Singulair and asthma

It has been interesting for me to read this posts. I have been wondering about the long term side affects to singulair- mostly because my 11 year old has been on Singulair for several years now. We spent many of nights in the ER for asthma when he was little and no Dr. did testing. When he was 5 his pediatrician tested him for allergies and put him on Singulair. We have had a great experience with it. I find it interesting that many of the health issues on here- joint pains, bouts of depression, weight gain...I personally experience all of them and i am not on any medication. My 11 year old does not experience any of the mentioned side affects. I wanted to find out long term side affects for my own personal knowledge. Prior to Singulair, he was on Zyrtec which was not a good fit.

My son is 7 yrs old with allergies and asthma. The Dr. prescribed it and the same day I had talked with a lady which her friends son just committed suicide. They were contributing it to Singular. A quick look up on the internet and I was angry with the pediatrician that the side effect was never discussed with me! After a very reassured conversation I said I would start him with 1/2 dose. I noticed nightmares started right away and I stopped. Asthma got worse decided to star again 3 weeks ago. He started twitching his head, flipping his hair that isn't even long. He was also complaining of stomach aches and not wanting to go to school (very unusual)! He has been off for a week now and is hopefully will not ever have any long term effect! Please follow your instincts and I will let his doctor. know what the side effects were.

I have been taking singulair for about a year and a half. Honestly I have had no side effects. It works great for me. I have tried to just take my zyrtec for my allergies without the singulair. I notice that if I don't take the singulair I feel shortness of breath and have to use my inhaler. When I combine singulair with my zyrtec I don't even need my inhaler at all. I was reading some of the experiences from other people, I think maybe children shouldn't take singulair at all.

hi i came across this site through sheer desperation to find out if all the terrible symptoms my 13 yr old daughter was experiencing was through any of her asthma/allergy meds She has been on singulair since she was 5yrsold . But gradually over the past year her symptoms are that bad that she has weeks off school with dreadful headaches, stomach pains, mood swings which have been going on for last few years but put most of these down to puberty kicking in (but how i think i was so wrong). she has an allergy to peanuts which has been confirmed through tests but i was finding that lots of different foods were causing allergic reations which i could not understand(put it down to e numbers etc) she has been off this last week through yet again more headaches,chest infection, nausea but now the most terrible symptom is that of very painful ankles. knees, which are that sore she has been in tears.Since reading these post i am going to take her off the singulair but will do it at a gradual rate 1/2 tablet then 1/4 etc as she has been on this for a very long time and sudden withdrawal seems to be very risky. oh i also forget her rhinitis is also a major problem which causes her to be terribly bullied at school due to how noisy her breathing is and her snuffling being so often and seems to be getting worse. I am very grateful that i have come across this website.

FYI: As of Friday, October 2, The website of the Merck sponsored Time 2 Talk Asthma education campaign no longer links to Singulair's website and coupon.

FYI: "Supernanny" Jo Frost and asthma advocacy organization AANMA have partnered in an asthma education campaign sponsored by Merck called Time 2 Talk Asthma. The website links to Singulair's website, which offers a coupon.

I am 44 years old and have been taking singulair for about 4 years. 3 months ago I started experiencing crushing chest pain, tingling in my lower limbs, and felt very stressed out. I went to the ER last Thursday and was checked out for angina - the ER doctor told me I was suffering from chronic severe anxiety. I took Ativan for 4 days and felt better, but now the drigs are gone and I again having constant chest pain. In doing some research I found that anxiety can be caused by imbalance in adrenaline, and so started looking online to see if any of the allergy/asthma meds I am taking (adviar, singulair, allegra) can affect adrenaline. That';s when I found this website. Although i find the testimony compelling, I wish more folks would have poted about how their symptoms improved (or didn't) AFTER discontinuing singulair. Also I've noticed many of the stories are about children not adults; many people are taking more than one med for asthma, and most people's symptoms seem to come on right away whereas I have been taking sinulair for years and only recently have anxiety. I will stop singulair tonight and see what happens, but am wondering if anyone has come across further research that correlates singiulair with anxiety? My job life is really peaceful, I am otherwise happy, work can get hectic but that's true of any job, and I am out of ideas as to why suddenly at age 44, when I eat right and exercise - why get anxiety? Thanks for the posts, I'll try to remember to follow up after I am off Singulair for a few weeks.

My nine year old started taking this horrible drug less than a month ago. Since then, he has has horrible mood swings, screaming fits, told us he hates us, emotional breakdowns and even threatened to kill himself. He is a bright, intelligent, active and usually a normal nine year old. Over the past month he has been in a physical fight at school where he punched a kid for telling him he was annoying. He has also been in a ton of trouble at school which is not like him. I was so worried until today. My Mom recommended that I check the side effects of his asthma medication. I am astounded and angry at what I am reading. His doctor is supposed to have his best interest in mind and we trusted her. She was the attending physician at a hospital where we live. My nine year old was hospitalized with asthma. Although his asthma needs to be controlled, not at his emotional expense. There has to be a better way...

I took my daughter (14yrs old) off of Singulair 2 nights ago after being in the ER. She's been taking this drug for 3 years off and on. We were told she had asthma 3yrs ago and now yesterday after taking the Methacholine challenge test, she doesn't have asthma. Talk about being confused and angry. Over the last three years my daughter changed into a very anxious person, couldn't sleep at nights, very vivid dreams that made her surround herself with pillows thinking her dreams were real, sadness, chest pains, tingling in hands, arms & legs, knee pain (could be sport related?) and a very short fuse. I came across another website and then this one about the side effects of this drug and immediately took her off. She has slept better the last two nights but still has a little chest pain (indigestion), which I hope subsides soon. This has been a terrible stress for her and the whole family and I'm praying being off this drug will help my daughter restore her self confidence and happiness in her life.
A.

My allergies caused nearly constant painful sinus pressure, drippy nose (I should have bought stock in Kleenex to profit from my box-a-day use), asthma, getting gradually worse all the time--it was as though I'd had the flu for 10 years (I'm 54). I was taking Claritin in the morning and Zyrtec at night, which only toned down the most severe symptoms. I was on Prilosec as well, as one doctor though acid-reflux might exacerbate the asthma. My family and I are avid hikers, but I haven't been able to breathe well enough to join them for years, even with daily Ventolin and Flovent. I've only been taking Singulair for two weeks, but it has made all the difference. I feel "normal" instead of sick for the first time in a long time. So, for me, it does work. But my stomach's been killing me--like a bleeding ulcer (which I had 25 years ago). I'm hoping that will subside or going back on Prilosec (expensive!) will counteract it. I've also had the weirdest dreams--very vivid and disturbing. Because I did research online before taking Singulair (Doctor uttered not one syllable about side effects), I recognize the dreams are from the Singulair. Because I understand what is causing them, I can easily set them aside when I wake up. I think anyone who's had mental or emotion problems could be sent over the edge by the dreams unless they had a clear understanding and acceptance that the allergy drug caused them. I would be easy to think something was wrong with you to dream such bizarre, violent stuff. (I'd give examples, but I've truly trained myself to forget all about the dreams as soon as I wake us, so I don't remember the dream events now.) I'm quite concerned about children taking this drug. Maybe not everyone has this disturbing-dream side effect, but how could you explain them away to a four-year old? How would you even know if a younger child was having them? Even children old enough to comprehend shouldn't be subjected to horrific mental images, like the 16 year old above. A tip for people who Singulair helps, but they have the weird dreams--try Melatonin (over-the-counter supplement) at bedtime. I've used it to help me sleep in the past when life events kept my mind too active to sleep for several days at a time. Unlike sleeping pills, it doesn't make your tired the next day, you can wake up easily, and it's not habit-forming--it just lets you drift off on days you otherwise can't. Since I'm concerned about the long-term effects of anything taken frequently, I don't take Melatonin very often, but I did try it after the fourth day of Singulair dreams. I had no memory of weird dreams when I woke up, so it seemed to work, and I didn't remember dreaming the next night either. I only tried it that one day because, as I said, I've trained myself to not be bothered by the dreams.

hi my name is T.im 17 and i have had severe asthma and allergies since i was 2. i was put on the singulair drug when i was 10 i started having nightmares about my percents dying and severe depression and anxiety.my parents thought it was just a phase kids go through.i realized all this didn't start happening until i started taking the drug, so i refused to take it anymore. well now im 7 years later my parents EMT,and pulmonologist.think its a wonderful idea to start taking it again so my parents give it to me and make sure i take it each night,bc my allergies are so bad. ive warned them once,but i guess they will all see what happens

I started taking singulair about one week ago and I started not sleeping well , waking up at 4 or 5 am focusing on stupid things like what I had forgotten to buy at the grocery store. I first thought I was pregnant since I suffered major insomnia during my first pregnancy, took a pregnancy test and after seeing the negative results started asking myself what could cause that, that is when I realized I started Singulair about a week ago. I will stop it today and see if I sleep better. I am allergic to dust mites and dust, it is pretty bad sometimes and it will give me asthma. I was using an inhaler before (Alvesco a couple times a week) and did not experience any insomnia. The doctor told me Singulair was very similar but it would also take care of my sinuses. It works really well for the sinuses and the asthma, but I rather have a stuffy nose, no asthma and sleep well. I am very surprised to see that some of you have been using that drug for so long after having so many side effects... and with children too...it is really scary

Thank you everyone for your experiences w/ Singulair. I just took my son (11years) to the doctor today for his allergies and asked about a possible new medication because Zrytec has not been working all that great for him. Well, he gave me samples of Singulair and my son took his first and LAST dose today. He doesn't have asthma but suffers from airborne allergies which are a huge problem here in Texas. I am just going to give him Claritin or another over-the-counter allergy medication. Thank you so much everyone! Oh! With one pill, my son's stomach was really hurting him....never again Singulair!!

I am a 36 year old woman, and I have taken Singulair for the past 8 months. I got a lung infection over the winter, and the clinic I went to put me on the 10mg Singulair. It helped my lungs and got me over the worst of the infection, but I never anticipated the side-effects. For several months, I attributed what I was feeling to hormones (like severe PMS) and the stress in my life. I started to have thoughts of death, especially at night. I also began to have a hard time leaving my house. I would have panic attacks, worrying that the window was left open, the stove was left on, and god forbid there was a dark cloud in the sky (I became convinced that a terrible storm would come). Several times, I nearly got in a car accident racing to get home after work. Then, I started to obsess over getting sick. I was convinced that I would get some terrible disease and die soon. The fears and anxiety got worse and worse until one day (a rainy day), I quit my job of twelve years. It was a good job. I was happy with my work, and I made more than enough money. I ended up moving across the country back in with my estranged husband, because here I would not have to work. I could stay home all the time, away from germs and storms and anything else bad. That was three months ago. Still on the Singulair, I began to obsess over death. The panic attacks were so severe that they triggered asthma attacks, and not being able to breathe triggered more anxiety. I stopped sleeping at night. In three months, I've slept four nights. I began to have nightmares that made me wake up screaming and violently lashing out. I had to urinate 5 or 6 times every night. I developed severe stomach pain and nausea. And I had leg pain (actually, I hurt everywhere, severe pain). I had headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Slowly, I began to realize that it might be the medicine. I started to research, and yesterday, I took my last pill. Since then, I have not had one panic attack. I have not had one asthma attack. I slept last night with no bad dreams. I know what's happened now, and I'm so sad that I lost so much of my life because of this drug. I really had a good life...friends, a home, a great job... Now, I'm very tired. My body is very weak and still hurting. I'm shaky. But I believe in time, those effects, too, will go away. I feel like my body has been through a war. I'm grateful that I didn't kill myself. There were a couple of really bad days when the urge to be violent towards myself was overwhelming. One day, I punched a fence, making my knuckles bleed. I think I could've killed myself, and I know it was Singulair. It's going to be better now. Just as a note: what helped me withdraw without any major worsening of asthma was Advair 250/50 twice a day.

My daughter who just turned 6 has been on Singulair for about 3 years now. Her behavior has not always been the best, but with her past medical history ( a preemie) and all the things we have gone through some times its just easier to give in than to fight over it!!! So last week she was suffering with her allergies and asthma and the doctor added a Claritin to be taken once daily. I didn't really think to much about it and thought well if it is going to help her the OKay. That was on Wednesday and by the week end she was literally coming "unglued". She was lying on the floor when she should have been in her seat at the dinner table. When she was in her seat she was doing "back bends" over the chair. We finally come to the conclusion that it had to be the Claritin, I looked up the active ingredient loratadine and knew I had to get her off it immediately. So now I started to investigate the Singulair as well, which I should have done long ago. Today will be the last day she takes Singulair as well. She has complained of her stomach hurting for a long time and I always blamed it on constipation, but it could be the Singulair. I can only pray that she will not have any lasting side affects.

I have an 8 yr old son that has allergies and asthma. The allergist recently prescribed Singulair which my son had taken when he was 5. We took him off of it back then due to anger outbursts. By the way, the Dr. said that was not a side effect, but nonetheless the issues subsided. When it was recently added back to his medication list, within 3 days he had anaphylactic type episodes 2 days in a row. The attack started with stomach pains, chest pains and then he couldn't breath AT ALL and turned blue! There was no time to call 911 so I gave him an Epi Pen. The attacks are still occurring yet milder and all his Dr.'s swear by Singulair and think I am crazy. I took him off Singulair immediately and we are still waiting for it to leave his system. I think that is why the recent episodes have been milder. He has been tested for all sorts of allergens which he did not come in to contact with prior to the anaphylactic events. We still have no answers and if I hear one more Dr. talk about how great Singulair is, I am going to freak out!! To heck with these drug companies and doctor's who get perks for prescribing medications without informing us of side effects.

I have had an excellent experience with Singulair. I am 59 years old and have allergies and a touch of asthma. Singulair keeps my allergies at bay and I no longer get sinus infections!!!! Thank you Singukair

Our son, who is now 6 was prescribed Singulair at the age of 3 due to asthma/allergies. He was prescribed this by an ENT/Allergist. I thought our sons mood swings were due to the fact that we were expecting another child. He was always so happy/loving and playful. When the baby arrived 2 months later, his behavior worsened. Again, I put it on the new baby sister in the house. His moods/anger/outbursts increased. He hit, threw things etc. I told the doc about this and he said it was due to his enlarged tonsils, and they were then removed. Well needless to say, his behavior did not change because he was still on the Singulair. I mentioned the possible side effects to his pediatrician and she said it was a possibility, but to keep him on it because he needed it. Well, 3 years later, in March of this year I took him to an allergist that I had seen years ago. He immediately took him off the singulair (and all inhalers). His moods seemed to brighten a bit, but not they are worsening again. Is it possible for the Singulair to have long term damaging effects. I understand kids have tantrums, etc. Kids are kids, I get that. But he punches, kicks, screams, cries etc. My husband are at a loss. We don't know what to do. Oh, and he is now on Veramyst as needed (march-june, Aug-Oct.). Has anyone else experienced long term effects due to Singulair?

My eldest son was diagnosed as a Severe Asthmatic at the age of 3. He was put on Flovent 110, 5mg of Zyrtec and Singulair. I cried thinking about my little guy having to be on daily meds for who knows how long. I decided that I would just try the Zyrtec and Flovent 110, it worked wonderfully. When my eldest was 4, my other son, 2, was put on Flovent 44. Never gave them to my youngest because I knew it was not asthma. I ended up lowering my eldest's dose to the 44 and giving him 1 puff a day with the Zyrtec, he is now 7 and is still under control. As for my younger son, he was not asthmatic, he had sleep apnea, had his tonsils and adenoids removed and is now perfect. Just be careful with these doctors, they seem to diagnose these little ones too quickly......most of the time they are not even right. My eldest went through many many doctors before he was finally diagnosed in the ER and sent to peds for 2 weeks. My youngest went through many doctors too, none would do anything, I had so many excuses as to why my son was such a heavy breather and why he had difficulty swallowing and sleeping. Sorry guys, I ran off here, just want you guys to know that all that are diagnosed with asthma do not necessarily have asthma and I believe way too many drugs are prescribed for these little ones.

My son has been on singulair for 4 months now to control his asthma. It has done wonders in doing what it was intended to do, however, he's experiencing all of the side effects that the other parents are listing on this site. I threw his singulair in the trash a few nights ago after my son had a complete emotional melt down; which I could easily see he had absolutely no control over. I knew the drugs were changing his personality a bit, but I thought it was just the price we had to pay to keep him out of the hospital. My gut told me never to give him the meds because I had heard about the suicidal tendencies associated with the drug, I just knew I had to watch my son closely (plus he's only 3). I have 3 boys, and the one with asthma is my mild mannered, never gets in trouble, as close to perfect as a child can be. He's been saying "poop" and "pee" uncontrollably along with aggressive behavior toward his brothers and he would cry for no reason at all. His sleep patterns had changed as well, which I now know are due to nightmares - I even found him hiding under his bed a couple of times. I do not know why this drug is approved for children, but after reading the other stories I realize this seems to be the standard instead of the exception. I hope they pull this drug off the market before any more kids get hurt. I feel like I have poisoned my child - I will definitely be spreading the word on this. Anxiously awaiting for this medicine to leave my sons body so I can have my sweet little boy back.

I have been taking Singulair for 10+ years. My asthma is controlled. Up until this drug assisted with Pulmicort my asthma was very difficult to control. I am 53 and healthy otherwise.

I have experienced problems with my knees in recent years as arthritic pain and tearing a meniscus. However, this joint pain continues. Similar problems anyone?

Our 19 month old son was diagnosed with RAD (reactive airway disease) and our pediatrician is very hesitant to call what he has "asthma". His two bouts of wheezing were both associated with viral respiratory infections. However, after this infection and the seasonal allergies he seems to have, the dr. prescribed Singulair (4mg granules) to us to help control our son's wheezing and coughing. After being on it three days, he's not the normal laid bad but energetic boy that we know is ours. He's mean...he's aggressive...and he's biting so much at daycare that they have assigned one person to shadow him all day long. We took him off of it yesterday, so we're now 24 hours singulair free. I'll post any differences we see in a few days, but for now it's our firm belief that Singulair is what is making the difference.

My 11 year old son started singular in March of 2009 for exercise induced asthma. Within weeks he started having symptoms of heartburn - which he had never had before. I brought him back into the dr. mid June- they said wasn't related to singulair and actually increased his does from 5 mg to 10 mg. Since increasing his does, he started experiencing, daily headaches, stomach pain, leg cramps, night sweats w/ shaking & overall FEAR. Last night he was in tears - he kept saying there is something seriously wrong with me - I can't stand feeling this way he was afraid he was going to die and didn't want to go to sleep.

Last night I did my own research and found this board. THANK GOD!
He didn't take his singulair last night & he never will again.

I called his dr. this morning to tell them I think he is having negative side effects from singulair. They actually told he it was "HIGHLY UNLIKELY" his symptoms were related to singulair and NOT TO STOP USING IT. They instead said I should start giving him pepcid. I told them he had stopped it - for good and that we need a plan B for is exercise induced asthma. Looks like my plan B is finding a new Dr. that isn't in bed with Merck.

Has anyone had any experience with a NATURAL approch to controlling exercise induced asthma?

Our 11 yr. old daughter was prescribed with Singulair. She started taking it today with much hesitation from her parents. She was on this medication years ago for her mild asthma, but her mood swings/depression were terrible. We have a new ENT now and he promises that the mood swings/depressions are NONSENSE and that these rumors were put to rest years ago. We will be watching her side effects closely, but my question is if Singulair helps so much, what other medication can someone take that does not have these side effects? What is the alternative? She is also going to see a pediatric pulmonologist in August.

My eight year old son was diagnosed with mild asthma by our GP and was taking Ventolin for a persistent cough. When this didn't relieve the cough the doctor prescribed Singulair. He started the Singulair in March 2009 and within 2 months we realized that his personality had dramatically changed. It has taken us a while to figure out what was going on because eight year old boys are starting to assert themselves more and I think the side effects have been escalating over the last month. He was angry most of the time, very hateful towards his siblings, saying very dark, nasty, hurtful things. He argued every time we asked him to do something and would snap into a screaming inconsolable emotional wreck at the drop of a hat many times a day over trivial or imagined problems. He was having nightmares and bursts of hyperactivity that were overwhelming. He told us he felt frustrated all the time and hated everything. When we tried to calm him he was unreachable. Just yesterday he had his fist clenched and pulled back ready to punch me when I was trying to help him with a computer problem. He was shaking and his face was contorted with rage and he just wasn't my little boy anymore.
It has been devastating for our family and we were ready to take him to a psychologist. He is normally an incredibly considerate, perceptive, loving child, highly intelligent, helpful and fun loving with a great sense of humor.
He has also complained of leg pains and has been wetting the bed again. It was only yesterday that I began reading about other people's side effects and have taken him off Singulair as of last night. Whilst he has still been argumentative today already the aggressive intensity seems to be easing.
I am absolutely mortified that I allowed this to happen to my son and my family and I am so grateful to others for sharing their experiences.
We still need to address his asthma and will make an appointment with a specialist next week, but given his asthma is so mild he should not have ever had to suffer these side effects.
I only hope now that he has not sustained any long term effects and that his younger brother has not been scarred by the truly horrible things that my son has said to him.

I am so grateful for this website. I found it in early of 2008. At the age of 11 my son went on Singular for mild asthma. He started taking it in November of 2007. Slowly we noticed different complaints he was having. The first was that he couldn't sleep. He was having nightmares. This had never been a problem. He started losing weight. He was complaining about leg pains and headaches every day. By February 2008 he had lost 15 pounds. This is drastic for an average weight 11 year old. They did blood work and everything came back normal. He started bruising very easily and all the other complaints were still there. His mood was very irritable and he is the most quiet gentle child you will ever meet. With new aches, bruising and the weight loss we were getting very frightened. They did a cat scan and more blood work in early April. Still, thankfully, they found nothing. No terrible disease or cancer was found.

When I saw this website and the posts with similar side effects we took him off Singulair. The symptoms went away. He gained back the weight he had lost and each day the symptoms starting going away. Things have been great every since. I can't believe a medicine did all these terrible things to my child.

I have no idea what most of you are saying. My son has cronic severe asthma and there have been times where he has been close to dying. He is 8 yrs old and been through a lot more than most people have been their entire lives. He has been on singulair for about 6 or 7 yrs now and he hasn't any problems with side effects that any of you are talking about. Before he was put on singulair controlling his asthma was almost impossible. For the parents who have not given ao have just stop giving their children their medication just like that. You should talk to you doctors because I know first hand how dangerous asthma can be. If any parent has ever had to rush their child to the ER and then you child was put into the icu for weeks at a time. You will think you lucky stars there is a medicine like singulair out there. Thank You for letting me share my story.

My 4y/o son has asthma that was not well under control, so the doctor put him on Singulair and Flovent about 2 months ago. In the first few weeks, he started having severe leg pain. He would be up at night crying. I would massage his legs till he went to sleep. He also started soiling his underwear with small thick amounts of stool multiple times a day; despite the fact that he has large soft bowel movements at least twice a day. His asthma has been well controlled since the start of the medicine. We stopped the Flovent 1month ago to see if the Singulair would continue to control his asthma, which it has. We adjusted his diet, since the doctor attributes his stooling to constipation, which has not helped. He is now frequently peeing his pants and frequently complains of arm and leg pain which comes on suddenly and seems to last for 5 to 15 minutes. I am going to take him back to the doctor for a full check up to rule out anything more serious, such as a spinal tumor, but till then I am going to stop the Singulair and see how things go. I wanted to stop it as soon as the incontinence started, but was afraid of his asthma flaring back up. Is flovent causing anyone's kids any issues. My son also seems to be having trouble getting his words out.

hi i am 39 year old male from uk just stopped taking singular 10mg
been on this drug for about 3 years now side effects have been bad circulation in my legs can only sleep about 2 hour at night then get up
again find it very difficult to get off to sleep feel tired alot of the time my eczema never seem to heal like it use to i cant see no difference with my asthma since being on this drug.
my side effects are tiredness ,rash,irritable,weird dreams and bad circulation in my legs

My name is Eric, I am 16 years old, I have been taking singulair for about 8 years I think, I was never one for having bad dreams, but that all changed. (right now) I searched on google "Singuliar bad medicine" and I found this forum. I am very happy to know that Singulair could be the reason why I frequently have dreams of myself being killed or people I am close to dying.

When I grew older, I realized that the dreams I had did not match up with any thoughts I had the previous days, this is when I began experimenting with Singulair. I would take it as prescribed, then not take it for X amount of days and would see what happened. After not taking it for 2 days in a row, I slept soundly through the nights and had no dreams at all.

I tell you this now, in hopes that it's not too late.. If you or someone you know takes Singulair, GET RID OF IT. The bad dreams I had were so terrible that often times I would lay in bed and not fall asleep for many hours because I was so petrified of what I might dream about. The dreams I had would seem never ending, and anyone who knows what I am talking about understands that having a long dream can be very painful (I have felt the greatest of physical pain, this mental agony is far beyond anything I could have ever imagined). These dreams still haunt me today and not only that, but they have changed me as a person. I would wake up sometimes from a spaz attack, (arm thrust, kicking motion, because the dreams were so real). If you think mentally you are able to handle this, then continue taking singulair it works miracles, but I promise you the pain will only get worse and worse, thank you for your time, and please talk to me if you have questions, I would love to help.

I stopped taking singular, I never fall asleep in school anymore, my grades skyrocketed. I only have irritated eyes from not taking it, and sadly they hurt ALL THE TIME.

My 4 yr old son was recently put on singulair for his asthma.
He went from being a little boy who settled straight down to sleep at night to a boy who was running around his bedroom very hyper and not being able to sleep at night. After a week of this we started to give him the singulair tablet in the morning and this resulted in him getting in to trouble at school and becoming very aggressive. After 2 weeks he is now completely off singulair and I have my happy little boy back!

I am so glad to have found this site. We are taking my 2 1/2 year old son off Singulair immediately. He has been experiencing a rash on and around his ears, around his hairline, back of his neck and shoulders, down his arms to his wrists and on his face and below his chin - almost everywhere above the neckline. At first we thought it was a reaction Singulair and took him off the medication. When it didn't subside, we took him to his pediatrician's and they told us it was a heat rash due to a reaction to sunscreen and sweat. Since I have had that reaction myself, we agreed with the doctor's diagnosis. We restarted him on Singulair and the rash only got worse. We've taken him off the Singulair and will be contacting his allergy/asthma doctor immediately about this reaction. We are not sure if he has experienced other side effects - we have seen an increase in him crying when he goes down for bed and wanting to snuggle, as well as not wanting to be touched on the legs (not sure if that's due to his scraped knees or not). Unfortunately, it's difficult to get a 2 1/2 year old to tell you exactly where it hurts.
Thanks for the information - we now know that we were correct in the beginning and that our son does not have to go through this any longer and can enjoy his summer.

My husband has been on Singulair for ten years now. It was a miracle drug for us as his asthma and allergies were ruining his quality of life. Little did I know that the Singulair would have such drastic effects as well. He is a police officer who has been through some traumatic events in his career. I attributed his irritability, depression, anger, severe nightmares, heartburn, weight gain, and puffy swollen eyes to post traumatic stress disorder. He stopped taking the medication about two weeks ago after his prescription ran out and he saw the FDA report. He is once again the man I fell in love with. Now I know what has been causing all of the changes in him, and we have decided he will never take Singulair again.

My 13 year old daughter has been taking singulair for 8 months, and started suffering from severe depression 6 months ago. We intervened and prevented her from committing suicide, but barely. We never correlated it with the Singulair until a visit with her pediatrician today. I am so sad I want to cry. I am the one that suggested to her asthma specialist that she be put on Singulair. I am so fortunate her pediatrician caught this. We couldn't figure out why her personality suddenly changed.

From the FDA's "Updated Information on Leukotriene Inhibitors: Montelukast (marketed as Singulair), Zafirlukast (marketed as Accolate), and Zileuton (marketed as Zyflo and Zyflo CR)"

6/12/2009

Neuropsychiatric events have been reported in some patients taking montelukast (Singulair), zafirlukast (Accolate), and zileuton (Zyflo and Zyflo CR). FDA has requested that manufacturers include a precaution in the drug prescribing information (drug labeling).

Montelukast is used to treat asthma, and the symptoms of allergic rhinitis (sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, itching of the nose), and to prevent exercise-induced asthma. Zafirlukast and zileuton are used to treat asthma.

The reported neuropsychiatric events include postmarket cases of agitation, aggression, anxiousness, dream abnormalities and hallucinations, depression, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, suicidal thinking and behavior (including suicide), and tremor.

This information reflects FDA’s current analysis of available data concerning this drug.

Advice to patients and healthcare professionals:

Patients and healthcare professionals should be aware of the potential for neuropsychiatric events with these medications.

Patients should talk with their healthcare providers if these events occur.

Healthcare professionals should consider discontinuing these medications if patients develop neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Background

In April 2009, FDA completed its review of neuropsychiatric events, (mood and behavioral changes) possibly related to drugs that act through the leukotriene pathway (montelukast, zafirlukast, zileuton). As part of its review, FDA reviewed post-marketing reports and also requested that manufacturers submit all available clinical trial data for these products.

The post-market reports of patients on these medications included cases of neuropsychiatric events. Some reports included clinical details consistent with a drug-induced effect. In the clinical trial data submitted by manufacturers, neuropsychiatric events were not commonly observed. However, the available data were limited because the trials were not designed to look for neuropsychiatric events. Sleep disorders (primarily insomnia) were reported more frequently with all three products compared to placebo.

view replies for more information

My 4 year old daughter was taking Singulair before bedtime (for asthma) and developed vicious bad dreams. I took her off the Singulair and the bad dreams disappeared. Through web forums I learned that this side effect has occurred in many children. For the past 2 months her asthma has been completely controlled through the use of a nebulizer and inhaler. I found out the Pediatricians and Nurses and our care facility were not even aware of this side effect. Why is such a mind-altering drug being prescribed to children? And why does a medicine that produces bad dreams require it to be taken before bedtime? She was also taking Zyrtec to control allergies. Her doctor mentioned that it could be taken any time of day, so we gave her the Zyrtec in the am and the Singulair in the pm. One morning during allergy season we forgot to give her the Zyrtec in the morning, so we gave it to her at night. Five hours later she was crying hysterically! It took hours to get her to calm down, and this girl is a very happy, social, well-behaved and well-adjusted child. I stopped both medicines the next day and within one week the bad dreams disappeared. So I would also cautious parents about Zyrtec as well.

My 4 yr old son has been on Singulair for a little over a month...prescribed after asthma attack and severe allergies. He has been a different child, extremely aggressive, out-of-control, and very hyper. I am so tired of having to get on to him constantly, and am realizing he has no control over his behavior. In addition, he just suffered another round of illness, this time also had an ear infection. Now I'm reading respiratory and ear infections are also side effects, how crazy is that?! We are stopping Singulair TODAY...I feel so bad for keeping my child on this medicine at all!!

My 4 year old Son has had diarrhea from about the last 4 weeks... we have started some tests for Celiac disease but today it only occurred to me today that he has been on Singulair for about that time frame... after all the worry and reading these other storied Im even more convinced that it maybe the Singulair..
Im just hoping that someone might read this sometime today or the next couple of days to tell me if when they come off the singulair how long did it take for the diarrhea to pass. My son had is last tablet 2 nights ago ( so he has only been off it so far for one night. But he still has the diarrhea.. should it have started to come out of his system already.

I am 39 years old and very active. I have been on Singulair for about 2 years now. I did not think I had any problems while on the medication because it did help my breathing. I am now on an antidepressant (Lexapro)which I began about a year after I began the singulair. My depression however started almost a year before I actually got on the Lexapro. I had alot going on in my life so I just equated my depression to that. However I am realizing now that maybe the singulair triggered my depression. I ran out of singulair two days ago and am experiencing withdrawal symptoms, extreme tiredness, stuffy head, and I had heart palpitations last night, which I have never had. The withdrawal symptoms are why I began researching the medication because I couldn't understand how being off of it for such a short time could cause such an effect. I was on Singulair once before about 6 years ago before I retired from the military while I was at Ft Hood before I deployed to Iraq. By the time I left Iraq I was on multiple medications, Singulair, Claritin, Advair, Emergency Inhaler, When I arrived in Iraq I became ill and listed my medications. They were in shock and took me off everything except Claritin and I was fine. It wasn't until I returned home I began the Singulair again. (Why? I guess I never equated it to causing my other issues until now), I am also taking Zyzal and Lexapro. I see now that every time I take the Singulair it leads to additional medications to other things. I am going to stay off of it and hopefully be able to wean myself off of the Lexapro as a result. Unfortunately I probably will still need to take an allergy medicine. Thanks everyone for posting this useful information. I have two kids 6yrs and 12yrs and I know now that they will never take this medication. They have allergies like me so it is very probable that eventually it would have been mentioned. The allergist/asthma doctor is adamant the 12 year old has asthma but I never gave him the advair that he wanted him to take because I did have side effects from that medication that I did recognize myself and my son is the fastest runner on his select soccer team and extremely athletic without it, no emergency inhaler needed or anything.

Our daughter is now 5 1/2 and has been taking singulair since she was two, when she was diagnosed with asthma. She also has a slew of food and environmental allergies. It was not until she started taking Advair that her asthma became controlled. Her allergies still seem to bother her occasionally. I feel since her asthma is under control why take two meds? I did not refill her Rx and we are on day two of no Singulair. She's had headaches for two days and feels lousy. After reading the side effects of this drug I may now have answers to the headaches she'd get often and the moodiness and the sleepless nights and the deep dark circles under her eyes and the diarrhea. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks, although I agree that dose of antihistamine now and then is much better than all this other nonsense!

May 25th, 2009
11:20 A.M.

Started Singulair 5/14/09. Within last week or so started having extreme pain in shoulders, hands (especially thumbs), wrists and hips. Put ti down to arthritis. Pain has been getting worse every day. Thought it was a food allergy so stopped eating fruit and have cut out all sugar. Yesterday realized that pain has increased so it wasn't the food. It suddenly dawned on me that it could be the Singulair. Stopped taking it last night and am already much better. Still some pain but not so excruciating.

About a month before my Dr. gave me Advair. After a few days on it, I went to bed and thought I was having a heart attack. Pain across my back and down my arms, up my neck and across my chest. This happened 2 nights in a row and decided to stop taking it. Called my MD and he said to stop it immediately. However, he thought it really might be my heart so I had an echo cardiogram and stress test. They said my heart was perfect. After 2 days off the med had no more trouble..

My take is that these "air" drugs are not for me. My MD is on vacation and won't be back until Wed. I will speak with him then. Hopefully by then all paij will be gone. Will post again to report results of stopping Singulair. Reading all these posts also made me realize my depression, irritability and crying has probably been a result of this drug.

By: Fed Up

I took Singulair for about two years. I had developed these now known to be side effects but at the time nobody including the FDA was either aware or honest about the aggression, agitation and other side effects. I assumed this was all due to stress in my life and since it came on so gradually I did not put 2 and 2 together that it was the medication. I lived for two years being an irritable stressed out pain in the you know what struggling with these major aggressive compulsions. Then I saw a story on the news that the FDA was issuing this new warning on Singulair about the aggressive, anxiety and suicidal side effects of this drug. I stopped taking it that day. Luckily my asthma had been fairly well under control, I noticed no increase in asthma symptoms. What I did notice was I stopped being irritable and constantly annoyed and angry within a few days. I am back to being a mellow person, no problems since I quit this drug. I am horrified they are giving this to children. Both doctors and pharmacists should be warning people UP FRONT of this risk.

I've been on Singulair for a few weeks now and just put 2 and 2 together. Since starting this medication my nighttime asthma has improved but I have been very irritable. I have always been a stay at home mom and wouldn't have it any other way but lately I can't stand my children or my husband. They have been driving me crazy. Every little thing they do makes me want to scream. I just want to get out of the house. My husband also tells me I'm losing my mind. He says he has told me things and I have no recollection. I am currently breastfeeding my 10.5 month old who has also been very cranky lately. My 4 year old started Singulair around the same time as me and has been whinny all day and cries a lot. We are both stopping this medication today. I wish I had researched it before we started it.

I have just started my son on Singulair about 1 1/2 weeks . ago. He is also on Allegra plus using the Nasonex. The allergist did warn about all the things that have been reported about this drug. We still decided to try it to see how he responds to it. The number one thing we have noticed is: it has really made a difference in him with his allergies for the good. As in all the things we have heard about behavior issues with others, we have seen an increase in his energy and hyperness but not enough to alarm us yet. We have decided to keep him on it until we see a difference that we feel he is in any kind of danger or anyone else. Hopefully this will not be the case, we all are just getting our exercise which we did prior with him anyways. I hope that a few more positive reports come in, taking any kind of drug you run the risk of side effects. I'm not a fan of taking them but right now they help my son breathe and enjoy being outside where kids should be playing and loving life.

I have been taking Singulair for one week now due to my exercise induced asthma and allergic asthmatic symptoms. I feel very stressed out and anxious and yell at my parents a lot. Also, I feel kind of paranoid, like I feel as if somebody is watching me at all times. It is scary because I've only been on it a week. Also, my face is red and blotchy and my acne has gone from very little bumps to full blown breakouts all over. I have a barking cough and runny nose now that the doctor prescribed it. When I cough I have a pain on my left side that feels like someone is stabbing me.

I have been on Singulair about 3 weeks and have been having mood swings, irritability, depression and nightmares. My doctor prescribed Singular after I complained about weight gain from Advair. I was diagnosed with asthma after having a bout with pneumonia last December 08.

Although Singulair has helped with my asthma symptoms, I have decided to stop using it after reading some of these postings.

I am 51, when I was a child I had asthma and it went away in my twenties. Yesterday the doctor told me I have asthma and allergies. I took 10mg singulair last night, today I have a sore throat. Is this a temporary side effect that will eventually go away?

Hi I'm a 35 yr old female i've been taken singular for several yrs now for my asthma. I let my script refills run out and in the process decided i wanted to stop taking it. I didn't think it was helping me anymore. I didn't see many of the side effects till i stopped the medicine. The first week very tired sinus and losts of headaches. The second week was hell I had fevers of like 99.9 and 100 with body aches, chills ,night sweats and terrible depression! I couldn't find the joy in me anymore at all! Didn't want to be with my family anymore I hated my life. I was also terribly nauseous and little to no appetite. I'm in my third week now the depression still comes and goes through out the day not as bad tho and the nauseous is still coming and going as well. I'm so frustrated! I would have never taken this had I known this would happen to me. Any one else experiencing this?

Hi,
My 5 year old son has been having similar problems. He was on Singulair on and off since 2006, throughout winter for his asthma and sporadically in the summer. His new pediatrician finally said to keep him on it everyday the beginning of 2009. The only reason I am here today is because I just filled a new prescription of Singulair and low and behold it had a new warning label none of the other bottles had, "Call Dr. if you experience mood changes, sadness, depression or fear." I quickly went online to read some reviews, to my horror I see hundreds of posts from other parents detailing my sons exact aggression/fear issues.

I have been having so many many problems at his school. I had to take him out of first Kindergarten because he hit the teacher a few times. In the new school he was doing ok but then it got worse, then better, then worse, then better again and so on. Maybe it was the breaks of singulair he would get. I had him meet with THREE different therapists for ADHD and they refused to conduct any further evaluations on him because they couldn't find what the problem was. The school even ordered an educational evaluation for him to see if there was a learning disability.

The teacher is always complaining that he's too distracted, doesn't sit still and is so aggressive. He is meeting all his benchmarks and is very bright but his social behavior is causing mayhem. At home his fear of things got out of control. He was scared of his lamp and would wake up screaming at the top of his lungs full of panic and fear because of the stupid lamp. He won't go to the restroom by himself because he's scared a monster would attack him etc. Since I started giving him the medication consistently everyday everything just got worse. He flips out at home, pushes hits and is snotty as all hell.

It makes me sad because I swear he tells me the same thing, "But mom I was trying so hard to be good and I couldn't. I was telling my brain to stop but it wouldn't listen. I don't know what happened." He would come home so sad, frustrated and upset. He had a few bouts of crying in the classroom too, lots of problems with aggression.

I've done the same thing, time outs, reward system, even made up "Jacob days" which were days we did whatever he wanted at home if he had a good week at school. NOTHING works..... I was at a loss until I read these reviews.

I am taking him off tonight and hope this is the end of all the aggression or at least helps a bit. I'm not going to say my son is 100%angel but he used to be much sweeter, calmer understanding and so on. I would just be happy if it helped a little. It's a shame because this medicine was helping with his asthma but at what cost. I will post an update and let you all know how it's going.

Oh I forgot to mention he has been in and out of the school nurses office this past month for stomach aches... he had a lot of stomach problems at home too. So I will see if that clears up too.

My daughter has moderate asthma with occasional severe attacks. She's been on Singulair since she was 13; she is now 24. It has definitely helped her asthma a great deal, but now, when she misses a dose, or in the most recent event, she missed several days, she becomes allot more tight and has more difficulties sooner than it was like before she got on singulair at age 13. She is back on it now after being off for 5 days and is getting some relief. I wonder if her body has become dependent on it, or so accustomed to it that she now has to have it. A doctor a few years ago, said that means her asthma has gotten worse, but I suspect the dependency factor rather than her getting worse. Anyone have that experience?/