Singulair and insomnia

Wow- this floors me. My daughter is 20 now- we had her on Singulair for years for her asthma. She suffered from horrible leg pain, but she was a 4-sport varsity athlete and we attributed the pain to over training.

Her first year at college she started suffering from severe depression and lost a lot- I mean a LOT of weight. She went about a year and a half with no period due to low body weight. We wanted to check her into an inpatient treatment center for eating disorders but couldn't because she was over 18 and didn't want to go.

In June we sent her to a new allergy doc who retested her and switched her from Singulair to Symbicort as the Singulair was not managing the asthma well. It was like we flipped a switch- she stopped having vision problems, stomach pain, and insomnia almost overnight. She has gained back at least 10 pounds and is looking like her old self again.

I'm so glad we stopped the Singulair, even though it was accidental. A year ago, we thought we might lose our bright and beautiful daughter. We had no idea it could be as simple as the asthma med. I'm telling everyone I know about possible side effects of Singulair.

POLL: If you or your child have been adversely affected by Singulair could you please reply to this and let me know what ethnicity you are and skin tone. (fair, med., dark, etc.) I'm interested in the demographics of this drugs effects.
Thank you!

What a night,6 months off singulair life was so good,until last night,a complete set back,insomnia night terrors, panic and anxiety all over again,could it be this drug causes flash backs,i am so frustrated and once again seething in anger at the suffering my son has endured ,and to think it may not be completely over devastes me.Any one else had reacurrances

5 months Singulair free,yesterday was Matts first day of high school,his first day of regular school in 2 years as he could not leave the house or cope with out panic and fear.7am he awoke by himself and got ready for school,the only thing i saw in his eyes was excitement,he left the house smiling.While he was gone i passed and worried waiting for the phone to ring in case he needed me ,watching the clock and wondering how his day was. he arrived home at 2 thirty still smiling,i asked him how his day was he said fine, i asked him what they did he said nothing ,lol all is good ,thank you thank you thank you

My 8-year-old son started on Singulair 6 weeks ago. Soon afterwards he had severe problems falling asleep--often up until 4 or 5 am before drifting off, but I didn't make the connection. (Thank goodness it's summer time and no school!)

About 2 weeks ago, my doctor recommended Singulair for me, too. The first day I was unbelievably sleepy, but after that I, too, have had severe problems with insomnia. I have also noticed involuntary muscle twitching, restless leg syndrome, and my mind feels like it's turning to mush. I used to tutor statistics; now I can't even do basic multiplication! Scary!

I have just thrown out both my son's and my bottle of Singulair. I hope stopping it will reverse this crap.

All these post's sound just like what my 10 yr old son is going through. My son has been on Singulair for the last yr and half for his allergies. His behavior changed dramatically shortly after taking this drug. Self hate, hurting himself, leg pains chronic cold symptoms severe insomnia. My doctor assured me that Singulair would not affect my sons behavior I strongly disagree with him and only 2 days ago did i take him off the drug. I pray he gets back to the normal happy child he once was. I feel so sick that I used to tuck him in to bed tell him that i love him and give him this pill that i feel was tormenting him.

Alright. After observing my daughter for two full weeks after discontinuing Singulair, I have decided to share our story.

Our daughter started taking Singulair last August (2007) to relieve her allergy symptoms. I'd like to add she is an identical twin, whose sister did not need to take the medication, for she had mild allergy symptoms that were easily relieved by taking Allegra. So we clearly have a side-by-side case study where one twin took the Singulair and the other did not. About two weeks later we noticed changes in her behavior and thought it was due to the new school routine and changes, etc. Then she started not eating, and when she did eat, she ate very little. Both girls are in a select soccer league are physically active 4-5 times a week.

Long story short - she stopped eating, lost weight, stopped growing and is now 2.5 inches shorter and 15 lbs. lighter than her identical twin. They are fifth graders, I might add, so 15 lbs is ALOT of weight at their age. She was withdrawn, known to have deep depressive episodes, reacted adversely to everything and, in general, wasn't acting herself since last August. She was not enjoying life at all.

She is usually a quick-witted child, one with a sunny disposition and who interacts with others very well. She is joy packaged in a colorful bottle, ready to share her thoughts with you.

We took her to her pediatrician, a nutritionist, a psychologist and all said she was clearly depressed and that is what led to her changes in eating. No kidding, I thought. But why? What has happened that could have changed her so drastically?

I had never felt so far away from my child as I had with her during this time period. We are a close family and we pride ourselves on being able to freely express how we feel.

My dear mother-in-law saw that the FDA was probing the side-effects of Singulair with children and she mentioned it to me, because she knew that is what my daughter was taking was taking. I never thought about the connection, because I take Singulair. I will add I also take an antidepressant and have made an appointment with my doctor to discuss all of this.

After talking with our pharmacist and getting an exact date as to when she started taking it, I called her pediatrician and discussed it with him. We had not been to him since October, because we took her to everyone else (psychologist, etc), so he had not known exactly what was going on with her mental health. He did, however write in his notes (and told me when I called), "Discontinue Singulair if symptoms persist." Hmmmm. Exactly why I wasn't told this from the beginning, I don't know and am very bothered knowing he wrote that on her chart.

Well, after taking her off it two weeks ago she is now back to her happy, connecting and eating self. People (her father, twin, and I included) noticed a change in three days from stopping use of Singulair.

She has changed IMMENSELY since getting off the Singulair that it has been easy to pinpoint her taking that medication as the reason she has been absolutely miserable for the past SEVEN MONTHS. I thank God it wasn't longer and that she didn't suffer any longer than she already did, but it was a true hell to watch her go through what she did and to watch her decline and to not know (professionals included) what to do. Words diminish how we felt and how we feel now after having her back.

So there you have a side-by-side comparison. One identical twin thrived while NOT taking Singulair and the twin who did take it suffered terribly, physically and mentally, while she was taking it.

The allergy relief she experienced was clearly not worth the internal suffering she endured while taking Singulair. I wish we could turn back time and give her those seven months back.

i am an adult with moderate to severe asthma. i also have an incredible number of allergies. i have been taking singulair for years. until last night at dinner with friends i hadn't even heard anything about these side effects. i have pretty much most of them. while it makes me angry, i am actually relieved that i'm not crazy. it's sort of weird. in the past few months my sleepwalking and insomnia have really gone up many levels. it's making me so tired non-functional at work. not good.
so. tonight will be my first night not taking it. i still take a few other drugs that could cause some side effects, but i hope that if nothing else, i can go back to sleeping at least a few hours at a time.
thank you all for posting all this information.

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

From Italy in 2003 - special note regarding psychiatric side effect of Singulair. ( I do not guarantee the translation. I did my best.)

From Italy 2003.

The data available in purpose in literature are insufficient. In England (1), after a year from the commercialization of drug (1998) the CSM/MCA had already brought back 44 report of insomnia, but not of other neuropsichiatriche reactions. Zapatero ET to. (2) in the 2000 they have described the case of a child of nine years, treated with montelukast for rhinitis and bronchial asthma that, after 4 days of therapy, has manifested cefalea, feeling unsteady, agitation, aggressiveness and nocturnal terror. The symptoms have been resolved after discontinuing montelukast. According to the data supplied from the data bank of the WHO near the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) 497 reports were submitted of neuropsichiatriche reactions from montelukast, for a total of 680 ADR. Those more frequently marked ones have been: insomnia (107), nervousness (52), sleepiness (47) and paranoia (41). They are moreover present 8 report of amnesia and 7 thought disorders.

http://www.gruppogif.org/download/GIFsem12003.pdf

I can't imagine the FDA getting involved because of only *one* suicide (though the loss of even one life is terrible). The FDA usually turns a blind eye to what pharmaceutical companies do unless there have been enough complaints or enough evidence to convince them that they must step in.

I came to this board in late February--a full two to three weeks prior to the big news story earlier this week--simply looking for a reason for my son's insomnia. There were already over 1000 posts here on the Singulair board, nearly all of which listed the same side effects: fits of rage, depression, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts. I had never dreamed that my son's fits of rage and depression were linked to Singulair--I had assumed it was all part of being 17 and having normal teenage stresses and hormonal surges. He stopped taking the Singulair right then (back in late February), and the difference in him is astounding. He is much more outgoing and talkative; he joins in with family outings and goes places with his friends (before, he wanted to stay home alone in his room). There have been no fits of rage, no more declarations that he hates himself, no more calling himself a loser (I couldn't believe he would call himself a loser--he carries a 3.9 GPA in an academically-challenging private school and was recently accepted to Case Western University), and he is sleeping better. He is just simply BETTER.

If you or your child can take this medication with no side effects, that's wonderful. Please continue to do so. But please remember: millions of people take Singulair. If only 10% develop the serious side effects, that's **hundreds of thousands** of people.

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

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

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

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

1st insomnia, then depression and anxiety. I got to the point where I couldn't stand being at work because I was shaky and felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I went out on disability and was started on Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Valium & Lunesta. It got worse and now, 6 months later I still don't feel right. I heard about the side effects of Singulair and immediately stopped it. I haven't taken it in 2 nights and am hoping for the best. Wouldn't it be something if I lost my job, lost my friends, and my joy of life (there were many times I wanted to end it), primarily due to Singulair?

My daughter is 20 years old and a chronic asthmatic with severe allergies. She has been on Singulair for 8 years. She has been complaining and in some instances begging her asthma doctor for a reason for her insomnia and restless sleep over the last several years. She takes other asthma and allergy medications. He told her to not take her Xopenex inhaler before bed, as that may be causing the problem, that didn't help at all (sometimes a Xopenex nebulizer treatment is needed for her at bedtime and during the night, during asthma flair-ups). Her doctor just switched her from Allegra (which she has been on since she was 10) to Zyrtec, which is helping with allergies, but not with the sleeplessness. She was taken off of Advair and put on Symbicort in September 2007, this made her asthma worse requiring Prednisone off -and -on since January. She is back on Advair and doing better, but the sleepless nights continue...

We are seriously contemplating taking her off of the Singulair. We aren't 100% certain this medication is causing her insomnia/sleeplessness. However, as she explains it..."If I could get one really good nights sleep, I would go off of the Singulair in a heartbeat". Our fear is that by going off of the Singulair that her asthma will worsen.

I have been taking it for about 3-1/2 years. The very first side effect I noticed was insomnia. After doing hunting on Merck, I could not find anything. Finally called the company and they said there were some studies done after the FDA released the drug and insomnia was one side effect. I talked to my doctor, he put me on the kid's dosage to try and help the insomnia. I still had it. So he told me to take it in the morning. The kids dosage wasn't helping as much, so I was put back on the adult dosage. During the first 6 months of being on it I noticed weight gain. I thought it was due to getting older. After seeing other people with weight gain I now believe my 20 plus pounds I have put on and can not get off, no matter what I do is the Singulair. Odd, about 6 months after the start and I was taking the Singulair I wondered if it was that, since I had not changed anything, ate the same, my work keeps me active and NO MATTER WHAT I DID, I JUST KEEP GAINING WEIGHT. Wouldn't you know I just picked up and paid for my new months worth. While it has helped the wheezing, I WILL NOT continue taking it. Also I have had a major problem with forgetfulness, which I NEVER HAD BEFORE SINGULAIR. Also have had problems with being inspired to do things, just don't care anymore.

READ THIS:
I'm posting this again for the sanity of the concerned parents on this board to let you know you're not alone:

My 5 year old son was diagnosed with mild asthma and put on Singulair. Within a few months he began having uncontrollable fits of rage, displayed self-loathing behavior, had night terrors, and was inconsolable during these episodes. He became very destructive and was a danger to himself and our family. He even talked about killing himself and would say things like "I don''t want to be in this life anymore" and "I want to kill myself". He would threaten my wife and his siblings and told them he wanted to kill them. It was a truly terrifying experience. Our pediatrician was clueless to these side affects and recommended we have our child go through a psychological evaluation. I knew this was not my child''s normal behavior so I searched the internet for Singulair side affects and found some message boards where parents just like myself were telling their stories of their children''s aggressive behavior. I immediately took my son off the drug and within a couple days he was back to his normal self. He told us that he no longer has "that feeling inside of him". Five year old children don''t even know what suicide is and to see my son talk like this was extremely frightening. He is a sweet, intelligent, loving boy who had never exhibited behavior like this until he went on Singulair. We have not seen this behavior after taking him off the drug.

I see posts from people saying that they are not experiencing any negative side effects. That's wonderful--if you or your child can take this medication without any problems, go for it. Yes, the boards for other drugs do list extreme reactions, but if you look around, you won't find many with as many postings as this Singulair board has. I was shocked by how many postings there are here. And yes, this board had over 1000 posts even before the news story broke yesterday. I came here back in late February concerned only about my son's insomnia; only after reading the other posts did I realize that many of the other things I had been concerned (depression, fits of rage, exhaustion) could be linked to this drug.

If it works for you or your child, wonderful. Many people probably won't be affected at all by these negative side effects. But there are millions of people on Singulair. If only 10% have the serious side effects, that would be **hundreds of thousands of people**.

No side effects here - my 5 year old has been on Singulair since he was 2 1/2 and has showed no strange symptoms outside of those of a normal 5 year old boy. He has asthma and severe allergies - including a nut/peanut allergy. He also takes Zyrtec in the Spring and Summer seasons (heavy allergy time for him). Gets good grades in Kindergarten and has never had emotional/behavioral issues at school or at home. I am shocked to hear that people are having these extreme reactions! Although, it seems that there are always going to be reactions to ANY drug out there - go to any of the boards on any drug and you will find people with extreme reactions. Singulair has saved my sons lungs, and possibly his life.

I had my asthma under control, avoiding anything that would cause problems, not medicines etc... until recently I had a bronchial spasm from a traumatic experience. After an ER visit I now have an inhaler and was prescribed Singulair. For someone who knows their body who has never really taking nothing, now I was taking Singulair. Singulair singled out my life and gave me a horrible life. I thought I was going to die because I felt like it. I thought I could be coming down with the flu or something. It made me feel very down and out leaving a yucky feeling. The normal activities I once enjoyed doing, that joy was gone. Insomnia set in after taking this medicine for the past 8 weeks now. As of yesterday after hearing reports of the disturbing side effects, I'm off of Singulair. I will have to resort to something else, because I want my life back.

Sorry, I just posted, but I wanted to say that I too have experienced the sleeplessness, especially lately. It's been just as another poster said where you feel as though you've been awake half the night. I describe it as feeling as though you're thinking instead of dreaming. It's been just awful, feels like insomnia. However I can't say that I've had the trouble sleeping the whole time I've been on the medication. Sometimes I sleep quite well, so again, not sure I can totally blame singulair.

I am a 30 year old female and have had asthma since I was 3 years old. For years I struggled with it, having to always have an inhaler on hand everywhere I went. About 4 years ago by the prescription of my pulmonary doctor I started taking singulair and advair once a day (before bed) The one thing that I have noticed that concerns me a bit, is that when I miss even one day of the medication (due to my forgetfulness in refilling) my asthma will be worse then before I even started the medication. So it's like I'm dependently addicted to it, which is really scary. Just one day off of it and I have to use my albuterol inhaler at least 5 times a day and I can't even get out of bed sometimes.

The other thing that I noticed was my complexion changed. I have been to several dermatologists who either think I have a mild rosacea, mild acne rosacea or a mild adult acne. I have never had a problem with my skin, it was always clear. However now it is just so tempermental. I recently asked an internal medicine doctor who doesn't seem to feel that there is any link between singulair and skin problems but thought that perhaps it was the advair.

I also have experienced strange mood shifts that sort of go back to the time I started the medication. I fight a lot more with my husband and just feel very anxious, fearfull, reclusive, depressed. I feel like another poster, that everything is going to go wrong, or is always wrong. I'll have extreme anxiety about small everyday things. I am an actress living in LA. I have a commercial agent and was quite active in auditioning but this has dwindled as the years have passed.
Is all this due to the medication? I cannot say obviously, and like another poster said, you can't attribute side effects that some people have had to all the millions of people that must take this medication.And, it is true that during studies conducted of medications anything that someone experiences has to be listed as a side effect. I was taking a medication for my possible ADD symptoms, concerta, and one of the side effects is "Accidental Injury" what does that even mean! I asked my doctor about it and he told me, that if someone so much as accidentally bumped into a table or tripped during the study it would have to be listed as possibly being associated with the medication.It's a legal thing I'm sure.

But in any event who's to say that it isn't causing these symptoms. I certainly hope that it doesn't. I can only vouch for my physical symptoms for sure. I know whether or not I can breath or not and that it's due to not taking the medication since being on it is like I don't even have asthma. But as for the emotional stuff, they are just that emotional and there are many other things in peoples lives that could be contributing factors. The greatest test would be to stop taking the medication to see if the emotional symptoms improve.

Our son started taking Singulair three years ago at age 4. Last year he started having really bad headaches and stomach aches. After taking him to the doctor, we thought he was having migraines and was lactose intolerant. He's always been a kind, gentle, well mannered child until this school year. He's in the first grade and has been starting fights, saying mean things to his classmates and hitting other children for no reason. He also has terrible nightmares that are very gruesome for a 7 year old. I've been wondering how in the world his little mind could come up with some of the horrible stuff he tells me he dreams. It scares him enough for him to come into our room and sleep with us. I'm so angry that we were never told of the serious side effects this medicine can cause. We're taking our baby off of this medicine immediately. I agree, we should all file a class action lawsuit - and I have the disciplinary reports from my sons school to prove how his behavior has changed. We're praying for all the children and families that have been victims of the greed of the drug companies once again. This is a shame.

I'm not surprised at all to hear about Singulair being investigated for causing mood changes and suicide. My son was on singulair 6 years ago for a year when he was 5. He underwent very severe mood changes, including insomnia, rages, severe anxiety and panic attacks. We ended up seeing a psychologist about his violent moods, but it took us a year to connect it to Singulair. When his dosage was raised due to growth, he started experiencing disabling anxiety. He was terrified to leave me and had obsessive thoughts about me dying. Things culminated with him being terrified to swallow any food out of fear of choking and dying. When he stopped eating for three days, I began to search the Internet and found references to Singulair causing anxiety in children. He never took singulair again, and was able to resume eating within a few days. He was back to his normal self within a week. Hopefully, now doctors know about the incredible risks for kids with this medication and can warn parents to watch for side effects if they indeed do put their kids on this medication.

Okay- A friend just emailed this site to me, my son is 4 and has been taking Singulair for about 2 years. He has seasonal allergies which seem to be year round, asthma and food allergies. He is on Singulair and Allegra daily, this in it self freaks me out. What I have noticed for at least the past year is that when he is running around or moving a lot he hold his right side and says he has a pain in it, we now call it a "stitch". it happens not from strenuous activity, our doctor just says its growing pains, that doesn't make sense. something is bothering him it happens with somewhat frequency. I am really thinking about his behavior, it seems to me he can change on a dime. from happy to very angry, outbursts and then right back to sweet, yes this could describe any 4 year old, but not any 4 year old is on Singulair. I remember saying to him where is my sweet boy? I feel like that might have been when we started the meds, i am so used to his behavior now that it seems almost normal but there was a time he acted differently. and i do remember saying that.... was it when he went on Singulair???

My kids have been taking Singulair & Claritin for their allergies for a little over 2 years now. We have had no problems what so ever. The doctor actually prescribed only Singulair first & I was worried about the side effects, but there were none. If the meds are causing insomnia, you might want to try giving your children the Singulair upon waking up & the Zyrtec before bed.

I have been on Singulair now for about 14 years. I am 58 yr old white female with Asthma. Severe enough to go to the ER every 2 weeks and get the breathing treatments, IV steroids, etc. Breathlessness is something I do not ever want to experience again.

I went to an allergist and had only a reaction to dust mites, however, my Asthma attacks were triggered by all odors, scents, pollutions from cars, trucks, and construction, (tar smelling products.) I wasn't able to go grocery shopping and go down the detergent aisle. I wasn't able to go to the Mall for fear someone would have on perfume or cologne. Funeral homes were out of the question because of the above mentioned and the flowers. I was basically home bound. Now my allergist had me on another medication, but it required blood tests every month to check the liver enzymes. So he switched me to Singulair. About a month into the drug, I noticed I no longer needed my rescue inhaler, not even at night, or my steroid-laced inhaler for prevention. I thought this drug was a life restoring miracle. Now having read all these comments, and I have almost all the same side effects,: weight gain, restlessness, restless legs, insomnia, ear infections, tinnitus. Gee, I thought these were all because of my age, and now I see it is my Singulair. I don't know if I am brave enough to try to wean off this drug, because when you can't breath, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. so .........WHAT DO I DO?

My grandson is nearly 10yrs old - he had asthma from about 13mths - his mother had it as did her dad so my grandson inherited it - however over the years we had his asthma under control at the beginning of 2006 he was only on one puff of flexitide a day and didn't need ventolin - however this year my daughter went to the specialist and he said to try SINGULAIR - I did not want her to give it to him as a pharmacist told me his daughter was on it and she got worse - but my daughter gave it to him - at first he was good and did not even need his one puff of preventer per day - however as time has gone on he has developed worse asthma than he had ever before - he has been on Singulair about 7mths (thank god no more) he also has been having trouble sleeping at night (didn't know till I read the web this is one of the side effects) he also got stomach upsets with a very white coated tongue - also tonsilitis back hasn't had that for 2yrs - he also started getting angry and playing up at school - which he has always been a wonderful child (I can only thank GOD that I went on line and was guided to this site ( thank you all for your information) keep up the good work and tell everyone that SINGULAIR IS POISON especially to children
p.s. He hasn't had any for the last 4 days and now his asthma is getting worse (however we can only wait and pray that he recovers from this nightmare and doesn't get any other side effects as the time goes on).

I thought I was crazy, it is still coming out of my system so maybe I am! I took singulair for 7 years, after doctors told me that Theo-dur was too old school.
I have gained over 50 pounds, bad skin, bruising,diziness,insomnia and horrible temper and panic.
Every time the Dr asks me how its going with singulair I say its fine.I think I put 2 and 2 together.
After waking up with palpitations,shaking and generally freaking out I have decided to stop.I think it is still lingering in my body and I really hope this week I will feel better and not so tired.

Can someone tell me how long it took for the symptoms to go away.

I have been itchy, eye swelling, tingles, numbness in my hands and feet as well as a rash.

My 4 yo daughter has been taking Sinulair since last spring (Apirl 2006).

Worked great, I don't remember any side effects last summer. She was 2 & changed every day so it's hard to say. Now she's 3 & we've started it back up again at the start of spring. It's hard to say for a 3 year old what symptoms/side effects they are really suffering from. They aren't able to express themselves except mostly by actions. I just assumed her moodyness, crying jags, trouble sleeping at night were part of her age/personality.

Now, I'm noticing a definate problem getting her to bed every night. She will easily be up until 10 - 10:30 before falling asleep. This is even if I put her to bed around 8. She doesn't sleep well either. I'm pretty sure she's dreaming, but it's hard to say whether or not she's having nightmares. We've already made an appt with another doc to switch to something other than Singulair.

Too bad this type of info has to be sought after by the patient's & not provided at the time the medication is prescribed. I'll have to do more research regarding the physchotropic issues of this drug. They prescribe this for kids?

I was diagnosed with asthma 8 months ago at 45 years old. It was quite a shock considering I never had sympthoms untill recently. The doctors thought that abulterol would be enough to control it but unfortunately the events become too frequent. They then swictched me to Singular. Wow, what a mistake that wa! Yes, my breathing improved but the side effects were frightening and painful. After only two or three days my arms, hands and fingers were numb and tingling...constant pins and needles...and virtually useless. At night I had the worst most vivid nightmares I've ever had. And I was unable to fall asleep because my mind was constantly racing. It's almost enough to make one psychotic. Plus I had sudden, very painful ear and tooth aches.

All this cleared up a few days after stopping Singualr.

This drugs is suppose to interfere with your body's signals to produce inflammation but it has to be doing so much more, and most of that not good. It seems clear based on my side effects and others I've read about it has a huge impact on the central nervous system too.

This is not a safe drug. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, some day uses it as an excuse for some really bad behaviour. In fact, I'm shocked that this is given to kids at all. If I had to take this for months I would go insane.

BTW, months later, on advice of my doctor, I tried it again with the intent of taking it every other day to limit dose. Nice idea, but no cigar. After just one dose I was once again "flipping out" in bed.

If you have really bad asthma and singular works for you without side effects that's great news. But I'd still ask myself what kind of impact is it having on your body if it does so much damage to so many other people. How safe can it really be?

If you have kids, and they're taking it, please keep a close eye on them. Sometimes kids don't have the communication tools to explain to parents what they're experiencing. Don't make them suffer...and don't let them be punished at school because their behaviour is uncontrollable. It could very well be this med.

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

I read the email from the woman who had taken Allegra for 5 years and her doctor put her on Singulair. To her I am addressing this, and to anyone else interested. Also to the woman who started kicking stuff out of her way, and tried to move away from herself.

I am Ginger, and I am 58, a retired babysitting granny, and love it. I have allergic rhinitis, and have had frequent sinus infections the last 5 months, even using Nasonex and Astelin and Allegra. My doctor, whom I love and respect, suggested he put me on Singulair and it did help, I was having a drainage so salty it was choking me and at night when I lay down, I would wake up all night with thick mucus choking me. The Singulair did thin the music and I got over the sinus thing with a Z-pack.

I took the Singulair for about 4 weeks, and I ran out and called my doctor last week, and got samples for a few weeks. I am super sensitive to medications, and Vytorin gave me chemically induced hepatitis, which went away when I stopped taking it, and I can't take Calcium, strong antibiotics, anything hardly at all. So I was glad I could take the Singulair.

Okay, I began to notice I had no patience with my husband who is a bad diabetic and in stage 3 of kidney failure. I realized I had known for several years that my husband has anemia from kidney failure, and his blood sugar bottoms out and I call 9-1-1 several times a year when he goes out on me. He is my best friend and my husband of nearly 22 years. When he forgot something and was talking, I would just clam up and make him ask me to tell him, or not tell him. If he got a little short, I used to walk away and not say anything. BUT lately, like the last month, it has gotten worse, to the point we argue over stuff that should never be argued over. It is because I will not let it go, like I used to, because I have no patience.

Okay, I went to internet side effects, and yes, I have been having trouble sleeping, trouble waking up at night and laying there, been on WW and in 4 weeks only lost 6 pounds. I noticed I had some of most of the side effects. I also have had fibromyalgia diagnosed in 1988, so I don't need any more muscle aches.

Okay, I thought the Allegra did not help, so my brother gets the generic CLaratin 300 for $16 at Sam's Wholesale, and I had him get me a bottle, and GOODBYE TO SINGULAIR AND ALLEGRA.

The side effects slipped up on me so subtly it took a while to realize I really did not hate the person driving slow in front of me, and I did not really hate to answer the phone, etc. No More Singulair for me!!! Ginger

My 16 year old son has been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis. The treatment is Singulair. I have not picked up the prescription yet, and after reading these posts, I definitely will not. It is so frightening to read these side effects. I'm going to bring him to my naturopathic physician asap.

Is anyone else taking Singulair for the same disease?

I am not losing my mind! My sweet and gentle 4 year old began Singulair several weeks ago and has turned into a hateful, animal and people hitting, disrespectful horror. I would not know her other than her physical resemblance to the child I have raised for 4 years. I am taking her off this drug IMMEDIATELY!!! She has been sitting quietly only to get up and slug someone or openly challenge me to get a reaction for no apparent reason. Her 7 yr old sister began taking it a week later and has been having trouble sleeping for the first time ever. There is no change or other unusual event in their environment to explain these changes.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but all the same I'll say this. I started taking Singulair several years ago and noticed myself becoming more and more detached from the people around me. I would feel paranoid towards those who were close to me and would have thoughts of shoving people into fences or walls... just a buncha violent ideas would come to me. Then once after I'd run out of a container of Singulair, I began feeling tons more social and friendly. It was like knots in my chest slowly loosened themselves and I could breathe again. My asthma was under control without the medication, but I eventually got another month's worth of Singulair, and suddenly the old thoughts returned except now I developed insomnia to the point where I could hardly fall asleep even with sleep aids. There were nights when I'd sit up in my bed and imagine the worst things in the world about friends in my life and how they'd all turn on me one day. I noticed I had begun having these thoughts after I'd restarted taking Singulair, and stopped immediately. Instead, I chewed on some Ginseng leaves, which I'd boughten on a trip in Thailand every so often (they're green and not pills, and I didn't even chew them everyday) and both my asthma and my allergies seemed to be a thing of the past.

I ran out of the leaves and went back to Singulair, and now I'm having the same paranoid dillusions. But trust me, I've noticed and I'm not going to take any more.

Take my advice though, try Ginseng leaves. Not the roots, the leaves.

Weight gain, joint aches, knee pain, insomnia, irritability, depression...and the tests come out okay. So what is wrong with me? Why do I continue to gain so much wieght and the fatigue is horrible! Over the past five years it has snuk up on me but now I am thinking this Singulair is the culprit. I haven't had as much trouble with my asthma ...true...but I feel horrible. I am going back to using Advair as needed and my albuterol as needed. Goodbye Singulair!

Has anyone ever had tons of weight gain while taking Singulair? I have been on this drug for about four years now and my weight has increased to more than 50 pounds of weight gain! I have a lot of aches and pains, leg cramps at night, insomnia, but the asthma has improved. I still get my once a year very bad attack with bronchitis, etc, but the improvement was great.

I have had everything else checked out for my weird continued weight gain and everything is normal. So I am checking out this drug and one other I am on for thyroid. (No, it's not my thyroid, my thyroid tests are normal now). It doesn't matter what I do I gain weight. Just wondering if this drug is causing it. My doc told me it was the cause of my insomnia and suggested moving it to the A.M..

I am tired of this weight gain, and it is starting more physical problems, like my bad knees. I ahve always been active and my eating habits haven't changed. Dieting is not working either. Any suggestions? Anyone else gaining unexplained weight?

Thanks!

Uncontrollable muscle twitching and tics, depression, anxiety, insomnia.

Thanks to this info I now know that it must be the singulair that is causing my muscle twitching, anxiety, nightmares, and insomnia. I was being to think that I was going crazy. Started the med after having an asthma attack in the airpart in dec. The sideeffects started about two weeks later. As of today I will stop the singulair.

Both my daughter and I have taken Singulair.

We kept my daughter on Singulair for about six months. Like many others have noted, she became violent, agressive, sassy, etc. (She was 5 at the time) After consulting a pulmanary doctor, she was taken off the Singulair and put on Advair, Orapred (for a short term) and Albuterol. The behavioral symptoms stopped almost immediately. As a side note, the brand name Orapred does not cause over-excitedness as does the generic version and Xopenex is a newer form of Albuterol that does not cause the weight gain, hperness and sleeplessness. Her asthma is well under control at this time. Trial and error is the best with all medicines, they have so many different drugs out there.

My personal experience with Singulair is mixed. Sometimes I take it with no or little side effects, and other times I have bad enough side effects that I stop taking it.

Any medication can cause bad side effects, you just have to weigh the pros and cons.

Im glad I found this site!! I thought it was just stress, but then realized my symptoms began after taking Singulair 10 mg. Awful night sleeps, muscle twitching, anxiety, nightmares, and insomnia. Im going to stop the medicine and hopefully be back to my old self again!!!!!

Hi,My biggest side effects are the hair loss,limb swelling,insomnia,halucinations(unless my dead dog really is a ghost),memory loss,numbness in legs and arms,tingling in arms and hands expecially when I cough or sneeze,sinus stuffiness and infections and cronic bronchitis.Allthough I have these side effects I personally think that I am better off taking the singulair for my asthma(does not help my allergy symptoms at all) than when I was on all the allergy meds and streoids.I used to have a bag load of those and I was allways having attacks,was depressed and thought of suicide but then I did the study for singulair about 15 years ago and thought it was a miracle cure so I waited for it to come out on the market.I know it is not a miracle cure but I don't have to take those other meds anymore and I only use my fast acting inhailer mabee once a month now.I am now 6 months pregnant and will be looking for an alternative treatment from a hollistic/natural Dr. after I have the baby.There has got to be a better way to control this disease,I hope,naturally through diet and other remadies with less or no side effects to treat my allergies and asthma.If anyone knows of such tratments,please post it.Thanks.LR

My main concerns are insomnia and nightmares since starting Singulair. The nightmares weren't particularly frightening, just very bazaar. I discontinued the medication after 4 or 5 weeks and restarted 4 days ago with the same experience. I am going to persevere for several more weeks to see if the symptoms subside. If they don't I will notify my doctor and permanently discontinue the medication. My asthma is mild.

Since I have begun Sinulair, I have noticed improvement of my chronic nasal allergy symptoms. For the first time in YEARS, the congestion is finally lessening. However, I have noticed that I'm hyper all the time now. Where I have had sleep issues in the past, they have only been excacerbated by this medication. Has anyone else noticed this effect? I have tried to research it further, but I don't have access to a Physician's Desk Reference. The web isn't giving me the entire list of known side effects. I have only seen the vomiting, diarrhea or headache listed, but have yet to see something regarding insomnia and hyperactivity.

Both my daughter and I were on singulair for asthma. I, for three years and my daughter for about 4 months. For the past few months, my 17 year old daughter has been complaining that she is having trouble conentrating in school and has been VERY irritable. She said she feels jittery or squirmy in class which was never a problem before. Because she started the singuair during summer break, she didn't notice the effects. After talking with her doctor, we traced the onslaught of these side effects to when she started the singulair.....I found this site and was amazed!

I have had horrible insomnia, hair loss, hive-like rashes on my face and serious memory and mind problems which have gotten exceedingly worse over the last year.....I would have never associated any of it to the singulair, but have stopped taking it and will see if these symptoms go away.

This is absoultely the worst case of mis-understood or incorrectly assed drugs I have ever seen. I have been looking for something to help with my athsma and allergies. I heard Singulair was being used not only for athsma prevention but for allergies too.

The label says "very minor side effects", something to the affect of very low incidents of insomnia, upset stomach, etc etc.

This drug needs to be re-evaluated. I'm home sick from taking this stuff after 3 days.

Last night I slept very poorly, had SEVERE nightmares to the point of waking up kicking and screaming. I almost punched my wife because I had a dream I was being attacked. I HAVE NEVER encountered such bad side effects from somtehing the label indicated relatively low side effects.

I am having dizziness today, lack of sleep, very painful and upset stomach and other issues.

I'm of the opinion that there IS NO allergy medicine that has lesser symptoms than the allergies them selves. This was a horrilbe experience and after reading about parents giving this to their children it makes me very upset.

How can a child explain they side effects I am experiencing?

I wouldnt give this stuff to my dog.

This is my personal experience and personal opinion. Take it for what its worth.

Dave

Well this explains why i am up at 2:00am typing this comment. I'm a 28 year old male and have experienced sleeplessness and irritability after taking this medication for 3 days... I'm a lucid dreamer naturally, and with this med, let me tell you i feel relieved to wake up, the dreams are nonstop and fast paced.

This is my second period taking singulair, previously i was taking it for about 9 days. I did not connect the dots back then but i do remember being cranky and wanting to quit work. I did not know why as i normally feel i have the best job in the world.

I am 69 years old.
I have been taking Singulair for about 4 or 5 years for Asthma along with 2 inhalers.
I have developed a severe rash and itching on my legs several years ago and sleeplessness off and on. I have Osteo-Arthritis but the joint pain has gotten worse.
I have also had headaches, ribcage pain and periodic inside shaking.
My doctor took me off of Singulair and 1 inhaler on 10/11/06 and put me on Spiriva -Handihaler a powder inhaler and remained on Qvar inhaler.

The itching and rash seems to be going away -- maybe too early to tell. Sleeping is better -- never had real horrible nightmares or dreams.
Singulair has worked for my breathing and night time wheezing for many years

If you need to breath with asthma ~~ I wish you well with Singulair. It certainly does not produce all side effects for everyone -- just be carefull.
Annie

I've been taking Singulair for almost 7 months, during which I have been only singing its praises. My asthma symptoms completely vanished and my seasonal allergies have been very much under control. However, I'm beginning to notice a pretty constant state of lightheadedness and just in the past few days there have been times when I thought I would faint. In retrospect, I've had a great deal of trouble sleeping through the night. I've also started to get some skin itchiness that I never had before. I'm going off Singulair right away and see how that makes me feel.