Singulair and leg cramps

I have 2 sons with asthma that have both been taken singulair (the oldest for 3 years & his brother for 2). My younger son's asthma got alot better since he was diagnosed & he was recently taken off Singulair thanks also to my husband hearing a report about the moodiness caused. When he was on it he would cry for no reason, get very irrational & seemed to think the world was against him. In just 2 weeks he is happy & cheerful and has told me he thinks it is due to being off singulair. His older brother's asthma has gotten worse over the years & I'm concerned about taking him off but he too has crazy moods. Just tonight he started a new soccer team & got crazy & suddenly didn't even want to participate in something he loves (wanted me to let him quit right then) until we argued enough he reluctantly participated. He then came home complained of a headache (which is also way too frequent) and now has been asleep for hours. Are there any alternatives to this drug? I'm a stressed out mom that doesn't deal well with these mood swings. He is normally a social butterfly & a sweet kid but lately seems more withdrawn, more irritable (especially tonight) & complaining about leg cramps in addition to these frequent headaches. I can't deal with too many more of these evenings & wonder if all these things are possible side effects. I'm glad to see my other son doing well but miss his normally sweet brother! Even his siblings think he is acting crazy :(

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

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

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

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

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

My nephew is 7 and has been on Singulair for probably 4 years. His symptoms developed over time but recently have exploded. He has epilepsy so most of the things that he has experienced has been blamed on that. However, today his doctor took him off singulair and said he believes his symptoms are caused from the drug. He started having head drop seizures, fell out of his desk and cut his face one day. He has also been depressed, had severe anxiety attacks for the past 8 months. Several months ago, he started having such severe nightmares that it is almost impossible to get him to go to bed and go to sleep. Recently he began "seeing dead people" and "monsters" that we trying to kill him even when he was awake. He has also cried many nights with leg cramps and severe stomach pain. I will update this page in two - three weeks to let you know if these problems go away now that we have stopped the singulair.

I took my 16 year old child off of singulair 6 weeks ago (3-28-2008). She started taking it 11-17-2003. She became dark, depressed, grades dropped, dropped out of dance and cheerleading, started cutting her legs with razors, stomachaches, headaches, anxiety attacks, trips to the emergency room. 6 months of fluoxetine given by her psychiatrist. Nothing helped her be happy again. Sad and Dark young woman. NOW: She smiles a lot, and is eating diner with the family. No headache or stomachache for a month now. She is sleeping better. Before she said that her mind would not stop thinking. She is taking pictures again and even asked me to order her book called "Understanding Exposure" and is talking about taking a class on digital photography at NMSU branch university to start on her college electives now. She is out more and even has a part time job at an ice cream parlor. Just lately I have stopped checking the trash for waded up tissues with blood (from cutting). Chris, I have had all her medical records sent to her primary Doctor and we are very willing to open them up. You have to have a child suffering to understand where we are coming from. The most dangerous place on earth is standing between a mother and her child. Singulair took our children from us and maybe changed them in some way forever.

Am a forty-two year old female, have been on singulair approximately 3 years, decided to stop taking it abruptly because of constant leg cramps and difficulty sleeping. THAT was when my trouble really started, the week after abruptly stopping. Crying for no reason, felt impending sense of doom....I think things will get better, I wish a would have weened myself off slowly.

I discovered this site last Wednesday morning - without taking the time to list all of the grief I felt reading through the pediatric postings, I will briefly note my 4 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 2 years now. What I now realize is all the behavior issues, night screaming, etc. are so easily dismissed as stages of a toddler. She has suffered (as well as our family) every symptom and behavior listed by parents on this site with the exception of leg cramps.

Our entire family can see the dramatic results since taking her last pill last Tuesday night. The melt downs and tantrums are all but over, she even commented "hey, I listened right away" on the second day without Singulair. She is still having night terrors - I call them that because they are in no way a dream or nightmare, but rather agonizing moments that break our hearts to hear. I hope those will soon go away as well so her sleep pattern results in a restful night.

Am I angry that we have all suffered for 2 years only to find we have been basically poisoning her? Am I angry that for the 2 years her dad and I have sunk pretty low, feeling inadequate as a parent to teach and discipline our child? Am I angry that after 20 years of marriage, raising a great 16 year old in the midst of all this, we were to the point of the ADD, bipolar, etc. theory that would have been misdiagnosed? Heck no, we are all so thankful to have come across this site and are so giddy and excited to be happy again.

What I am angry about is this - when I called our pediatrician last Wednesday and relayed what I had seen on the Merck website for side effects added in recent months she had not heard this information and asked where I saw it. At that point I had not seen this site. I asked her how is it the well dressed pharmaceutical reps come in with doughnuts, exotic trips, etc. to market a drug with "ABC" treatments and "XYZ" side effects, continue to market the drug and never update the doctors when original selling points are altered - ie; new side effects.

The FDA website is troubling for two reasons: Merck is in charge of their own investigation regarding recent complaints and the FDA expects this to take 9 months. Gee, who gets to investigate themself? Secondly, in February the site notes the FDA and Merck are trying to find the best way to communicate the concerns being investigated to prescribes and patients. HELLO - we live in a world of real time, instant communication methods, two examples being the United States Postal Service and an internet connection.

Today is April 30 - a full two months after "trying to decide how to pass this information on" and my doctor, nor my pharmacist have received any information. Apparantly since we missed the story and coverage on Dateline we are out of luck.

I plan to start from ground zero to get our voices heard to change the way, or the law if you will, to implement an immediate communication link between the FDA and prescribes when an investigation such as this has been initiated. I realize Singulair has most likely benefited more humans than it has destroyed while on the drug and the FDA would have to clearly not communicate "panic". However, when a drug is used for pediatric treatments we need information quickly to assess on behalf of our children. In my case, since my daughter had been on the drug since 2 years old, I do not know what her "normal behavior" should be as that is the age they start to develop and show personality. Additionally, when enclosed prescribing information is updated with a prescription -MARK IT IN RED, "UPDATED INFORMATION". I read every ounce of information that accompanies a new prescription for any family member. I would NOT, however read the information every 30 days for an ongoing, long term prescription over the course of 2 years.

I am looking for anyone that may have started contact with a congressional representative or otherwise to change the communication to our doctors. Please note - I am in no way interested in any legal action regarding Singulair and our nightmare. We are moving forward and do not wish to live the nightmare one moment more. I simply want to see our doctors and pharmacists have vital information as it happens.

Thank you to all for sharing your experiences - I truly believe it is changing lives and making a difference. I am personally telling everyone I know about what is happening with our child and all of yours. Andy by the way, by telling one of my long time friends our amazing discovery, she realized she had been suffering from depression for some time and chalked it up to various things going on in her life. She had her last Singulair last week and feels tremendous! So keep the word going!

My 6 year old son has been on Singulair for 2 years and I have noticed a big change in his behavior but it all started with leg cramps and falling down alot..I told my dr about what was going on but she told me that it was nothing to worry about that it is growing pains..Before he started the on the singulair he was always a happy go lucky kid never had problems with him back talking or ever really getting angry. Now that I read all these reports these are the problems I have with him now:
My child has never offered to hit, kick or slap me but in the past year he has gotten more aggressive not only toward me but others as well..
He is fearful of people now thinking that they are being mean to him or picking him out to pick on or make fun of.
He has problems of headaches on a regular basis but just thought it was due to his sinus infections...
I have also noticed that my child has started hurting himself like punching even slapping himself in the face when he gets really angery or fustrated about things..
Sometimes he has problems with nightmares but not that much..
He also has problems with stomach pain as well...
My concern is taking my son off Singulair with his asthma being under control right now and he just recently had sinus surgery but I think it will be the best thing for him just because I want my sweet child back not the aggressive and abusive child he is now.... That is why first thing in the morning he will be taking him to his dr to find another medication to put him on and take him off the Singulair....

Sorry guys. The post below is mine and I left out a critical part of the entry. My three year old daughter was put on Allegra (along with the Singulair and Nasonex) in mid-March which is when her sleeping patterns changed. I've researched the side-effects of Allegra and I can't find sleeplessness anywhere. Therefore, maybe it's the combination of the Singulair and Allegra causing the problem. Does anyone else have a small child on this combination of meds. that is experiencing similar problems?

J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., I hope that you google your name and will give us your opinion. We are going in the right direction. We need expert help.

My daughter has been on singulair since age 3. I can't believe all the side affects that other children are having on the medicine to. This answers so many questions for me. We have been battling with leg cramps,stomache pain,bedwetting and weight gain. My daughter instantly gained weight over night and is constantly hungry, I never could understand why and I have taken her to a gastrenologist and he never had a answer either. We went to a ENT for constant sinus infections. I had her tonsils removed and seems to be doing better. I definetly will be taking her off the medicine immediatly. She also has been having trouble in school, I wish I would have known about this sooner. I feel terrible about having her on this medicine all these years wich has caused nothing but pain and alot of doctor and hospital visits!!!!!!!!

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???

I have 3 children on singulair they are 11,8 and 4. My 4 yr old started it when he was almost 1 when we found out he had asthma and the other two were put on it for allergies for about a year now. I have heard from my 4 yr old that his stomach hurts, he says it all the time, everyday I keep getting on to my 11 yr old telling her if she wouldnt say things like that he wouldnt hear it and repeat it. My 11 yr old has ADD and is on Ritlin.My 8 yr old is ADHD and has been on different Meds to figure out which is the best for him. He has been really depressed and so has my 11 yr old. I put both of them on anti-depressents. My 11 yr old had to be hospitalized in October of 07 for taking medications, anything she could get her hands on. I would find baby tylenol missing knowing I hadnt used it all.Then it was pain pills and muscle relaxers that I had put up from when I hurt my back. When I first found out what she was doing I locked everything up took her to see her Psychiatrist and her Psycologist and I was told by one of them not to worry It was her age that it was normal and basicaly blamed it on tv. I spent more time taking her to her doctors. I asked question with so many people on what to do I got nowhere. I finally found a hospital they took her for a week, her answer to taking the pills was if she took them then she would die and everything bad in her life would all go away. She was released before she could finish treatment because insurance wouldnt cover her stay inless it was outpatient. I couldnt find a place that would was close to do out patient so we stopped going. I finally found a doctor that treated everything her eatting disorder,nightmares,ithching,depression,moodiness,anger,stomach aches,crying and leg cramps, We have been going to these doctors and it has never helped. My 8 yr old has been mean, screaming at everyone crying all the time for no reason you ask him why he cries and all he can say is he doesnt know why. The crying is different than any other crying its not the same as when he gets into trouble or when he gets hurt, its just a very sad cry.He has OCD, seavere depression, ticks, anger, night mares and is very moody.He is never happy, he never smiles. Its really sad to see him like this and to not know why and what to do. My 4 yr old He has asthma that is why he was put on it. He used to get ear infections all the time, no sooner than he got over one, another one started. He is always saying his stomach hurts. I took him to the doctor she said nothing was wrong. He has been really mean I just always thought he see's his brother and sister acting this way so he learned it from them. He has been in Speech therapy since he was 2 and is finally doing better, I always thought because of the ear infections thats why his speech has been so bad, the school thought the same thing, he has been tested and and everything is normal so the infections have been to blame. He wont sleep in his own bed he is afraid we are going to leave him. I took them off of it and it has been about 7 days now and my 8 yr old has stopped crying, he is happy I dont have to get onto him for being mean, My 4 yr old has not complained about his stomach hurting. He has been nicer to his brother and sister. Its amazing at how there is such a big difference in them and I can only hope it will get better since it has only been a few days. I have pulled them off of there anti-depressents and they havent needed them. Its amazing at how there is such a big difference in them and I can only hope it will get better since it has only been a few days.

I have a 10 year old daughter who has been on Singulair for 3 years for allergies. The medication worked great and has not had ANY problems with allergies at all. I don't know exactly when her behavior started to change. It was so gradual. She became irritable and easily upset but I thought it had to do with hormones. In January 08 she began complaining of stomach problems and the doctor thought maybe reflux. We tried medicine for that but it did not help for long. Then in March 08 it really it hard. She began to have leg cramps often, which I thought were growing pains and the mood swings were terrible. She began to have tantrums that were so bad they were like night terrors but she was awake. She would talk of dying and hurting something or breaking something. She would lye on the floor and pound away uncontrollably. She would cry help me help me why am I feeling like this. She states she doesn't know why she does this and does not feel normal. I was researching allergies this past weekend and came across the Singulair problems. I had no idea about them. I immediately stopped the medicine and today is the 3rd day without it. I have seen improvement already. I was really encouraged because of her unusually great mood. However, she had a crying episode
tonight. I know it takes time to get out of the system. I am hoping within a few more days she will be free of this terrible medicine. Patients should definitely be warned of possible side effects. Not everyone may react in this terrible way but from reading so many forums there are a tremendous amount of people who do, children and adults.

My daughter, who is 9.5 has been on Singulair for the last 6 years. I am saddened that I was so frustrated with her for all of these bizarre behaviors that I never even thought to link to this medication. My daughter has severe allergies, and her asthma is triggered by her allergies, so to that end the medication worked beautifully in controlling the asthma. But, it is not worth the aggressivenesses, horrible mood swings, suicidal thoughts, depressiveness. She has frequent temper tantrums that mirror those of a two year old. I frequently have asked her when she will outgrow this phase, it seems she never moved passed it. Then a moment later, it seems as though she has the drama of an adolescent girl, including the depression and even the extremes of threatening to run away from home and that she would be better off dead. This has been going on for years, and I never connected it to the Singulair. I just thought there was emotional problems, and that I was a bad mom, and that I just needed to keep being consistent and reassure her that she was loved, but that her behavior was not acceptable. She has very low self esteem one minute, and incredible confidence the next. She is very argumentative all the time, about everything. She also talks and sometimes walks in her sleep. She tends to get up 1-3 times per night, and has no recollection of it ever. She has begun to develop stomachaches, headaches, and leg cramps recently.

My son, who is 6.5, and has ADHD, now is starting to mimic some of the things he has heard her say, and it is difficult to undo this damage.

Again, I never connected any of this to Singulair, I just thought I had a challenging child. I pray for all of our children that the damage is not permanent, and that there is a safe alternative that we can have faith in. I know it will be difficult for me to trust another medication.

My deepest sympathies to those families who have lost a child to the perils of the side effects of this medication that were not disclosed to us.

My son 10, has been on Singulair since he was 4 yrs old for Asthma and allergies. His last dose was 3/26/08. He has always been my emotional child, he is 2yrs older than this younger brother. Some of his side effects included headaches, stomaches, leg cramps, emotional breakdowns, major mood swings, crying outbursts over small situations, night sweats, lack of motivation, weight gain, ADHD, wishing he were dead and the list goes on. His younger brother has always been involved in sports but he was always too afraid he would get hurt. This medication has robbed my 10 yr old son from 6 yrs of his childhood. Since he has been off Singulair he feels motivated and looks forward to joining the football team his younger brother plays for. I look forward to meeting this new young man who for so long has been hiding behind this so called allergy medicine. I am so thankful to know that my son can look forward to a bright future without these side effects. God Bless you all who are going through this as well.

My six year old son has been taking Singulair for almost three years for asthma and allergies. We have had such a hard time with him and it all started around the time he was prescribed this drug. He became very irritable, angry, hard to satisfy and generally unhappy. Now that he is six, the last two years have been the absolute worst with him saying he hates himself and just wants to die. He has stomach pain all the time and has had alternating daily diarrhea for over a year. Our pediatrician has done all sorts of tests and has referred us to a specialist. He has bad dreams every night and also complains of leg pain. He has been so depressed lately that he does not even want to go out and play after school and on weekends (not like him at all) and the teacher calls me several times a week to pick him up early because of stomach pain. I am so upset to think all this has been caused by this drug and he has suffered because of it! He also takes Zyrtec, as do all three of my sons, but the older two do not have asthma, just allergies. I gave him his last dose night before last because I just found out about the Singulair investigation. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Posting my experience again.

You are not alone and your children are NOT hypochondriacs (something tells me small children don't even know what that means).

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 effects and found some message boards where parents just like me were telling their stories of their children's aggressive behavior. I immediately took my son off the drug and within a couple weeks 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. Please use your best judgment and connect the dots for yourselves.

My 7 year old has been on SINGULAIR for more than two years. Since then we have been to the doctor’s office for numerous issues – over time I began to question her mental state. I thought it was an excuse not to go to school. Although I knew that she loved her teaches and school friends. She has complained about stomach aches (Although in 2007 I concluded that she was Lactose intolerant) leg cramps, fevers, headaches, neck aches and also a pain in her back. I have noticed an awful onion smell from time to time. Over the past few months she has become more emotional and moody. She has had an inability to focus and said that she felt “crazy and wanted to mess things up”! She is a sweet girl and loved by all so this does not make sense.

Wow. It is like I am reading about my son in every one of these entries. The emotional issues - just crying at the drop of a hat, being scared of the smallest issues and being very clingy. We always just figured he was a sensitive kid My son has been on Singular since he was 4-1/2 (he is now 8). I have always insisted it was a miracle drug. He could finally go outside and play and not be bothered by his allergies. So, he needs to be on something similar to this drug for that. Any suggestions? We saw the news report Thursday night and immediately called the allergist on Friday. We are seeing them on Tuesday.

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 :-(

Wow, this last few months have been a revelation. My big guy (now nearly 7) was diagnosed with Asthma at 18 months or so. He has been on singulair for as long as we can remember, and then since November 07 on Flovent too. He was such a happy baby, just the cutest thing, but as he grew older he got more emotional. A little high strung, quick temper, and some signs of depression. His eating habits were awful, which we thought were due to him having allergies to some foods. We have noticed mood swings and depression, but it would pass. Leg cramps were a common complaint which we brushed off.

Then for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to put him on Flovent too in the winter, well it really went downhill from there. Violent anger, depression, wanting to die, wanting to kill himself, wouldn't eat at all. You name it, he had it. My wife and I were at our wits end, but we didn't think it was the medicine, never entered our minds, and my wife is a paediatric RN too. I sent an e-mail to a psychiatrist friend of mine desperate for help. Well while I was writing it I saw there was a pattern and the sudden slide began the same time he started Flovent. I researched it on the web and OMG the horror, the other parents could have been talking about my boy.

I took him off immediately, co-incidentally his Doc had failed to renew his Singulair scrip the month before so he hadn't been taking it for a month. Well within 24 hours we saw a difference, by the end of the week I cried as I had my boy back. Never thought about Singulair as really we thought it was the Flovent. However after seeing the news today, and having seen a little guy get less and less happy over the years, we realize that the singulair was also affecting him, and then the combo just ripped him apart.

We had filled the Singulair but thankfully were holding off until we saw a pulmonologist and allergist this next few weeks. We will now not be putting him back on it at all. We removed his bedding, got rid of our cats (labs came back highly allergic to them) and tonight after being outside running around in the 40 F air, he went to bed breathing fine. He still is a little emotional, still a little difficult to feed, but we can negotiate, he listens to reason (as much as a 6 yr old will), and more importantly is happy and chatty again.

My 13 yr old son started singulair last September. He had his first nose bleed very shortly after. He has also been experiencing leg cramps and daily headaches. Recently he is moody and withdrawn. I was thinking it was a typical teen thing. Wow was I wrong. He will no longer be using this medication.

I am so upset about this news about Singulair. My 9 year old son was put on Singulair in November when he was diagnosed with pneumonia. We have had a horrible time since then with his 'attitude' and now it has spilled over into school. He has had all the symptoms that everyone else is talking about on this site. He has severe mood swings and outburst, he yells and can't control his anger at times. On three different occasions specifically I can remember him saying he wished he were dead or that he was going to kill himself. He also has complained of headaches, leg cramps, nightmares, he says he is unable to sleep or to get back to sleep. He is also very emotional.
I thought he was having a hard time dealing with some family issues going on, which may very well still be the case but I believe with all of my heart that Singulair is making things worse.
We ran out of the medication about 2 weeks ago and I didn't refill because the doctor said he should stop taking it in the spring and begin again in the fall.
My son will not be taking this medication any more.
I feel so horrible that my son has had to feel like he has only because of medication.

Well all i can say is it is about time they investigate this stuff! My daughter was put on this 2 yrs. ago and was on it for 1 year off and on. It was a complete nightmare. She experienced nightmares, leg pains, crying all the time, getting into trouble at school, teacher would call every week about something, several urinary tract infections,which lead to many test of why. Really bad mood swings, and aggression. I used to hate it when she got of the school bus. Because i knew it was going to be on the minute she walked in the door. She would cry to me and say she" hates her self" and "mama i do not know why I am so mean." I kept taking her back to her ped. and she would ask are you still giving her the singulair and one day i said no. The doctor got mad at me because i told her i did not like that stuff. She said it was fine to give it to her. I told everyone i knew not to give it to their child because finally i realized it was making my child depressed and feel worse. I am so mad about this. It makes me sick. I want to sue the makers of this drug.

Wow, i just happened to see on the news that singuilar has these side effects. As i write this i can't stop from crying. My 8 year old son has been on sigular for a year and a half now. He has had fits if rage, feelings of wanting to die, leg pain, stomacher pain, almost every symptom others have had. I would stay up crying at night trying to figure out what was wrong with him or me as a parent. Shame on the doctors who should of known better. I went to his doctors and told them about his behavior and outburst and physical complaints. I was told it;s a phase he going through. My son would tell me his legs hurt when he walked, well i thought it was gowning pains like the doctors said. I am so glad i found this web page. I now know for sure it is the medication. I will now search for a better way to treat his asthma and allergy's. I hope and pray that others will find this web page and know there isn't anything wrong with us or our children, however there is certainly something wrong with our doctors who should of seen the symptoms and told us what it could of been.

My two sons have been taking Singulair off and on for allergy symptoms. Recently, I noticed this was causing both of them some side effects. With my youngest son, I noticed some serious mood swings and just discussed this a couple of weeks ago with a close friend. I told her what I thought was causing his mood changes, stomach aches, and etc. I experienced some over the weekend because my son was given this medication by mother that had some at her house just in case one of them needed the medication for asthma or allergies. I hadn't discussed this with my parents because I was logging this in a notebook, and I was confirming some things before I told anybody else what I thought about Singulair. Guess what? It happened again because it was administered to my youngest son by my mother not knowing my concerns. I didn't tell her because they went over late that evening then coming back in the morning. I wished I would have told her. Although, she feels very badly because I did tell her about my concerns after she had told me she had given this Singulair to him. This was after I had told her he was a a major mood swing!!!! Outrageous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My oldest son has experience major headaches, biting my husband and my head off over tiny things. (Thought it was the teenage thing.) I will not be giving my children SINGULAIR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I wrote a post on this site a couple years ago about my son having bad emotional, behavior problems, and leg cramps along with other issues. Tonight on NBC news their top story was about Singular and suicide. Interesting huh? Watch yourselves and your children.

I have three children who were all taking Singulair and also Zyrtec. My oldest, 11 year old son has been on these medications since he was diagnosed with chronic Asthma at age 3. The aggressive behavior, bad dreams, leg cramps (growing pains, we were told),head aches and stomach aches were all explained as age appropriate for a 3 year old boy. As he grew older, he would say he wished he or one of his siblings were dead. Yes, the Singulair
along with a Flovent inhaler controlled his Asthma wonderfully. We have never had to take him to the ER. However, after hearing in the News about the Singulair, I have done a lot of research. I have not given him either of these meds for a month now. He does still use the Flovent. After not having any Asthma attacks for about a year now, we were hoping he was out growing it. So, I guess it was good timing. And then the trees started blooming and the pollen is everywhere. Son gets congested, coughing up lots of thick, green mucus. I treated him with Children's Mucinex mini-melts, benadryl, and sudafed. It helped that it was Spring break and I could treat ever 4 hours. He needed the nebulizer a total of about 6 times for the entire week. Today, he was mucus free. As for his behavior, he still acts like a typical 11 year old boy, but has been less aggressive and mean towards his siblings.
My daughter age 10 has been on Singulair and Zyrtec for unknown allergies off and on for about 5 years now. They did seem to help, but once again we had unexplained behavior. At age 5 she told me she wanted to kill herself. The school counselor said she must have heard it on TV.Bad dreams, headaches,mean to brothers (above the normal sibling rivalry thing), mean to me, leg cramps, stomach pains,itching all over. Many times, too many to count, she would be moody and go into fits of rage. When asked what was wrong, she would cry and cry that she didn't know. Been off for a month, and less rage. Actually playing nicely with younger brother. Recently, the pediatrician ran a lot of blood tests. Daughter complained that she hurt all over and she ran a low grade temp for 3 weeks. (less that 99.7) All tests came back fine. Last Monday, the fever went away and the aches are gone.
Now for the last, my 7 year old son has been off and on these two meds for about 5 years for severe allergies. Again, they did help. He did not react as badly as my other two children did. Leg cramps( which he still has nightly, just might be growing pains),headaches, and bad dreams are the only three I can think of right now. Anyhow, after hearing about the boy on the news, I got scared. Plain and Simple. My husband thinks this is a bunch of nonsense and everything can be explained. The Singulair was costing us a hundred dollars a bottle for a month supply for one child.
I am still watching my children very closely,especially my asthmatic. I still haven't told the pediatrician that I've taken them off the meds.

My daughter has been on Singulair, 4mg chewables for almost a year. We have had problems with her aggressive behavior, mostly hitting - her brother and now other children at school. Her teacher and I met today and both were at a loss for her continuous aggressive, impulsive behavior because by every other account she is a sweet, good natured child. We have tried everything - rewards, taking away things of importance to her all to no avail. She says she cannot help it but she is trying her best and I believe her. She is so sad after one of her impulsive episodes. For the heck of it, I thought I would look up Singulair side effects online and cannot believe all the information on side effects in children. My daughter also has been having very vivid nightmares and coming into my bed in the middle of the night. She also has leg cramps and pains in the middle of the night very frequently. I am taking her off the Singulair and pray that I see some positive change in her behavior.

My poor 6 yr. old daughter has been taking this awful medicine since December. She has been complaining of stomach pain, headaches and not being able to breath. I called my doctor a few weeks ago to see if it could be from the Singulair she was on.. they told me "probably not". During her dance class she had to sit down because her stomach hurt so bad. I was writing everything down that she was eating (we have an appt. w/an allergist in 2 weeks.) .. thinking maybe she has food allergies now. She is constantly trying to clear her throat and telling me she felt like something was still coming down her throat. Until I found this site, I had no idea why she was behaving this way. I started putting blankets down on my husband and my floor because of her "bad dreams". This little pumpkin has always been an awesome sleeper, but at least 3x's a week comes running down the hall crying about her nightmares. I walked into my docs today with a print out of Merck's own website listing the side effects of this horrible med. She looked at me and said "you get the credit for diagnosis on this Mom!".. Praise God He led me to this website! My poor daughter will playfully start to feel better now that we have taken her off this junk!

I'm not sure if this is related to Singulair 5mg. chewable, but now that I've been reading everyone's experiences, I fear that it may. My 7 yr. old has been taking Singulair 5mg chewable tablets these past 2 years. He takes it during the months of Sept. to October. His pulmonologist has not determined whether or not he is an asthmatic or not. When he would get a common cold, he would almost always cough as if he had the croup and he would need to use a nebulizer with Pulmicort. The Singulair worked great. He hasn't needed the Pulmicort for almost a year now and colds this year were limited to two minor sniffles.

My son just started experiencing sharp pains on the left side of his chest. They would come quick and hard and disappear within 2-3 seconds. We immediately rushed him to the Emergency Room. He had experienced 5 quick episodes during Sunday, February 10th. The first 3 were spaced out about 20 minutes apart. the fourth was about an hour apart and the 5th and last occurred 2 hours after. The ER conducted a chest x-ray and an EKG, Neither showed any abnormalities. He felt a quick pain today, which is Tuesday. He has an appointment with a cardiologist on Wednesday morning. Now that I have read a number of postings, I am frightened. My son has not only experienced pains in his chest on the left side, but night sweats. occasional leg cramps. nightmares and is extra sensitive to emotional situations.
I'm pulling him off Singulair. Last night was his last dosage.

My 9 year old daughter has been on Singulair for almost 6 months. Her asthma symptoms have completely gone away. She no longer has her night time cough, post nasal drip, and frequent colds due to allergies. However, she has gained almost 10 pounds, has been tired and has complained of sore muscles. She has had night mares and leg cramps at night. She has also had frequent mood swings. I thought this was just due to her age. She used to be a sweet, kind, patient girl most of the time, and she has been quick to have temper tantrums, cry and/or yell at us over the silliest things. She is a very active girl- dance, soccer, swimming, etc. and she eats healthy foods for the most part. I could not understand why her face was looking so bloated and her pants were all getting too tight all in such a short amount of time. We are taking her off of this medication immediately!

UPDATE: Today is the second day that I haven't taken Singulair and I feel 100% better. I am no longer experiencing the panic attacks, hallucinations, shortness of breath, ear ringing, leg cramps, etc. I went to the doctor on the 23rd and he was reluctant to think that any of this was caused by taking Singulair. I am now convinced that it was, since I haven't felt any of the symptoms I was having for the last few months. I am going to a cardiologist on Aug 1st and will have to wear a heart monitor to "rule out" a heart condition. I also have to get my ears checked because my doctor thinks this could be an inner ear problem. I will go through with all of these check-ups just to make sure that I don't have any underlying medical issues. Seeing how quickly my symptoms have stopped after going off of Singulair makes me totally convinced that this is what was causing this in the first place. I am greatful that I found this site and read all of the comments from people having similar symptoms!

I just posted some side efffects I have been experiencing from Singulair. Another one I want to add, is when I woke up yesterday with the severe leg cramps, I felt weird in my head; it scared me; it also felt like I was being pushed backwards. Very scary. Anyone else had this?

I have allergic asthma/copd. I use 2 inhalers: Pulmicort and Spiriva. A recent visit to Ga. with exposure to the acrid smell of the smoke from the forest fires affected my breathing terribly.
Took Singulair for 10 days. My breathing vastly improved. However, on the 11th day, I awoke with severe leg cramps, toe cramps, and the beginning of a rectal irritation. Are these things a common occurence and why are they not mentioned in the official side effects listed.
I have stopped taking the Singulair. Is anyone else having these problems?

My 9 year old daughter has been on singular for several years now for allergy and asthmatic type of symptoms. This year she was in third grade and she has struggled all year and her teachers say that she day dreams alot and seems like she can't controll maintaining focus. That she just don't have the attention she needs. She has trouble memorizing things like multiplecation facts. So i finally decided to take her to a phsycologist and she felt like she may be depressed and also they tested her for add. Before all of this i actually had her tested for diabetes because she is tired all of the time and urinates often. Well those tests came back fine. Her phsycologist said the results from her add test came back that she was add. My daughter's father was dead set on medicating her so he started searching and came across this web site. Now that i have read these i am not sure that she has add at all. Because she also has had nightmares and leg cramps, and severe constipation. It just never occurred to me that it could have been her allergy med. I have taken her off of the singular and plan to test her again in a few months for add and see if there is a difference in the results. Before we go down the road to med. for add.

boys boobs a side effect from singulair? my 12 yr old is getting weight and I see that his breasts are large for his body, he is getting weight but not that much, his pediatrician noticed that, I read that the condition is called gynecomastia and is many times cause for some drugs or medications, my son is "only on singulair" for about 4 yrs, it works wonderful for his asthma but now that I read some of the side effects such leg cramps, stomach irritation, moodiness, stc, c'mon he is a child, he is healthy (to a degree) because all this symptoms can not be just a coinsidence, is like before singulair no leg cramps, moodiness, tireness, he was sooo slim and now all these side effects?.. does somebody else has this side effect with the boys breasts? please reply

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!

I was on Singulair for a few years. I started seasonally and eventually stayed on it all year. It kept my mild asthma and seasonal allergies completely in control to the point where I no longer felt like I had those problems. Even after cold viruses, my peak flows never dropped as far and it didn't take as many weeks to recover peak flow. As a singer, that was very important to me.
Then I spent a year barely able to walk from the severe leg cramps and pain and swelling. My GP was stumped and I had several diagnostic and blood tests that ruled out all the possibilities she could think of. Then I called up Glaxo and asked if it could be the Singulair? Yes, in rare cases it causes edema and/or muscle cramps. My doc took me off and the problems faded away and I'm back to walking. But now my asthma is not doing as well back on the older drugs. Sigh.

Hi - I was on Singulair for about 6 months due to problems breathing because of allergies. It worked wonders for my breathing but I developed severe leg cramps at times while on it. I am off it now because my allergies don't bother me in the winter but I will ask the doctor if it's safe to keep taking it next summer.

In initially I was on Singulair as it was first released for patient use. Side effects drove me to stop taking the drug for about two years and I stopped seeing my Pulmonary Doctor. I was having leg and arm cramps, very painful and progressively getting worse. I spoke to my lung Doctor, he said it may be my weight and inactivity; spoke with my PCP and he said could be many things maybe medications. Neither pursued the problem, so I stopped taking the medication.

Leg cramps subsided, not totally but enough to make a noticeable difference. Unfortunately I was hospitalized for my asthma in December 2004, and again 7 months later. I was immediately put back on Singulair again in December 2004. However once again I am having horrible cramps, so much so I am seeking information on line to help sort out the problem.

I would say be persistent with your Doctors, I was not but will most assuredly be this time.

Take your on line information to them, have a copy for them on hand and let them know this is impacting your quality of life, not a simple annoyance.

This is your life make sure they understand the issue and be specific, show a calendar of how and when this occurs. Even make a note of food types and activity as a means to help diagnosis the problem. This helps to show tow things, one it is a major issue and two you are serious about making sure the Doctors pursues this problem. In short you have committed to doing the homework and know you want action.

I cannot believe just how bad the moral decline in the world is. I know this may sound crazy to some but let me tell you it is not. The drug companies are absolutely criminal. It seems long-term studies are a thing of the past. Long-term studies were conducted to protect the consumer. If a drug proved dangerous in it's side effects, the drugs would either be not marketed or used under strict advisement and strict monitoring. Today, medicine is all about the money. I am a retired nurse. The many and varied crimes I have witnessed in my career would scare any sensible person into doing everything to maintain health without physicians, hospitals and medications. To find a good doctor who cares, who used his/her gift of discernment is nothing more than a hunt for something very, very rare. I am an allergy sufferer and was prescribed Singulair. I have been taking it for six weeks and for five of these weeks I have had laryngitis. Never have I had it before. I have been depressed. I feel like I am socially inept, I have had feelings of self-loathing, I am dizzy, clumsy, extremely forgetful, I feel like I am in a dream and that is just too weird a feeling when one is wide awake. I am sleeping long and hard, when I am on my way to bed I am afraid I will fall down because I am unnaturally tired. I am tired throughout the day. I have leg cramps. I am experiencing headaches. I sometimes have an unsteady gait upon walking. I experience pains in my abdomen. I am short of breath. I have had cardiac-like pains to my chest two to five times daily. I am touchy and angry all too easy. After reading the complaints listed on this website, I wonder if caring will ever, ever come back to the professions of medicine? This is a sad, sad state of affairs. Civilization needs to be recivilized and humanity needs to become humane. The wars aren't only in Iraq and Africa, we have wars everywhere....in our school systems, and in our health care systems....look and see who wins....it's always those who have the most to begin with.

60 YEAR OLD FEMALE: IN 01-05 I STARTED TAKING SINGULAIR 10MG AND ADVAIR 100/50 FOR ALLERGY ASTHMA SYMPTOMS. BY FEB. I WAS HAVING FOOT AND LEG CRAMPS. BY MARCH I STARTED COMPLAINING TO MY PULMOMARY DR.(WHO PERSCRIBED THESE), MY ENDO DR., MY ALLERGIST AND GYNO. MY ENDO REFERRED ME TO A NEUROGOLIST. I TOLD HIM ABOUT THE SINGULAIR AND ADVAIR SIDE EFFECTS WHICH MY PHARMACY CONFIRMED FOR ME. WELL I GET TO GO THROUGH A NERVE TEST AND AN EMG. NOW I AM TOLD THAT I HAVE A NEUROPATHY IN MY FOOT AND THAT I NEED A NERVE BIOSPY TO FIND OUT WHY. HE HAS NOT EVEN MENTIONED THE LEG CRAMPS THAT I CAME TO HIM FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEN HE GIVES ME A PERSCRIPTION FOR NEUROTIN FOR PAIN. I TOLD HIM BEFORE THE EMG THAT WHEN I STOPPED USING ADVAIR THAT MY CRAMPS STOPPED. THEY DO NOT LISTEN. I STILL TAKE SINGULAIR BUT MY LEGS STILL FEEL FUNNY LIKE RESTLESS LEG SYNDROM. I DO INTEND TO STOP SINGULAIR. I AM NOW CONVINCED SINCE I TOO FOUND THIS WEB SITE THAT IMY PROBLEM IS DUE TO MEDICATION. I DO NOT INTEND TO GO GET CUT ON SO THEY CAN THEN TELL ME ITS MY MEDICATION. I TAKE UNITHROID, ZETIA, SINGULAIR, ADVAIR. THE LAST THREE ALL HAVE JOINT/ MUSCLE PAIN/CRAMPS AS SIDE EFFECTS. I REALLY THOUGHT THAT I HAD SOME SORT OF MUSCLE DISEASE.

My son, who is now 10 started taking Singulair about a year ago for his chronic asthma. I started investigating this drug to see if i can change when i give it to him. He has horrible sleep patterns now and I thought If I started giving him his dose in the morning, it would help his nightmares. I come to find out that other people were experiencing nightmares as well. My son is also been extremely aggressive over this last year, but just thought it was behavioural. He's complained of stamach pains, but thought it was gas,, and has complained of leg cramps, but thought they were growing pains. I never thought these symtoms were linked at all the the meds and his asthmas has been wonderful. I now have an appointment for my child to test his liver enzymes because of what i've read on here. I'm horrified that i've subjected my little guy to all of this and unknowingly dismissed everything he was feeling. I'm angry because I specifically asked my doctor if there were any side effects, he said "NO!" Parents, please be aware,, I wish I had been.

My 13 yr old daughter has been on singulair since she was 8. 5mg dose. She is moody but I thought it was just pre teen girl stuff..she has complained of leg cramps..but she dances ballet and hip hop so I thoght she had muscle tension..she has abdominal cramping often and missing about 1 day of school per month due to feelings of naseau/headache..I just started telling her to take singulair every 2nd night..to see if it still keeps her astma at bay. She only uses her ventolin when running heavily in gym or is she has a very bad cold. It has been very interesting to read about al these side effects..I may request a different treatment,even though this one has successful kept her asthma under control.

My husband started to take Singulair 3 weeks ago and began to have backache, leg cramps, palpitations, shortness of breath, we thought he was having a heart attack but after an ECG and EKG ruled that out. Was about to be tested for thyroid or pancreas cancer but after reading the posts here stoped the Singuair and after two days all symptoms are going away.

Now I am worried about my daughter (19) who has been on Singualir for about 3 years, she has been gaining weight steadly (about 20 lbs) and has trouble sleeping at night. She then is lethargic during the day and has problems getting up in the morning. She also had stomic problems and was given prevacid. I guess I will take her to the Dr.

I've been taking Singulair for about a year and a half. Last summer I mentioned horrible leg and foot cramps to my pulmonary doctor who I see twice a year for asthma. They claimed that they had never heard of cramps from this drug. I tried everything from going off from my estrogen to drinking extra o.j. and eating more bananas. Nothing changed; but without the singulair I have severe burning in my upper back all the time. In November I returned for my doctor visit and was told that they had done some research on the leg and foot cramps and that it is considered a side effect. I was changed to Accolate which is not a drug my insurance company accepts. The leg cramps went away but the burning in my back was so severe from the asthma that I returned to using Singulair. I now have such awful leg and foot cramps that I spend several times a night walking my house. I've also been told that the pain and burning in my back should not be associated with the asthma and the doctor cannot explain why the singulair helps with this but it does and I'm afraid to stop. I'm very torn between the cramps and back burning.

Theresa
Michigan

Update to comment #4411:

I asked my doctor about the leg cramps & numbness. He advised to break the pill in half & try it for a few days. If it still helps my asthma & does not produce the cramps, he will prescribe 5 mg instead of the 10 I'm taking. Hopefully that will be the case. He said I may simply be getting too high a dose.