Singulair and adhd

My eight year old son, who has asthma and has been taking Singulair since he was three, has been off Singulair for four days and is becoming a completely different little boy! He has always been a "difficult child" with intense emotional reactions to things, anxiety, oppositional behavior, a short fuse and bad temper. He has also displayed obsessive/compulsive behavior. His father and I never thought that his behaviors and symptoms were caused by Singulair. His pediatrician never suggested it. With a family history of anxiety, we just assumed it was the way he was. At four, his preschool requested he be tested for ADHD. The testing revealed a short attention span but not a diagnosis of ADHD. As he got older his symptoms grew more intense. Last year we considered taking him to a psychiatrist but decided to "wait it out" one more year to see if maturity would bring an end to some of the behaviors. It didn't and in fact they grew worse. He became aggressive, explosive and depressed.

I recently began taking Singulair for another medical condition and had noticed that it made me a little moody. Last week, on the verge of making an appointment for my son with a psychiatrist, I started to wonder if maybe he was reacting in a similar, yet more intense way to the Singulair. I reviewed the patient information on line (I had read the patient info for Singulair when my son started taking it, but had not done so in years. I learned a tough lesson: check the information that accompanies prescriptions each and every time I get a refill.) When I read what the "less common side effects" were I was convinced that my son was reacting to his medicine. Then I found this website. We stopped his Singulair immediately and within two days began seeing a dramatic change in our son. He was less high strung, defiant, and explosive. Yesterday we had a cookout with some friends and he played with other kids all day without fighting for the first time in his life! He even cooperated when we asked him to help us get ready for company.

I strongly believe that this medicine should not be given to children and teens. I am so upset that when I asked my son's pediatricians about his behavior TWICE last year, they never mentioned that Singulair could be the problem. I called today to tell them he wasn't taking it anymore and the nurse said that she would note that he is "allergic" to it in his chart!

We are exploring alternate and natural ways to treat our son's asthma. I will NEVER give him Singulair again!

FYI: the labeling for his albuterol inhaler states that "safety and efficacy have not been established in patients under 12 years old". His pediatrician has been prescribing albuterol inhalers since he was three!

Does anyone have information about herbal inhalers and naturopathic treatment of asthma? If so I would like to hear.

My son has been on Singulair off and on for two years. He goes off in the summertime since his asthma is mostly due to upper respiratory infections. He recently went back on it, maybe three weeks ago. He is 7 years old. Every morning now he wakes up with nightmares. This morning he said that he had a nightmare that all six of his webkinz were killed, except for one. The night before he said a tornado had blow our house away. There have been other nightmares too.

I decided this morning to stop Singulair, then called the allergist. The allergist agreed we should stop it and see what effect would happen. Today during school, the teacher had to call me because he was yelling at other students and was hitting books because he wanted a prize for fund raising. She said he was inconsolable.
During the summer, he was a totally different child -- easy going, laughing a lot. Now he seems stressed out, anxious and depressed.
I also noticed he has begun oversleeping.
Even worse, he was diagnosed with ADHD back in April. All of the surveys filled out by teachers and by me were from when he was on Singulair.

I know that drugs can do this to adults. I was once on a birth control pill that made me so paranoid and neurotic, I had never felt that way before. A different pill was fine and never had that happen again.

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

I took my son off the end of March & come back once in awhile to read & I'm blown away by all the stories that I still keep reading :(

I just told his GI doc today that this might sound crazy.. but I have reason to believe that Singulair was making my son's reflux worse because now he only needs halk of his reflux med & is doing fine

My son like so many others on here had every side affect listed & it took almost a year to figure it all out He still has ADHD & other issues which I already knew about but all the stuff that was happening while he was on singulair Has Stopped!!!

GL to everyone I try to spread the word about this drug as much as I can

I'm a mother of a lovely 6 year old child who has been on Singulair for four years. For four years, I've dreaded taking my child anywhere public for fear of her outbursts and for four years, I've thought that Kate perhaps has ADHD. Funny, but she had near psychotic reactions to the inhaled Albuterol the docs put her on due to some very scary episodes she had before the age of 2 with RSV. I never suspected that the Singulair they put her on for Ashthma might be the cause of the behaviors that she and our family have suffered with for years. I've called her doctor and told the doctor that I'm taking her off right now, IMMEDIATELY. I've even consulted with the doctor about her behavior but got the feeling that she just thought I was being oversensitive. For four years, I have had a hyperactive, moody, sleepless and generally unpleasant child and I am worn out and heartbroken. I pray that taking her off this medication will work.

I am a parent of a 14 year old son. He has been on many meds due to having migraines, adhd, seizures, and asthma. For 3 years his ADHD meds have been switched. Now Thanks to a friend she told me about singular side effects. OH MY GOD. it blows my mind reading this stuff. He has been on singular for 3 years and never once did I think all these problems were caused by that drug. Flipping out over the smallest things, arguing with us his parents, his friends, being mean to us and a real smartass, depression, and MAJOR attitude. Getting upset over nothing at all then crying for no reason What was his Dr. thinking? Needless to say, I took the singular while she was telling me this stuff about her own son, and threw them away, I will never allow my son to take that shit again. I hope in three days like all of you say, that my son will be that loving, caring, friendly person he use to be ! Singular free is how he will be!!

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

Hi to all,
I wanted to take a minute to say Thanks to all who post and search for answers to this drugs confusing and serious side effects.To all who have taken the time to contact the FDA and file a report to help others.Dr.Sarah Sellers is no longer the person to contact at the FDA,she has moved on after concluding her end of the investigation on Singulair.If you have a serious side effect please still take the time to file on the official FDA site for adverse event reporting.In NY. state we are still searching for legislation to help with the notification process for these serious side effects.There are to many Doctors that still do not have a clear idea of the updated side effects,and are not reporting as they should.
Letting your doctor know that good medicine is all about follow up on complaints,such as researching the singulair website to rule out that it may be the drug or it may not.Just dismissing the patient and prescribing another drug is how these drugs go undetected for so long.We want this to stop and only the unfortunate recipients of the horrors of this drug can make this happen.Again thank you for your efforts to change the system with follow through and perserverance.Our horror story is one of many and we want to help those who have survived the ravages of this drug, OUR CHILD DID NOT. Kate and Dave M.

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

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

I'm seeing some posts from parents who say their children have returned to normal after discontinuing the use of this medication. However, there seem to be a lot of diagnosed "ADHD" or "BIPOLAR" conditions. Are your children really returned to normal? Or have they been diagnosed with a psychological issue and are receiving treatment? There seems to be a connection here, even after discontinued use, especially male adolescents. Any thoughts?? The increase in cases of ADD, ADHD, AUTISM, etc has been multiplying at a very disturbing rate in the last 10 years. I'm thinking definite connection to the "new" breed of "receptor blockers". What is it triggering? Any thoughts out there? Lets post anyone with similar cases and see how many are out there.

I have only been taking singulair for about a month. I have noticed that I have become more irritable, grouchy, hateful and just numb, not really wanting to be around anyone, not caring about anyone else's feelings much. I also noticed I have become extremely lethargic, to the point of falling asleep at work as well as heart palpitations and stomach pains. I just started new birth control pills so at first assumed they were causing these side effects, that is until I looked up the side effects of this drug! I have over half of the side effects so I stopped it immediately and can already tell a difference in my mood. I have to sons age 11 and 14, both who have asthma and allergies. The took this medication for a few years with no side effects but have not taken it for about a year now. My youngest son however, has been diagnosed with ADHA and ODD and possibly BiPolar disorder. As I read the other posts, I realize the description of how their children act while on this drug is exactly how my son acts. I wonder if there can be irreversible permanent damage from taking this medicine? He has been on a number of ADHD drugs, none have helped except to make him stop eating and lose weight and he is small for his age, so I have taken him off everything. Has anyone else out there experienced what could be permanent damage from this drug in their children? Even after being off the drug for a year or so? If it could make me miserable within a month, what can it do when one takes it for years? Its sometimes hard to tell the effects of medicine on small children. My son prob starting taking it around 4 yrs old and took it til he was about 8 or 9. Just wondering if anyone else out there has had this happen to them or their children.

My son began taking singulair when he was 6. About that time we were hading into the school years. He was labeled as a "special" child from that time on. Impulsive, aggressive, angry, anti-social, etc. He had a hard time focusing at school and every day was a battle. About 5th grade, after 3 schools, he was diagnosed with ADHD. I never, ever thought that it could be this medication. He was on it for about 4 years off and on during allergy season. I transferred him to a private school for children with behavioral issues and as time went on through therapy and special schooling it seemed to get better. I look back now and see that our "good" times were when he finally went off it for good. The beginning of his Freshman year was great! He had a 3.58 GPA, making friends and finally happy. The unfortunate thing is now that puberty has really kicked in, we are back to the old behaviors but much worse. Impulsive, angry, anxious, afraid of the dark, afraid of death. Violent thoughts, impulsive and very unhappy. I can see now that my son never had ADHD. He was misdiagnosed because thier were no warnings at that time. I don't think it ever "goes away". Even after years of being off of it. Something with the puberty hormones is re-triggering this behavior. IT IS LONG TERM!!!!! Even after discontinued use. Please, please keep an eye on your children. I AM SO ANGRY FOR HIM!! Also, for me. Special school $400 month, psychologist appointments, $300 month, my poor Son in a dark place I can't get him out, PRICELESS. . .I want my Son just to be happy. Thank you all for sharing your stories, it gives me strength that I need for him.

My 10 year old son has taken Singulair on and off since he was 5 years old and has been on it for the past 3.5 years. My son at an early age was affected by a bad marriage and then the divorce when he was 5 yrs old. So we always suspected that his behavior issues were caused by this and I had done everything I possibly could to give them the help he needed to get over and through his issues. He was held back his first year of Kindergarden and during his second year midstream he was placed in a special class for behavioral problem children. Nothing ever seemed to help him, everytime we would see some progress and encouragement we were always blind sighted by a behavior that was always worse. Two steps forward and them 5 steps backwards. I always knew that his problems would never get better overnight so I just kept on going. He was diagnosed with ADHD but because he has some ticking issues I had to put him on Strattera which was did not do a thing for him. I always described him as my Dr. Jeckyll/ Mr. Hyde child. He could be really good and sit still and behave but I think he had to try really hard to do so. He eventually was always overpower by the impulse to show negative behaviors. Defiant, extremely impulsive, always negative and completely miserable all the time. He also went through phases of compulsions. There was always a compulsion of the month- germs, bathroom habits, noises, repetitive words. He hated school and always complained of a stomach ache which i thought he was always faking to get out of school. He had confrontations in school everyday for most of the day. I often thought some of this was because of being tired all the time. We had battled over bedtime every single night. He was terrified to go to bed alone, I tried everything to get him to sleep alone. I wore myself out falling asleep next to him, I would then go to my own bed only to be up with him half the night going back and forth. I gave in many a night and slept with him just so we could get a good nights sleep. At age 8.5 I finally got him to go to sleep alone but the lights haf to be on and he has to know that I am still awake before he will fall asleep. He would always say he didn't want to go to sleep because when he does he has bad thoughts about me and people that he loves. He always had an extremely hard time excepting the word "no"- he would flip out and hit his head with whatever was handy, throw things, break things, scream holler etc. It would take hours to get over it. When he did he would be very remorseful and lovable. He was always in turmoil. Finally in February of this year, this graduated to a new level where he would want to just kill himself and would actually go and pull a knife out of the drawer and just shake with anger as he held the knife to his throat. I was terrified although i really didn't think he was going to harm himself he just wanted to scare me. Then at the end of March when i first heard the news about the possible side effects of Singulair, I had only heard about the suicide effect. Oh great just what I needed was this medicine causing him to do that. The doctor was thinking about taking him off if this summer because he wanted to see if he out grew his seasonal allergies so I took him off immediately. Well I had no idea about the other side effects until my son turned into a completely different kid. School noticed a huge difference in him! His grades went up, his is able to control his behavior, he is happy he is NORMAL. I never suspected this drug as the culprit due to the timing of taking it. Our lives have changed completely. When i first found this site, it seemed as though some of the parents were writing about my child. It is amazing. My son still has some old habits to break but overall he is a wonderful and normal 10 year old boy. He did not outgrow his seasonal allergies but Allegra seems to help in through it. I get so angry- his whole early childhood was ruined by this medicine. He is a labled kid in our school system. This whole experience has opened up my eyes. Thank you for letting me share my story.

Update. The count down is on. Next week on Tues my 6yr old son will be having his tonsils removed. Only 5 months after the adenoids were removed. I am hoping once this is over the improvements I have seen will just get better! His sinus drained in April, 9 days after coming off Singulair after battling sinus infections for entire year or more actually. When his sinus drained the infection went right into the tonsils and he has had tonsillitis ever since. One thing I wanted to share is that around the same time he came off singulair we started omega 3 supplement. Both my son and I stopped Singulair the same day. We both started the Omega 3. Last week I had to stop his dose because of the upcoming surgery because it can thin the blood. I noticed this last week his nasal allergies kicked in. He did pretty good through this allergy season and wasn't on any meds a lot of the days. I hardly had to take allergy meds this time around also. Im allergic to trees/grass and this is usually my bad time. I really feel the omega 3 has helped a lot!!! I am also waiting to get the results of his blood tests to see if his cholesterol has gone down. Just wanted to share!

Hi,
I wanted to post this link just to give some small consolation to our concerns about the lack of awareness THAT DOCTORS HAVE ABOUT SINGULAIR.This is a voluntary online informational site,that doctor's can join. It provides updated information on serious label changes and safety concerns on drugs.Most doctors at this point still get snail mail updates,in the paper shuffle a lot of information gets misplaced.The AMA would like to have all information come in online,eventually.The link is ******
read it and tell me if you think more can be done By the way my pediatricians office does not have online communication.Our life is forever changed because of that ! Information is playing a vital role in this drugs destructive path ,or the lack there of information.Again this is voluntary for the Doctors to sign up .In this modern day of communication how does important information not get where it is the most useful, I ask you?When drugs are making multi billion dollar profits,that would be an educated guess.I am doing another interview with CBS affiliate out of Boston on the 23rd of June,they contacted me.I hope it will reach more people who are still unaware of this drugs serious potential side effects.If any of you parents have some connection to media ,please use it to your best advantage to get this very important information out to the publicAlso so many of you ask how to help.Contact your local Senators and keep bothering them to reach out to the FDA to expedite this investigation. Make a pain in the butt out of yourself and be persistent.I will try to make reference to this site so your stories are heard. Dave and I are coming up on a year since our son passed on to our lord .Still fighting Kate and Dave M.

Many people have asked why I suggested that Omega-3 from fish oil MIGHT possibly help those retrying to recuperate from the adverse side effects of Singulair. It is my opinion, that it MIGHT help the body return to balance. And unless we OD on Omega-3 from dietary sources, (avoid tuna fish high in mercury), then it won't hurt.

Mechanisms and innovations

The science behind dietary omega-3 fatty acids
Marc E. Surette, PhD
Marc Surette is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cellular Lipid Metabolism, Département de Chimie et Biochimie, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB

Correspondence to: Dr. Marc Surette, Département

"When cells are activated by external stimuli, arachidonic acid is released from cell membranes and is transformed into powerful cellular mediators such as thromboxanes, prostaglandins and leukotrienes.10 These compounds possess a range of activities, including activation of leukocytes and platelets, regulation of gastric secretions, induction of bronchoconstriction and signaling of pain in nerve cells. The importance of these compounds in health and disease is evident by the range of pharmaceutical products that target their biosynthesis or action.11 Indeed, arachidonic acid metabolism is the target of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors (e.g., rofecoxib, celecoxib12) and leukotriene antagonists (e.g., montelukast, zafirlukast).13 Dietary omega-3 fatty acids directly affect arachidonic acid metabolism because they displace arachidonic acid from membranes and compete with arachidonic acid for the enzymes that catalyze the biosynthesis of thromboxanes, prostaglandins and leukotrienes.8 Thus, the net effect of consuming foods enriched in omega-3 fatty acids is a diminished potential for cells like monocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils to synthesize these powerful arachidonic acid–derived mediators of inflammation and a diminished potential for platelets to produce the prothrombotic agent thromboxane A2." (Surette, 2008).

******

hi, im not sure what to do. my 3 1/2 year old daughter was today given the prescription for singulair. i voiced my concerns to the doctor after my friend telling me its no good due to the side effects.she said that there are risks and side effects with any drug you take but for some reason i don't feel right about this. don't doctors know better than this. anyway Would like to know if all the people who take singulair suffer some sort of side affects or is it minimal? or going by this side it looks like its probably best not to give it to her at all.

I've noticed that NBC and The Weather Channel appear to be two of the biggest advertisers of Singulair. NBC can always be sure to have one on during the evening news, at least here where we live, on our local NBC channel. There for awhile, I was logging what time, and what channel I saw the ad. The ad only lists the basic side effects that aren't even dangerous. Merck must be paying NBC the big bucks because they still haven't dropped it. I don't know, should we bombard NBC with letters of negativity or boycott or something to get their attention on this murderous drug?

I have a three year old son who has severe allergies. He's been taking singulair for 2 years on & off just in the allergy season. He started taking, singulair again in the beginning of April. One morning he woke up and both eyes were really swollen and red, I called his doctor's office and told them i thought he had pink eye, after 2 different drops and no change I brought him into the doctor's to see if it could be his allergies, and they agreed and started him on Zyrtec. I still was not impressed with the results so i brought him back yet again to see if we could see a specialist. Instead they put him on nasonex to try.
In the beginning of March I started to see a change in my usual happy fun loving son. He was scared to sleep in his bed, waking up in the middle of the night from bad dreams, uncontrollable screaming fits that would last up to an hour, saying he wants a Boo Boo. At first we thought it could be jealously over his new brother, or maybe something at his school.
Then i found this website and everything clicked, how scary it must be for a child to have these horrible thoughts and not be able to understand or stop them. What are the people at merck thinking??
Can any one tell me when the symptoms stop. He's been off for a week and we see some improvements. But he still has these fits with almost an OCD tendency to them (mainly when he's overtired), stomach pains, lack of appetite.

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

My 6 year old daughter Started taking Concerta about 3 months ago. Some things I've noticed are, loss of appetite and loss of weight.
She has had very noticeable academic improvement at school. She is concentrating better. At home I l see how she can go through mood swings and emotional episodes. She snaps all of the sudden and cries if things don't go as she expects. I'm not sure why this is happening. She is currently on the 36 mg. I really don't like having her on this or any other medication. It's very frustrating trying to decide what is best for your child.
She is also taking Singulair for her asthma and allergy symptoms. I was reading the reviews Singulair medication and they are scary! I don't know if her emotional episodes have to do anything with singulair or concerta med side effects. For now I'm definitely taking her off Singulair and see what happens.

I have two sons on Singulair, my three old was suspended today from pre-school for bad behavior. Screaming, biting, scratching, and hitting have been going on for the last few months. But worse the past two weeks. He has always been active and played like a boy, but he has been getting violent. We have tried positive reinforcement, praising good behavior both verbally and with rewards, I have tried time-out, being grounded, not being able to participate in activities, no t.v. and old fashioned butt spanking. All of this with no positive results. I am not looking for an excuse for my child's behavior, but could Singulair really be the cause of his aggression?

Neurological problems and the effects of Singulair should be investigated. The Chinese researchers demonstrated that the CysLT1 receptor (singulair inhibits this receptor) does exist in the human brain. In the rat brain, they demonstrated that there is a link between this receptor and the astrocyte.

There are many researchers/doctors interested in excitotoxicity and damage to neurons.

http://www.jpands.org/vol9no2/blaylock.pdf

I would like to know how Singulair affects the astrocyte numbers and function. I would also like to know if there is a link between metabolism and the cysLT1 receptors in gastro-intestinal mucosa. Does Singulair affect the metabolic process?

So many parents are complaining of ADD/ADHD symptoms? The paper that I gave you the link correlates the immune response and excitotoxicity. That is very interesting. How many asthma and allergy patients also suffer from potential excitotoxicity? Does Singulair cause it in some patients or just make it worse in some patients? None the less--there is a possible link.

Why the brain function is impaired due to Singulair????? Maybe.

Here is the last chapter in a theoretical reason why Singulair affects brain function thus causing anxiety, depression, agitation, aggression, ADD/ADHD, and in extreme situations maybe seizures. I presented the study of the Chinese researchers that show a direct link between the cysLT1 receptor and the astrocyte in the brain. We don't really know how the cysLT1 receptor interacts with receptors that control astrocytes under all circumstances. We just know that there is an important link.

So last night, I had a dream about astrocytes. I don't really have anything to do but sit on an island, look at the Caribbean and fish so mental stimulation is actually welcome.

The last part of the "chain reaction" is probably the astrocytes role in glyconeogenesis. In other words, when the brain does not get proper nutrition, it sends signals to the liver to do something about the problem. The liver in turn releases glycogen which is turned into glucose to be released into the blood stream. A very unhappy brain becomes a very relieved brain. Obviously, we can't be eating all day long to keep our blood sugar up so the liver has to store energy and release it at the correct time.

Here is a diagram of that. Astrocytes are the only cell that produce the proper chemicals for this process to happen.

http://www.nature.com/jcbfm/journal/v27/n2/fig_tab/9600343f5.html
FIGURE
Quote: All credit to the authors, of course.

Energy metabolism in astrocytes: high rate of oxidative metabolism and spatiotemporal dependence on glycolysis/glycogenolysis
Leif Hertz, Liang Peng and Gerald A Dienel

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Glucose utilization pathways that provide or consume ATP. (A) Schematic of key aspects of the glycolytic pathway of glucose utilization for energy metabolism and major branch points that can divert carbon for other uses, including NADPH generation, storage of glucosyl units in glycogen, neuromodulator, and amino acid and nucleotide biosynthesis. The most important reactions for generation of energy are glycolysis (pyruvate/lactate formation from glucose), shown in light brown and occurring in all cell types, and glycogenolysis (pyruvate/lactate formation from glycogen), shown in light green, which occurs only in astrocytes, due to the astrocyte-specific expression of the enzyme glycogen phosphorylase, which releases a glucosyl unit from glycogen as G1P. The energetically most important biosynthetic reactions are synthesis of glycogen from glucose (glycogenesis) shown in brown and green and from pyruvate/lactate (gluconeogenesis) shown in pink, brown, and green. Gluconeogenesis is also astrocyte-specific, because only astrocytes express fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase, which generates F6P from fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate (F1, 6P) and PC, which generates oxaloacetate (OAA) from pyruvate. The latter reaction is followed by formation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) by decarboxylation of OAA; this sequence is necessary to form PEP from pyruvate, an energetically unfavorable reaction. Biosynthesis of serine/glycine (shown in olive) is also an astrocyte-specific process due to preferential expression of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (Yamasaki et al., 2001). Both neurons and astrocytes form alanine and ribose-5-phosphate (R5P), the latter in the pentose shunt pathway (upper left corner), linked to NADPH production needed for operation of glutathione peroxidase and oxidation of monoamine transmitters. The MAS, indicated by red, transfers malate formed in the cytosol from oxaloacetate during conversion of NADH to NAD+ into mitochondria. PDH-mediated formation of acetyl CoA, which is also shown in red, initiates oxidative degradation of pyruvate in the mitochondria. Red and blue text for ATP indicates energy production and utilization, respectively. (B) Major reactions and net ATP yields or net ATP consumption of major pathways derived from the glycolytic pathway are indicated in color-coded boxes that correspond to the color-coded pathways in panel A. For simplicity, the scheme indicates the energy yields (ATP) and NAD(P)H production or utilization based on metabolism of 1 glucose to form one ribulose-5-P, two lactate/pyruvate, or 2 serine; a similar representation illustrates the energy and cofactors required for gluconeogenic conversion of two moles of lactate into one free (G6P) or glycogen-bound glucosyl unit. Glc, glucose; P, phosphate; G6P, glucose-6-P; 6PG, 6-P-gluconate; R5P, ribulose-5-P; GSH, reduced form of glutathione; GSSG, oxidized form of glutathione; F6P, fructose-6-P; F1, 6-P, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate; GAP, glyceraldehyde-3-P; DHAP, dihydroxyacetone-P; 3PG, 3-P-glycerate; 2PG, 2-P-glycerate; PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate; Pyr, pyruvate; Lac, lactate; Ala, alanine; OAA, oxaloacetate; 3P-HyPyr, 3-P-hydoxypyruvate; Glu, glutamate; KG, -ketoglutarate; 3P-L-Ser, 3P-L-serine; L-ser, L-serine; D-ser, D-serine; Gly, glycine; C1, one carbon fragment used for methyl donor reactions.

This is quite interesting because should the connection between the cysLT1 receptor and astrocyte be established and explained, it shows that there is a very direct link between the immune system and metabolism. That should be intuitive because when we get seriously sick, then we are laying in bed and the body should try to conserve energy so that we don't just waste away.

So what happens if we cause changes in the cysLT1 receptor to cause the astrocytes to believe that we are sick, the normal connection between the brain and glyconeogenesis then doesn't exist. We would have to be causing some kind of periods of extreme stress on the brain because we are out moving around and doing not home sick in bed.

Maybe we should award the Chinese researchers the nobel prize? Maybe they established the connection between the immune system and metabolism? Is there also a link between the immune system of some individuals and depression? Some how, this makes perfect sense. So we have to find out and help as many people as we can.

I think that it is time to call the lawyer-biochemists to find out if this can be proven to be true and if Merck knew or not.

Is there a potential explanation for the adverse psychiatric side effects of montelukast?

In my opinion, there are at least some very good clues based upon the work of the Chinese researchers.

A 2006 report indicated that they had localized (meaning found it was there) the CystLT1 receptor (same as the receptor that montelukast
Singulair blocks) in the neurons of the brain tissue of rats. In order to do that, they injected rat brain's with NMDA to cause a chemically induced state of excitotoxicity. Excitotoxicity is a common factor in Central Nervous System disease. They concluded that both 5-LOX and CystLT1 were upregulated by the excitotoxicity that they artificially created
with the NMDA. Therefore, there would be a potential link between neuron activity and CystLT1. Nerve cells are damaged by excitotoxicity. These researchers used NMDA to cause nerve damage which caused the CystLT1 to show up. NMDA was often used in human behavior studies to cause brain damage. They would then try to observe whether behavior was compromised to conclude what areas of the brain determined what behavioral response.

So I was thinking about the Chinese researchers as I was reading other posts. One post interested me particularly regarding the mother who described behavior that seemed like hypoglycemics when their snack doesn't arrive on time. So a light bulb went on. Glutamate, another excitotoxin, can build up in the brain to a level that is damaging if humans become excessively hypoglycemic. If glutamate concentration around the synaptic cleft reaches too high a level then neurons die. Clinically, it really does seem that many people experience things that sound like the effects of hypoglycemia. It could be only a coincidence. But then again, maybe not.

The Chinese researchers found the CystLT1 receptor in the rat brain neuron after brain damage. They found the CystLT1 receptor in the normal human brain in the microvascular endothelial cells and in neuron and glial-appearing cells in brain trauma or tumors.

What role does the CystLT1 play in brain function? If it exists in brain tissue, we can assume that it does have a function. If it plays a role in preventing or repairing neuron damage due to excitotoxins, then there would be a very direct link between Singulair and adverse psychiatric side effects.

http://www.chinaphar.com/1671-4083/27/1526.htm

The bottom line is that Merck owes people who take Singulair further research regarding it's effect on the brain.

I have communicated directly with Leslie Hendeles, a leading professor of pharmacology and pediatrics at the University of Florida who's direct quote to me was:
"In response to your last comment, I thing Singulair has modest efficacy, and if we take all of our patients off this drug, THEY WON'T SUFFER. This is NOT an important drug for pediatric asthma, as are inhaled corticosteroids."

Ironically, this is the same individual who was quoted in an ABC news article as saying:
"We have hundreds of children on Singulair and have never heard parents make complaints about psychiatric side effects. Moreover, there is no mechanism for this reaction … We will be telling our patients not to worry about this."

WAKE UP EVERYONE...THIS IS AN ADMITTEDLY OVERPRESECRIBED DRUG THAT HAS WORKED WELL FOR MANY, BUT HAS ALSO RUINED MANY LIVES.

The manner in which this drug is casually overprescribed by so many doctors is freakish. I firmly believe that this drug has caused countless misdiagnoses such as ADHD, Bipolar disorder and others. IT FUELS A GOOD PART OF THE ECONOMY TO PUT SO MANY PEOPLE ON THESE DRUGS. I BELIEVE THE PHARM INDUSTRY IS VERY CALCULATED IN THIS MANNER.

Question what your doctors tell you.
See my other posts under matthewct1. I dealt with a situation where my 5 yr. old son was on the road to being diagnosed with ADHD which couldn't have been further from the truth. Singulair changed him. Since he's been off Singulair everyone (teachers, pediatrician, family, etc.) unanimously agree that he does not show the ADHD symptoms like he did on Singulair.

I am seeing a huge link between ADHD and this drug. My son has been off for about 3 weeks but we are still using the ADHD meds for now. I am going to wait until Summer so he does not experience any problems at school. He is definitely different and says he no longer wants to hurt himself. I am anxious to see what happens with the ADHD. Good Luck to all of you!

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

I've never written on a blog in my life, and now that I've just read this, my stomach is doing flip flops and my blood is runnung cold. I have an 11 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. They have both been on singulair for quite a few years. My son has been on ADHD meds now since about a year and a half after starting Singulair because we tried to avoid them. Every few weeks he tells me he has this empty feeling inside him that makes him really sad and he doesn't know what it is. It just feels empty. I'll usually read with him or play a game or walk our dog with him to help him feel better.
As for my daughter, she exhibits all of the symptoms I have read about. She talks about life being terrible( trust me, she has it pretty good), she has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, OCD and Tourette Syndrome. Every psychiatric medication we have tried has made her worse. She was always a confident, outgoing little girl, and then she just changed. She's had stomach aches, which the docs always thought were in her head. She gets headaches. She is extremely sensitive, won't let me even brush her hair or touch her. She has extreme mood swings and gets upset over the most miniscule things, then writes about them, even saying she realizes her anger was too much for what the situation was! I will stop Singulair immediately and see what happens. What a miracle it would be if all of their symptoms disappeared.

I am a mother of four children (21, 19, 15 and 15) who have varying degrees of asthma and allergy. All of them have some degree of ADHD as well. The oldest took Singulair from grades 7 to 12. It was great for his allergy, but he had a depression which was attributed to his ADHD.

The second is still taking Singulair. She is highly asthmatic and it has been beneficial for her. The severity of her asthma went down to the controllable range, and her migraines (suffered since second grade) significantly decreased (documented side effect).

The last two, identical twins, began taking Singulair four years ago when they developed asthma as they entered puberty. They became oppositional, defiant, prone to rages, and curiously not hustling hard enough at their sports. Prior to this, they were solid, dependable students, with moments of inspiration - and aggressive athletes, leaders at their sports. We always thought the problems were related to puberty and the ADHD. More and more ADHD meds were applied. No more weekends off the meds - because our house would be destroyed.

As 2008 began, my own allergies flared. When the doc offered Singulair, I looked forward to feeling better. Within 48 hours, I could breathe at night, and the tightness in my chest went away. Even my allergic dermatitis improved.

Then a weird thing happened. I got lazy. I heard myself saying things like, "I don't care if I'm fat." I stopped doing my evening chores. I stopped pursuing my hobbies. I almost stopped making dinner. I was wondering why I didn't care, but I didn't care enough to pursue that, either.

Then it got worse. I couldn't handle the least criticism. I was in tears over almost anything. Within a few days, I was trying to find a way to leave my family. I just didn't care about anything any more.

The water-cooler crowd at work was chatting about the news reports about Singulair and suicide. I started to wonder: gee, doesn't depression preceed suicide? Maybe this hopeless feeling I had was related to the Singulair.

So I stopped taking it. 48 hours later, I started to laugh at jokes again. Five days later, I cleaned my kitchen. Now it's been three weeks and I'm back at my hobbies and loving life.

Two weeks ago, I realized that the never-ending laziness and argumentation we've been getting from our twins might be related to Singulair. I checked with the ADHD doc, and their general doc, and got the go-ahead to discontinue the medicine (although not both of them at once). I did this without telling anyone: not the twins, not my husband, no one.

Forty-eight hours after the first kid had stopped taking the Singulair, I came home to a grinning, hugging, 15 year old, who sat me down at the kitchen table to explain the strategy he'd designed to study for his upcoming exams. I was speechless and numb. I didn't tell anyone that he was no longer taking the Singulair (he takes a variety of vitamins and ADHD meds every day). The next day, my husband called me excitedly: the kid was cooperating with him! He didn't know what to make of it. I kept him in the dark for a few more days.

The other twin had been on a lower dose (5mg rather than 10 mg). I stopped his medication as well. The change in him has been more gradual.

Neither of them takes ADHD medicine now on non-school days. They are happy and cooperative. We ask ONCE for chores. There are still a few arguments and stormy moods - but I no longer wonder what's going to get broken next. And they seem to love working as hard as possible at their sports.

The good news is, we all feel better. The bad news is -- how did this happen? How can it be that such an obvious side effect was missed?

It's not like the effect of montelukast on the brain is unexplored. Try searching on "montelukast brain ischemia" - there are many studies that show that montelukast (Singulair) dramatically reduces brain swelling. What does it do for an uninjured brain? Does it dehydrate it? Deprive it of nutrition? If I had to characterize the behavior I saw in my twins, it's this: they acted the way hypoglycemic patients do, when they're late for their next snack. REALLY GRUMPY.

Or do some research on migraines and Singulair. There's an effect there, too. Many asthma patients on Singulair report that their migraines improve.

So the drug clearly affects the brain, and Merck's position that Singulair doesn't cause suicidal ideation is almost irrelevant. The fact is, montelukast has a significant, often-studied effect in the brain. That effect is not fully understood.

In our house, the effect of montelukast on the brain has been significant. We have dragged two kids to many psychiatric evaluations. We've spent hours and hours with teachers and principals and counselors, trying to understand why they just won't get their work done. We've used every performance-management trick in the books to get them to work - without much benefit. The kids have swallowed an awful lot of stimulant medication because it was the only thing that controlled their rages. Who knows what their teachers think of them - are they forever branded as the lazy kids? And we are lucky. From this forum, I've learned that it could have been a lot worse.

My son is 10 ½, and had been on Singulair for almost 6years to treat his well controlled asthma and allergies. We have had behavior problems with him for years, but it seems to have gotten worse this school year, when his grades (he is in the gifted program at school) went down the tubes. Our family has been to counseling, where it was suggested we put him on ADHD meds. We resisted, but things had reached the point that I was ready to give the NEW meds a try. ARGH!!!!! Then my sister sent me a link for a story about the teenage boy who committed suicide. This was several weeks before the Singulair/suicide stories were in the news. I did some research, and I started reading these posts. It was like I was reading descriptions of my son!! I talked to several pharmacists and none of them knew of any behavior problems attributed to taking Singulair. Talked to his pediatric pulmonary doc, he knew of no connection, but said to try taking him off. He thought the allergy/asthma would be OK since he also uses an inhaled steroid every day. Well........... I thought I could see a difference in 4 or 5 days, my husband thought I was wishful thinking! But, since then everyone in his life agrees, he is a different kid! No moodiness, no unexplained anger, more on task, sleeping better. I could go on and on. There is no doubt in my mind, the differences started when he stopped taking the Singulair.

Hi guys,
I came to this forum after a client at our firm told me to check out whats happening with singular. I am not a lawyer, but I am a secretary for a med mal firm and I can tell you that we have already started taking these cases. I saw a few questions posted about whether you had to wait 9 months for the investigation to finish, but that doesn't stop you from filing suit. If it were my baby boy, I would switch meds, but if you can't--make sure you journal EVERYTHING. Take videos of outbursts, etc. We have one client who's son is self mutilating after using singular. If thats happening to you, try to document the episodes. Like I said, im not a lawyer, but I work for some so I can answer a lot of questions and I would be more than willing to help. I am so disgusted by what I have read. Please email me if you have any legal questions, etc. If i can't answer them, my boss will and if its a medical question, we have a staff nurse so I will give her a call. Again, I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. I pray to god I can help in some way.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories! My son is 9 and has been taking Singulair for almost 7 years. These symptoms that have been posted are so true in my son. He was diagnosed with ADHD at 5, has had a temper/attitude problem and has been sleep walking and having night terrors severely recently. I can't believe some of the things that I have read here. My daughter is 5 and she has been on Singulair for almost 2 years. I have never heard of these side effects until the other day at pre-school a teacher told me that she heard a story about how Singulair can cause suicidal thoughts. This really got me concerned. I have told my husband not to allow either child to take it again, so we could see if this is the main cause with all my sons’ issues recently. Again, thank you all for sharing and I hope the children involved have no long-term effects from this medicine! Melissa in Ohio

Previously posted 8 year old son w/ suicidal ideation and depression...I'm seeing comments about "inattentive." I've been saying my son is ADD for years....How many of you saw this possible side effect? Off of Singulair for 14 days now....behavior unbelievably improved.

I have posted in the past about my 9 yr old dd who was taking singulair for 3 yrs. Upon finding all this information about singulair and way before it hit the news .My dd was being tested for many different problems nuerologically wise. Trying to rule out depression,bipolar and ADHD. She had an eeg and labs done a few days after stopping singulair. And just today we went in for results and nuerologist says labs are normal but eeg was not . Meaning that she could possibly be having seizures. BUT NOW I AM WONDERING IF IT WAS SINGULAIR CAUSING THIS? I read somewhere that seizures can go unnoticed if they are very mild. But she did having trouble sleeping and concentrating. And at times even just stared off into space after we spoke to her repeatedly. My question is has anyone had any similar experiences with singulair ? Please respond.

My son and daughter are both on singular. My son is extremely emotional and prone to "anger fits". He is ADHD and was diagnosed before starting the singular. In December we put him on Lexapro at the age of 8 bc he stated to his class and his brother "What do you want me to do? Just Kill myself?" He has been off the singular for 3 days now and I already have my son back. My daughter was in the hospital last week with a severe ashtma attack and the doctor does not want to take her off the medicine until May, she is not our happy girl while she is on this medicine. I am torn on not following the drs orders.

Hi All! So glad to read of all the "happiness" since off of singulair. My 2 sons and I are off for a week now and what a difference. My 6 year old is back to his old self. He is much happier and is laughing a lot and not throwing angry tantrums. My 8 year old feels much better as well. He is much calmer and has had only one outburst in a week compared to daily. I can't wait to see if he can come off of ADHD meds too. I feel much more laid back. I thought my mood swings were hormonal but since I have had a hysterectomy, I thought they should subside. My estrogen level seems good but I just thought I was being female! I can tell a difference now and I feel better. I am getting along with just my asmanex for now. I wonder if the singulair really even helped me at all. I had a little tightness the first few days but now I feel just like I did on the singulair. To me this med is just not worth the risk. We have no family history of ADHD or depression so I wondered why my boys had the thoughts and symptoms they did. Singulair was the only drug my youngest was on so I know his symptoms came from that. Good luck to everyone and thanks for the posts!

My story is very sadly similiar to enough's story

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

My grandson was put on singulair when he was 2 years old due to severe asthma. He fell out a 2 story window at 2 years old. His behavior became more and more aggressive as time went on. At 3 years old, he rode his bike toward a car and said he wanted to know what it feels like to be dead. At 4 years old he tried to plug a broken cord into an out let to see if he could get electricuted and die. He has obviously been to counceling and diagnosed with ADHD and on more medication for that.
Let me add that his father was shot and killed, and his mother was incarcerated twice for over a year each time. He has lived with me since he was 8 months old. He has been through a lot in his young age, so most of it has the potential to be explained away by this.
However, if there is any chance that singulair has caused or increased any of his problems, you can bet I will take him off it to see if there is any improvement.
I'm a nurse, so I know that there are side effects with all medications, and that some people encounter the side effects and others don't. I don't think that singulair is a bad choice for everyone, in fact, it has been proven to be very effective, and as long as there are no noted side effects, or possible side effects. why would you worry. If there are questionable side effects-you certainly can't ignore them! The only true way to find out if your childs problems are due to singulair is to try to take it away-maybe only temporarily.
My instinct tells me to pull it-if there is no change in behavior with him off the medication, I'll consider putting him back on it if necessary for his asthma.

DO NOT LET YOUR DOCTORS AND PEDIATRICIANS LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE THAT SINGULAIR IS NOT THE CAUSE OF THESE BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES. IF THEY DON'T LISTEN TO YOU, FIRE THEM!!!!!!!!!

I am contacting the Attorny General's office for the State of Connecticut this evening and have communicated directly with the leading professor at the University of Florida - School of Pharmacology and Pediatrics. His exact quotation to me was "The efficacy of Singulair is modest. If we took all of our patients off it right now they would not suffer"

Spread the word to ALL people you talk to on the street, at work, and wherever you may go. While this drug may work for some it is BAD for MANY!!!! Too many people are being misdiagnosed because of the side effects of Singulair.

My son is 10 yrs old and has been taking Singulair for over 4 years. My husband and I have seriously been talking about taking our son to counseling and have been feeling helpless on how to help him with his feelings. He gets good grades but over the last few months he has been so emotional and cries very easily. We could tell he was extremely sad at times and would have very high highs. and low lows. He would get angry quickly and also complain of stomach pain. My husband and I did ask ourselves if maybe he could harm himself. Although he never mentioned anything about hurting himself, he did say he was afraid to go sleep at night and thought about death. We have started going back to church and thought he was worried about what happens after you die ie, eternal life. Last month I asked my husband to check out one of his Asthma medicines (Advair) for side effects because I had a feeling that this could be from a medication. It never occurred to me that it would be Singulair. My mother called me this morning and read an article to me. She had noticed his "sadness" when she came to visit. So here I am reading all of these similar articles from families going through the same things!!!! I am in shock and in tears!!!! We have a doctors apt in two days and will not be taking this pill again. PLEASE LET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNOW ABOUT THIS! Many children will be diagnosed with add and given other medicine. My heart aches for what he has been going through! I am soooo glad I received that call about the article. My prays will be with you all.

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.

Oh my god!!!! My poor daughter. My daughter Karilynn has been taking this drug for about 8 months now. She is 2 1/2 years old now. All of the sudden she had a drastic change in behavior, sleep and eating patterns. She began with sleep problems. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming that the green monsters were after her. I chocked it up to night terrors that weren't explained. Then she started waking up screaming that her "bottom" hurt but would point to her stomach. She quit eating, cried all the time, started acting out randomly. My little girl who had never had discipline problems started randomly hitting and biting me. It wasn't even when I would discipline her for something. She would literally come up and bite me out of no where. She throws huge tantrums now. The daycare lady even asked me if something was going on at home because she was doing strange things there also. Not knowing what was wrong (but trusting my mother instinct that there was SOMETHING wrong) I started to think that maybe she was being abused. The night mares, the random pain.... I even had a breif moment where I thought my grandmother was hurting her. I want to throw up thinking about that now. I took her to the pediatrician, who ran every test imaginable to "rule out any physical reason" that could be causing all of these symptoms at once. Test after test came back negative. I actually have the number to the psychologist that does "play therapy" sitting in front of me because we were seriously terrified that someone was hurting her. Little did I know it was us!!!! I called tha asthma dr. yesterday after seeing the news story and he told me that my concerns weren't really valid and that it sounded like she was being a "typical" two year old. That really made me angry. After reading all of these accounts there is very little doubt in my mind that it is the medicine. It all makes sense now. Halleluah if it is such a simple fix!!! I was worried my daughter was being ABUSED!!!! What an unimaginable feeling for any parent!! I quit the singulair last night against the asthma doctors "urging" and gave the daycare lady a heads up. Its sad to say but I pray this is all that is wrong with my little girl!!! If someone files a class action suit please let me know. Also if there is anything more I can do to make sure someone else doesn't go through this let me know!!!!!

My son is 11 yrs old. I can not believe what I am reading. My son has been taking Singular for about 3 yrs for asthma and allergies. My son was always
happy and the most confident child I know, he did great in school. All of a sudden about 2 years ago everything has changed. He is always moody,
upset, has fits and argues about everything no matter where. My husband and I could not understand it, he was never like this. His grades have gone
down dramatically. One teacher told us she taught he had hearing problems
and that I should have him tested. We did last year and they said he had no
problem and that he needed his adenoids taken out that were swollen and compressing his ear drums so we had them taken out. I do not see a difference we still believe he has problems hearing at times we have even
kind of test him at home at times and he can not hear well, he has even
been talking very loud as if he had a hearing problem. His academics still
continue to drop. We taught this is just a phase he is going through.
Recently at school the teacher told me he might have ADHD and that maybe
I should put him on Medication. I refused !! You see I have a 16 yr old
that has ADHD and had all the symptoms from an early age. But my other
son never showed the signs he was alway attentive and did well in school.
He has been complaining of headaches and stomach aches we had him checked out and nothing we taught maybe he does not want to go to school
or wants attention. He is also depressed at times. My question is will this
go away when he stops taking this medicine. I have not given it to him since
3/21/08 that my sister in law told me about the news. I have an appointment
with his doctor next week. I feel so horrible for not even considering that this
medication might be the problem.

I have been posting here since 2005 (under lmholmes back then) and with this recent surge in media reports about singulair I came back to see what's being said more recently and I am getting angrier and angrier with every post I read. How could this have gone on this long? How could children have DIED because of the mental side effects of this drug that HAVE BEEN REPORTED FOR YEARS AND YEARS? Kate's son and other children who committed suicide might still be alive if someone had listened to us all years ago. When will they hear us? And further, how long will it take for someone to figure out what the long term effects of this drug are. What about all the kids who have been WRONGLY diagnosed with mental illness and are on drugs for that or for ADHD? What do those parents do now? These kids have been pumped full of chemicals they didn't even need. How do we hold these jackasses accountable? I have written to the FDA, to my congresspeople, to whomever I could find who might listen and still nobody is listening. And still kids all over the country are sick because of this stupid pill and their parents don't know it because just about every symptom--yes, even suicide--can be explained away in another way. How can anyone reading all of these posts deny that there is a pattern here? How do we spread the word?

I'm disgusted. I vowed long ago (over three years now since my son's life was turned upside down by Singulair) not to put my kids on any medication again that didn't have a long, well-documented history, but everyone with a child on this drug needs to know about these symptoms so they can decide whether or not to keep their kids on it.

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

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 son is 10 years old and has severe allergies and asthma. He was hospitalized when he was 5 for asthma and at that time put on Flovent 110 mg twice in the morning and twice at night for awhile this seemed to work around the age of 7 he was put on Singular 5 mg to help with asthma and also his allergies. After a short period of time he began to complain of stomach pain he would get nauseated and sick with a 10 minute car ride, we took him in to the pediatrician and was told that there was no obvious cause and to basically deal with it. Around this same time he also began to have trouble in school he was not able to pay attention and was falling far behind we tried tutoring, extended day classes anything to keep him up with his other classmates. Needless to say all our efforts did not work and he got worse he was now moody and withdrawn. We thought it was his frustration with school that made him short tempered and emotional. At every parent-teacher conference it was the same report; being told how bright our child could be but his lack of focus and emotional state prevented this. My husband and I decided that we needed to be proactive and made an appointment with the pediatrician again we discussed all the issues and told the pediatrician that his mood has changed and he could not focus that homework was a battle each night usually resulting in a major meltdown. The pediatrician diagnosed my son with ADHD with ODD. Never would I have thought that my child with have behavioral or anger problems and I had a hard time coping with the idea at first but tried to make it okay for my son I did not want to make him feel like he did something wrong or that he was broken. The pediatrician prescribed Adderrall 5 mg at first and after three months we revisited and the dose was adjusted to 10 mg. School made a dramatic turn around and we were hopeful, however his mood was still all over the place he would get angry over small things, have a meltdown, and at some points would just wake up in a fowl mood and when asked what was wrong he could not explain it he just was not happy with anything. In the background of all of this was his asthma he was hospitalized again in when he was 8 after being discharged he was put on Zyrtec as well. So now his meds were Flovent 110 mg, Singular 5 mg, and now Zyrtec 10 mg. It was all overwhelming for all of us but we were trying to make it okay for him. He began to complain of restless nights, headaches and would get dizzy for no reason. Here we go again back to the doctor they attributed everything to the Adderrall. He passed out one day at daycare and we rushed him to the ER they did an EKG and found nothing and told us he was probably dehydrated. He constantly had a fowl smell coming from his mouth we asked his dentist they found nothing no cavities we asked the pediatrician no reason; no matter what we tried we could not get ride of it and he brushed, flossed and rinsed with mouthwash everyday three times a day. I was not making any connection on the side effects I guess you could say the left hand was not talking to the right. After we had wildfires that burned almost the entire city he had another asthma attack that lead us to the ER again after being treated we were assigned to a pediatric pulmonologist that added Nasonex to the regiment. Then in January we had him tested to learn what exactly his allergies were and was advised they wanted him to come in for allergy shots one in each arm once a week. In March 2008 we went in for his first set of allergy shots and right after had an appointment with his pulmonaligist he had a bad reaction to the shots and they changed his meds again. Now he is on Advair 250/50, Singular 5 mg, Zyrtec 10 mg, Nasonex, and Adderrall 10 mg. We decided to hold off on the allergy shots until he can better tolerate it. This entire time there has been little improvement on his attitude and he is withdrawn and seems disconnected now. When we try to talk to him he simply says he doesn't know what is wrong. It is all a roller coaster ride. Then on March 26, 2008 it all changed for me, I had put the kids in bed as normal and about an hours later heard someone up and in the bathroom I went to go check to make sure no one was sick and found my son in the bathroom and it appeared he was washing his hands and I asked if he was okay. He told me he was washing a cut, I looked at it and asked what happened he was hesitant and then pointed to his arms; he had bitten up and down both arms and on his hands to the point of bleeding I was shocked and did not really know what to say. We talked about it and he told me he could not control himself and even when he wanted to stop biting himself because it hurt could not resist the urge to to it over and over again. We talked calmly and after a long conversation he told me he needed to talk to someone about his problems. The next morning I called the pediatrician he said he could see him on March 30, 2008. On March 29th I heard about the side effects of Singular and was so shocked and angry how come no one told me what this could do to my baby; I wondered if he had never started this stupid drug if he would have been put on Adderrall. I would not let him take Singular that night or any night after. I will never let my son take this drug ever again. The following day I took him in for his appointment and after discussing everything the pediatrician agreed that it is best to leave him off Singular. I am taking my son to see a child physiologist as well. I am so upset that I did not make the connection myself.