Singulair and brain

Has anyone been in contact with any doctors, hospitals, or researchers who are willing to recognize that Singulair targets a receptor CysLT1, with known genetic variations? As you know, I have been posting that I know of researchers who are doing work about how the genetic variations can determine the efficacy of Singulair. If genetic variations cause differences in efficacy, then, of course, these variations can also cause unpleasant to very serious side effects. These seems to be some kind of disconnect. How can the genetic component be recognized in the area of efficacy and ignored in the area of adverse drug reactions?

i am really glad i found this site, and got to really understand what may be my problem. its the SINGULAIR, i really believe. i will share my story so no one has to go through what i have been going through. (i just stopped my medicine a day or two ago, so i will repost and see if i start seeing changes in my behavior) well first off i am 19, and i started taking singulair when i was a senior in high school, so about 2 years ago. i didn't see any noticeable changes for awhile, except for probably a year now, a little more or a little less. for this whole time, i have not been sleeping, i wake up 3-4 times a night, fully awake and can never fall back asleep for hours. its almost like my body tries shutting down, but my brain never does, i have the craziest dreams, most of them are me suffocating or not getting enough air, which are really scary. I have been having really bad anxiety, panic attacks, basically i have been just feeling like i am going to die every second of the day. the feeling of being trapt inside my own body. it seems like every month it just gets worse and worse. i cant focus, i don't go to school, i don't work, and i believe its from the side effects of this medicine. i also always feel so tired, and so weak, i cant even look through a clothes rack without my arm aching. i have been having a hard time breathing, which is odd seeing its supposed to help me breathe, i have been sick at least once a month, through this whole time i have been going to my Dr. at least twice a month or more, telling her my symptoms, i even went in their one day crying i was so scared. and she just kept telling me, its probably all in your head, this, that and the other. she even put me on probably 10 different medicines trying to see which one would help. and of course none of them helped anything. I started thinking, and feeling like i was going crazy, what was wrong with me? i wondered constantly. For a couple months now, i figured i had to take it into my own hands to figure out what was wrong, seeing this Dr. doesn't seem to understand me. I looked up every disease or problem imaginable, and had blood tests done, but every thing came back normal. i didn't understand what was going on, every month i just feel worse and worse, lately i have been telling my mom i just want to die, that i cant keep living my life this way, of course i would not do this for the fact that i couldn't do that to my mom or my little sister, or anyone, but it feels like it would be easier then dealing with everything i have been. along with everything else i was/am feeling, i also feel a lot of hate toward myself, i feel like i am not good at anything, and i feel very ugly, sometime i don't even want to leave my house, because i just feel disgusting. Finally, a couple days ago, my little sister which is 10 and really smart i may add, was watching TV and they happened to have a commercial for SINGULAIR. she told me that everything i have been saying that was wrong with me (she hears me complaining a lot about all my problems to my mom) were all the side effects from SINGULAIR. of course i wanted to know more about this even though i have taken this medicine for awhile without any of these problems, i started researching and realized that all of my symptoms happened to be the side effects from singulair. and then i started reading other peoples stories about it, and about linking it to suicides and everything. i told my mom and i told her i wanted to stop the medicine right away, at least just to see if this is what it was all along. i haven't taken it for 3 days now i believe, and i already see a difference, i actually get tired now instead of staying up reading till 5 in the morning, and i haven't been waking up at all during the night. i am pretty angry that my dr. couldn't figure this out, or at least maybe even think about it. for awhile i thought i was honestly going crazy, i lived in fear for so long that something was extremely wrong with me, that i haven't lived my life the way i should of, or wanted to. i never thought that it was just the EXTREME side effects of this medicine. i am so thankful for my little sister listening to all my complaints and all my anger toward myself, and actually putting it together that it would be my medicine that was supposed to make my asthma better. as i said its only been a couple days and i already feel better, i will repost to tell you if im back to my "normal" self after being off this medicine for a longer period of time. i feel so grateful for my little sister, who would have guessed she would tell me what a Dr. couldn't even think about. i really feel that if i get back to my normal self, i really have her to thank for saving my life. <3

My seven year old son has been on singular for over four years. He talks a lot about death. He constantly cries about his dead grandmother which he never knew. He is a very smart child and lately I have realized that something bothers him. He is starting to cry often and feels very depressed. This is what he says when he cries: “My brain thinks bad thoughts about you, (mom and dad). Mom, I really love you and daddy, but my brain does not listen to me. My brain tells me bad things about you like to get a knife and stub you to death, or get a gun and kill you. Please mom make my brain squish the bad juice away and live only the good thinking on it. I know that you love me but my brain tells me different.”

My son is begging for help and every day he tries so hard not to have bad thoughts. He tries to hug us and kiss us a lot, but I see on his little eyes that something is wrong. The first time this thing happened I thought maybe a TV show or something made him think so. I am becoming very worried about him and started research on the computer. I don't know what causes his depression, but I know for a fact that he is depressed. He is our only son and gets all the love and attention.

Although he has been on singular for a long time, I have given it to him regularly only the last five months, since his doctor urged me to do so. Before I gave him the singular only when his allergies acted up. When he got better I would completely stop it. I didn't know anything about singular, but I don't like using medicine, and that is the reason I did not use it regularly.

My son has other similar behaviors that are out of his character like no desire to raise, get angry, worry that I would die, behavior problems at school, he thinks he is stupid although he is a straight A student, has nightmares, is scared that he would die, can't concentrate, is scared to be by himself etc.

It brakes my hart to see my baby being depressed. I will stop the singular to see if he will get better. I pray to God he will.

English is my second Language. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I wrote about a year ago. My 17 year old daughter was suicidal and horribly depressed during the year she was on Singular. Her asthma doctor had seen this is girls her age and took her off it immediately. Turns out it was not even helping the asthma as she improved on only Asthmanex.
She got better after being off Singluar 2 weeks but was never the happy, outgoing girl she had been before she started. She is now suffering again form an episode of major depression.

Are the effects of this drug permanent? She got so much better after she stopped it, it was like I had her back, almost. She never made ti back the whole way.
I filed a post-marketing MedWatch adverse drug report form one year ago. It is the only way we can prove what is going on. I used to be a certified clinical research co-oridinator. The FDA can't know unless we tell them. Please let them know what a dangerous drug this can be.

My son (now 6) was put on Singulair at 8 months old for asthma and has been o it since. He has never had an appetite and is quite underweight. He complains of stomach pains and headaches daily. At age 4 he was sent to a pediatric GI and neurologist and any brain or gastro issues were ruled out. No one could figure out what was wrong. He has sensory issues and just recently was referred to a psychiatrist for occupational therapy. It was at this appointment that it was suggested that the Singulair is responsible and since he has been on it for the majority of his life we were unable to make the connection. He has been off of it for 2 weeks now and has not complained of headaches or stomach pain at all. His eating habits are slightly better, but not great. Hopefully his appetite will improve over time. I wish we had only known sooner. I feel like such a terrible mother!

the pediatrician prescribed singular for my dd when she was 12yrs old for her asthma. she described it as being safe. that same year dd started having problems in school and seemed depressed. I talked to the doctor about it thinking maybe it had something to do with her adhd medication. the doctor thought maybe it was just normal teen behavior and dd trying to adjust. eventually we took dd to a therapist and things seemed to get a little better. then dd started complaining about stomach pains, she talked about strange dreams at night and would wake up in the middle of the night. Then the tantrums started, wild out of control tantrums. she would scream, throw things, destroy things, she talked about wanting to die, how she hated her life. again I went back to the doctor her adhd medication was adjusted and I also got her back into therapy. therapy was helpful but we continued to deal with the wild tantrums. we kept trying to seek help and answers but to no avail. we were beginning to think dd was suffering from a mental illness. the doctor told us to keep an eye on it and the next step would be maybe putting her on more medication. In the meantime dd became anxious, she had an anxiety attack at school, she would get in arguments with her friends and become very irrational, she continued to be angry at home, she destroyed things in her room and punched a hole in the wall. When I would look in her eye she had the look of a wild animal. my doctor began to think it was merely teen rebellion and we needed to get tougher with her. Never did it ever cross my mind that it could be something with singular till I heard about the study on the news then it all clicked. before singular my dd was an above average student who was liked by teachers and students alike. teachers talked about how well behaved she was and she was a leader. she was very active in various activities at school. Now she has become nervous and suffers from anxiety attacks, she has out of control tantrums and anger. her friends frequently avoid her or her calls because she has become so moody and angry. she frequently complains that her stomach hurts and feels like she's going to be sick. she screams and talks about wanting to die and that we don't love her. till today I had considered this drug to be safe and very useful in controlling her asthma but after doing more research i'm beginning to wonder if it's worth the risk.

My three year old daughter was on in as a baby and it was great for her asthma. I stopped it for a year and now she is 3 and has started it again about two weeks. She sleeps at least 12hrs a night and has a nap. This is someone who slept maybe 8hrs a night and never a nap. Actual the sleep is so much its kinda worrying me. I have a hard time even waking her up. What should I do?

My 3 year old is on 5mg of singular daily for her constant allergy issues and has had NO trouble at all with it. Her personality has not changed.. she's happy, outgoing, friendly and MUCH better than she was before she started the medication. Prior to starting she was constantly dripping from her nose, she had both ears filled with fluid, had bags under her eyes and was tired and grumpy all the time, due to allergies we could not get under control with other over the counter or prescription meds. Since being on Singulair she's been 100% better than she was. I'm sad to hear that others are having so much trouble with it, but I can say that I am happy my little girl is feeling better.

I have a 4yr old boy who has been on singulair for 5 months. Before he began singulair he was the most happy, kind, gentle, loving boy. We had an awesome close relationship. I enjoyed just sitting there watching him play. I could not wait for him to learn something new, but EVERYTHING has changed now. I took him off of singulair on Sept 19, 2008 after accidentally running into this site while looking up children and OCD. Thank God I did. It has been 12 days since I found this and took him off. I couldn't type then because I was to upset. My son who never had ANY mental problems or anxiety is now completely riddled with it. Instead of playing all day care free like 4yr old are supposed to do, my son spends his days now clinging to me in fear that I may leave or go into a room without him and he will not be there to open the door. He obsessively has to open every door now. He spends his days getting upset at the smallest things. He now gets mad at everything I say, or I don't say it right. Our relationship is not the same now, and I am devastated. Before Singulair he slept through the night every night. Now he wakes up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom and say "are you still there mom?" ok "I love you" "Don't let the bed bugs bite" I have to answer "I love you to" and "you either" If anything different is said he will go nuts, and he will obsessively say this over and over and over again. This is not my son. He is a totally different person. I am so very scared that this poison has permanently ruined him. I mean he is so young and his brain is developing. It has been developing with this poison in it, that has ruined him. It has been 12 days and he is still doing the same ocd stuff. He still seems really agitated. His muscles hurt, his tummy hurts, his eyes hurt, his ankles hurt, and he has diarrhea. My beautiful boy is now mentally and physically SICK because of singulair. I feel really bad to, because I did not know at first that the singulair was causing this and I was always getting on to him for his behavior and putting him in his room. At pre-school a couple of days after first giving singulair to him he started crying ALL DAY at school, and I made him stay there because I thought it was just because he had gotten a new teacher and he needed to get used to her. I feel terrible!! Does anyone know if the ocd will go away or has he now learned the behavior?

I just came across an article on the online "Huffington Post" by Dr. Doug Bremner, who researched the connection between accutane and depression, called "If Prescription Meds Don't Kill You They Might Drive You Crazy" He explains the link between Singulair, Leukotrienes in the brain and depression. There are numerous articles by him as well that are definitely worth reading.

Jenna M.
Parents United for Pharmaceutical Safety and Accountability

I am a parent of a 14 year old son. He has been on many meds due to having migraines, adhd, seizures, and asthma. For 3 years his ADHD meds have been switched. Now Thanks to a friend she told me about singular side effects. OH MY GOD. it blows my mind reading this stuff. He has been on singular for 3 years and never once did I think all these problems were caused by that drug. Flipping out over the smallest things, arguing with us his parents, his friends, being mean to us and a real smartass, depression, and MAJOR attitude. Getting upset over nothing at all then crying for no reason What was his Dr. thinking? Needless to say, I took the singular while she was telling me this stuff about her own son, and threw them away, I will never allow my son to take that shit again. I hope in three days like all of you say, that my son will be that loving, caring, friendly person he use to be ! Singular free is how he will be!!

I have just come across this website and I am so upset. My 10 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 8 years. Since she was 2 years old. About 3 years ago I spoke to her pediatrician about the fact that I was concerned that she had been on it for so long and about the possible long term side effects. She brushed me off and told me that there weren't any.

Over the years she has complained often of stomach aches and pains. We even had her on Miralax for a couple years because the Dr. was sure it was constipation. The last couple of years she has been complaining of leg cramps and I sort of brushed that off as "growing pains."

She is extremely emotional and has serious mood swings. I even asked her Dr. about ADD and she said it was just her personality. I am almost in tears typing this because I have no way of knowing if her actions are because of her age, her personality, or because of this medication. She has been on it for so long that I wouldn't know what her personality would be if she had never taken it.

Her asthma tends to be seasonal and she hasn't had an attack in years. I took her off the meds as soon as I read about the disturbing side effects that hit too close to home. I am upset that her Dr. never warned me about these side effects (that were not listed on the label) and didn't take my concerns seriously.

She is very small for her age and I was concerned that the medication may have stunted her growth....little did I know there were so many other dangerous side effects. I just hope and pray that she doesn't suffer any long term negative effects from this medication that I have given her, thinking I was helping her.

In response to Wewe's post, I've been wondering the same thing. Since taking my daughter off Singular almost 2 months ago, I'm seeing a different almost typical kid. Four years ago about 2 months after starting Singular my daughter was diagnosed with anxiety. As her condition got worse she was diagnosed with depression. We started to see OCD and tics so they were added as a diagnosis It was determined that it was related to strep infections so she was diagnosed with PANDAS. She was started on Zoloft and klonidine. The Zoloft made her worse. Her fears of hurting herself got so intrusive she was hospitalized. Her cholesterol was high too. The Zoloft was discontinued and Prozac was started. She's had therapy all 4 years. She also neede physical therapy due to muscle and joint pain. Now she's doing better, off Singular. Does she really have PANDAS, OCD? I don't know. She's still on Prozac, we just did a slight decrease this week. Is this medication the trigger for underlying conditions. Learned behaviors can be unlearned, but are there lasting physical effects? If a gene has been turned on, can it be turned off? I wish we knew the answers to help all of our kids.

I'm seeing some posts from parents who say their children have returned to normal after discontinuing the use of this medication. However, there seem to be a lot of diagnosed "ADHD" or "BIPOLAR" conditions. Are your children really returned to normal? Or have they been diagnosed with a psychological issue and are receiving treatment? There seems to be a connection here, even after discontinued use, especially male adolescents. Any thoughts?? The increase in cases of ADD, ADHD, AUTISM, etc has been multiplying at a very disturbing rate in the last 10 years. I'm thinking definite connection to the "new" breed of "receptor blockers". What is it triggering? Any thoughts out there? Lets post anyone with similar cases and see how many are out there.

I have only been taking singulair for about a month. I have noticed that I have become more irritable, grouchy, hateful and just numb, not really wanting to be around anyone, not caring about anyone else's feelings much. I also noticed I have become extremely lethargic, to the point of falling asleep at work as well as heart palpitations and stomach pains. I just started new birth control pills so at first assumed they were causing these side effects, that is until I looked up the side effects of this drug! I have over half of the side effects so I stopped it immediately and can already tell a difference in my mood. I have to sons age 11 and 14, both who have asthma and allergies. The took this medication for a few years with no side effects but have not taken it for about a year now. My youngest son however, has been diagnosed with ADHA and ODD and possibly BiPolar disorder. As I read the other posts, I realize the description of how their children act while on this drug is exactly how my son acts. I wonder if there can be irreversible permanent damage from taking this medicine? He has been on a number of ADHD drugs, none have helped except to make him stop eating and lose weight and he is small for his age, so I have taken him off everything. Has anyone else out there experienced what could be permanent damage from this drug in their children? Even after being off the drug for a year or so? If it could make me miserable within a month, what can it do when one takes it for years? Its sometimes hard to tell the effects of medicine on small children. My son prob starting taking it around 4 yrs old and took it til he was about 8 or 9. Just wondering if anyone else out there has had this happen to them or their children.

My 9 year old son only took Singuliar for about 5 weeks. He had side effects almost immediately, he was so aggressive, angry all the time, headaches, stomach ache and feeling like he was going to throw up, bad nightmares, a horrible rash, biting his nails, not focusing in school and got into trouble all the time, no appetite but his little body seem puffy all over. He has been off this medication for 3 months and he is still not 100%. He cries at little things and still has the same rash and with meds it is not going away. He had to change schools as he still was having problems in school. He just seems like he is not the same little boy and something is just not right. I do not know what to do at this point. Doctors say it should be out of his system by now, but if it is than there is permanent damage to his brain as he is just not the sharp little guy he was. We have had to take him out of all sports. Anyone else having these same problems???

I took my son off Singular a month ago, some slight improvements with the sleep and behavior problems. I voiced my concerns with my doctor twice now he looks at me like Im crazy and then he goes on the PC and says he cant find any of these side affects im talking about. My son was an appointment to see an allergist specialist.

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.

I am posting the metabolism profile for montelukast. Maybe someone here has chemist friends who might know if it is possible that the dicarboxylic acid major metabolite could also have been derived from quinolinic acid under metabolic circumstances less than ideal. The quinoline ring, is a benzene-pyridine. Quinolinic acid, a dicarboxylic acid with a pyridine is produced by the oxidation of quinoline possibly by acid hydrogen peroxide. So the only structural difference between the dicarboxylic acid mentioned in the study as the major metabolite and quinolinic acid is nitrogen. Fascinating drug Singulair. Macrophages (immune cells) make quinolinic acid and release nitric oxide in order to kill micro-organisms. Quinolinic acid a neurotoxin.

Unless you are someone who plans to get help from experts, I would ignore this post. In my opinion, the only way that real answers will come from the investigation is that there is a provable chemical reason that the brain is affected by Singulair. I just post what I find and hope that eventually there will be experts who can explain why people are having such problems. I am unable to draw any conclusions from the report below.

dmd.aspetjournals.org/.../1/1996&journalcode=dmd

OH and to those of you have taken the time to read these posts and have posted your own accounts and have not been offensive. Thank you! I appreciate you increasing awareness. Concerned citizen I am very thankful that you have done so much research. It has been very useful to me!

These posts about contacting a bad viral infection while the immune system is suppressed by Singulair are particularly worrisome. This was from 2007 so it has nothing to do with the FDA investigation. Epstein Barr causes some really bad illnesses including lymphoma.

The scary part is that children are the most susceptible to viruses. They need to develop immunity at a young age that will build up over time to levels that will protect them for the rest of their lives. Why are we giving children a drug that will suppress the leukotrienes? Why do we think that it is okay to take away one of the bodies defense mechanisms? Wouldn't it be logical that a drug that suppresses the immune system is a last resort option not handed out like lollipops?

www.iddb.org/drugs/singulair/ - 243k
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Anonymous Immune System Dysfunction September 13th, 2007

Do users of Singulair and Advair understand how these products work? In order to understand how they work, you must first know what happens in the body during an allergic attack.

Allergic response is a function of the body's immune system. When an allergen enters the body through the nose or the lungs (e.g., a bit of pollen or cat dander), it is recognized by the body as a foreign substance, and the immune system then produces histamines to fight the intruder. Singulair and Advair work by disabling the body's immune system, so that there is no allergic response.

I too thought these drugs were wonderful. I was on both Singulair and Advair to combat asthma from my new husband's cat. I took high strengths of these drugs for approximately three years.

During the time I was on these drugs, some disease entity, most likely a virus (e.g., Epstein-Barr, Herpes Simplex I, HTLV I). I have been sick with a fever for the last four and a half years. My immune system seems to have been permanently impaired, and every organ in my body is now compromised. I have a fever, night sweats, liver and spleen enlargement, digestive problems, skin infections, hypertension, rapid-onset insulin-dependent diabetes and other endocrino;ogical problems, blood cell abnormalities, and neurological problems (e.g., tremors, myoclonic seizures, muscle cramps and weakness, vertigo, incoordination).

I am about to undergo a spinal tap and other tests, looking for the causative entity. Whatever it is entered my nervous system when I had an epidural anesthetic while on these immune system depressants. I have not been the same since. I have been too sick to work. This has ruined my life.

As we have all learned from recent reports of heart damage from Vioxx, the FDA no longer has the money to fully test new drugs entering the market. The "clinical trials" are a drug's entry into the population. If it kills or sickens too many people, they withdraw it. However, the drug companies define "too many people" as a number that could potentially ruin profits through lawsuits.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't rely on the government to protect you. Before putting any drug into your body, do the research into how it works. Read comments from other users. I wish I had done that.

I'm an 18 year old male and I've been taking Singulair for years; I don't even remember when I started taking it. I've had chronic sinusitis my whole life, and use a Singulair 10mg/ Allegra 180mg combo to control it. I never gave it a second thought. From my adolescent years on, I've been able to sleep (if undisturbed) for 15, 16+ hours a night, and have always felt like I was in a fog during everyday life. Getting out of bed has always been a terrible problem for me.

Throughout high school, I became progressively more depressed and apathetic toward school work, to the point where I dropped a number of classes my junior year. Got put on Prozac for a while, it helped a great deal with the depression, and seemed to give me enough energy to get through the week. I discontinued it after a year or so, everything was going okay (aside from mood swings and tiredness- explained away as symptoms of my age/hormones/going to bed too late), and then I went to college.

I had a mild depression that I think most people get upon leaving home for the first time, but the real problem was anxiety; I had a number of anxiety attacks, and decided to transfer to a school closer to home. I started Celexa and therapy- the celexa seems to take the edge off, but I fear its making me even more tired than before.

I've just heard about the whole Singulair controversy, and I am not taking it from here on out. I really hope that this whole ordeal was brought on primarily by the Singulair. After a month or two, I'll repost to report whether the symptoms went away.

Some common sense observations about Singulair side effects. (As everything on the internet, this is only my opinion.)

Conclusion up front: Ethics in science SUCKS these day. Put enough money on the table and what happens? I don’t mean all scientists, just the few. But, the Merck ghost writers are the tip of the iceberg for those in the schm#ck category. Maybe, if we reveal the extremes of abuse of laboratory animals, the ASPCA will organize and save us all. How about if they find out about the pharma labs that just beat the cr@p out of the lab animals to produce a stress response to find out what chemicals are produced? What was that all about?? Probably military—send our soldiers out to war over politics/oil, then we will have a pill to give them every night to put them back together again for the next day??

1.The cysLT1 receptor, which Singulair blocks, is a gene, found on the x chromosome (?), part of our inherited innate immune system. It is evolution. The hypersensitive individual overreacts to environmental stimuli causing unpleasant or dangerous symptoms. It is advantageous to intervene to prevent that. Merck’s idea was to block cysLT1 so that the chemicals secreted by the mast cell cannot reach the tissues in the lungs and nasal passages to cause the inflammatory responses-asthma being the more severe.

2.How did Merck develop such a drug? The cysLT1 receptor , a gene, has a profile, a chemical map of the components. Montelukast, was modeled to chemically bond with the receptor so that it does not function. That bond will endure until the liver enzymes break it down. Montelukast blocks the leukotriene response until it is time to take another pill. All that sounds good so far.

3.Now comes the first of the too good to be trues. Montelukast was formulated for a specific gene profile. However, cysLT1 has variations, numbers unknown, but more than several. Even Merck recognizes that it is not effective for everyone because the clinical data shows that. Mis-matches with the gene profile can cause montelukast to be recognized as an allergen. Then, the body mounts an immune response against montelukast.

4.Many of the symptoms that we see here are allergic reactions to montelukast, headache (18%), types of neuro-muscular (10%), hives, nausea, vomiting, leg pain, stomach cramps, and more. Some people will recognize montelukast instantly as an allergen. If the mis-match is slight, the allergic reaction could be acquired or build over time. Montelukast will ALWAYS be an allergen to those people. Doctors will do great harm if they treat allergic reaction to montelukast with other drugs. Those people must STOP taking montelukast.

5.The second too good to be true, is that cystLT1 receptor, involved in the leukotriene response, is only a very tiny part of the immune system, genetically programmed to function as a WHOLE. Now what? It is highly unlikely that montelukast can block the leukotriene receptor - cysLT1 in the brain, lungs, spleen, intestinal mucosa, etc. and not cause some kind of re-structuring of the immune system to compensate for that. Those who take Singulair can expect that they are a new adaptation of human being who can operate without the cysLT1 receptor. Or, they can expect long term damage. How scary is that?

6.What would happen if Merck revealed that montelukast, by definition , cannot work for everybody because it is based on a gene profile with variations? What would happen if patients and doctors started to think about the immune system as a whole? Then Singulair – which means “single thing you need for air – breathe” the logo is even Singul-AIR, would not be the huge money maker that it is. Doctors would find a way to use it, for whom it is effective, in an appropriate way to consider the long term effects. For some people, this drug could have a place. But this drug does not deserve to be a CASH COW-money, money, money!

7.What in the heck is wrong with the FDA? Are they under a spell or hiding under a rock?

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

Our son started taking Singulair when he was 2 for severe allergic rhinitis and cough variant asthma (in addition to Zyrtec, which didn’t control all of his symptoms). He is 5 now. For the last three years, he has been an increasingly violent, difficult, defiant, argumentative, volatile child who has intense mood swings--one minute he’s laughing uncontrollably, the next he’s weeping over nothing. His doctor and therapist recommended that we see a psychiatrist to have him evaluated for bipolar disorder, which used to be unknown in children. Because he has such chronic sleep problems, the doctor also suggested we take him off Singulair (and increase his Zyrtec dose) to see if it improved his sleep issues. Within a week, he was sleeping much better and was a calmer, happier, gentler boy. He suddenly could take “no” for an answer without flipping out and trying to hurt me. We thought that we were just in an unusual, calm window that would shift either to mania or intense sadness or both, any minute. We also thought that his behavior change might be due to sleeping better. We were enjoying the rare reprieve. Over the last weekend, his springtime allergies really flared up. We gave him Singulair on Monday and by noon, he was completely out of control. I had to strap him into his car seat at one point to keep him from hurting either me or himself. It finally occurred to me that Singulair might be causing his “bipolar” disorder. Of course, we stopped the Singulair. After two days he was a new boy. Yesterday, I Googled “Singulair bipolar children” and got a few hits. I am stunned to read how similar other families’ experiences have been to ours and I feel sick that we gave this drug to our child for three years.

Here's a way out theory about my unique and to me mystifying medical situation....

I recently read where Singulair, an asthma medicine, is suspected of causing suicides, obviously an effect on the brain function. The FDA notes that over the past year, Merck has updated Singulair's prescribing information and patient information to include the following post marketing adverse events: TREMOR (March 2007), (April 2007), suicidally (October 2007), and anxiousness (February 2008). (the tremor highlight is mine since this is a major symptom of Parkinson's )

Well, I took Singulair from 1998 to 2004 and I wonder if maybe, just maybe Singulair could be a contributing factor to my strange Parkinson's but not Parkinson's problems that is
gait,
balance,
freezing of gait problems

Any thoughts or ideas on how I might follow up on my hypothesis?

Why the brain function is impaired due to Singulair????? Maybe.

Here is the last chapter in a theoretical reason why Singulair affects brain function thus causing anxiety, depression, agitation, aggression, ADD/ADHD, and in extreme situations maybe seizures. I presented the study of the Chinese researchers that show a direct link between the cysLT1 receptor and the astrocyte in the brain. We don't really know how the cysLT1 receptor interacts with receptors that control astrocytes under all circumstances. We just know that there is an important link.

So last night, I had a dream about astrocytes. I don't really have anything to do but sit on an island, look at the Caribbean and fish so mental stimulation is actually welcome.

The last part of the "chain reaction" is probably the astrocytes role in glyconeogenesis. In other words, when the brain does not get proper nutrition, it sends signals to the liver to do something about the problem. The liver in turn releases glycogen which is turned into glucose to be released into the blood stream. A very unhappy brain becomes a very relieved brain. Obviously, we can't be eating all day long to keep our blood sugar up so the liver has to store energy and release it at the correct time.

Here is a diagram of that. Astrocytes are the only cell that produce the proper chemicals for this process to happen.

http://www.nature.com/jcbfm/journal/v27/n2/fig_tab/9600343f5.html
FIGURE
Quote: All credit to the authors, of course.

Energy metabolism in astrocytes: high rate of oxidative metabolism and spatiotemporal dependence on glycolysis/glycogenolysis
Leif Hertz, Liang Peng and Gerald A Dienel

BACK TO ARTICLEFigure 5.
Next figure | Previous figure | Figure and tables index

Glucose utilization pathways that provide or consume ATP. (A) Schematic of key aspects of the glycolytic pathway of glucose utilization for energy metabolism and major branch points that can divert carbon for other uses, including NADPH generation, storage of glucosyl units in glycogen, neuromodulator, and amino acid and nucleotide biosynthesis. The most important reactions for generation of energy are glycolysis (pyruvate/lactate formation from glucose), shown in light brown and occurring in all cell types, and glycogenolysis (pyruvate/lactate formation from glycogen), shown in light green, which occurs only in astrocytes, due to the astrocyte-specific expression of the enzyme glycogen phosphorylase, which releases a glucosyl unit from glycogen as G1P. The energetically most important biosynthetic reactions are synthesis of glycogen from glucose (glycogenesis) shown in brown and green and from pyruvate/lactate (gluconeogenesis) shown in pink, brown, and green. Gluconeogenesis is also astrocyte-specific, because only astrocytes express fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase, which generates F6P from fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate (F1, 6P) and PC, which generates oxaloacetate (OAA) from pyruvate. The latter reaction is followed by formation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) by decarboxylation of OAA; this sequence is necessary to form PEP from pyruvate, an energetically unfavorable reaction. Biosynthesis of serine/glycine (shown in olive) is also an astrocyte-specific process due to preferential expression of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (Yamasaki et al., 2001). Both neurons and astrocytes form alanine and ribose-5-phosphate (R5P), the latter in the pentose shunt pathway (upper left corner), linked to NADPH production needed for operation of glutathione peroxidase and oxidation of monoamine transmitters. The MAS, indicated by red, transfers malate formed in the cytosol from oxaloacetate during conversion of NADH to NAD+ into mitochondria. PDH-mediated formation of acetyl CoA, which is also shown in red, initiates oxidative degradation of pyruvate in the mitochondria. Red and blue text for ATP indicates energy production and utilization, respectively. (B) Major reactions and net ATP yields or net ATP consumption of major pathways derived from the glycolytic pathway are indicated in color-coded boxes that correspond to the color-coded pathways in panel A. For simplicity, the scheme indicates the energy yields (ATP) and NAD(P)H production or utilization based on metabolism of 1 glucose to form one ribulose-5-P, two lactate/pyruvate, or 2 serine; a similar representation illustrates the energy and cofactors required for gluconeogenic conversion of two moles of lactate into one free (G6P) or glycogen-bound glucosyl unit. Glc, glucose; P, phosphate; G6P, glucose-6-P; 6PG, 6-P-gluconate; R5P, ribulose-5-P; GSH, reduced form of glutathione; GSSG, oxidized form of glutathione; F6P, fructose-6-P; F1, 6-P, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate; GAP, glyceraldehyde-3-P; DHAP, dihydroxyacetone-P; 3PG, 3-P-glycerate; 2PG, 2-P-glycerate; PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate; Pyr, pyruvate; Lac, lactate; Ala, alanine; OAA, oxaloacetate; 3P-HyPyr, 3-P-hydoxypyruvate; Glu, glutamate; KG, -ketoglutarate; 3P-L-Ser, 3P-L-serine; L-ser, L-serine; D-ser, D-serine; Gly, glycine; C1, one carbon fragment used for methyl donor reactions.

This is quite interesting because should the connection between the cysLT1 receptor and astrocyte be established and explained, it shows that there is a very direct link between the immune system and metabolism. That should be intuitive because when we get seriously sick, then we are laying in bed and the body should try to conserve energy so that we don't just waste away.

So what happens if we cause changes in the cysLT1 receptor to cause the astrocytes to believe that we are sick, the normal connection between the brain and glyconeogenesis then doesn't exist. We would have to be causing some kind of periods of extreme stress on the brain because we are out moving around and doing not home sick in bed.

Maybe we should award the Chinese researchers the nobel prize? Maybe they established the connection between the immune system and metabolism? Is there also a link between the immune system of some individuals and depression? Some how, this makes perfect sense. So we have to find out and help as many people as we can.

I think that it is time to call the lawyer-biochemists to find out if this can be proven to be true and if Merck knew or not.

I have to say this after reviewing two major areas:

1. the brain
2. mast cell homeostasis

I desperately wanted to be POLITICALLY CORRECT and say that side effects can be confined to the minority. God, how do you fight Merck?

In this case, it would seem that the real benefit of this drug is to those with the extreme type immune responses whose body chemistry has been altered by being hyper-sensitive to some type of "invader. Extreme can be defined as just not the average or beyond that.

So, if the truth comes out that essentially normal immune systems don't need Singular at all, then I have come clean. I certainly have doubts whether essentially normal systems need this at all.

Is there a potential explanation for the adverse psychiatric side effects of montelukast?

In my opinion, there are at least some very good clues based upon the work of the Chinese researchers.

A 2006 report indicated that they had localized (meaning found it was there) the CystLT1 receptor (same as the receptor that montelukast
Singulair blocks) in the neurons of the brain tissue of rats. In order to do that, they injected rat brain's with NMDA to cause a chemically induced state of excitotoxicity. Excitotoxicity is a common factor in Central Nervous System disease. They concluded that both 5-LOX and CystLT1 were upregulated by the excitotoxicity that they artificially created
with the NMDA. Therefore, there would be a potential link between neuron activity and CystLT1. Nerve cells are damaged by excitotoxicity. These researchers used NMDA to cause nerve damage which caused the CystLT1 to show up. NMDA was often used in human behavior studies to cause brain damage. They would then try to observe whether behavior was compromised to conclude what areas of the brain determined what behavioral response.

So I was thinking about the Chinese researchers as I was reading other posts. One post interested me particularly regarding the mother who described behavior that seemed like hypoglycemics when their snack doesn't arrive on time. So a light bulb went on. Glutamate, another excitotoxin, can build up in the brain to a level that is damaging if humans become excessively hypoglycemic. If glutamate concentration around the synaptic cleft reaches too high a level then neurons die. Clinically, it really does seem that many people experience things that sound like the effects of hypoglycemia. It could be only a coincidence. But then again, maybe not.

The Chinese researchers found the CystLT1 receptor in the rat brain neuron after brain damage. They found the CystLT1 receptor in the normal human brain in the microvascular endothelial cells and in neuron and glial-appearing cells in brain trauma or tumors.

What role does the CystLT1 play in brain function? If it exists in brain tissue, we can assume that it does have a function. If it plays a role in preventing or repairing neuron damage due to excitotoxins, then there would be a very direct link between Singulair and adverse psychiatric side effects.

http://www.chinaphar.com/1671-4083/27/1526.htm

The bottom line is that Merck owes people who take Singulair further research regarding it's effect on the brain.

I don't work for another pharmaceutical company. I don't have any competing interests. People keep asking me that. Why? Is everything about competition and money? I am getting sick of being asked that.

Frankly, I don't see how anybody could go up against all of the high powered lawyers that Merck can hire. If anybody wanted to speak about how this could happen, Merck would have people going through their doctoral dissertations looking for plagerism. Plaintiffs would have Merck detectives outside their houses hiding in the bushes. Merck private detectives would interview their friends and teachers.

All I wanted to do was to show parents and patients that they are not the only complaints. These complaints have been reported before. Whether they resulted in any serious warnings to Merck doesn't really make a difference because people know how they feel or how their child feels on Singulair.

There is nothing that we can do, in my opinion, but to believe in ourselves. We might trying writing to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands that the American sufferers must have Dutch brains--which allow montelukast to penetrate the blood brain barrier and can she do anything for us? This is ridiculous that we should be getting these responses from doctors.

From the Netherlands 2006.
In three of the cases a positive dechallenge was seen.The fact that the patients (except for one) did not suffer from depressive symptoms before they started montelukast, the short latency, and recovery after withdrawal of the drug all strengthen our hypothesis that depressive symptoms are an ADR related to the use of montelukast. According to the Marketing Authorisation Holder of montelukast, depression will be added to the product information.

Mechanism: The mechanism of montelukast-induced depressive symptoms is unknown. However, montelukast has earlier been associated with adverse drug reactions such as abnormal dreaming, nightmares, hallucinations, agitation with aggressive behavior, irritability and restlessness, which suggests that montelukast can penetrate the blood brain barrier and exert an effect in the brain .

http://www.lareb.nl/documents/kwb_2006_4_montel.pdf.

My son is 10 ½, and had been on Singulair for almost 6years to treat his well controlled asthma and allergies. We have had behavior problems with him for years, but it seems to have gotten worse this school year, when his grades (he is in the gifted program at school) went down the tubes. Our family has been to counseling, where it was suggested we put him on ADHD meds. We resisted, but things had reached the point that I was ready to give the NEW meds a try. ARGH!!!!! Then my sister sent me a link for a story about the teenage boy who committed suicide. This was several weeks before the Singulair/suicide stories were in the news. I did some research, and I started reading these posts. It was like I was reading descriptions of my son!! I talked to several pharmacists and none of them knew of any behavior problems attributed to taking Singulair. Talked to his pediatric pulmonary doc, he knew of no connection, but said to try taking him off. He thought the allergy/asthma would be OK since he also uses an inhaled steroid every day. Well........... I thought I could see a difference in 4 or 5 days, my husband thought I was wishful thinking! But, since then everyone in his life agrees, he is a different kid! No moodiness, no unexplained anger, more on task, sleeping better. I could go on and on. There is no doubt in my mind, the differences started when he stopped taking the Singulair.

I am posting an update on my granddaughterwho has been off for 2 weeks since the story broke in the news. There certainly has been a difference, she's more 'present' when I'm speaking with her, not angry, calmer and she slept through the night the other day when she came over to visit. There were actually no 'scenes' or carrying on. However, in light of the last posting I do not know how she will be affected in the long term, None of us can know that, none of us know how this drug actually works on the brain to create such side effects. I just saw a Singulair commercial on TV and almost got sick. Cody Miller's mom in her post stated that he had no behavioral problems before his death. I imagine that is true for the majority of us. My granddaughter never had the need to go see a counselor before this drug. She was a happy, normal 9-year old. That all changed in only 2 months as her mother took her to a psychologist to find out why she was acting so bizarrely. I am convinced this drug has caused untold misery and should be at least restricted to adults or at most taken off the market. This website is only the beginning at some point those who feel strongly will have to come together and organize against this giant company Merck.

I am starting a new post in the hopes that others will see what I am trying to say about the delayed reaction in those that took Singulair for allergies.

If it is consistent that Singulair does not stop allergy symptoms immediately, then the pathways that eventually stop allergy symptoms involve a change in the mast cell function, development and migration (or some combination).

I asked this question for a reason. Are allergy symptoms stopped immediatedly. My question below:

I have a question that will help me continuing looking for information. I can understand that in the case of asthma that Singulair would provide immediate relief. If it is used for seasonal allergies or other allergies without asthma, does it work right away or does it take a period of days or weeks to be effective? If it takes time, could you tell me how long it took in your situation?

My thinking was going in the right direction if the answer below is consistent of everyone or most.

about 2 hours ago on Apr 11, 2008 by catherineevans, #7045
My granddaughter was put on Singulair for allergy symptoms without asthma. Itching, red eyes, terrible congestion, etc. dark circles under her eyes all the time. When we first put her on this, we didn't see any consistent results for 2-3 weeks, then it seemed to 'kick in.' I don't know if this helps. By the way, she was 9, now she's almost 12 and was immediately taken off when this story came out 2 weeks ago.

Then after seeing one response, I gave my reason for asking.

I asked this question because I have a theory of how montelukast really works for allergies as compared to how it works for asthma.

Asthma is a hyper-sensitive state that gets going because the mast cell has a receptor (the leukotriene receptor that Singulair blocks) that sends a signal along a pathway that causes lung tissue to have that extreme response - the wheezing, the airway constriction.

On the mast cell is another receptor the histamine receptor that causes the secretions that make our noses runs and and stuff up. This is not the same immune response as the asthma response. When I saw a post that somebody's doctor said that Singulair is an anti-histamine, NO it is NOT.

So if Singulair does not block histamine immediately and your child's allergies did not go away immediately, then maybe Singulair is working through some other means such as changing normal mast cell homeostasis.
I know that this seems like "what does this mean?" I am really writing this hoping to God that there are people reading this site that know what I am talking about.

Thank you so much for responding. Your answer actually told me what I wanted to know and confirmed my hypothesis. More answers will help. I hope others respond.

PLEASE respond about the length of time that allergies disappeared if you took Singulair for allergies.

I noticed a lot of postings about weight gain on Singulair, which is nowhere listed by Merck as a possible side effect. My 15 y.o. daughter experienced sudden weight gain at the age of 9 when she was actually underweight (BMI went from 17 to 21). To make a long story short, after being off Singulair for over a year, she is now over-weight, and diet/exercise have never made a big difference (gymnastics, swim team, figure skating, trampoline, etc.) Extensive labwork is always normal & there is no family history of obesity. It's a shame the quality of life of a child is RUINED by a drug that is deemed to have "no side effects", and the many drs. & specialists out there take it very lightly. We continually worry about our daughter's self-esteem, risk of diabetes, and other complications from weight gain which is not hereditary and goes on unexplained by the drug co. Reversing this weight gain has been nearly impossible. Everytime I hear a news report about our children being overweight and obese, it makes me angry because I think about the many kids that are taking this highly prescribed drug (for even the mildest allergy or asthma) and who knows how many parents don't make the connection!

Some of you who are following this site may remember that I posted that when I was following the pathways of the leukeotriene receptor antagonist Singulair that I got to a point where I concluded that there has to be a genetic component (meaning that there are different gene groups of people) and that the efficacy of Singulair (and possibly safety) can vary depending upon what gene group people are in. So I took a little time to see if anybody else was already studying that issue. And YES, they are -- including Merck.

quote:

" However, logically one might predict that it will be the combination of the polymorphisms in these different key regulatory enzymes and receptors that may ultimately determine treatment response. There have been some attempts to tease out the possible contribution of different genes important in this pathway for treatment response to a Cys leukotriene receptor 1 antagonist.18 However, because of the number of potential gene variants that may contribute to efficacy, large studies will be needed to fully evaluate the potential contribution of pharmacogenetic variability in this pathway to treatment response to Cys leukotriene receptor 1 antagonists. Work in the cardiovascular field has demonstrated the potential importance of genetic variants in this pathway to disease risk and also to treatment response,19 suggesting the potential for important effects to be defined in asthma."

(Chest. 2006;130:1873-1878.)
© 2006 American College of Chest Physicians

Pharmacogenetics of Asthma
Ian P. Hall, DM
* From the Division of Therapeutics and Molecular Medicine, University Hospital of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Correspondence to: Ian P. Hall, DM, Division of Therapeutics and Molecular Medicine, University Hospital of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK; e-mail: Ian.Hall@nottingham.ac.uk

http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/full/130/6/1873

And Merck sponsored a study on this which is now completed.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00116324?intr=%22Montelukast%22&rank=79

Of course, it was sponsored by Merck and paid for by Merck.

I don't know if the study discovered anything but I believe this is an indication that Merck acknowledges genetic differences in populations that may predict the success of montelukast.

I am not any where close to being an expert in this field. I have another background but I believe that there are experts who can tell you exactly why you had side effects from Singulair.

Our 6 year old son is on Singular since March 2006. His smiles turned to frowns, laughter to screams, playfullness to agression. Although, he is quite bright for his age, it appears at times that he is in a fog. He says unbelievable things for a 6 year old; " I just want to die, I hate myself, you hate me don't you, I just want to kill myself, I can't stop/help myself, my brain is telling me to do it". Singular was very helpful for his asthma but, what it has done to his spirit and our lives is not worth a single mg. He is off the drug for 3 days, we pray our little "sunshine" will return to us.

My son is 8 and he has been on singulair for at least three years, maybe four. When I heard about the side effects a few weeks ago, I stopped his medication right away. I have since learned that it should be tapered off, but won't put him back on to do that. He had so many of the depression, I hate myself, everybody hates me, facial tic, stomach ache symptoms . . . Now he is almost two weeks off of singulair and he is throwing screaming fits, kicking, threatening, uncontrollable for up to two hours and more! Is this a side effect of coming off of the medication? Has anyone else had this experience? Please email me at amy-weaver4@sbcglobal.net - I'd really like to hear if anyone else has experienced these symptoms. Thank you! Amy

Well, it has been 11 days since my 8 year old daughter has been off Singulair and what a difference! The tantrums and anger are gone. She is sleeping peacefully through the night. She says her stomach no longer hurts. She also said (like a previous poster) that she feels "lighter". I didn't know what she meant by that until I saw someone else say the same thing. She completes her homework quickly and without errors. She just seems "clearer" in her brain and so HAPPY! It saddens me to think what I did to her for so many years.

After reading the other posts, I was flabbergasted at the side effects posted. My sons 8 and 10 have been on this medication for two plus years after seeing a specialist for asthma and allergies. During that time, my younger son was sent to "family therapy" for behavioral problems at school. Bedwetting and nightmares began for both boys, as well as stomach aches and a huge weight increase. They are both active and in sports. Upon reading this information on your post, I was floored when I read another child said "My brain makes me do it". My youngest son says that all the time in response to bad behavior and I never understood why he would say such a thing. After talking to him and explaining that I was taking him off the meds immediately, my older son overheard the conversation and said he wanted to go off them as well right away. He explained he's been sad since taking them and didn't know why as there is nothing to be sad about. We are a close knit family who spends all their time together. Singulair has helped my oldest son's asthma, but I'm so upset at the other side effects and not having this information from the FDA. I've spend thousands of dollars in family therapy only to find out it's the drug my physican prescribes that causes the problem. Do not take Singulair!

I read these posts and regarding my being quoted as saying that it is unclear whether there are leukotriene receptors in the brain, that isn't true, there are leukotriene receptors in the brain and the relationship between neural systems involved in inflammation and mood is well established. I don't think the misquote was deliberate, I wasnt that definitive when I commented to the reporter on the 'breaking' story (she called me because I had just blogged about it and I updated the blog after I got off the phone). There are a number of parallels with other drugs used to treat medical conditions that have been associated with psychiatric side effects, you can follow the links from the March 27 post "If they dont kill us they will drive us crazy" at
http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/blog.html

Doug Bremner MD

I just want to tell you another thing.

There are leukotriene receptors in the brain" That is the real quote from Dr. Bremner.

When I read that he said "unclear", I said, what?, are these Chinese researchers that have been saying since 2002 or maybe before just "cuckoo"?
So the media deliberately misquoted.

Dr. J. Douglas Bremner's real quote:

There are leukotriene receptors in the brain, and since this drug
binds to this receptor and since depression is mediated through the brain, this suggests a mechanism by which Singulair could cause depression. Could other drugs in this class have similar effects?
The FDA is investigating all of the leukotriene antagonists, probably with good reason.

Thank you Dr. Bremner.

I am not here to promote Dr. Bremner. I will swear that I didn't know about his real quote until less than an hour ago.

I am so pissed. Never trust what you read in the news. I read an article where Dr. Bremner said that it is unclear whether leukotriene receptors exist in the brain. WELL, all researchers know about that word unclear--it has many meanings. It appears in abstracts practically as a BUZZWORD. When I first heard about Singulair and these problems I wanted to know if the leukotriene receptors existed in the brain. Well, lo and beyond, I found researchers who said that they did. Look at the date on this link where Dr. Bremner says that leukotriene receptors exist and look at the date of the article where Dr. Bremner is quoted as saying unclear. WHAT FREAKIN BS. Dr. Bremner says on his website that they exist. Who controls what the media writes? You tell me?

http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/blog.html

Is anyone else interested in how many other medications that children or adults who took Singulair started taking after they were prescribed Singulair? If so, would you mind posting what the medication was and what kind of doctor prescribed them?

See comment by cheflette:
about 18 hours ago on Apr 05, 2008 by cheflette, #6727
Concernedcitizen, I REALLY appreciate the hard work you've done looking for how montelukast affects the brain. I think you're making an important point here. Everything we put in our bodies affects other parts of our bodies and I think these research companies forget that sometimes. You can't fundamentally alter a bodily function and expect the rest of the body to ignore it.

The scariest thing to me is that rather than removing the antagonist (in this case, Singulair), doctors will prescribe yet another drug. So many of these children are on a multitude of medications. What a mess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events (OH REALLY, YOU MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT FIND ANYTHING AT ALL THAT IS POSSIBLY CONSISTENT???)," said George Philip, director of research and product development, according to AP. "But because suicide is a life-threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label."

In a statement released by Merck, they state that in their own analysis of trials of more than 11000 patients, there was no associated risk between them taking the drug and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

If any one is following what research is being done, here is the description of the new study in children.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00540839?intr=%22Montelukast%22&rank=19

Update: Our son has been off of singulair since the 28th of March.....he had experienced most of complaints and ailments that affect other children. Since then, he is still tough to get to sleep - probably a 3 year old thing - but is better that before. He is also sleeping much more soundly and waking on the right side of the bed. He is still complaining of the leg cramps and sometimes still limping around for a while, and also complaining of stomach aches... I suspect those too should disappear after some time, however, he is no longer complaining that the lights and sun hurt his eyes. It is as though a major fog has been lifted - he is listening to us more the first time we speak rather than having to fight over things such as cleaning, or behaving. He is not as physical with us or his brother as before. And, the most important thing....he seems truly HAPPY - he has been napping all week at day care, and is proud of his accomplishment! He is focused in Karate class - listens to his Sir - engages in the activity with the other children - is more vocal and energetic....and once again PROUD! His Karate teacher - Sir - noticed an immediate difference in our beloved son - he was so surprised that Singulair is to blame - he said that our son is a complete different child without a trace of the drugged, insecure, and quiet boy he knew a week ago.
This Saturday our little boy will be testing for his yellow belt and he is so excited that he can hardly contain his HAPPINESS!!!!!

One last thought though.....I am extremely worried of any lasting mental or physical implications this drug could have on him - what does the future hold for our son - could this drugs nasty side effects cause some crazy long term side effect we have yet to see???

Wow. I can't even express how blown away I am by all of this.My son is 7 and has been on singulair since he was 2. He was moved to the 5 mg last year in March. The only difference between my son and all of your stories is that when he was in kindergarten we discovered a rather large arachnoid cyst in his brain that had to be drained. It was easy to blame some if not all of his behavioral problems on the location of the cyst. It is in the left temperol lobe. Having something in that region of the brain can cause behavior problems. His cyst was also big enough to push on his pituitary gland making him think he needed to use the bathroom all the time. He had a slight case of diabetes insipidus. During all of this he was complaining of headaches, fatigue, leg pain, the boy could not walk from one end of the mall to the other, he would melt down at the slightest provocation and turn into an angry little monster at around diner time. We attributed it to low sodium levels messing with his head, but his blood work never reflected someone who was THAT bad. After his surgery he had some normal depression, but in March, four months after, he became a different person. He was full of rage and anger and almost got kicked out of school. He broke things at home and lashed out at people, he said awful things. He was put on Tegretol, (that made him very sick) and Wellbutrin. Since he couldn't tolerate the tegretol they switched him to abilify. He still takes this. The one time we tried to take him off he went completely nuts again. Same kind of aggressive behavior, lashing out, no self control, crying all the time, very moody, saying things like "nobody loves me." My son is the sweetest person you will ever know. Before all of this, he would melt your heart with his kind words. Now he has been diagnosed with ADD, Aspergers, and has all of one friend at school. I go every day to eat lunch with him so he doesn't have to sit alone. I completely understand that my son will continue to have problems once this medicine is out of his system, because he does have other issues, but this morning the first thing he said to me was, "Mom it's weird, I don't know why but I feel so happy."
He has been off the Singulair for 6 days now. I called his allergist and he was VERY interested in all of this and wants to meet with me. He has always been so heartbroken by how my son has struggled. Don't think all doctors are bad. This one isn't. He is going to help me report all of this. He is really upset too. Of course he is older, been around for ever. I don't know. He cares about his patients. His receptionist said she thought they would be getting a ton of calls about this and I was the only one. Hang in there everyone. Alone we are quite together we are LOUD.

This is in response to Bachaman ~ Ok, everyone has a right to their two cents...even you. However, there are a couple of major differences between your OPINION, and what is happening to people with CHILDREN. We as adults all know how we feel when we take a med and feel differently from it. Children do not!!! And as adults, we do not know what our children are going through from certain meds. Myself along with many others have not even associated Singulair with our childrens behaviors. We always selected other avenues to take (ie: age, personality, changes made in their lives, etc) I am happy that Singulair works for you! But, you are an adult!!! There are certain drugs that should not be taken by people under 18 due to the body and brain still developing and they could be too much for their little bodies to handle. Look at ANY over the counter med and see the dosing instructions are very different for different ages and body weight. Everyone knows there are risks associated with taking any med. However, most of us trust our dr's, and don't question them when they prescribe things for us or or kids. Be glad you haven't had any problems, but don't sucker punch those of us that has! No amount of money in the world will change any past, so to call people ambulance chasers was a hit below the belt. From the sounds of it, you are not a parent. And if you are, your instincts aren't funtioning properly.

Ok all I have an update on Kameron. As you all know we went to the doctor today... His doctor is totally stumped by all of this going on with Kameron. He took two seizures in the middle of the night last night and then again this morning. So they are sending him to UNC to be evulated and from there we are going to be doing some brain scans and EEGs. I will be contacting UNC tomorrow to see when exactly they are going to be able to get Kameron in. So thats it for now....God bless all and hope is as well as expected right now

My son started Singulair when he was 5 for asthma. He is now 7. We have noticed that he has went from a happy go lucky boy to very sad and depressed at times. He complains of headaches, stomach aches, leg aches, and cries very easily. He has lost his confidence at times and low self esteem. We never saw this behavior before taking this medicine. He has always loved to play sports and now is afraid of getting hurt. After reading these posts, I am taking my son off this medication. He has even complained that he cannot shut off his brain at night when he goes to sleep. We have also noticed him sleep walking. He has had to get glasses for farsightedness and complains that at times he feels dizzy. His breath smells awful despite he has brushed and flossed teeth. He also was very social and we noticed that he has started acting shy when he talks to people and making no eye contact. We have worked through the behaviors with prayer and counseling, but still battle it. I am wondering if he is having reactions to this medication. I am stopping it tonight. I want my happy-go-lucky little boy back. I will repost if I notice a difference. HJ