Singulair and few days

I have a 26-month old grandson who has been on Singulair for "27 DAYS". His pediatrician knows that his immune system is already compromised due to some developmental delays. However, before he started taking his Singulair he was a very happy, funny and loving child. Within 2 weeks on this medicine we started to notice a few changes in him. He started waking up at night "screaming" and he has been sleeping through the night for at least a year now. And when his mother would go in to get him out of his crib, he would be so frightened and afraid to leave her side. It would take her a very long time to settle him down and put him back down for the night. At the same time, he started not wanting to drink his normal daily glasses of milk or eat his regular meals. He was simply a mess most of the day and would fuss, cry, bang his head and we were having a very hard time trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He is not yet talking due to his delayed speech, so he could not tell us what was going on. Yesterday, I told my daughter let's look at the side effects of Singulair since it was the only thing that had changed within the last few months. When I found this site, I could not believe what the parents/grandparents were saying about their children on this drug. We immediately took him off Singulair. This will be his second day without being on the drug. According to my pharmacist, it will take approximately 50 hours for it to get out of his little system. The pharmacist had not heard the latest that aired on the TV station, so she asked me to call her back in a few days to tell her how my grandson is doing. Parents should be able to trust the medications that are prescribed by their Pediatricians, especially at such young ages. My daughter is REALLY UPSET and has a call into my grandson's doctor. Thank God I found this website. I simply searched on "side effects of Singulair in children" and this site came up. I do believe the Lord is watching over my grandson. Thanks.

Just took my 6 year old off Singulair after he began blinking incessantly... very frightening. After a couple of weeks on Singulair, I received a note home from his teacher that he was blinking all day at school. Sure enough, when he got home the blinking continued... non-stop for several days! Fortunately, I was able to find information relating this behavior to Singulair. After a few days off the medication, the blinking stopped and has not returned.

IS THIS SITE AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS?

A little while ago less than two hours, after a very emotional, difficult battle with my daughter, we had yet another heart to heart to try to do better. At the end of our talk WE PRAYED for guidance to know how to help the situation. So I'm here looking for a link to her behavior fron the ADHD medication and I see someone had posted about Singulair side effects. I was floored! I have never thought that Singulair was not a safe drug. No doctor has ever mentioned any negative side effects to me regarding it. The more I'm reading about it the more in shock I am. Have I and her doctors been doing this to my daughter? My 12 1/2 yo daughter has been on Singulair for probably 10 years. She was a 28 week preemie and had severe lung issues so it was a needed medication. Her behavior has worsened the older she has gotten. Because of mostly anger issues and problems in school about a year ago she was started on ADHD medications. We are currently trying to find "the right one" . I feel so awful. Could all her misery have been caused by this little pill that was suppose to help her? Why has her pulmonoligist continued to give it to her although she has not had any serious asthma problems in years? I think I will stop all medications and see what happens. My daughter has also been on amytriptylin for about six months also for severe migraines. What do you think? Should I stop all of them cold turkey or gradually decrease one at a time? I would GREATLY appreciate any advise.
Thank you

My daughter had been on singulair from the time she was 8 yrs old until she was 14. This will sound as if I am a horrible mother but I just thought that she was a raging bitch. Without my knowledge, she stopped taking her Singulair for a few months and she became a different person. She was so sweet and loving. One night she came in my room having an asthma attack and I asked her if she was taking her meds, she admitted that she had stopped taking her singulair and I got on to her and immediately got her prescription refilled. Within a few days of taking the singulair she turned into a raging, screaming emotional wreck, a TOTALLY different person. I feel so bad that for 6 years of her life I put her on medicine that caused her to have screaming, uncontrollable tantrums, and severe mood swings that caused her to be miserable. It does seem to be the only thing that effectively controls her asthma symptoms but the emotional havoc that is causes her and the people around her is not worth the benefits. We have an appt. with her doctor to see what other options we have.

I was searching for a site with the side effects of Singulair for my son who is 10 and has been taking Singulair since he was 2. It was a life-saving drug for him and his life has been wonderful since then (as far as asthma goes). He is a very athletic boy who plays every sport he can and he is still a little overweight with cellulite and love handles. I had heard that maybe it might be the Singulair so I decided to check it out. Little did I know about all of these other side effects. He's been taking it for so long that I assumed his depressed personality was just the way he was. He has also had such horrific nightmares and he's convinced he has a ghost in his room that shakes his bed that I was really starting to consider that maybe he might. His brother sleeps in the same room and does not have any of these experiences (also on Singulair). I am SHOCKED! I only read about 20 entries but I'm going to read more. Has anyone had the weight gain problem? Thank you for anything you can share.

A few years ago Singulair was prescribed for me. I am 56 years old and generally healthy with asthma and allergies. Within only a few days I started to notice that I was very depressed. I was frightened at how hopeless I felt. After a couple of weeks I starting using a new drug. The terrible depression went away within a few days and I was my normal cheerful self. For some people, Singulair is a very dangerous drug. I will NEVER touch this drug again! I'd be especially hesitant to use it on children or teenagers that aren't as aware of changes in their moods.

My son, who just turned 14 this month, was on Singulair for over 2 years.
He was diagnosed with reactive airway disease and possibly Asthma--and prescribed this awful drug-even back in 2004. The doctor said how wonderful this med was and prevents any further attacks.. So, for 2 years-every night, he took this mood altering, destructive drug. He lost all interest in school, his athletics-soccer, skateboarding, biking..in fact became almost a vacant , very unhappy, child-had stomach aches, joint pains and reflux--why--I brought him to the doctor and Pediatric center so frequently--all they kept saying his --his asthma is better, much be other issues...Even after the March 2008 suicide--his doctor said-that is just an isolated incident-just monitor him--It is a good drug. Right, month by month his behavior escalated to wanting to die, no reason to go to school-he said he was stupid and a failure and why don't I understand there is no reason to his life. A usually happy fun-loving boy -my son- didn't want to live. Nothing made him happy-I started to believe what the doctors said--maybe something or someone at school (bully, pedophile??) caused this change. Terrible nightmares and vivid dreams...Until this past July, I asked him want to go to the library for some books or dvd's...he went ballistic-threw everything off his computer desk and tried to break his chair. He is not an aggressive boy but this behavior was becoming a daily issue. Along with everything flying off his table, was his bottle of Singulair pills. It then dawned on me..I have been poisoning my only son. The child I know and love and gave birth to returned within a few days--although I am worried sick about further asthma attacks --all the doctors can prescribe is a steroid drug-asthmex or Pulmicort.. I cannot understand nor comprehend why this drug is being prescribed for children and young adults. The guilt I live with is terrible as my son has lost 2 years of his life--
and thought there was something really wrong with him-At least we woke up---in time--how about some other parents..thinking it's just normal adolescent behavior for their child or their fault???

Have been experiencing the same serious behavioral issues (screaming, launching every toy he has out of his room, knocking over his night stand, hitting, kicking and just being hateful) with my 4 year old who has been on Singulair for 2 years as I'm noticing many of you have here. My wife and I have a wonderful relationship and happy home and tons of love and support from other family that's close buy so the kid has a very nice environment. We have taken him off the medication as of yesterday. I have consulted his doctor but I'm anxious to hear what methods of treatment for the asthma all of have chosen in replacement of Singulair or did you just maintain with an inhaled maintenance program with something like Pulmicort? Also, how long was after taking your child off of Singulair did take to for the outburst to subside and the behavior to become more mellow and normal (what is normal for a 4 year old?). Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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 7 year old daughter has been on Singulair since she was about 2 yrs.old. She has always been very energetic child, but I did notice as soon as she got a little older she began to get very aggressive, angry and mean all of the time. She also has had trouble making and keeping friends because she is so hyper and emotional. I never even associated Singulair with her problems until recently, even though I was told a few months ago that Singulair could be the problem. So, back at the beginning of June, my husband and I kept forgetting to give our daughter her Singulair, and this went on for about 2 months (and her mood was improving immensly). Feeling bad that we kept forgetting her Singulair, (not realizing that that was the problem) we started her back on Singulair again just a about a week ago and in just a few days time she has been truly unbearable! She's been very mean, yelling, throwing things, totally unruly! So bad that I was going to have her completely tested for ADHD and whatever else! So as of today, I am taking her off of Singulair and I am contacting her doctor first thing in the morning! Good luck to all!

After reading all the horror stories on here, me and my husband soon began to realize that we were having a lot of the side effects listed here and not listed on my son's actual Singulair prescription. The side effects my son had were behavioral changes, irrational behavior, inattentiveness, not able to stay on task or stay still -- in fact he broke his arm twice being so hyper, yelling, screaming and just plain mean.

We took our son off of Singulair as a trial for a few days. Immediately we began to notice differences in his behavior. He wasn't as agitated and quick to yell or get angry. (He's only 5 years old). He actually would be listening when we would speak to him. He would sit calmy and read books and the one huge thing he would do was look at us and smile. He even said to my husband once, "I love you Daddy," which just brought tears to our eyes. I never realized what a Singulair fog he was in and what it did to him. Here we were pretty close to getting him evaluated for ADHD or even Aspergers. So now we're in the same boat as others that are searching for other asthma meds to give my son. Right now we have gone back to Pulmicort, Xopenex, Nasonex and Allegra. I'm so glad I read this forum because I was desperately searching for answers for my sons behavioral issues. Oh, by the way he was on Singulair for 1-1/2 years.

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.

I just started using Singulair a few days ago. I am 54 years old and just started coughing at night only. I would be fine during the day and then never failed, at night I started to cough keeping me awake. I was given antibiotics, narcotic cough syrups but it only helped temporarily and then I went back to coughing nights only again. So as I mentioned, I started taking Singulair a few days ago because my physician thinks I have developed allergies and Singulair is noted to help night coughs. It is helping my night coughs but I still cough a few times at night and now I cough quite a few times in the day when I never use to cough in the daytime. Wondering if Singulair is worth taking as the symptoms are becoming opposite? I hate taking drugs and don't know if I should find a safer alternative? Help, anyone? Thank you

PRAISE GOD for all of the stories shared on this site. And I've only read page one. My husband called me back today to say that he "googled" Singulair and found some interesting things (to say the least). While we were on the phone, my three-year-old was in the throes of another meltdown, kicking me, hitting me, throwing whatever he could get his hands on. My older two boys, 8 and 12, were ordered, once again, to lock themselves in their rooms to avoid being hurt by him. He will throw stuff, bite, hit, kick, and, at times, spit on us. This disturbing behavior is rather constant lately. He is like a mad man. Very scary.

Caleb has been on Singulair since about age 1, when he was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis. Unfortunately, we initially equated his rages with the onset of "terrible two's" and dismissed his behavior to a chorus of "oh, he's just a boy!" My husband felt, at times, that I was just not disciplining him properly. I intuitively knew, having raised two other boys, that this behavior was abnormal, even for severe tantrums. We received a variety of suggestions from his pediatrician, caregivers, and grandparents, all to no avail. We have several calm days but things always deteriorate back to insanity. He is VERY unpredictable.

Last Thanksgiving, Caleb (age 3) was kicked out of his daycare setting for biting and hitting. Once I witnessed him run as fast as he could into a group of playing children, falling on them, kicking them. He would walk up to sweet little girls half his size and push them down as hard as he could. It was a nightmare. My husband had to take 3 weeks of leave to stay home with him while we prayed and searched for new care. We had him evaluated and he was staffed into the "developmentally delayed" program in our school district (for poor adaptive skills and personal/social behaviors). We recently had his tonsils removed, hoping that some of the sinusitis symptoms and behaviors would improve. They really haven't. This past week we have been looking into the Feingold diet. We have been PRAYING for answers. The last time we spoke with his developmental neurologist, he recommended a trial of Risperdol (sp?). We feel like more meds would be like a band-aid, not a solution. But his rage is becoming unbearable.

So, that brings us to today. I was so moved by your accounts. Unlike so many of you, we don't have much of a "before" to go by. But his "after" sounds VERY much like what you have all described. It's probably the pure rage that I see on his face that is the scariest part. And at the same time he seems desperate and vulnerable. He truly seems to snap. If we had pool chairs, I can just picture him throwing them (citing another post :).

We are going to throw the Singulair away. He will never, ever have it again. Even if this isn't the cause of his problems, I certainly don't want to exacerbate any behaviors with this toxic medicine. I will post again just to let anyone who's interested know if this changes his behavior. I am praying that my entry will help someone else, just as all the other postings have helped me. I have renewed hope.

I have copied many of your comments to a Word document. I will be sharing it with a high ranking officer at the medical clinic/hospital on Keesler Air Force Base. I hope that he will discuss this with his staff and that perhaps we can at least make a difference here. I, too, will be filing a report with the FDA. I can only pray that this medicine has not permanently altered his developing brain.

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.

WOW!!! I am glad I came across this website. I have twin boys that will be 7 this month. One has been on Singulair for about 3 years for allergy induced asthma and my other son has been on it for 9 months for allergies. I am taking them both off of it today. The son that is taking the medicine for 3 years has become increasingly angry and gets upset over small things. Over Memorial weekend, he lost a game he was playing on the wii and exploded. He was banging his head and then started to hit me. NEVER in my life have I seen him attack anyone. A few days later he threw rocks at his friend because he wanted the wagon. Over the past 3 years I have noticed some change in him and just took it as growing pains. He has always been a strong will child. However, over the past 3 years he has gotten worse and since he has physically attacked me and his friend, I have decided to send him to counseling. Now I firmly believe it is the Singulair.

My other son has been on it since August. He started to have anxiety within a month of taking it. His behavior has been stressed, depressed and not wanting to play with other kids. He was biting his nails to a nub, licking his hands, not talking to anyone at school and rubbing his head. I have also noticed he does like to look at the person he is talking too. Of course I thought the worse and thought he was being molested. I went to his Teacher and she has worked very hard with him, but he is still a loner. If you knew him before, he played with everyone and enjoyed life. I was told by his Ped. that he had anxiety and to have him see a shrink.

I am hoping that after taking them both off this medicine, I will see improvement.

I am so glad I found this web site I just wish I had found it BEFORE I took my Singulair this evening. I am a 54 year old mother of 12 year old twin boys and I only just begun taking Singulair 9 days ago for lingering asthma problems I could not shake. My difficulties with Singulair started right away with headaches (though I didn't realize what was going on till I found this site) and by day three I was starting to have the dreadful nightmares that everyone is describing. Now it is also obvious that an extreme depression has settled over me and seems to be getting worse every day. I feel like I am living in the shell of myself and almost as a third party observe the awful way I have been treating my family. It makes me feel so miserable all I want to do is to be by myself, shut down and sleep. I read in the other letters about body/back aches but not about what I have been experiencing. Just a few days ago - terrible leg pains/cramps began pulsate along the back of my upper legs and sometimes the lower back. I am stiff and uncomfortable during the day but at night it is terrible. Each night it has gotten worse. The pain in my legs is nearly unbearable even as I write this and is what propelled me to get back out of bed at midnight and to the computer and to this site. Thank goodness and thank everyone who has written - it is obvious you have saved me much pain and grief - hopefully my letter will help someone else. But for right now this six month supply of Singulair is going in the trash immediately!
Lauri

In September of 2007 my then 13 year old daughter was put on Singular for mild asthma. At the time she was a straight A student, vice president of our school and a popular girl who's guidance counselor described as "the glue of her grade" because she was so well liked. In November she told me that she was struggling with advanced Latin and Science. She asked to drop down to on grade Latin so we did. In December her science teacher notified us that she had a C average. She told me that she thought she had ADD/ADHD and she couldn't keep up. At the same time she was having a lot of problems with friends at school and we just attributed it to being 14. 3 weeks ago we discovered that she is significantly behind in English and it was then that she told me that she is been having horrific night mares. She said that they usually involve someone killing her or her killing herself. She said that they were so graphic that she couldn't repeat it out loud. She also said that she would feel waves of anxiety that would come over her at school and she would act "witchy" to the kids in her class for no real reason. She said that sometimes when she is trying to do her homework she will read the same passage for 2 hours and still have no idea what it's about. She also said that the suicidal thoughts from her sleep happened during they day and that she had thoughts of her harming herself. Fortunately her pulminologist told us that this may be caused by singular and we immediately took her off of it which was 2 weeks ago. She has only had 1 "bad dream" not even a nightmare since. She had one anxiety attack 3 days after she was off it and she describes her moods as the "cloud lifting....slowly". Now, we have to pick up the pieces. Her grades have suffered, her friendships have suffered and most of all her self esteem is very low. I'm grateful that we found out the cause but I feel as if my daughter lost a year of her life and I worry that because Merck won't admit there are side effects we can't find out how long it remains in their system. Is anyone else concerned about the long term affect and has anyone pursued a class action suit to try to get this drug tested properly?

This is a follow-up. I have posted about our experience before, but to summarize: 6 year old boy on Singulair for over three years for Asthma. Drug worked wonders, but side effects developed so slowly that we thought those were "phases" that would go away. Side effects were just as everyone else reported: nightmares, fears, depression/sadness (we even went to a child psychologist since we thought this behavior was all due to father's deployment), aggressiveness, crying at the drop off a hat (like a 2 year old, not age appropriate), attention deficit, school performance dropped, and also, at the very end, obsessive compulsive behavior.
We stopped Singulair as soon as we heard about the FDA investigation (on NPR, about 6 to 7 weeks ago). Asthma has not worsened, thank goodness, so we make due with the Flovent for now. Most of the side effects were less prominent after some time, however the obsessive compulsive behavior stopped only a few days ago. We have better days, we have worse days, but slowly the better days outnumber the bad, aggressive, and negative ways.
What I read again and again in the postings is that we all assumed our children entered a bad "phase." A phase that just got worse and never ended!
Reading about the very same side effects in our children, over and over again, alarmed me. Taking my son off the Singulair and seeing the improvements, some faster some slower, totally convinced me. I will never ever have Singulair in my house again.

I just read a few days ago that Merck is trying to get approval for a new drug. It is a combo of Singulair and the Shering pharm. co. drug Claritin. Isn't it nice to know that while we are suffering from this drug, Merck and another pharmaceutical company are trying to make more money on a drug that is supposed to be under investigation. Fortunately, the FDA is not approving it along with a few other drugs Merck is trying to push. This shows us how concerned they are with public health. They would sell us arsenic if they could get approval for it.

My son is 5 years old. He was put on Singulair in August following a case of pnemonia. He has asthma. I found it worked well since I was barely using inhalers anymore. His eczema was even getting better. So I was happy with the medication. He also seemed to be getting more agitated with us. At least three times a day he would have an outburst towards his brother or us, like he was going to punch or hit us. Then I would say "why are you mad at me" and he would say "I'm not mad, I'm frustrated" and then burst in tears. He was getting a lot of time outs. Then two months ago he started saying "this is not a good day" or "this is a sad day". I was wondering if singulair was to blame, but it wasn't until I heard concerns from other moms. I took him off it as an experiment and noticed the next day was without his outbursts. Then I just never gave him anymore...and I am relieved to say he is as "normal" as I remember him before Singulair!!! He also was unable to get to sleep easily on Singulair, sometimes 1, 2 and even three hours to get to sleep. Now he is out in 20 minutes if not less. I haven't talked to the Doctor yet. I have noticed his eczema is flaring up again and he has used his inhaler this week (although he has a cold). I think I can deal with that without Singulair and the problems I am suspicious come from it's use.

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.

I usually have allergy headaches in the morning which would go away after taking 1 Benadryl w/ Tylenol. About a week ago my doctor started me on Singulair because she was concerned about me taking Tylenol daily. The last few days I've had terrible headaches that linger most of the day. (I've continued to take the Benadryl w/ Tylenol to try to help the headaches, but it's just not working.) Today is day 7 with the Singulair, and the headaches seem to be getting worse. Are headaches common with Singulair?

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.

Hello to everyone, I just came home from a parent teacher conference for my son who is 7 yrs. old, and heard the same old thing, "he is restless, impulsive and has a short attention span". He has been taking Singulair for about 3 yrs.. Since he has started school I have had these complaints and have also been told he displays symptoms of ADHD, which ironically has been for the last 3 years. Like any parent, I question" if I am doing something wrong with my parenting, is his diet good, etc. etc.", I am also a nurse, I realize that medications are needed and beneficial in some circumstances, however I firmly believe and was taught in nursing school that medication is last resort. That being said, I have been very adament about NOT giving my son ADHD medication after doing alot of research on the different meds and their side effects. So, we started him on all natural vitamins, changed his diet some ( kids got to have candy once in a while) and started a more structured routine( the best we can since we both work) and also enrolled him in Sylvan. The teacher says there is a 50% improvement but he is still impulsive and still does not pay attention like he "COULD", again suggesting he needs ADHD meds. I came home in tears and started to do more research online to see what else can I do besides putting him on psych meds?....Then I came accross this site, I just want to cry after reading all these posts. I wonder, could this be his problem, the Singulair?.. About a year ago he use to get up in the middle of the night, 5 out of 7 complaining of nightmares, hearing things at times, headaches, decreased appetite, stomach upset, all AT TIMES, not all the time so I never thought alot about side effects of Singulair. When the school started complaining I did look at side effects of Singulair and seen HYPERACTIVITY and mentioned it to his pediatrician and she shrugged it off saying she never heard of it being a problem. She's a great MD so I listened to her because his asthma was bad when he was younger and it is now under control. But then I think maybe he is outgrowing the asthma. I am afraid to stop Singulair and him have breathing problems again but then I can't help this strong feeling in my heart that says this may have been his problem with everything else all along. We are going to stop the Singulair tonight and see what happens. If anyone else has a child with asthma any suggestions for alternative treatment would be appreciated. I already know what's out there but sometimes it's nice to hear from another parent going through similar situs. Thanks for reading, Bobbie

It has been 18 days since my 9 year old daughter has taken Singulair. Our daughter had been taking Singulair for approximately 2 years. It was in the last year that we started to notice some behavior changes and mood swings that were so often unprovoked. We were somewhat concerned and thought like so many other parents that it was a phase. Then in December 2007 she came home from school with a tummy ache and had several episodes of vomiting. She seemed better the following day, but we took her to the pediatrician to be sure that this was a virus. The stomach pains continued, and then anxiety attacks began. Over the next month she began to wake up each day with stomach aches and we began more visits to doctors and more testing. She had abdominal X-rays, CT scan, mekel scan, GI consult and endoscopy. All were ok except she did have some small amounts of acid in her stomach. She was treated with Prevacid with really no significant changes. As weeks passed she missed more and more school, she just could not make it through the day. She had intense separation anxiety, and developed OCD about being sick again and vomiting, fears that she may stop breathing; fear of dying and the list goes on. She was refusing to ride the bus to school, and was having more and more panic attacks that would last for hours. We finally took her to a psychiatrist after we had done every test we could possibly do and all were normal. She woke up with the fear and anxiety, and fell asleep each night the same way. The doctor said she had "OCD" which she believes was triggered by the fear from vomiting. "This was the first time she had vomited since she was an infant.” She was treated with Lexapro, and Klonopin. The symptoms worsened over the next few days even with the new medications. After many calls to the doctor we were finally advised to have her admitted to a children’s psychiatric hospital for closer evaluation where higher doses of medications could be administered. She was there for 4 horrible days with slight improvements. Over the next few weeks the medication did begin to help some and she was able to make it through school each day as long as she was able to call me a few times a day for re-assurance. I thank God each day for her wonderful teacher and staff that have helped us through this. They all have known her for 3 years and knew this was just not her character at all and she was truly struggling. She was always known as "Smiley" to everyone because she always wears a grin. We began therapy with a psychologist as well and she has good and bad days. Then we heard the news about Singulair and I began to trace back other issues she had with focusing in 2nd grade and how things just seemed to progress from there. It all happened so gradually that I would never have put two & two together. She is showing improvements every day with personality, mood, attitude, fears, and the "OCD". She told me today that this was the best day ever!! I have made all the Doctor's involved aware of this information and the progress she has made in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Her doctor did cut her meds in half this week as well. Thanks to everyone that has posted their nightmares as well, and we will pray for you and for full recovery for all those that have suffered.

My son is 21 month old and he's been taking singulair for two months now, and I can notice that after he started taking it he is having nightmares. Every night he starts crying while sleeping without any reason. So I am wondering could it be possible that these happens because of singulair just in 2 months or there is something else. Doctor told us to continue giving singulair for 6 months, Shall I stop giving it or not?

I AM 65 YEARS OLD. I TAKE SINGULAIR ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS. I HAVE NOTICED THAT AFTER 2 DAYS I HAVE BEEN GRITTING MY TEETH UNTIL MY JAW HURTS, I GET VERY IRITABLE AND SHORT TEMPERED, I AM RESTLES AND CANT SLEEP, I HAVE RINGING IN MY EARS AND THE BLOOD PULSES IN MY NECK WITH A GUSHING SOUND, I HAVE MUSCLE CRAMPS AS WELL, I GET BLURRED VISION AND HEAD ACHES. I THINK I WILL STOP THE SINGULAR.

has anyone took their child off of singular for more than 2 weeks and has the child had any breathing issues since being off?

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.

Thank you so much for all the information! My son was prescribed Singulair pills this fall. He has been taking them for seasonal allergies and we had no problems. These were the sample chewable kind. Then came the pills... Unfortunately I did not see the news or read the article about the side affects of Singulair. Within 4 days my happy well adjusted 10 year old had serious sleeping problems along with stomach aches. He will wake up screaming and crying and cannot tell me what is wrong. He said he had a nightmare but doesn't remember what it was about.

My husband was away on a business trip when I started him on the medicine. He came back to a very unhappy and sleepy child. I asked my son what he was scared of and he asked me to tell daddy that he does not feel safe while he is out of town. He can't sleep unless he is by one of us. He's not safe. His bedroom is 15' from our bedroom! He loves his doctor and begged that I call Dr. Becky so he can talk to her.

I could not take this anymore and started thinking about what was wrong. I went through all his activities, friends he's played with, school problems, anything! Then it hit me, effects of Singulair!

Wow, what an eye opener. Fortunately my husband did not have him take it this morning. He will not be going back to this medication. Ever!

Thank you for the information once again. I hope everyone's child gets better. Everyone wants a happy well child. No child should have to go through this. They have enough pressure as it is without the meds making things worse.

Maeri

I'm also back with an update
I posted a few days ago about the extreme change for the better I saw in my son when I took him off the Singulair & that this week I was planning to put him back on just to make sure it was the singulair causing his crazy behavior & not a new bipolar med working

well I have now decided not to reintroude it, I think I have tortured him enough this past year that he was on it & I now know in my heart Singulair was the cause of making our lives a miserable living hell this past year :(

I have just sent my complaint to the FDA I also plan to let his psy. know what I think about Singulair & also the allergy doc within the next few wks! so now my ? is what do I do next I dont want to just sit here & do nothing when there are so my families dealing with this

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do right now?
I'll continue to pray for those families affected by this

My story is very sadly similiar to enough's story

I have also been following these posts since the story broke
My son is 11 yrs old has been on singulair for almost 1 yr now for allergies after suffering a SI that lasted over 2 months

He was dx'd with ADHD & ODD at age 4 & they have been trying to rule out bipolar for the last few yrs But Can't, so he has been on a ton of meds!!!
I have noticed that this last year has been worse though & he almost had to be admitted numerous times within this past year We kept switching the ADHD meds & trying Bipolar meds nothing seemed to work, So last friday night (almost 1 wk ago) the day I heard about this, I stopped the singulair But he also started a new bipolar med the same day & HE IS A NEW KID!!! so now I'm stuck with the terrible task to find out if it's a combo of stopping the singulair & the new med working or stopping the singulair & maybe he doesnt even need the new med? IDK right now BUT I DO know that Something is working!!! So I have decided that next Friday put him back on the singulair for a few days to see what happens?? we talked about it & he knows I will not punish him for anything he does while he is on it I just NEED to know if this med Made him worse!!!!!! That way I can take some kind of action here, I just would like to know why the heck would they put a kid who already has mental health issues on a med that could make those issues WORSE????
I'm positive that singulair did not cause his probs since they started way b4 him being on this med But I have a gut feeling that singulair has made his probs 10X worse!!

his S/A's have been the same as e/o has already described

itching (which I know for a fact was from singulair b/c that is gone now)
mood swings
crying
angry
crabby
irritable
violent
not sleeping well (even worse than what he had already)
aches & pains everywhere

I always dismissed the complaints or assumed it was one of his other meds causing them, I never ever in a million years would of thought it was the singulair!!!!

I held off on posting b/c I wanted to see if taking him off would work?? IDK for sure yet but I will come back in a week or so & let u all know

I'll pray for all the familes involved in this I'm still kind of shocked by it all but felt the need to share my story also

(I tried posting yesterday guess it didnt work??)

I am a 32 year old female diagnosed with asthma and allergies as a child. This is very reassuring for me, all these posts, because I thought there was something really wrong with me. Maybe it will be as simple as not taking Singulair anymore. Today is day one. I have been taking 10 mg a day for the past 7 years. I have had increasing thoughts of suicide, have terrible moods swings, am paranoid and suspicious of everything, and a rash that comes and goes. I am severely depressed and have absolutely no interest in activities I once enjoyed. I saw the news a few days ago and there was some talk of singulair linked to suicide and I felt so relieved. I was so uncomfortable telling anyone about how I was feeling because it didn't make any sense. I was always blowing things way out of proportion in my head and couldn't talk myself out of it. I used to exercise, read, paint, and socialize. I never do any of those things anymore. I'm happy at work because I have to be, and am distracted by my clients. But as soon as the workday ends I drive home feeling empty and when I get home I get the bare minimum of chores done. I used to go walking with my IPOD and rollerblade in the park. Now I sit and watch TV for hours and have significant trouble sleeping.

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???

My 9 yo daughter has been off and on Singulair for several years trying to get her athsma and allergies regulated. She has been put on zyrtec, and claritin and it has been a constant battle with her. She has been in and out of children's mental health facilities 3 times in the past year and has been diagnosed as having ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), Mood Disorder, Depression, Severe ADHD, Bi-Polar as well as ADO (Adjustment Disorder) and emotional disorder, just to name some of the diagnosis she has had. SHE IS ONLY NINE YEARS OLD. Due to ALL these other diagnosis, she has been on and off so many different medications that I cannot help but wonder if some of these diagnosis are due to her taking the Singulair. When she was taking the SINGULAIR, she could not sleep at night, she complained about her stomach hurting all the time, she was very angry, emotional, and cried very easily for no reason at all. I have not given her any SINGULAIR since I first heard about all this stuff two days ago and can already see a difference. The fact that these people are doing this to our children infuriates me and something needs to be done!!!!!!!!

In response to the person inquiring about weight change since being off singuliar.My 7 yr. old daughters appetite has changed for the better.She had become anxious about food.She would want to eat within a half hour after eating a good meal.She would always tell me she was still hungry.Even as she was eating,she would worry that there was not going to be enough if she wanted more.I know its normal to happen sometimes,but for every meal?She had also developed chronic stomach pain.Which doctors could find no cause for,but stated she did have signs of GERD.I'm thrilled to say that her stomach pains are subsiding since stopping Singuliar.The doctor had said,that perhaps her over eating was in response to the stomach pain.Perhaps trying to appease it.These past few days she has eaten her meals not worrying if there is more for later.Actually,she has even left some food not eaten.The bloatiness in her stomach has diminished.So,as for the weight loss,time will tell.Right now she is about 10 pounds over weight,according to her height.I'm curios to see if that returns to normal,as are MANY other areas regarding her health.

I am posting this because I am just outraged reading all these e-mails and it is exactly the same thing over and over again. My son is now 6 and has been on singular for a little over a year. He was started on it after a asthma attack over the Christmas holidays. Prior to taking the medication he was a sweet loving kid. Honestly because he was so good we could not wait to have another one. Then came these crying spells for no reason. Then out of no where he would attack and kick and scream like someone was killing him even if you just asked to put your shoes on. It was crazy. Never made the connection to the singular. He started kindergarten and it was the same thing there. One week we happened to be really short on money due to an emergency and could not refill his prescription till the following Friday. And looking back now it was the first week that there were very little problems with him and he got all good remarks that week from his teacher.Well again at the time we did not make the connection.Back on the drug and back with the aggressive and bad behavior. Then our local t.v. news did a story about this medication. We looked at each other in shock and thought how could we have missed this? We decided to do our own test and took him of the medication again. While the hacking cough is back his mood swings have all but vanished and he is back to normal minus a few crying spells the last few days. I am confident keeping him off the meds. those will disappear soon enough to. We are only into day 4 off our test and already the diff. is huge. Something needs to be done about it now.

Our story is so similar to many of the others posted. I am including it because it adds to the data. Our 12 year old son has been on Singulair since age 7. Prior to going on Singulair (although I did not make the connection between these two events until this week..) he was an easy-going, happy, delightful boy. During the late fall of first grade he started developing strange behaviors--obsessive hand-washing, kicking our pediatrician, saying the water was poisoned. He is continuously irritable, moody, easily annoyed, impulsive, self-critical and has difficulty modulating his attention. He has had a few incidents where he has said he wants to die, he is worthless and a loser. He continually apologizes for his behaviors and is extremely remorseful, but then goes and does it again. We have seen so many specialists, spent so much money on counseling, have tried neurofeedback, Adderall, alternative supplements (eg omega 3's)...the list goes on. His issues have been like a part-time job for me. I never made the connection to Singulair, because the pediatrician and allergist assured me that Singuair had virtually no side effects. Right after the New Year (2008) he had a few days where everything seemed to go right for him-- moodiness disappeared, did his homework agreeably, seemed truly happy for the first time in a long time. In retrospect, I am guessing it is because we forgot to bring his Singulair on our vacation, so it was out of his system for several days. Now that we've tossed the meds, I'm hoping that the side effects are short lived...and we see our old son again.

As for the individual who wrote that we may be ambulance chasers, I can promise you that any money I receive in a successful class-action law suit would go towards helping other families avoid the pain and suffering our son has gone through. I consider myself an educated & well-informed parent and yet I was blind-sided by the medical industry.

Our 7 year old son has been old singulair since he was about 3. I can't even describe in words how I feel as a parent knowing now what my son has been going through. He (just like the others) has been very emotional and become very timid and has had a couple of panic attacks. I really began noticing it when his doctor bumped up his dose several months ago. He began talking about death and morbid things quite frequently. His doctor also has diagnosed him with ADHD. Over the past several months I took him to the doctor for extreme leg pain and once to the emergency room for crippling abdominal pain. They couldn't find anything wrong with him. We've taken him OFF of singulair forever and few days ago and him bright and positive personality seems like is beginning to come back. I just hope that he has suffered long-term damage from taking this medicine. At this point, we can only hope and pray that everything will be fine.

It's interesting to read about children who get angry for no apparent reason while on Singulair. We experienced this with our 5 year old son also. His Kindergarten teacher always brought this up to me that he would never take responsibility for his own actions, but blame everyone for what happened. He was the same way at home. He was extremely sensitive about everything! If we laughed he would explode thinking we were laughing at him. He constantly said that no one liked him and that he was stupid.

As soon as he was taken off the Singulair, little by little the sensitivity disappeared. He became, again, the strong confident little boy we once had.

I think this is a huge side effect of Singulair that will get over-looked because of the major side effect - suicide. If Singulair is causing children to feel such a poor self image, the side effects may well linger on longer than we thought. We must reassure our children that they are special, and well loved, and get them off, I'm not saying we all haven't done that because I know we have or we wouldn't be here worried sick seeking help. I just think they need that extra hug.

We actually told my son a few days after we took him off that the reason he got so angry all the time was because of singulair. We assured him that he would feel great again soon and he didn't have to worry about that "feeling" anymore. Like many other parents, even within about 3-4 days our son's personality started to shine again. What a joy it is to have him back.

I have been reading all of the responses for a few days now. My 9 year old son has been on Singular for a few years now. I took him off Singular on Friday night. He has always been my moody and difficult one - not bad, he was very sensitive. He was hard to wake up in the morning for school. He was often grumpy and would cry at the drop of a hat. Some days he was more pleasant than others, but we never knew what would set him off. Some days he could be downright nasty. Little things would get under his skin and annoy him - especially anything his younger brothers did! He would cry for no reason and when asked would say, "I down know why I am crying, I just don't know."

When he woke up on Sunday morning, he was different - much happier and easy going. Throughout the day we saw a different child. He has gotten up each morning without complaint, got ready for school, packed his bag, and got a snack for the day. When he couldn't find his school bag, he didn't flip out and blame everyone else (which would have been the normal reaction.) Instead, he found it by himself! He is no longer arguing about everything. He is nice to be around.

I'm still holding my breath and waiting for something to happen. My husband is convinced that Singular has to be the cause - what else would have caused this dramatic shift in his behavior. I want to see how he is over the next few weeks. As each day passes, I am believing more and more that this drug caused these behaviors and getting angrier and angrier

My deepest, most heartfelt sympathy for all the horrific losses and suffering.
I wrote earlier, but I am so traumatized by all this... I can't write long now. Besides all the rest of the torture we've all endured, please let me know and do reply if tinnitus and/or hearing loss has been a major problem. Perfect a year and a half ago, I just had my hearing tested and have so hearing loss in my left ear only. Right ear is still perfect. Funny too... my newly developed tinnitus is also in my left ear only.
I am 50 with a bunch of problems from a head injury of 22 years ago and just within the last few year correctly diagnosed. My life is already destroyed, but about a year ago... it all started getting worse. Now, almost completely unable to function, I am trying to nail if the cause is the Singulair I stopped couple of nights ago and started maybe 2 years ago.
I need to determine (because they can find no cause) for the recent onset of the hearing loss and tinnitus... which someone described perfectly as a hissing sound, like someone is letting the air out of my head.
So please let me know if tinnitus and or a hearing loss seems a result of this miserable drug for you too... Thank you...
losthope18

I posted a few days ago about my son, 9 yrs old who had dramatic changes in his personality since he started taking Singulair last year. My little boy actually told his therapist he wanted to disappear, I was terrified. The night we saw this report on the news we stopped the medication, that was 4 days ago. As of yesterday my son is happy, laughing, giggling, running around the house and doing everything a child should be doing. I actually sat down last night and cried, I can't believe that a medication could do such horrible things to people. I am lucky that my little man has come back to me, unfortunately others have not been as lucky. I will fight this as far as it needs to go, please contact me if anyone needs my story. I will be going onto other websites to see if we can get our stories heard.

My son was on Singulair for 4 years the start of an absolute nightmare,but never did i make the connection,i read the pamphlets i read the side affects i told my doctor,but we were hung out to dry to figure it out for ourselves,I have taken him to countless professionals,who always ask List your medications,I have cried in there offices i have begged for help.I ended up taking things into my own hands ,taking him out of school, home schooling and changing our families life to accommodate his sleeping difficulties and feelings of complete in adacy plz someone tell me this will get better, tell me this is the answer,finally when i talked to his pmd i was told to stop giving him the drug immediately

Here's something to ponder...
Here's a quote from Merck's site "Merck voluntarily updated the worldwide product label for SINGULAIR in October 2007 to include "suicidal thinking and behavior" and included similar changes to the patient product information". So if they voluntarily updated their information, why aren't doctors aware, why is the public not privy to this information?

Moms, Dads, and everyone who is taking Singulair with these side effects..if you are wondering why you've changed since being on Singulair, it just may be the side effects of this drug. Please don't wonder anymore, and take yourself off. You don't need to wean off it (coming from my son's pediatrician). It may take a few weeks to really see results. With our 5 year old son, we saw results little by little, and now it's been a month and he's completely back to normal. No more suicidal thoughts, no more blank stare, completely focused, and is his loving self again.

Every time someone new comes here and posts their story, it just breaks my heart that we've all suffered silently for so long without knowing the causes. To all the Mom's and Dad's who've thought they were doing something wrong as a parent, I feel for you, I was there. We did do something wrong though, we trusted the very person who made an oath to protect our children, to help our children. But we cannot blame ourselves for that. We're doing everything in our power right now to make our children's lives better, be proud of yourselves that you're here, finding the answer. Now let's do something about it. It's important to educate everyone we can about this. Don't let these doctors or compassionless people come in here and tell you there are no side effects, trust your parental instincts and go with them!

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 have been taking Singulair for at least 10 years, most of which on a daily basis. I had severe stomach pains and nausea for a period of time, went through a lot of testing and other medications all of which did not help and was at times limited to eating saltines. I also experienced anxiety attacks and depression. The depression would be on and off for periods of time. I attempted suicide several times. Only within the past 3 years, 3 years in which I was not taking my Singulair regularly (limited the Singulair to a few days at a time when I had asthma attacks or respiratory colds), was I no longer suicidal. I am not blaming these symptoms on Singulair but it is no surprise to me if it was the cause, as it was the only medication I took daily in that time period.

I HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS DUE TO A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, HOWEVER MY PROBLEMS ARE MUCH WORSE. I ALSO HAVE NEW PROBLEMS LIKE A HEART MURMUR; HEARING LOSS; TINNITUS... ALL NEW & WITHIN THE LAST YEAR OR SO... I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG I'VE BEEN TAKING SINULAIR... MAYBE 2 YEARS? SO I STOPPED LAST NIGHT. HOW LONG BEFORE SYMPTOMS STOP IF THEY ARE GOING TO DO SO!!!???

My almost four year old son has been on singulair for a little over two years now and I am SICK to my stomach after reading all of these entries.
Our son was such an amazing baby, he was very even tempered and behaved beautifully. After some chronic sinusitis and environmental related allergies he was placed on Singulair 15mg granule packets once/day. It was a gradual change in his behavior but very noticeable.

Our wonderful child became very irritable, hipper, restless, moody, and overly sensitive, Our son went from sleeping trough the night to waking several times a night. We are lucky if we have a couple good nights a month. He has also been tougher to get to sleep at night he goes from 8am to midnight on most days (no naps) and will stumble and fall - and he will still protest sleep. On other days he is so hard to keep awake sometimes crashing after school, missing dinner, and going thought the night.

He too like others has been complaining of leg cramps, but I just thought it was a tingly foot....after he would continue to walk around for hours limping, I just thought he was joking. But, the funny leg cramp would always make a reappearance.....and now this could be why????

He is very physical with us and his brother....always hitting and kicking intentionally. His behavior was only exacerbated by the recent birth of our 6 month old. My husband and I have been brought to tears and worn out by his extreme behavior. One moment he is happy - then aggressive or moody and brought to tears....he is like an emotional roller coaster.

He always has a blast at pre-school but completely loses control and freaks out when it is time to go, he says he hates school and is miserable there, he cries so much he throws up. He also goes through hunger strikes, when he is so emotional he choses not to eat. It did not used to be like this!

Coincidental or medical poisoning????

After reading all of these entries, there is no doubt in my mind that Singulair is the culprit.

This drug should be recalled and the pharmaceutical company should be held liable and accountable for this. Our lives have been disturbed and our children's health compromised, what for....a PROFIT?

The FDA needs to do more extensive testing on pharmaceutical drugs and implement more stringent guidelines. and the prescribing doctors shouldn't push these drugs so emphatically.

As of last night we stopped the medication and are relying solely on the Zyrtec OTC. I pray for a change.....we miss the little boy we used to know :-(