Singulair and muscle cramps

I started taking singulair 2 weeks ago and was surprised it worked so quickly to relieve my allergy symptoms but then about 4 days into treatment i started feeling strange, i felt not like myself i could not explain it, well then one morning i noticed i was pale and then the muscle weakness began and then 2 days later i started getting bad muscle cramps and very bad muscle tightness in my back shoulder and neck.I stopped taking it 2 daays ago and right now i am suffering from terrible back muscle spasms.I think this medicine is a poison and the fda better take a better look at it.

I believe that objective sources of information should be posted periodically so that they are not missed.

Adverse Reactions
(As reported in adults)
>10%: Central nervous system: Headache (18%)

1% to 10%:

Central nervous system: Dizziness (2%), fatigue (2%), fever (2%)

Dermatologic: Rash (2%)

Gastrointestinal: Dyspepsia (2%), dental pain (2%), gastroenteritis (2%), abdominal pain (3%)

Neuromuscular & skeletal: Weakness (2%)

Respiratory: Cough (3%), nasal congestion (2%), upper respiratory infection (2%)

Miscellaneous: Flu-like symptoms (4%), trauma (1%)

Postmarketing and/or case reports: Agitation, anaphylaxis, angioedema, arthralgia, bleeding tendency, bruising, cholestasis (rare), diarrhea, dream abnormalities, drowsiness, edema, eosinophilia, hallucinations, hepatic eosinophilic infiltration (rare), hepatitis, hypoesthesia, insomnia, irritability, muscle cramps, myalgia, nausea, palpitation, pancreatitis, paresthesia, pruritus, restlessness, seizure, urticaria, vasculitis, vomiting

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/montelukast-088375.htm

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

Oh my gosh, I am just shocked after reading these posts. I am taking my son off of Singulair immediatedly!!!! I knew I wasn't crazy!! My son was on Singulair for over 2 years and it was awful. He was so hyper and uncontrollable. He couldn't control his temper. He had headaches everyday. He was put on it due to severe allergies and asthma. He is on other medications as well as allergy shots. I kept telling the doctor that I think the singulair was causing his bad behavior problems. He was just so hard to handle. He couldn't sit still for anything. The teacher couldn't get him to sit still in his chair. It just wasn't normal behavior for him. The teacher even thought he had ADD!! I didn't accept that however. The doctor just thought I was crazy and told me that Singulair wouldn't cause those symptoms. She said it actually would work opposit that and cause him to be sleepy. Well I took him off of it anyways and he did get pretty sick. His asthma acted up ect. But he eventually felt better and his behavior improved drastically. He wasn't so hyper and he could actually sleep at night and wasn't so scared at night. Just within the last week he has been pretty sick due to allergy season, his asthma has been bad and the doctor told me to put him back on the Singulair. So I did he has been on it for four days now and he is HORRIBLE.. It was an instant change. My husband and I can't control him and he can't sleep at night and has headaches every day. I am so glad I found this sight. I am taking him off immediately.
Thank you all so much for your comments. This medicine should be outlawed. I don't care what the doctors say. By the way my son is 9 years old. I certainly had no idea that it has caused suicide. I am so sorry to you all that have experienced such horrible things. Come to think of it my son used to say he hated himself all of the time when he was on this medicine.
God Bless You All

I am 40-years-old and took Singulair for about two months. I first took it for about two weeks and got horrible symptoms and then stopped for a week and then tried it again for about a month. Never again will I put Singulair into my body. My symptoms were chronic and severe muscle cramps and twitching, restless legs, body aches, numbness, tingling, hair loss, weight gain, and skin changes (urticaria and angioedema). I also used to suffer from menorrhagia to where now I barely get a cycle. I cannot blame Singulair for the headaches/migraines because I have been a headache/migraine suffering for many years.

When I first stopped taking Singulair the symptoms calm down. But since then they have come back with a vengence. I have been to several specialty doctors (family doctor first, endocrinologist, neurologist, allergist and rheumatologist). Now please let me defend myself by saying I see my family doctor and gynecologist yearly for a physical and also when I am sick and I have always been basically a very healthy, and slender woman with thick hair. I was on no other medications other than ibuprofen and acetaminophen for the headaches/migraines. What they have found so far is that I have secondary autoimmune hypothyroidism (only my TPO antibody and thryoglobulin are extremely elevated, but my TSH, T3 and T4 are completely normal), and allergies to everything outside (no food or pet allergies) and idiopathic lupus (because my skin has developed urticaria and angioedema).

I am going for an EMG and MRI of the brain in one week because they are trying to rule out MS. They have been saying that my symptoms look like MS or lupus. They have ruled out lupus because my blood tests do not show lupus only my skin is acting like lupus. My allergist put me on doxepin for my skin and twitching symptoms. This medication has helped my skin and slowed down the twitching.

I am not trying to blame Singulair, but it is very strange that I was a basically healthy person with some outdoor allergies and mild asthma. I would get pneumonia once a year also (always around the holidays). Now, I feel like crap since taking Singulair. My legs are the worst of all the symptoms along with the constant twitch under my right eye. This can drive a person insane, especially when you are trying to relax and your body cannot.

Thanks for listening,
Carrie

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.

I feel like my heart flutters on it and the first time I took it, I couldn't sleep for 2 days. I am giving it another try due to cedar fever.

I found this information from another site.

Post-Marketing Experience

The following additional adverse reactions have been reported in post-marketing use: hypersensitivity reactions (including anaphylaxis, angioedema, pruritus, urticaria, and very rarely, hepatic eosinophilic infiltration); dream abnormalities and hallucinations, drowsiness, irritability, agitation including aggressive behavior, restlessness, insomnia, paraesthesia/hypoesthesia, and very rarely seizures; arthralgia, myalgia including muscle cramps; increased bleeding tendency, bruising; palpitations; edema; nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia, diarrhea, and very rarely pancreatitis. Rare cases of cholestatic hepatitis, hepatocellular liver-injury, and mixed-pattern liver injury have been reported in patients treated with SINGULAIR. Most of these occurred in combination with other confounding factors, such as use of other medications, or when SINGULAIR was administered to patients who had underlying potential for liver disease such as alcohol use or other forms of hepatitis

It looks like it has many side effects.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ALLERGIES!

I am a 47 year old woman recently diagnosed with asthma and on Pulmicort twice daily. I also have spring allergies and was recently prescribed Singulair. I have been having leg and foot cramps on a daily basis lately and notice that muscle cramps is listed as a less common side effect. Anyone else experiencing this?

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

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

The most common side effects with SINGULAIR include:

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

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

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

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

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

well this is the exhaustive list of the possible side effects triggered by montelukast sodium given in the leaflet of this medicine....i am so grateful to the distributors of this medicine in my country for keeping the users of this medicine informed. I am stating the side effects as it is for every ones notice here

1. Body as whole: asthenia, fatigue, malaise, oedema, hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis, angioedema, urticaria, pruritus, rash and one isolated report of hepatic eosinophilic infiltration.
2. Digestive system: thirst(pediatric patients), abdominal pain.
3. Nervous system/psychiatric: headache, dizziness, dream abnormalities including nightmares, hallucinations, drowsiness, insomnia, paraesthesia/hypesthesia, irritability, agitation including aggressive behaviour, restlessness, seizure.
4. Musculo skeletal disorders: arthralgia, myalgia including muscle cramps.
5. Hepato biliary disorders: elevated levels of serum transaminases(ALT,AST), cholestatic hepatitis.
6. Digestive system disorders: diarrhea, dry mouth, dyspepsia, nausea, vomiting.
7. Cardiovascular disorders: increased bleeding tendency, bruising, palpitations. Very rare cases of Churg-Strauss Syndrome CSS have been reported during montelukast treatment in asthmatic patients.
8. Mutagenicity and carcinogenicity: No evidence of this have been reported in montelukast treatment.
9. Pregnancy and lactation: no evidence of tratogenicity and there is no suffiecient prove for the excretion of the montelukast in the human milk as many drugs are excreted in the human milk.

unrelenting laryngitis...it didn't go away until I stopped the drug. I have not taken it for around a month. I had multiple side effect taking the full adult dose. However, Singulair was very effective at halting my allergy symptoms. Allergy-wise it was one of the best summers since childhood. It also seemed to clear things up for the month after I quit. They say there is a fungal infection usually at the root of chroncity with sinusitis...well, maybe, just maybe Singulair cleared that up for me. I am, once again, experiening symptoms so, I have decided to give it a go once more. I am going to see if I can take it for a couple of days full strength and then go down to half or the pediatric dose. I was going to chuck it for good because I had headaches, laryngitis, muscle cramps, stomach and chest pains, extreme tiredness, dizziness and I became a very angry and unhappy depressed woman and that really is bad if you're already female and over fifty!! I'll post the effects of the new regimen I am going to try with the reduced dose and for a smaller length of time of use of the medication.

01-05 STARED TAKING SINGULAIR 10MG AND ADVAIR100/50 .(ADVAIR HAS JUST AS MANY SIDE EFFECTS)

WITH SINGULAIR:
I HAVE HAD MUSCLE CRAMPS IN TOES, ANKLE, CALVES,EDEMA,LIP SWELLING,TONGUE FEELING FUNNY MAYBE SWELLING, RINGING IN EARS, NOT SLEEPING DUE TO JUMPING OUT OF BED AT TWO,THREE OR FOUR IN THE MORNING. ANGER PROBLEMS.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE TAKING ADVAIR ALONG WITH SINGULAIR AS I WAS, YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT ALL OF THE SIDE EFFECTS THAT COME WITH THIS DRUG. DOUBLE TROUBLE......MY DOCTORS DID NOT LISTEN TO ME EITHER. I HAVE NOW STOPPED BOTH DRUGS AND I HOPE I DON'T HAVE ANY DAMAGE. HAS ANYONE HAD ANY NERVE DAMAGE FROM EITHER OF THESE DRUGS?

Horable Muscle cramps, waight gain,and fatege that comes from not sleeping due to the pain from the camps. I have been on this for 4days and am stopping amediently!

(Please do not e-mail me.)
The drug Singulair has had many negitive effects on people. For one thing the drug is not meant for childern under the age of fifthteen but is sometimes perscribed at a smaller dose. I myself am under the age limit, two years to be exact, but I have an adult enough mind to know from what I see in my grandmother who is taking Singulair that it is not a very positive drug. It causes her severe muscle cramps, mood swings, nightmares, weight gain and lack of sleep. I myself had taken it at risk to my own health to comfirm these symptoms. I would not recomend this drug for anyone and would suggest for those who are expirencing these side effects to discontinue the use of Singulair. I may not be a doctor, yet again I am only thirteen, but I have studied many things that the average teenagar has not.
Be Well,
Ms. Kalae ******, GA

began 10mg of Singulair for asthma following a bronchial infection about 4 weeks ago. I have been experiencing increased muscle cramps in my toes,feet,legs and hands. I went without it 2 nights and have already noticed a slight decrease in the frequency of the muscle cramps. the pamphlet accompanying the prescription said nothing about muscle cramps. apparently it IS a definite side effect.

Like Guest #1757, I too got muscle cramps in my legs, but only after being on S. for a week. My other problem was regular stomach pains, which subsided if I took 2 Pepcid, 2x a day.

I am experiencing muscle cramps in my arms and legs. I was wondering if you could tell me some side effects others are experiencing.