Singulair and experiences

I wish I would have read the side effects before trying this med on my 4 year old. I've been receiving complaints from his preschool teachers in the last few weeks about him throwing things, hitting kids and adults, yelling, spitting, name calling and the length of time it takes him to calm down. He can't tell me why he is doing these things but can give me a detailed account of all he is doing and to whom and admits its wrong. I've ignored the messages he's sent me saying his stomach hurts even to the point of crying about it 1 day, complaining of headaches that he is sleepy at home and school no matter how early he goes to bed or how late he wakes, a little vomitting, eye swelling occassionaly, stuffy nose, thirst leading to increased accidental bed wetting and all this has been going on since he started the med in late July. I even took him to a child psych who said he couldn't find any reason he would act out and that he is well spoken, mannared, entertaining and knowlegeable for his age. Starting today he will never take this med again! The doctor says give him 5 days for the med to be out of his system. I hope this is the problem and feel terrible for putting him, his classmates, and teachers through this.

Please contact me if you would like to help by sharing your story with the media,I am looking for stories of recovery after stopping the medication.Please use my private email under kate2 or just reply under this posting.Kate M.

I am so thankful to have found this information!!!!! We have an appt tomorrow afternoon because of my 3 1/2 yr old daughters chronic leg pain. It hasn't fit the growing pains symptoms and I have to give her Tylenol or ibuprofen every day - she is inconsolable with pain at times. (She has been on Singulair for 2 years!!!) After reading these situations, I checked singulair's side effects which include 2 other symptoms that my daughter has all the time without explanation - nose bleeds and stomach pain!!! I am taking all this to the doctor appt tomorrow. We missed a nightly dose of Singulair once before and she had to start breathing treatments the next day, every 2 hrs for a few days until we got her breathing under control again. I am anxious as to what our alternatives are and what they're side effects may be....
Thank y'all for sharing your experiences !!!!

My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 years old and has been on it for the past 3.5 years. My son at an early age was affected by a bad marriage and then the divorce when he was 5 yrs old. So we always suspected that his behavior issues were caused by this and I had done everything I possibly could to give them the help he needed to get over and through his issues. He was held back his first year of Kindergarden and during his second year midstream he was placed in a special class for behavioral problem children. Nothing ever seemed to help him, everytime we would see some progress and encouragement we were always blind sighted by a behavior that was always worse. Two steps forward and them 5 steps backwards. I always knew that his problems would never get better overnight so I just kept on going. He was diagnosed with ADHD but because he has some ticking issues I had to put him on Strattera which was did not do a thing for him. I always described him as my Dr. Jeckyll/ Mr. Hyde child. He could be really good and sit still and behave but I think he had to try really hard to do so. He eventually was always overpower by the impulse to show negative behaviors. Defiant, extremely impulsive, always negative and completely miserable all the time. He also went through phases of compulsions. There was always a compulsion of the month- germs, bathroom habits, noises, repetitive words. He hated school and always complained of a stomach ache which i thought he was always faking to get out of school. He had confrontations in school everyday for most of the day. I often thought some of this was because of being tired all the time. We had battled over bedtime every single night. He was terrified to go to bed alone, I tried everything to get him to sleep alone. I wore myself out falling asleep next to him, I would then go to my own bed only to be up with him half the night going back and forth. I gave in many a night and slept with him just so we could get a good nights sleep. At age 8.5 I finally got him to go to sleep alone but the lights haf to be on and he has to know that I am still awake before he will fall asleep. He would always say he didn't want to go to sleep because when he does he has bad thoughts about me and people that he loves. He always had an extremely hard time excepting the word "no"- he would flip out and hit his head with whatever was handy, throw things, break things, scream holler etc. It would take hours to get over it. When he did he would be very remorseful and lovable. He was always in turmoil. Finally in February of this year, this graduated to a new level where he would want to just kill himself and would actually go and pull a knife out of the drawer and just shake with anger as he held the knife to his throat. I was terrified although i really didn't think he was going to harm himself he just wanted to scare me. Then at the end of March when i first heard the news about the possible side effects of Singulair, I had only heard about the suicide effect. Oh great just what I needed was this medicine causing him to do that. The doctor was thinking about taking him off if this summer because he wanted to see if he out grew his seasonal allergies so I took him off immediately. Well I had no idea about the other side effects until my son turned into a completely different kid. School noticed a huge difference in him! His grades went up, his is able to control his behavior, he is happy he is NORMAL. I never suspected this drug as the culprit due to the timing of taking it. Our lives have changed completely. When i first found this site, it seemed as though some of the parents were writing about my child. It is amazing. My son still has some old habits to break but overall he is a wonderful and normal 10 year old boy. He did not outgrow his seasonal allergies but Allegra seems to help in through it. I get so angry- his whole early childhood was ruined by this medicine. He is a labled kid in our school system. This whole experience has opened up my eyes. Thank you for letting me share my story.

My daughter is 4 and has allergies. Last year she was briefly on Zyrtec and I immediately noticed that she became very aggressive. This year her doctor prescribed Singular. She has been on Singular for 8 days. Her appetite has dwindled. She has complained that her stomach hurt which I thought was due to not eating. Last night, she had nightmares - screaming out in a panic. This afternoon she couldn't sleep. This evening she fell asleep in my arms. Suddenly she sat up with glazed eyes wide open and began to relive when she fell and hurt her hand a few days earlier. I thought she was sleep talking with her eyes open. She was in a total panic but appeared to be sleeping. Yet, when her dad approached she held out her arms for him to pick her up. She eventually fell back asleep only to awaken two more times with similar sceneros played out. I could not get these scenes out of my mind. Given the previous experience with Zyrtec, I looked over the side effects of Singular and the word Hallucination jumped out at me. I spoke with a pharmacist who was not aware of anything I have since read on this site. I decided to Google Singular Side Effects and came upon this site. Tears well in my eyes after I read posting after posting. Thank you, thank you to all who have posted their experiences. You have saved my daughter and our family from a true nightmare. Bless you and your family.

hi, im not sure what to do. my 3 1/2 year old daughter was today given the prescription for singulair. i voiced my concerns to the doctor after my friend telling me its no good due to the side effects.she said that there are risks and side effects with any drug you take but for some reason i don't feel right about this. don't doctors know better than this. anyway Would like to know if all the people who take singulair suffer some sort of side affects or is it minimal? or going by this side it looks like its probably best not to give it to her at all.

Our daughter is 17. She started taking Singulair June of 2000, 8 yrs ago. Upon hearing the side effects I insisted she stop taking the drug due to the fact that she also showed extreme signs of agitation, irritation & was always angry & frustrated by everything & everyone around her. Her standard comment was " I know I'm mean & rude". As a parent you know your child & we knew something wasn't right but never suspecting this drug. She as a young child never exhibited any of these signs. She was evaluated by 2 psychiatrist in these past 8 yrs., ADD was one of the diagnosis & our concerns that there may be some bipolar symptoms. After taking her off the Singulair there has been an obvious improvement that is evident to all the family members. The Singulair did an outstanding job of helping with her allergies which are severe & also contributed to multiple sinus surgeries. But the trade off? We are absolutely convinced & she is too that the Singulair had a debilitating effect on her personality. She once again talks, laughs & is such a joy & pleasure to be around. I will add that she never felt any suicidal tendencies, but just severe agitation, irritation, impatience & her reactions to situations & people around her were completely out of balance. I will always be convinced given our experiences that Singulair was completely responsible for 8 yrs. of heartache for us as her parents & 8 yrs. of misery for her.

I spent the weekend reading about the development of Singulair. The early studies recognized that the first phase of the acute asthma response bronco-constriction was probably not caused by leukotrienes. They identified histamines and prostaglandins as the probable sources. I don't think that changed because the Singulair literature states that it should not be considered as a treatment for that. Leukotrienes were a source of inflammation caused by eosinophils and mast cells present in greater numbers (than normal) in airway tissue. So, it was beneficial to find a way to decrease that.

The cysLT1 receptor was identified as source of the signals that tell the cells to produce leukotriene. The receptor, a gene, consist of 337 (they think) amino acids. They modified a compound that would bind to that receptor thus blocking the cells ability to produce leukotrienes. This compound is very specific. It was formulated to bind to the "model" receptor. This compound will not even bind to cysLT receptor sub-types. (That is the good thing.) There is an enormous amount of research that discusses the genetic variability of the chemical reactions that occur in the leukotriene (calling it this for simplicity) pathway. We are also seeing that a number of researchers would like to use gene profiles to predict whether patients will respond favorably to different asthma/allergy drugs. ALL PATIENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW IF IT IS INHERENT THAT SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT RESPOND TO SINGULAIR OR RESPOND ADVERSELY.

There are many studies from the 1998 era that conclude that montelukast is not effective for everyone. Those researchers stated that it can be predicted that those people who are going to respond favorably will do that within the first 14 days or so. That conclusion would be consistent with a genetic component for efficacy and safety of Singulair. Those doctors concluded that those who did not respond within that time frame should not take Singulair for fear of harming them. That makes good sense.

The Italian researchers wanted to know if there was more going on than blocking leukotrienes in the action of montelukast. They set up a "test tube" study regarding montelukast, the cysLT1 receptor, and some t-cells that they selected. Why? Researchers always have something on their minds. They observed the death of these particular t-cells.

Montelukast is a quinoline. We basically know of quinilines and quinolones as compounds that were invented as broad spectrum antibiotics. They work because they interference with bacterial DNA so they cannot replicate themselves. Montelukast is a quinoline modified to bind with the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) and prevent that gene from activating. That's consistent with what a quinoline/quinolone does.

So what does montelukast do in blood plasma if it does not bind to the receptor because of genetic mis-match? (If montelukast does bind, then a chemical reaction has occurred and the liver will break down the by-products. Montelukast metabolized in 10-12 hours.) What happens if it doesn't bind? How long before it breaks down? Does it produce toxic by-products?

I want to know what happens to lymphocytes such as t-cells just because montelukast is a quinoline. Maybe nothing but what's up with the Italians researchers? I want to know if montelukast has the capability to interfere with lymphocytes who can clone themselves. That could be a good thing under circumstances when these lymphocytes are causing inflammation. But it could be a bad thing in the case of normal individuals with no problems.

I want to know if the bad side effects are due to the fact that the body has to break down and metabolize a quinoline that did not bind to the receptor for which it was created. The side effects of Singulair are strangely similar to what is observed in the quinolones such as levaquin. I have not as yet been able to compare montelukast as a quinoline to levaquin as a quinolone. I am hoping to find something on these categories. There may be no reason to worry that they cause similar damage. But frankly, I think that there is. There is some terrible chit happening to some people. The scariest is the neurological damage.

All of these questions would be in the everybody pharma knows to ask category. I don't know where the answers are. I haven't found them as of yet. Maybe there are no answers. We have to remember that Singulair and Vioxx were released in the same year. They have continued to be drugs under the current executive management of Merck. If the Vioxx marketing promoters had their ghost writers, why not the Singulair marketing promoters. The genetic component appears to be widely accepted but we haven't heard one thing about even that.

I think that it is sad that maybe the marketing of Singulair as one stop shopping for asthma/allergies may have destroyed the original concept. I really think from reading the original work that they knew that they couldn't engineer a drug for one size fits all. Everybody gets harmed when information is withheld.

Shame on the allergist who yelled at the mother who wanted to discuss issues. Does he know exactly who is allergic to Singulair and who isn't? Get him a dunce hat. Just because Singulair is marketed for allergies does not mean that you cannot be allergic to it. See the power of Madison Avenue? The ad agencies focus group these drugs to death. The ad agencies cleverly craft the product information. A good piece of legislation would be to prohibit consumer drugs ads.

My 5 year old son was taking Singulair for about 2 years when I came upon this site. I immediately called his allergist and got no answers, so I decided to take him off of it. Within 24 hours I noticed a big difference. He use to not sleep. He would be up all night. he uncontrollable outbursts at school, and home stopped. He is now the sweet boy I remember. I really think he was over medicated. He takes Zyrtec in th morning and was taking Singulair at night. I am appalled at the fact that doctors are over medicating our children.

Thank you for this site. I now can love and hug my child agan.

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.

I posted last week regarding my son's experiences with Singulair. He continues to become a significantly new and improved version of himself since we took him off. It is almost like having a brand new son. Since he was on Singulair for so many years, from age 5 to 10, I am pleasantly surprised every day by what a great kid we actually have!! Anyway, I just finished reporting our experiences on the FDA website. I hope it helps!

(www.fda.gov/medwatch/report/consumer/consumer.htm)

I have posted in the past about my 9 yr old dd who was taking singulair for 3 yrs. Upon finding all this information about singulair and way before it hit the news .My dd was being tested for many different problems nuerologically wise. Trying to rule out depression,bipolar and ADHD. She had an eeg and labs done a few days after stopping singulair. And just today we went in for results and nuerologist says labs are normal but eeg was not . Meaning that she could possibly be having seizures. BUT NOW I AM WONDERING IF IT WAS SINGULAIR CAUSING THIS? I read somewhere that seizures can go unnoticed if they are very mild. But she did having trouble sleeping and concentrating. And at times even just stared off into space after we spoke to her repeatedly. My question is has anyone had any similar experiences with singulair ? Please respond.

I have previously posted; my 17 year old son, A.J., committed suicide in October of 2007. I have filled out two FDA reports, written to Dateline and I will write to every that I can. I'm not getting an attorney. I don't want anything. If it would bring my son back, then yes, I'd put up a fight. I'm interested in providing medical statistics to Merck and the FDA. I'm interested in education and truth. I believe Singulair is a dangerous drug, no doubt about it. But I beg all of you, gather medical records and provide them to the proper entities. Be interested in education and statistics. Not money. It won't bring back the lost years when your child was miserable and bouncing off walls. If you've taken your child off of the drug, you have most likely solved the problem. Thank-you. Kate Kendle

Here is some perspective for you all. I take Singulair and do well on it and in ACTUAL studies it has one of the safest safety records. Understand that post marketing reporting does not mean there is a correlation between the event and the product. Throughout the life of a drug the companies must disclose any report of side effects reported to them REGARDLESS of causality. A popular antihistamine that is OVER THE COUNTER also has suicidal thinking/behavior listed in its post marketing section. However, just because patients who had reported having these thoughts while taking the product doesn't mean it was a result of the product! Maybe they had a depressive personality and were also on multiple other medicines to treat that. You must look at the "Adverse Reactions, Warnings and Precautions" sections of package inserts to see the side effects that were actually seen in studies. You can die from ulcers derived from over use of aspirin or ibuprofen. Decongestants can throw off your blood pressure and these events are documented in actual studies! Listen to your bodies when taking any med. If you feel differently report it to your doctor.

These are all drugs people, there are potential side effects. There are also side effects to those "natural" over the counter remedies that are not nearly as regulated by the FDA or studies by the drug companies.

To anyone out there who has experienced side effects to singulair timed to when you started it, talk to your doctor, stop taking it and see if it goes away. Same advice for any product prescription or over the counter medicine. Side effects can be a combination of many factors (what other meds are you taking?) But understand for many people this product is the safest and most effective treatment for them. The FDA and Merck are reviewing all information to see if there is any correlation to the reporting. But singulair been around for about 10 years and prescibed to billions of people and is known to be one of the safer medicines out there overall.

In between the legitimate posts on this site I get the sense there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. People looking to cash in on this big drug companies. We want drugs, we want them cheap and with no side effects which is not a reality. Keep stepping up the regulation and make the companies hire more lawers to protect themselves and jump through even more hoops and see what happens to the price and access to new meds. Even better, see how regulation has impacted the development of new medicines around the world (here's a tip, it will dramatically decrease). Drug companies certainly aren't perfect but which industry is?

Please, when taking any medicine over the counter, prescription or herbal supplement listen to your bodies to see if the potential benefits of the product outway the risks or side effects. Report any changes to your doctor.

These stories sound all too familiar! What a nighmare this is for so many people. My son is 7 yrs. old and has been on Singulair for 5 YEARS! His dr. prescribed it for "cold induced asthma" which was a complication from RSV. Just about every time he got a cold he would develop pnemonia. The Singulair along with a nebulizer seemed to help his breathing. At first he was clingy. He wouldn't leave my side. We had to take him out of preschool because of it. Then, slowly his behaviors got really weird. He experienced severe anxiety, depression, self hatred, worried that me and his dad were going to die, sleeping problems, seperation anxiety, trouble focusing, stomach pain...etc. I too thought that I must be a horrible mother. My 9 yr. old isn't on any medication and he is a normal child. I thought I was doing something wrong with my youngest boy! My husband and I were seriously thinking about taking him for mental professional help. We have been to his dr. two seperate times to discuss his behavior problems and he basically blew us off! There are no side effects listed (from his prescription) that have anything to do with behavior problems. I always check the paper I get when I refill his prescription. I haven't given him this junk since March 28th as soon as I heard the news. Finally, all the pieces of the puzzle fit! I have seen improvement already! Last night he actually asked to go to bed. Before it was a terrible struggle to even suggest that he goes to bed. He did his homework tonight without any difficulty focusing!! That was awesome to watch! I hope he continues to get back to the sweet and happy boy he was a such a long time ago! He and his brother share a room and have bunk beds...right now I hear (for the first time in forever) him laughing with his big brother! Oh, what a beautiful sound!!!!!

I am devastated!! Everything that I am reading about your children is describing my son. He has been on Singulair since "06 and was hospitalized for 10 days in '07 for suicide thoughts and possible attempt. Before '07 and singulair he was happy,popular and class favorite. He was very charming and played well with others. After '07 and the singulair, he became very angry and defensive towards everyone. He isolated himself and had a bad attitude. We longed to just see a smile and guess what? We saw one last night! He has not been on Singulair since friday night. 3-28-08. I can see a difference in him now. Thank God for all of you sharing your experiences and lets all pray that they will not have longterm problems from all of this. God Bless you! Reecesmom

As a pediatrician I write for Singulair every day.
The medication is for allergies.
Allergies cause a cascade of event that I will describe:
adenoidal swelling, leads to snoring + sleep disturbances. Poor sleep makes the child tired the next day leading to less attentiveness, hyperactivity and eventually acting out.
Almost 4 out of five kids with allergies have those subsequent symptoms, and more.
Over the years the child poor behavior his parents, teachers and peers respond of criticism/ ridicule, and punishments, cause the child to feel inadequate, embarrassed, frustrated and eventually depressed and suicidal.

Yes, Singulair does cause behavioral change but they appear within the first couple of pills, the rest is due to allergies and lack of medical care, i.e. sleep, Singulair, and Zyrtec deficiency.
Allergy shots cause 4 times the incidence of suicidally than Singulair, and Ritalin 10 times more.
Check it, it's true.

I like to live my life with facts, not speculation and drama. My child is on Singulair and doing fantastic. I remember the trips to the ER when I did not know if my child would live or die. Of course when I saw this report, it caused me some concern so I did some research on my own. Did you know that suicide is the leading cause of violent death in New York State, the United States and the world? In 2002 in New York State there were 1,292 suicides which exceeded homicides by 32%. The statistics show that 1 in 10 teenagers plans to commit suicide. The National Center for Health reports a 10% suicide rate in kids 15-24 years of age and 4 male suicides for every female suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old.

So now we have 1 child in New York that has committed suicide that just happened to be on Singulair, and it is Singulairs fault? Show me the proof. All I see is one distraught mom who is trying to find blame for her son’s tragic death. Is there only half the story being told, a trend I have noticed in journalism these days. Let’s face it, life happens. I am NOT on Singulair and I have had melt downs, thrown things across the room, been depressed over things, cried, and even for the past week have been having some crazy dreams. I remember as a child putting notes on my room door telling my parents how much I hated them. I remember as a teenager thinking my life would be better if I were dead. I remember my child being cranky and fussy before she was on Singulair, gee maybe she was teething. The term “terrible twos” has been around a lot longer that Singulair. Let’s face it, we have turned into a society of people who always want something to blame. I think it is time people start taking responsibility for themselves and accept the fact that sometimes life just happens. Take accountability for your own lives, and stop trying to blame everything and anything.

I also live my life by reading internet blogs with a grain of salt. These blogs are public forums and places where anyone and everyone can post. How do you know that all these posts are real? Remember the day when kids made prank phone calls for fun? Now they have the internet and can post pranks on these blogs. How do you know that a competitor to Singulair is not posting in order to fuel the feeding frenzy? How about a registered sex offender or a felon in prison? There are a lot of “sick” people in the world and yes, they have access to the internet too. If you are hanging on every single one of these posts as being true and real then I feel sorry for you. The internet provides anonymity and it is easy to create a fictitious identity and a fictitious story. That is probably why if you do a search for “internet safety” you get 15,700,000 hits.

Until I see proof, I am not going to take my child off Singulair. The CDC reports that in 2002 there were 1.9 million visits to the ER for asthma and 4,261 asthma deaths. If I did stop my child’s Singulair, and she died in the ER from as asthma attack, whose head does that fall on? The media?

My daughter is 5 years old and has been on Singulair for the past 2 1/2 years for severe asthma. THANKFULLY, she has never experienced any of the side effects that your children or any of you have listed. She has never had any problems with it and we learned last year that it is something that she needs in order to keep her asthma under control. Last September, we decided to take her off the Singulair since she had not had an asthma flair up in almost a year and she was hospitalized 1 week later for a severe asthma attack. The reason why I am sharing this information is to let people know that these side effects do not happen to all of the patients that take this medicine BUT I DO AGREE THAT INFORMATION ON THESE DANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTS NEEDS TO BE SHARED WITH THE POPULATION THAT TAKES THIS MEDICATION! I want to thank everyone for sharing their stories of their experiences with this drug. I appreciate the information that I would probably never hear from a doctor or drug company, even though it is the most ETHICAL thing to do, especially when it has such a negative effect in children! Now I know what could possibly happen in my child and I will be more attentive and I know what to look for. I will be making an appointment with her doctor to see if there are other choices of medications that could keep her asthma under control and has less psychological side effects.

I cannot believe this. I just sat here and cried. Timing is impeccable on this. I had just unplugged my 8 year-old sons tv, and yelled at him for misbehaving. He has gotten several notices over the last few months from school about disrespectful, violent and aggressive behavior. I didn't know what was going on with him. That just wasn't like him at all. Now, I know. He had been taking Singulair since he was about three years old for allergies and asthma caused my allergies. He really only took it seasonally, but this year, he's taking it for about five months without a break, and I would have never linked the terrible behavior to the medication because I was NEVER warned of these types of side effects. Why was this never put out there for people? This is my child, whom I love more than life itself, and I have punished him, yelled at him, grounded him, all for something that he possibly could not control, and I cannot take any of that back. How can this be happening? And to hear that the drug maker wants nine months before pulling off the shelves for testing? Seriously? I am just so shocked, and he will never take another Singulair again, regardless of what those greedy bastards say can be proven or not proven. My child's health and mental stability are more important that they seem to think it is. What kind of long term effects can this have? I just feel so uninformed, and when it comes to drugs ESPECIALLY for children, why has this not been addressed? I am so glad that people are posting their experiences, because to know that we are not the only ones who have been going through this, and to know that we can now correct the situation makes this just a little easier to deal with.

am 45 year old male. For many years I have had chronic allergies and chronic sinusitis with headaches/migraines as a result. On two separate occasions I tried Singulair (two different doctors). Both times I experienced severe depression, thoughts of suicide, bed ridden for about 5-7 days and the headaches got much worse. Fortunately my wife is a psychiatric nurse and she recognized the side effects and got me off the Singulair. Within a week I was back to my normal self. On both occasions I talked to my doctors and they both had not heard of any side effects, such as depression. This evening I heard about Singulair on the news, which brought me to this web site, so I thought I would just share my experiences, nothing new, just another example. Singulair seems to be a very effective medication for some…but for a few of us it can be devastating, I would just say use with caution, and be aware of the side effects.

I came to this forum 2 or 3 weeks ago, looking for a reason for my 17-year-old son's chronic insomnia (every morning, he felt like he had been awake or half-awake all night and was exhausted). I thought maybe he should start taking his Singulair in the morning rather than at night just before bed, and I wanted to see if others had had similar experiences.

I couldn't believe how many of these side effects my son was having! My husband and I had assumed his occasional fits of rage (followed by tears and apologies) and his angst and depression (not severe, thank God, though there were times when he said he hated himself) were just part of being a teenager and possibly helped along by the stresses of high school and impending college. He had been on Zyrtec and Singulair for nearly three years. I had read the labeling when he first started, but of course, Singulair just recently added the warning about depression and suicide.

He stopped taking both medications the same day, and he feels so much better. He's sleeping again, he's more cheerful, more energetic, and much less angst-ridden. He has been going out with our family and with his friends more often, too; he used to just want to stay home in his room.

I'm so glad I did some research.

My 21 mo. old son has been on Singulair along with Zyrtec & Pulmicort daily for a year for severe allergies & asthma. The Singulair has done wonders for his asthma, but his mood swings are completely intolerable! He can go from my sweet little angel to devil child in no time! I was thinking that it was from the Pulmicort (being an inhaled steroid). It's almost like a "steroid rage" that he goes through. The little things make him mad. He punches, slaps, throws himself in the floor, all while kicking and screaming! I just happened to do some research this morning on Pulmicort side effects when I stumbled across all of these experiences that are being linked to Singulair instead. I am so thankful that I may have found our problem!!! Pray for us!!! My patience & his treatment!!!

This is the 1st time I have ever posted anything. My 2 1/2 year old son was prescribed Singulair in conjunction with Zyrtec to help treat allergies and eczema. He has been an absolute nightmare....moody, cranky, tired all the time. He complains of leg pain and belly pain often. I never thought it could be the medication but after reading all of these posts, I think I will take him off the medication for a while and see what happens. I just assumed it was the "terrible two's". It's so hard to judge what is best for your child when their pediatrician and other well-educated doctors are telling you that these medications are safe for your child. You trust them....especially since a young child can't really express how the medication makes him feel other than by acting out, etc. I thank all of you for these postings. It helps to have information from others who are either taking the drug themselves or are going through the same experiences with their children.

I posted in November about my two year old son. He's been off of the Singulair for two weeks now and is doing GREAT! About 4 days after taking him off he started sleeping again! He started taking his normal naps again and sleeping through the night. It took him about 6 days for his nose to clear up and for him to start breathing well again. He also started eating again. He has been SO happy the past few days and I can tell he is just feeling good.

Again, thank you all for sharing your experiences. I feel it has saved my precious son a lot of pain. Thank you!

I'm 15 years old, and I've been taking Singulair since late February of this year, so about 4 months. My asthma and allergy symptoms seemed to have almost disappeared, but just recently, I've had headaches, and I've been irritable and moody according to my mom. After reading these posts, I've discovered that some weird things I've been experiencing may be linked to taking this medication. I've had weird hallucinations, in which I've been seeing and hearing things that aren't there. At first I thought it was just because I was tired and/or dreaming, but reading these other experiences, I'm starting to think otherwise. I don't think these symptoms are bad enough to quit taking it, but its starting to worry me a bit. I've told my mom about all the posts I've read on here, and that I've been experiencing many of them, but she think I'm just a hypochondriac. Any suggestions or anyone with similar symptoms?

I think I maybe just figured out the answer to these symptoms you guys are describing, with mood changes and nightmares?

From Merck Frosst website:
The team finally chose quinolein as the basis for their compound, because it has affinities with the LTD4 (leukotriene) region.

Quinolein - elsewhere it has been listed as a seratonin inhibitor...

Also, is Quinolein related to Quinine (a malarial treatment that causes nightmares and psychotic symptoms?)

What do you all think?

My son is six years old and been on Singulair for 2 weeks, on the 3rd day he started complaining of stomach pain. That night he had a horrible nightmare and everyday since it has been something else it seems to get worse everyday. Sleepwalking uncontrollable rage that we have never seen before. He gets out of breath very easy and his comprehention is very bad since he has takin this drug. He is on day two of no Singulair and is still having trouble sleeping but the other effects are slowly ending thank god any parents thinking of this treatment for their child needs to do more research my doctor did not think it was the meds that it is just a normal child stage he is going through. (bull-h--t).

one night on singulair and I did not sleep all night and experienced vivid dreaming while still awake! Also had to jump out of bed 3 or 4 times with severe leg muscle cramp. After reading about other peoples experiences and looking at my own, I will not be continuiing with this awful mediication.

I WOULD NOT PUT MY CHILD OR ANY CHILD ON SINGULAR. Singulair can cause a hormonal problem that may cause your child to halucinate experiences and to believe them to be true. A child may not be able to communicate the experiences, nightmares etc. that they could be experiencing. Even adults may not be able to tell reality from halucinations, dreams, etc. I am sure this is not true of everyone who takes this drug, but I PERSONALLY WOULD NEVER PUT A CHILD ON THIS DRUG.

My husband had a horrific experience with this drug. He was so afraid to tell me that he had the cops chasing him at night (he was at home with me every night), he though he killed a dog another night, and other more disturbing imagined experiences. Thankfully he trusted me enough to confide all he thought he had done. We found this website and went to the Dr. and took him off the drug and within 3-4 days his brain began working properly again.

Can you imagine how a child might deal with that? Please consider another alternative.

My son has been on Singulair and Flovent for the last 8 months straight and on and off of both since he was 1 1/2. As soon as we take him off the medications, his asthma kicks in and starts with his typical asthma cough that takes weeks to go away. My concern is and has been over him taking this medications for such a long period of time. The medicine definitely helps him, but I don't want him on these medicines and am desperately wanting to find alternative methods, but am also skeptical as to whether or not alternative methods work and don't know who to turn to.

I started my son on a children's fish oil supplement and a children's probiotic, as well as a very good multi-vitamin and vitamin c supplement - however those are not enough to control his asthma.

I would love to hear from others who are in the same situation and who have had positive experiences with alternate methods.

My daughter is going to be 6 yrs. old this month. She has been taking Singulair now for almost a month and for the past 2 and a half weeks has woke up with night terrors. She wakes up an hour to an hour and a half after she falls asleep. She wakes up crying and running around the house like crazy and says she is scared. They have lasted up to 10 minutes at times. Very scary !!!! I have been thinking it was stress until tonight, going on a few of these web sites reading the experiences that other parents are going through with their children on Singulair. The drug has worked wonders with my daughter's breathing and stuffiness...... but these night terrors are bad and my daughter could seriously hurt her self if I don't figure out why they are happening. I am going to take her off for a few days and see if the night terrors continue.... I will be back to report the outcome. I hope it is not the Singulair because she is more energetic and breathing better than she has her whole little life. If it is the Singulair, then I hope I will be able to find something else that works just as well without the "night terrors".

My 10 year old son has asthma. He has been on everything from oral steriods, zyrtec, advair, nebulizer, and singulair. Oh, and an inhaler on occasion. His asthma has improved and he's down to just the singulair at bedtime. However I have become extremely concerned over his weight gain since age 7. Why don't they tell the doctors that this drug does indeed put on the weight????? My son is very active. It makes me sad to think that he has become son overweight from a drug that I have kept him on so long. Tonight was his last pill!!!!! I will keep you all posted. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

My 3 year old daughter began taking Singulair just over 3 weeks ago. At first we didn't notice anything was wrong. By the second week her behavior had changed. She was no longer sleeping and having nightmares and very grumpy during the day. During the third week she still wasn't sleeping. She had terrible muscle cramps and her abdominal pain had her screaming for hours. She was irritable, easily agitated and her behaviour had become very aggressive, hitting. kicking and throwing things. She was a completely different child. We couldn't take her anywhere. There was no leaflet in her box of medication so I went to the phamacist in tears for an explanation and there it was in a tiny paragraph of post marketing experiences right on the last page. I immediately stopped her medication and saw her doctor the next day. She continued to have problems for the next 3-4 days. 5 days later she had returned to her beautiful happy self. And I thank God for that.

I cant believe I have found this site. My Girlfriend was diagnosed with Adult onset asthma a year ago after having a severe asthma attack. The hospital prescribed Singulair and symbicot inhaler. About two weeks into taking the Singulair I noticed her personality started to change. She became moody and agressive and started to talk of "mad" dreams. I then noticed her memory started to fail her and she could not find her words. She developed a rash and hives from time to time, and on occasions would talk sentences that did not make any sence. I would be very concerned that children would be given this drug as I am shocked to read others have had several experiences similar to ours. I am glad she has now stopped taking the drug and am looking forward to getting back my girlfriend.

I've just started taking the 10 mg pill for two days. I've noticed incredible chest tightness the day after taking the first pill (almost like too much caffeine). I've had very unusual dreams, and leg twitching. I feel like i'm in a zombie state (this is the second day). I have been taking Symbicort for around a week now and have had no such experiences on that drug. I am wondering if this is all comming from Singulair? I've noticed such a change just by the second day on it, and none of those changes reflect improvements!

If this is true I don't recommend it for anyone. If anyone knows if this is true, let me know!

I am so glad I have come across this website, my son recently was put on singulair 4mg for allergies, but we have definately noticed a very negative, aggressive attitude from our child who is 4 yrs. old. I looked on the makers website and it does not say anything about temperment change, aggression or anything of that nature. I will take him off immediately after reading everyone on this website's testimonies. I am also greatful for you mom's etc. out there sharing your experiences. FYI for Annabelle, I have worked in the past around pharmaceuticals, and yes DR's do get kickbacks in the form of vacations, etc. It's just not talked about openly nor openly admitted to. Terri

I see no similarity of 'aspertame disease' with the experiences we have had with singulair. If you've lived it, you know it is unmistakable, singulair is the culprit. My daughter has had aspertame before & after her singulair nightmare & never had a problem. Singulair turned her into a monster. No singulair, no monster. If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Singulair is poison.

my ten year old daughter had reflux as a baby and has always a raspy cough at night, my ex husband recently got remarried to a hypochondriac and they wanted to take her to a doctor for her cough, so i let them. after this quack only seeing her one time and not running any tests, decides that she has mild asthma and puts her on singulair, so i let it go so they could see that it wasn't going to make any difference, her cough has been called a kroop cough and it comes and goes. Well, she is crabby, cries all the time, moody, all the same things that i have been reading about and she still coughs, i took her off of it but they still make her take it at their house. thanks to this site, we will be in court soon to prevent them from giving her medication against my wishes.
anyone wants to email me with their own experiences would be much appreciated.
thank you again
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