, I have decided to share our story.

Our daughter started taking Singulair last August (2007) to relieve her allergy symptoms. I'd like to add she is an identical twin, whose sister did not need to take the medication, for she had mild allergy symptoms that were easily relieved by taking Allegra. So we clearly have a side-by-side case study where one twin took the Singulair and the other did not. About two weeks later we noticed changes in her behavior and thought it was due to the new school routine and changes, etc. Then she started not eating, and when she did eat, she ate very little. Both girls are in a select soccer league are physically active 4-5 times a week.

Long story short - she stopped eating, lost weight, stopped growing and is now 2.5 inches shorter and 15 lbs. lighter than her identical twin. They are fifth graders, I might add, so 15 lbs is ALOT of weight at their age. She was withdrawn, known to have deep depressive episodes, reacted adversely to everything and, in general, wasn't acting herself since last August. She was not enjoying life at all.

She is usually a quick-witted child, one with a sunny disposition and who interacts with others very well. She is joy packaged in a colorful bottle, ready to share her thoughts with you.

We took her to her pediatrician, a nutritionist, a psychologist and all said she was clearly depressed and that is what led to her changes in eating. No kidding, I thought. But why? What has happened that could have changed her so drastically?

I had never felt so far away from my child as I had with her during this time period. We are a close family and we pride ourselves on being able to freely express how we feel.

My dear mother-in-law saw that the FDA was probing the side-effects of Singulair with children and she mentioned it to me, because she knew that is what my daughter was taking was taking. I never thought about the connection, because I take Singulair. I will add I also take an antidepressant and have made an appointment with my doctor to discuss all of this.

After talking with our pharmacist and getting an exact date as to when she started taking it, I called her pediatrician and discussed it with him. We had not been to him since October, because we took her to everyone else (psychologist, etc), so he had not known exactly what was going on with her mental health. He did, however write in his notes (and told me when I called), "Discontinue Singulair if symptoms persist." Hmmmm. Exactly why I wasn't told this from the beginning, I don't know and am very bothered knowing he wrote that on her chart.

Well, after taking her off it two weeks ago she is now back to her happy, connecting and eating self. People (her father, twin, and I included) noticed a change in three days from stopping use of Singulair.

She has changed IMMENSELY since getting off the Singulair that it has been easy to pinpoint her taking that medication as the reason she has been absolutely miserable for the past SEVEN MONTHS. I thank God it wasn't longer and that she didn't suffer any longer than she already did, but it was a true hell to watch her go through what she did and to watch her decline and to not know (professionals included) what to do. Words diminish how we felt and how we feel now after having her back.

So there you have a side-by-side comparison. One identical twin thrived while NOT taking Singulair and the twin who did take it suffered terribly, physically and mentally, while she was taking it.

The allergy relief she experienced was clearly not worth the internal suffering she endured while taking Singulair. I wish we could turn back time and give her those seven months back.

I am a mental health professional. I was on Singulair for 6 years. After hearing of the psychiatric side effects, I stopped it. The suicidal ideations have stopped, the depression and anxiety are decreasing. This information should have been made public long before now. And to think that I had actually calculated whether I had enough drugs on hand to accomplish suicide. I hold Merck responsible for putting myself and others through this torment.

I am very upset!!! My son was diagnosed with asthma at 3yrs old. He had been taking Singulair for about 5yrs. He seemed to be growing out of his allergy and asthma, so I thought. So I took him off of it. Last spring he got really sick and the doctor asked why he wasn't taking his Singulair and insisted we put him back on it. Well for the past year I have noticed my son had been showing signs of Anxiety and Depression and becoming really withdrawn and lately complaining of severe stomach pain everyday. I couldn't understand what was happening. Then my mother called me and told me what she had heard on the news and I was shocked! He is now off Singulair and you better believe I will be calling the doctor, FDA and anyone else I can get a hold of. I think This drug company needs to be sued and everyone that has been affected needs to report them.

When I saw this story on in the news I could not believe it. My 9 year old has been taking this for 2 years and has had all of the problems I have read with other children. We too were told it was add or ocd or bipolar or some other
medical term. Never once was this one and only medication questioned.
I cried when I realized I had been torchering him with this allergy pill.
He has been off of it for 4 days now and says he " feels like a brand new me"
He is happy, fun, interested in everything and no more headaches or stomach pain, or depression.

Please take your child off of this medicine if you are not sure and contact your MD. Listen to your child and your instinct as a parent.

Wow, am I glad I started doing research and found sites like this and others. I have been on Singulair for 1.5 years. A little over a year ago, I started having HUGE problems with anxiety and depression. My psychological problems have been so bad that my life has basically come to a halt. I gather enough emotional energy to make it through the working day every day, then I go home and collapse, barely accomplishing anything before bed time. On weekend, I sleep a lot more than usual and basically have no life. I just didn't feel well and did not feel like myself.I had trouble sleeping, joint aches, low grade fevers, complete loss of motivation, difficulty thinking/focusing, and a huge loss of self esteem. I started to question my career decisions (I'm nearly done with a 6 year PhD in biomedical research/physiology), gained 20 pounds, and lost my sex drive. I really felt like I was a sorry excuse for a human being. In the past year, I have been on no less then 3 psychoactive drugs to try to treat my anxiety and depression. Never once was it suggested to me that this could be the results of Singulair!!!! Last week, I started having trouble with chest pressure/pain and was diagnosed with GERD (acid reflux). My dr. was not available, so I saw someone else, and he suggested that I research all my meds (I'm 27 and take 4 Rx's a day, 3 of which I can probably cut out now that I am no longer on Singulair!!!) and see if any of them could cause GERD. That's when I found out that, not only can Singulair cause gastric problems, but I am an exact match for most of these lists of side effects!!! Wow, I am so glad I started doing my research about this medication! My regular doctor confirmed this morning that I started Singulair about 4 months before I finally sought help for my anxiety and depression (and they were terribly severe at that point). Basically, I've lost 1.5 years of my life trying to fix what this med did to me. I quit taking it as of last week. I hope things return to normal soon.

I started taking Singulair for undiagnosed asthma, I took only 4 pills for 4 nights. I was extremely tired but the worst of it was on the 5th day I developed horrible anxiety and depression. I was crying uncontrollably and basically freaking out. I had all sorts of bad thoughts of hurting myself and death. I was terrified because I was diagnosed with chronic depression about 4 years ago and I have been depression free for the last year, out of the blue it came back that 5th day and I cried and cried saying the devil is back in my head. I could not figure out why out of the blue it came back so strongly. I went on the web and typed in "singulair causing depression", and was amazed to find how many postings had mood problems etc. I am so angry, this was never mentioned to me as a side effect, by my doctor, the drug company or the pharmacist. Plus this doctor knew of my horrible depression that I suffered for so long but no one mentioned this. I was planning my suicide in my head, but thanks to reading all your postings you all saved my life, I was so relieved that this was probably what caused it. I went of Singulair and feel depression free once again! I was never so scared and all because of this stupid drug. Please people be aware of this drug...and let people you know that may be taking it of its horrible side effects. This drug could have cost me my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!That is the truth!!!!!