Singulair and hives

This site is great! I developed a cold 2 months ago that turned into this severe bout of sore throat and bronchitis symptoms. I do have allergies and take otc meds. Because I was having such trouble breathing my doctor gave me 2 weeks worth of singulair. I'm also on several other meds to try and clear up this bronchitis, but the singulair is the only "new" med, as I have taken the other meds in the past. I noticed last week that I was breaking out in hives. Itching all over and especially on the left side of my face. At first I just thought I'm falling apart, but then I began wondering if it could be the singulair. Thanks to the comments here I'm stopping singulair. Doctors, as well intentioned as they are, really don't know about most of the meds they prescribe. And it is irresponsible for any of them to just say "no it's not the medication", when they really don't know. That's why the internet is such a great tool!

I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter who was put on Singular about 3 months ago. About a week after taking it she began to break out in hives. Has anyone else observed this in their child? I took her to an allergist who ran all kinds of tests and they said that she was allergic to nothing. I am taking her off of it to see if the hives go away. She is also very moody, cries all the time, is very aggressive. She was never like that until she began taking this drug. Of course, the allergist said it was not Singular, and for me to continue giving it to her.

Hi.

I was put on Singulair toward the end of February. At the beginning of March I started getting hives all over my body and becoming very itchy for no reason at all. The allergist said it couldn't have been from the medicine. The frequency of the hives/itchiness have slowed, but I still get them. I was also getting a little dizzy when I'd put my hed back or lay down, but I knew that was one of the side effect. But, the past several days, I've been getting very dizzy when I walk. I'm worried this is from the Singulair -- nothing else has changed. Could these effects show up after a month? My allergist doesn't seem too concerned, but I am.

Oh, I forgot to add that my son has started to lose weight, which he really needed to do, and there have been no more fits of rage (which usually happened about once or twice a week and usually consisted of him shouting over the least little thing before stomping away and slamming doors) since he stopped taking Singulair.

my daughter has been on Singulair for 4 days now. She is 2 years old and has bad food allergies that cause very bad eczema. She also has been diagnosed with the start of asthma. After going to an allergist, we were told that she should try Singulair and Allegra for a couple of months to treat her seasonal allergies which have been causing coughing at night and skin break-outs, etc. A day or so after she took the medicine ( Singulair chewable tablets- I haven't started the Allegra yet, it seemed like too much for her to be on ) she has been having very loose stools, and quite a few throughout the day. Also she has hive- like bumps on her back. I stopped giving it to her the day before yesterday because the medicine was the only new thing she had been introduced too. The stools seemed to slow down and the hives seemed to be going away, but she was coughing bad last night, so I gave it to her again thinking maybe all she had was a stomach bug. But this morning we made countless potty stops and her back is bumpy again. Does anyone else have this problem?

OMG! I just cannot believe it! My almost 3 year old has been on Singulair since the fall and was on it last year as well and she has been suffering with chronic otitis media, she was diagnosed with idiopathic hives, she has developed a patch of eczema on her leg, c/o stomach discomfort -- Needless to say I have discontinued this med. I am really upset over this! She has an ear recheck in 2 weeks because we are at the point where we are considering put tubes in her ears. I just cannot believe this!

Gigi

I was given Singulair after a serious bout with asthma several months ago. I only took a few because every time I took them, it seemed I got a terrible headache. I was out of Allegra today and needed to take something for my allergies so I could go to work, so I took a Singulair.My allergies were good all day until I started getting hives. Huge hives the size of a quarter. Since I knew I didn't eat anything different, I came on here to see if that was a side effect and sure enough, it is.

My daughter is ten years old and has had breathing problems since she was born, diagnosed with asthma/RAD when she was 2 or 3. She has been on several different medications since two or three including Singulair. To date she has been diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans(bone necrosis in her knee), recurrent UTI's with kidney reflux and had a deflux surgery a few years ago, cold urticaria (hives when her body temperature is rewarming and vision problems. We just recently switched her Advair discus to a regular Advair inhaler with a spacer because her voice changed and had swollen tonsils for over two months. She has had stomach pains forever which I thought was from bladder infections but they are now getting worse with vomiting. After a few years I strongly believe that it is not from her bladder infections because she always has a trace of nitrates in her urine whether she has stomach pains or not. After reading the listings on this site I am definitely looking into this further. She has always had a very hard time with her emotions and anxiety and been very frustrated in not being able to control it. She gets headaches a lot. she also gets extremely bad cold sores. I am positive that these drugs we give are children need more long term studies to learn the short and long term-side effects. It is very frustrating to me that all these people have very similar side effects and nothing is being done. I just spent last night in the emergency room with my daughter having horrible stomach pains and vomiting again. No fever, normal stools etc. I will definitely be bringing this up ar our next doctor visit and be writing the manufacturer. Good luck to everyone out there. I sure hope some studies will be done soon and that we can find an answer to our problems. God Bless You All!

My son Colin who is 9 has been on Singulair for about two years now and I am getting very concerned about him. It started a few months back where the school nurse sent him home a couple of times because of an unexplained hives only on his hands. Every time the dog scratches him, the scratches swell . Yesterday he had red blotches just around his mouth. We are talking about an extremely shy boy who all of the sudden will not listen to the school teacher. He lashes out and goes into these unexplained rages.He complains of stomach pain and is nauseas all the time.He does get headaches and seems depressed.Last weekend and this weekend, friend of ours experienced the whole freaked out incident. One minute Colin will be fine, the next minute seems like a panic attack. I really was starting to believe it was behavioral but I now am convinced it is his medication Singulair!!

I have been on Singulair for just over a year now and I never thought I had any side effects from it until my fiance told me I shouldn't stay on a tablet for too long and to check on the net for the dangers, so I found this site. I said I have not had any side effects but having read a number of side effects experience from other people I can now recall within the last year telling my fiance:
1) Lately I feel like I am nearly going to have a panic attack, only sometimes and I don't know what brings on this thought.
2) Sometimes I stop eating something because I get this sudden thought in my head that I am allergic to it and my throat will swell up, and I start convincing myself my throat is swelling a little bit, and then I feel like I am going to have a panic attack
3) I experience the itchy hands every few months, and itchy eyes
4) Two weeks ago I took two days off work because I was so lethargic and so unmotivated, went to the doctor and he could not explain why I felt like that. The same week I was feeling very depressed.
5) I had a huge row a few months back with my fiance and for the first time in my life the thought came into my head about what it would be like to commit suicide, I wouldn't do it, but the fact I was curious is scary
6) I have strange dreams all the time, and now I recall that when I started singularity I knew this was a side effect and accepted it
7) Here is a new one, not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but in the last year I have suddenly become allergic to things I was never allergic to before. Or perhaps I always was with no symptoms but suddenly I have symptoms which involve swelling of the eyelids and red patches on my face, caused by cherries, or a rice I bought in marks and spenders. Never had allergies like this before and these two arose in the last two years. Also every time I take a shower I have a temporary red rash on my legs afterwards, doesn't matter what shower gel I use, its like I have an allergy to hot water.
8) And finally, has anyone else suddenly developed psoriasis, I developed it just 6 months ago, couldnt link it to anything but now I am writing all this down it comes to mind maybe its the Singulair two.

I cannot believe 10 minutes ago I just told my fiance I can take this tablet forever, its completely natural.

I am reading this stuff and find I am very angry with the doctors who don't do the research to see what they are putting into us! I know some who say this is all just overactive parents but I think there is much more to it than that. My 8 year old child has been put on Singulair twice now and I have taken him off both times for what I thought were side effects of this med. After reading all this I know I WAS RIGHT! The first time he broke out in hives and complained of pain on several ocassions. This second time around they told me it couldn't have been the Singulair that caused the reaction and so I tried it again. He took it for 3 weeks before I connected it to constant loose to at worst water stools. He also acted differently and complained of headaches. I will say though his allergies were well in check from this medication and I wish it didn't have the nasty side effects. He finally after almost a month of being off it has normal stools again. The doctor admitted it could take this long to get out of his system. He wanted me to start it again because my child is experiencing the same allergic symptoms that Zyrtec and Flonase don't keep fully under control. Does anyone know how I can stop the stuffy / runny allergy nose with out meds?

Singulair has been a good thing for my 4yr old daughter. She has only had a few asthma symtoms since being on singulair. She has been on it for almost 3 years. The only issue I have had is that tonight my older daughter gave her a dose and I gave her a dose not knowing she already had one. Does anyone know if this can be a serious thing?

My 7 year old son was taking singulair for his allergies. We didn't know why he started breaking out in hives every where but his legs. His cheeks became cherry red.
This went on every day for about ten days.
Benedryl helped the hives and the doctor prescribed prednisone.
After a week still no relief. When we went to count the number of singulair pills our son had left for rx refill purposes we noticed that he was 9 pills short. We questioned our son and found out that he really liked the taste of these pills. Little did we know he could navigate the child proof container.
After hiding the pills and only giving him the prescribed amount his hives have disappeared and not returned.

Singulair was prescribed to my 3 years old son for allergies. After only two days of taking the medicine he was having trouble breathing, belly pains, red hives and screaming out in the middle of the nights. After the second day we had to take him to the emergency room where they had to give him predisone and a breathing treatment. They told me to stop giving it to him (which I was going to do wether they told me that or not!!!!!!!!!!) Now it is the next day, singular free, and he is starting to breath easier. I hope he continues to return to the way he was before.

My son is 11yrs old. He's been on singulair for 7days now. Today he woke up with this rash on his face and alittle on his arms. Anyone know of these side effects. I am thinking of taking him off after reading this site.

I was prescribed Singulair to help control my asthma. I took 10mg for three days, but it made me incredibly tired. It was hard to get up in the morning and I was randomly falling asleep on my desk at work. I began taking half a pill (5mg) and intitially this was better. I was still tired in the mornings, but by noon it had worn off. However, over the next week additional side effects began to arise and increase in intensity. I could deal with the fever, headache, etc., but the mood swings were horrible. I couldn't stop snapping at people. When I broke out in hives, I knew the Singulair had to go. I have been off of it for two days now and am feeling better. The hives are fading and my mood isn't quite so gloomy. I expect I will return to my normal self by the end of this week.

Incidentally, Singulair did work fantastically well for my asthma. My peak flow average went up forty points and overall the readings were greatly stabilized with only small fluctuations. Unfortunately, the side effects just aren't worth it.

I had been taking singulair for about 9 months. About 4 months ago, I began having sleepless nights, filled with restlessness and fear. Not every night, just some. I truly beleived the doctor when he told me that it couldn't be the singulair. I have taken over-the counter sleep medications and medication for the itching and hives. Know I know the truth.

I have been on singulair for about about 3 months now (if not more). For the past 2 months I have had a muscle spasm in my left upper eye lid and just in the past few days a mild case of tinnitus has flared up. I have always had joint pain due to scoliosis in my lower lumbar area so I never really attributed singulair to any joint pain. My doctor wants to send me for blood tests because of the eye twitching due to how long it has been going on for. I see a lot of the same symptoms in me that I have read on here. During the first week of use I developed hives all over my legs, belly and the bend of my arms. At night I would take a singulair tablet and an extra allergy pill to attempt a full nights sleep. I requested to be put on this drug to help with sleeping at night. I would have asthma flare ups almost nightly and my other meds (diskus 500/50) was not doing the trick. As of tonight, I am going to stop taking Singulair. I have never in my life had so many problems with a drug like I have with this one.

I was taking Singulair for years, then I stopped like a year ago. Then two days ago I took it and today I have a breakout of hives on my leg. Then I will not take it anymore for the next couple days... then I will take it again and see what happens this time!

My son was put on singular a few weeks ago. He lost 6 lbs in a month. There is no reason for that. He was on a trial period for a month and no longer has any pills left. I don't think I want him to go back on them! He is 6 and not very big to begin with and has lots of of ther problems. I don't want the singular to make them worse.

What are the possible side effects of SINGULAIR?
The side effects of SINGULAIR are usually mild, and generally did not cause patients to stop taking their medicine. The side effects in patients treated with SINGULAIR were similar in type and frequency to side effects in patients who were given a placebo (a pill containing no medicine).

The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:

stomach pain
stomach or intestinal upset
heartburn
tiredness
fever
stuffy nose
cough
flu
upper respiratory infection
dizziness
headache
rash
Less common side effects that have happened with SINGULAIR include (listed alphabetically):

agitation including aggressive behavior, allergic reactions (including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat, which may cause trouble breathing or swallowing), hives, and itching, bad/vivid dreams, increased bleeding tendency, bruising, diarrhea, drowsiness, hallucinations (seeing things that are not there), hepatitis, indigestion, inflammation of the pancreas, irritability, joint pain, muscle aches and muscle cramps, nausea, palpitations, pins and needles/numbness, restlessness, seizures (convulsions or fits), swelling, trouble sleeping, and vomiting.

Rarely, asthmatic patients taking SINGULAIR have experienced a condition that includes certain symptoms that do not go away or that get worse. These occur usually, but not always, in patients who were taking steroid pills by mouth for asthma and those steroids were being slowly lowered or stopped. Although SINGULAIR has not been shown to cause this condition, you must tell your doctor right away if you get one or more of these symptoms:

a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs
a flu-like illness
rash
severe inflammation (pain and swelling) of the sinuses (sinusitis)
These are not all the possible side effects of SINGULAIR. For more information ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Talk to your doctor if you think you have side effects from taking SINGULAIR.

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 have been taking Singular a short time. The side effects have been are hives, bad itching, very dry throat, coughing has been worse especially when I lay down at night,. Breathing has been worse and I have been felling so run down, also have been having strange dreams.

My daughter has been taking Singulair for about 2 months. She now has hives or a rash on her face, arms and legs (and some in diaper area). She is on an antibiotic for a chronic sinus infection as well. The doctor says it is impetigo but her "welts" are not oozing. I am putting Bactroban on it and will see if it help. My worry is that it is really hives from the Singulair. Wouldn't her antibiotic help the impetigo?

I am 37 and I took Singulair and Advair for approx. three months for Allergy induced Asthma. Things were great for about one month and then yes, weight gain and vivid dreams. The worst side effect I have is itchy hives that I break out in several times a day. I have stoped taking everything for about a week not and I am still having this rash. I take Benedryl and clarinex and these hives are still here. How long does it take for this stuff to get out of your system????

My 2 1/2 year old son started taking Singular 2 weeks ago. We have noticed a change in his attitude. He hits and pushes his 5 year old sister. He cries ALL the time. His nose continuelous is runny. Last week, he woke up and was vomiting but had no temperature. He also cried and said his chest hurt.

We took him to the DR, and they said that it was just a tummy bug and that he was fine.

Yesterday, (week 2) I picked him up from the nanny's house and he had red hives (welts) that were on his neck, behind the ears, his tummy and on his side. Some were very large. He was wheezing and I checked his Oxygen level and it had dropped to 91/92. The danger zone for him is 89. So we gave him albuterol treatment and his Oxygen shoot up to 97, whcih was fine.

He has had a chronic coughing, and he won't eat very much (before he would eat everything and want more). He cries alot at night. One night he woke up 2X screeming. Like he was in pain. Got him calmed down and he said his tummy hurt.
After his bath, I was rubbing lotion on his leg and he pulled his legs away crying and said they hurt.

After reading everything here, I KNOW IT IS THE SINGULAR. I am going to print of this web page and take it back to my son "Specialist" DR that I paid $120 to see my son, and tell the DR to put this in my son's file!

Thank you to everyone who has made their private lives public so the rest of us may learn in time.

God Bless Mon, 31 Jan 2005 12:19:31 -0600 by mylittleangel, #9151 for sharing her sad, heartfelt story, and stoping other children from the same fate. My heart goes out to her and her family.

I'm so glad I found this web site.
My 5 yo son's pediatrician put him on Singulair three weeks ago to help with mild asthma/seasonal allergies. Two days after starting the drug, he began to hit himself, and say he was stupid and a loser whenever he made a mistake. He is NOT the child who would naturally do these things, he is always the first one to tell you how great and smart he is. He has also had uncontrollable screaming rages since starting the drug. one lasted 45 minutes. He stood at the top of the stairs and howled and screamed last night until he was sweaty and red, and said "help me mom, I can't stop!". It was frightening. I went on the web afterwards to check for side effects and found this site, which mentioned other side effects he has had that I hadn't attributed to the drug:
He has been getting hives after playing outside. I had attributed it to allergies, although it has never happened before. He has developed sores in and around his mouth, and has pains in his legs that I thought were growing pains. He is officially off of the medication, and I called his pharmacist and doctor today to let them know why.

I have been on this medication for about 8 weeks. The first 6 weeks (I initially thought, but now seriously wonder) were like amazing, I felt my asthma was better, no allergies going on, I even stopped my Allegra, which I used to live on for my allergies. Two weeks ago, I thought an enviromental problem caused me to agitate my sinuses/allergies, get worse and develop into a sinus infection (dryer vent tubing came off, lint floated around house for a week before finding).

I went to see my GP, he treated me as sinus infection and gave me Nexium because I was experiencing bad stomach and chest burning. I never had that before in my adult years, I am 38. So, I was taking Singulair, Nexium, amoxicillin, Nasonex and Allegra. By the next evening, I was so sick, stomach burning, vomited, rash/hives, difficult breathing, I went to the ER. They sort of treated me like 'what are you doing here?' but I felt like I was dying. I was scared.

I had the asthma breathing treatment, Mylanta, Prednisone and Benadryl. I asked about the Singulair, they said no problem, take it too. It was after midnight and I actually slept until 6 am, first time in a long time. By 1 pm the next day, the stomach pain came back, the hives and itching, the wheezing.

24+ hours later, I am on the phone with my GP and tell him about the rash/hives, difficulty breathing and he blames it on the amoxicillin. I quit taking the amoxicillin 12 hours ago and am still having the hives/severe itching. Even my genital area is itching.

Through this time, I started researching the side effects online for Singulair. I asked my pharmacist, two doctors and the ER staff and ALL of them SAID NO, IT CAN'T BE THE SINGULAIR. Yeah right. I started doing an inventory and my husband (bless his heart) confirmed that I have been much more agitated the past 8 weeks, I definitely have been having nightmares (didn't really pay attention to the connection until I started reading up on the side effects) which I rarely ever do, usually I can barely remember what I dream about.

I have had malaise, lack of interest in doing what I normally do, find myself forcing myself to get out of the house. I guess maybe I could say a sort of depression since I started this drug.

Here is my list of symptoms I attribute to Singulair and I am stopping cold turkey as of tonight and going back to Flovent.

These side effects started after 6 weeks of use:
sinus infection, swollen-hurting tongue, sore throat, increase of asthma/wheezing/cough, rash, hives, entire body itching including genital area, rash with no itching on stomach, burning in stomach and upper chest, vomiting. I think that covers it. And I once claimed this to be a miracle drug for me. Yeah right.

Good luck to everyone and I am sorry for the loss of life due to this drug. I honestly felt like I was dying and I am still afraid of what may happen to my asthma once I quit taking it tonight.
Michelle

In response to the latest post:

I have been taking Singulair for the past week and have also broken out into hives. I have hives on my back, shoulders, chest, and sporadic bumps on other parts of my body. I thought it was just part of my seasonal allergies (albeit a very severe allergic reaction), but also suspected Singulair. I'm glad I Google searched the side effects and found this. I'm going to discontinue immediately.

My daughter is 11 years old and was put on Singulair in September 2004. We haven't noticed any side effects until the weather started warming up and she started playing outdoors for over an hour at a time. After playing on a sunny day, she develops hives on her face, neck and recently her arms. Her doctor is suggesting it is a viral infection and is putting her on Zyrtec for two weeks. I am very suspicious of her Singulair. Has anyone else been having this side effect?
Also in reading all the other postings regarding the nightmares and mood swings makes me wonder if this has been a side effect all along and we have overlooked it as preteen hormones. I am going to gradually take her off her Singulair this spring (the doctor has already suggested this do to her asthma symptoms being worse in the winter
months) and take note of any differences! Thanks everyone for taking the time to report on this drug!

my 10 year old daughter was put on singulair by an infectious disease doctor that had seen some improvements in kids taking this who have chronic sinus infections and swelling of sinus tissues...my daughter showed an improvement in sinus problems but noticed a 20 pound weight gain from 62 to 82 pounds in a few months..owed this to better health from pill and tonsil/sinus surgery...went off singulaire that summer...at Christmas my daughter caught a bad cold which turned into a potentially fatal frontal sinus infection from infected swelling frontal sinus (called Pott's Puffy Tumor)...she was put on IV antibiotics and singulair..she takes nasonex and sudafed regularly and does daily sinus rinsing...since starting the singulair again she is increasingly hungry and she is gaining weight again...slightly moody, never feels full...but the new symptom is pain in her side at the lower rib cage..this started after singulair for 2 months...the pain wraps around her side and reaches to her navel area...last night she woke up with severe cramping in her stomach every 10 minutes like labor contractions....after an hour she developed all over hives and was having hot flashes during the cramping...she had just taken her second dose of Entex which is an expectorant to thin her sinus mucous...at the time of these symptoms she has been off her IV drugs for 3 weeks...so these other posts really make me suspect singulair for weight gain and abdominal/rib pain and cramping..anyone with similar symptoms?..

Not sure, but strong suspicion. I am 33 yrs old, have been on singulair for five years and found out last year that the majority of my sperm are either dead or close to it..
I don't know if singulair is the cause but I have heard that it affects the motility of the sperm. Luckily, with the help of ivf, my wife and I were able to conceive..this drug was prescribed to me for hives and now that i am on it I can't seem to get off. Every time I stop taking it, I feel like I can't breathe and that my chest is closing up. I have never had allergies or asthma, but now it seems I am dependent on this drug..
If anyone has heard or read anything about the effects of singulair on reproduction, please post it here to let me and others know...thanks...

My 7 yr old daughter has been taking singulair for the last 2 1/2 yrs for mild asthma. At the end of the summer she stopped taking zyrtec and we noticed that she started having hives on her stomach, arms and neck which we attributed to allergies. A month later she started having episodes in which she would "zone out", and her eyes would half closes and twitter. She has also just recently told her dad that she sometimes her voices in her head. We think this is because of the singulair. We are stopping the medication today. After reading all of the side effects that are posted here, the medication is worse for her.