Singulair and legs

My daughter is 5 years old and has been on Singulair for about 2 years now. I was at a loss concerning her behavior for the past 2 years. The anger, aggression, tics in her eyes and legs feeling tingling, unable to express herself, and truly not liking herself and thinking we don't like or love her. All this brought us to take her to therapy. And then all this information regarding side effects of Singulair come out. I brought this to her allergist and he like many others brushed it off. I think it is time the medical community looks very close at this drug concerning side effects with children. How many more parents have to come forward with all the same side effects for these educated doctors to realize there is a hugh psychological and neurological connection with this drug for some children. It has been two days now that my daughter stopped Singulair. Her nose is already starting to drip and her cough is back, but I would much rather deal with these side effects of allergies than watching her go though this mental anguish any longer. I have not seen any changes yet, but it had only been two days.

I aged ten years in a month. My legs lost any muscular power and I needed help to get up our 3 steps to the front door. My eyes are sore and my balance is also affected. What I do not know is how long am I going to be affected like this. I began to think that I was starting with either motor
neurone disease or Parkinson's disease.
Muscle weakness, loss of balance, bad dreams,anxiety, irritability.joint pain.sore itchy eyes and difficulty focusing on printed pages.
A., Yorkshire, England.I am 69 years old and prior to Singulaire I was pretty fit for my age.

I have been on Singulair for about one month and am experiencing extremely painful cramps/charlie horses in my legs. I am taking Singulair for adult onset asthma. Have a horrid cough, been told over the past 20 years, yes, 20 years, it is caused by allergies but no medication stops the coughing. Then they figured it had to be caused by acid reflux. So prilosec is prescribed. Still have the cough. Now this specialist deems it to be adult onset asthma. The Singulair does not stop the coughing - so what is next? Major leg cramps/charlie horses.

My Daughter is almost 11 and has been on Singulair since the age of 3. She has some very serious signs of anxiety. I was never told of any of the possibilities of these kinds of side effects. As a matter of fact the doctor never discussed any side effects. I only know what I read on the prescription information almost 8 years ago. I am horrified to find out about this information. She has also been complaining for a very long time of spasms and pains in her legs which I have brought up to her doctor and he claims they are and have been growing pains. She came home from school the other day and was devastated over some bullying that had occurred toward her that day. I was heartbroken to listen to this from her knowing I cant be at school to protect her from this unnecessary garbage and at the same time was waiting for the 11 o'clock news on the singulair information. Now reading all of this, I am sincerely concerned about what is really going on in her mind after I watched her get up the next morning on her own at 5:30 a.m., ready by 6:00 in a full blown anxiety attack about going to school, and dreading going period. I will be speaking to her doctor immediately and I will be removing her from this prescription to see if there is a difference.

Along with uncharacteristic depression from using singulair for only a few months- I experienced ( and still now, after 1 week prior to ending my daily dosage) terrible lower calf cramps I have never experienced before. Not only do I get quick searing pains in my legs at night, but my calf muscles are very sore whenever participating in brisk physically activity. I hope these side effects will terminate shortly- because for an athletic thirteen year old high school freshman, depression, lack of energy and physical pains are not making the beginning of young adulthood a very enjoyable experience

My 9 1/2 yr old son started Singulair in July 2004 when he was 5 yrs old.Looking back now we realize that he started showing signs immediately. We only gave him Singulair in the fall when he had the most trouble with his asthma. His asthma was under control immediately but was not worth the damage that was done. He complained of pains in his legs that I just thought was growing pains. He would sometimes run a fever with no other symptoms of being sick and then the fever would go away. He would also feel like he always had to go to the bathroom, especially after he went to bed. I gave him Singulair at 7pm before he went to bed. The biggest change we noticed in him was the signs of attention deficit. We first noticed that he kept getting out of his seat at dinner time. No matter how many times we told him to sit down he would sit down and then a little while later he would get right back up. We realized after a while that he wasn't doing it to be defient he just couldn't help himself. I asked his Kindergarten teacher if he had trouble sitting in his seat or with attention but she didn't think he was any worse than any of the other Kindergarten kids. In 1st grade, at the beginning of the year, his teacher said he had trouble keeping his attention but then by January she said he was a different kid. We usually stopped giving him Singulair in December. The same thing happened with his 2nd grade teacher. I question his allergist in the fall of 2nd grade but his allergist said Singulair wasn't the cause for his ADHD symptoms. When his 3rd grade teacher contacted us in Oct 07 with the same complaints I realized that it must be the Singulair. I looked online for Singulair side effects and came across this website. I couldn't believe it. I was so disappointed in myself for not doing it sooner but we took him off Singulair immediately. I called his allergist the next morning and questioned him for a second time and he told me that sometimes parents of kids with ADHD just look for something to blame for their childs behavior. I couldn't believe he said it to me. We made an appointment at Children's Hospital Boston to have him evaluated for ADHD just in case but couldn't get an appointment until Feb 08. When we had him evaluated he had been off Singulair for over 3 months. The neurologist said he did not have ADHD. When I asked him if he thought Singulair could have been to blame for the symptoms he was showing and he said there was "compelling evidence" that showed Singulair does cause ADHD symptoms in some children. We were happy that he did not have ADHD but were so sad that we gave him this medicine for 3 years without realizing what damage it was doing. My biggest fear now is that there may be long term damage. All his symptoms have gone away but sometimes he still seems a little out of it and I don't know if it is just his age or his personality or if it might still be some long term effect from the Singulair. He is such a sweet, loving, caring boy and I hope that I didn't do any long term damage by giving his this horrible medicine. I hope that something will be done soon to get this medicine off the market. My prayers go out to all the families who lost children on this medicine. I can't even imagine the pain you are feeling but I thank you for getting your story out and saving other children! I am thankful that I was able to get informed by this website because God knows my allergist wasn't looking out for my son! His asthma has been under control since being off Singulair and just seems like a happier child over all!
Thank you!

I'm starting my first day today taking my son of Sinculair after reading all the post. I'm here because I was searching for answers as to why my son's legs were hurting all the time. He is on several medications and Sinculair being on of them.. Also in the past year he has been put on antidepressants, and now maybe I'm wondering if it's necessary at all that maybe it's been the Sinculair.
My son is 10 yrs. old and been using Sinculair for 3 yrs. I'll post back in about a week if I notice any changes.

MY 4 YR OLD SON HAS BEEN ON SINGULAIR NOW FOR ABOUT A YEAR, THE PAST FEW MOS HE HAS BEEN WAKING AT NIGHT SCREAMING IN PAINS SAYING HIS LEGS HURT. HIS BEHAVIOR HAS ALSO CHANGED, HE HAS TANTRUMS AND VERY MAD. I AM THINKING OF TAKING HIM OFF THE MED. IF ANYONE HAS SIMILAR ISSUES PLEASE EMAIL ME!!

THANK YOU

JODI!

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I had massive hives covering my legs every single night at about 10pm all last summer while I was taking Singulair. I was bathing in anti itch lotions in the middle of the night. I'm just now realizing that it stopped when I stopped Singulair.

I am 16 and have been on Singular since July 9th of this year and the only side effects that has been affecting me that I really notice is the ear infections and headaches. my mom and I think that I might have one right now but have not gotten the chance to make a doctors appointment. The other side effects that I read about while googling it were a sore throat and upper respiratory infections which are both things that I have been fighting since March, which is what lead to me being diagnosed with asthma. In response to the person that was talking about asthmex, I also got put on that the same day and the only side effect that I had from that is a higher blood pressure that usual but it was still in the normal range, caused by the steroid in it.

My 6 year old was prescribed singular for allergy relief. After 1 night of taking it he woke up with leg pain. Not too severe, just sore so I thought they were just growing pains. After the 2nd night of the medicine he woke up and his legs hurt so badly that he has a very difficult time walking. We took him off the medice. After the 3rd night with no medication he woke up with a little leg pain, but not anything like the previous day. After the 4th night he was fine and has been fine every since. It had to be the singular. My pediatrician did not have any other children that had had this type of reaction, but said that we should not give it to him again. He said that we should listen to our bodies, and if we don't feel right after medication then we should stop taking it. It was scary for my little boy

I have posted several times. My 16 year old daughter took singulair for 4.5 years starting 11-17-03 and ending 3-28-08. She was the dancer,cheerleader who starting cutting her legs with razors and completely changed. Lost friends, depressed, withdrawn,anxiey attacks,headaches,stomach aches on and on and on..... I took her to a Psychiatrist who gave her Fluoxetine which did not help. She is doing much better now that she is off Singulair but will never be the same. She found a lump in the back of her neck and a lump in the groin area. I remember Concerned citizen mentioning Lymphoma(cancer) discovered in some of the Singulair Children because of the reduced immune system connection. I have also found some info on this on line. We are going to the Doctor Thursday and I will have tests run. Concerned citizen are you still out there? Have you found out anything else? Sue

I have a 4 year old whom was diagnosed with Asthma over this winter. She has always had coughing at night and Asthma treatment seemed to really work. We wanted to take her off the breathing treatments to build her system back up so she was given two months of Singulair. It seemed to work great. Asthma symptoms seemed to be controlled without puffers and nebulizers. However the last week which would be the 6th week on singulair she suddenly had severe separation anxiety. Even at Vacation Bible School which she loved and knew her teachers she had what I would call an anxiety attack which was completely not her normal disposition. I didn't put it together though until last night. She woke up and got in bed with me. After barely falling asleep about 3am she woke up screaming that there were bugs everywhere. She "saw" them and "heard" them and began slapping at her legs arms and face. At first I thought it was just a nightmare that I couldn't get her to wake up from. I put her in the shower and she still screamed. This went on through the rest of the night. She finally calmed down a little after an hour of histarics but still said she saw bugs. The more I thought about it I thought it may be the singulair and as soon as I searched for it I found this site. Needless to say she will not be taking this drug again. We will try to find some other way to treat her asthma. Thanks for all the insight.

I am not a 100% sure the experience I had was due to Singulair but it appears to be. Singulair was prescribed to me for "walking pnemonia". After a couple of days on the medications I was taking, I started experiencing pain in my knees and muscles in my lower legs. My left leg was worse than my right. After 3 days, I could barely walk and the pain was severe. I forgot to take my medicine one day and the next day my knees were much better and had less pain. I just thought I was getting better but the next day when I started the medicine again, the pain came back. I remembered when my son was on Accutane he had similar knee and leg pain because of the dryness caused by Accutane. So I kept taking the antibiotic I was on and stopped the Singulair. The next day I felt much better. On the second day I hardly had any pain at all. I was curious if anyone else had this type of side effect. Most of the postings I have seen have dealt more with depression in teenagers. I am 55.

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

These posts about contacting a bad viral infection while the immune system is suppressed by Singulair are particularly worrisome. This was from 2007 so it has nothing to do with the FDA investigation. Epstein Barr causes some really bad illnesses including lymphoma.

The scary part is that children are the most susceptible to viruses. They need to develop immunity at a young age that will build up over time to levels that will protect them for the rest of their lives. Why are we giving children a drug that will suppress the leukotrienes? Why do we think that it is okay to take away one of the bodies defense mechanisms? Wouldn't it be logical that a drug that suppresses the immune system is a last resort option not handed out like lollipops?

www.iddb.org/drugs/singulair/ - 243k
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Anonymous Immune System Dysfunction September 13th, 2007

Do users of Singulair and Advair understand how these products work? In order to understand how they work, you must first know what happens in the body during an allergic attack.

Allergic response is a function of the body's immune system. When an allergen enters the body through the nose or the lungs (e.g., a bit of pollen or cat dander), it is recognized by the body as a foreign substance, and the immune system then produces histamines to fight the intruder. Singulair and Advair work by disabling the body's immune system, so that there is no allergic response.

I too thought these drugs were wonderful. I was on both Singulair and Advair to combat asthma from my new husband's cat. I took high strengths of these drugs for approximately three years.

During the time I was on these drugs, some disease entity, most likely a virus (e.g., Epstein-Barr, Herpes Simplex I, HTLV I). I have been sick with a fever for the last four and a half years. My immune system seems to have been permanently impaired, and every organ in my body is now compromised. I have a fever, night sweats, liver and spleen enlargement, digestive problems, skin infections, hypertension, rapid-onset insulin-dependent diabetes and other endocrino;ogical problems, blood cell abnormalities, and neurological problems (e.g., tremors, myoclonic seizures, muscle cramps and weakness, vertigo, incoordination).

I am about to undergo a spinal tap and other tests, looking for the causative entity. Whatever it is entered my nervous system when I had an epidural anesthetic while on these immune system depressants. I have not been the same since. I have been too sick to work. This has ruined my life.

As we have all learned from recent reports of heart damage from Vioxx, the FDA no longer has the money to fully test new drugs entering the market. The "clinical trials" are a drug's entry into the population. If it kills or sickens too many people, they withdraw it. However, the drug companies define "too many people" as a number that could potentially ruin profits through lawsuits.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't rely on the government to protect you. Before putting any drug into your body, do the research into how it works. Read comments from other users. I wish I had done that.

I am a 57 year old man, who has been suffering from asthma several years. This spring my doctor put me on Singulair as an additional medicine to my cortisone-inhalator. after one month I feel symptoms of depression an mood-changing, severe ups and downs.
AND - as an additional symptom i have partially lost my feeling in some fingertips, and now parts of my left thumb and even a feeling of "cold2, mostly in my left hand.
anyone who share that symptom?
M.

My 13 yr old daughter was put on Singulair along with Asmanex and Clarinex for her asthma about 6 weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going very well at first and her symptoms were starting to get controlled. I started noticing after about 3 to 4 weeks that her temper and attitude were getting much worse. Anyone with children this age knows what I mean but this was like a 180 degree turn for her. Her actions were becoming totally out of character. Before I knew it she would cry and get highly upset over the least little thing. Week 5 came around and things totally bottomed out. She came home from school and WAS NOT HERSELF. Made comments about how she hated her life and it was not worth living. Later that evening we had a big argument because I was telling her nothing was worth saying that. She went totally out of control and I had to physically restrain her to calm her down. It appeared everything was better so she went to her room. I went down to check on her and she calmly told me that she had taken advil and tylenol pm and things would be better for her forever now. We went to the ER where they made us wait for at least an hour, then finally took her back. She had to drink two cups of charcoal and was poked and prodded repeatedly. They did a catheter to get a urine sample. She was very cooperative but also was in a complete daze so who knows. The poor child couldn't even lift her head up when she started the vomiting to get rid of the drugs. It was very upsetting and sad. Her heart rate and blood pressure went very low and I really thought in the back of my mind that this was it. Finally, after several hours she started coming out of it and they sent us home. The next evening when she was starting to really come around she proceeded to tell me how she had been seeing a man walking around in her bedroom at night and she was afraid to go down there. Breaking down and crying telling me about all of the horrible nightmares she had been having recently and didn't know why. I thought what am I dealing with here? This just isn't her. Three days ago I heard about singulair in the news and looked it up on the internet. OH MY GOD THIS SOUNDED LIKE US!!!!! I immediately had her stop taking it and the next day phoned her asthma specialist who agreed she should stop now. We are going to watch her for two weeks and see if any symptoms return and then decide if she needs something else or will be fine on just the Asmanex. As a side note, she also mentioned being unable to concentrate in school (unable to do even the simplest math problems) and that her brain felt confused or like something was missing. She said this had been bothering her for several weeks. I know it was this drug. They really need to take this off the market NOW and stop flirting with disaster. The only reason I posted this was to let others know they are not alone.

Hi, I am a mother of 6. They are 11,9,7,4,and twins 2 1/2. So nothing surprises me as far as kids. I have been through it all. My 7 year old had been taking singulair for allergies and ear pain, for over a year. Did my doctor once ask me about any of the side effect, NO!! This is not ok. My son suffered, decrease appetite, weakness, fatigue, mood swings, irritability, fears of being alone, scary dreams, anger, bone and joint pains. Before he was a loving kid (who had his moments)!!! I had no idea the singulair was causing all these destructive side effects. I just thought this is a phase he is going through, he will soon get over it. Finally I took him to his ped. and we did blood work and x rays. I told her something was wrong with him, he has not been himself over the past 6-8 months. This is one reason why I never suspected his singulair, it did not show up immediately. All of his test came back fine. I just happened to look at the side effects of this medicine. I almost died!!! Every single thing that this poor child has suffered from was on this list. Then more, I found this page and other mothers have had the same experience. I was just amazed that this has happened to so many. I was relieved that my son was normal. He has been off singulair for 6 days now (he doesn't know why I took him off it) . But you would not believe the change. It is AMAZING!!! In only 3 days, I started to see change in his anger. You would not ever in a life time believe that a medication can do this. I have been poisoning my son for a year. I think that Merck should take some of that 4.3 BILLION dollars and do some better research!!!! Concerned citizen you are right on. I have read many pages of this forum and I think you are doing a good job researching this. Maybe Merck should hire you as one of there "experienced personal". It just makes me seriously sick to see that the medical field is not seeing this problem!!!

My daughter, a happy, stable 13 year old had been taking Singulair for many years for her allergies. Last summer she suffered deep depression with symptoms including self-mutilation ans suicidal ideation. She had to be hospitalized and is now on anti-depressants and in outpatient treatment. I stopped her Singulair as soon as I read the stories at the end of March.

Hi, I have written on this forum before. Our son (6) was on Singulair for over 3 years for Asthma. Over those years, his whole personality changed; it happened so slowly, however, that we assumed that those changes were "phases". We stopped Singulair 16 days ago, and we have seen big changes in our son. Thus, I want to summarize our side effects by describing the changes in my son:
Suddenly no more fears (nightly waking up scared to death, and fear of being alone in any room in the house during the day), sleeping through the night, less agitated and less aggressive, better listening skills (again!) and more interest in learning (this was a child that once loved science and did math at age 3. He lost interest in anything that had to do with learning). He draws happy faces again. He is also less nervous. He lets us hug him again, and tells us how much he loves us.
Some days are better, some days are worse. There are times he still tells me that he wants to "throw himself in the trash" and other negative things about himself and his life. We also still see obsessive compulsive behavior (a tic where he touches his head and then his legs from his feet up, driving me crazy), but it is slowly getting less severe. But overall the changes are very clear.
As for the Asthma: we still use Flovent once a day: so far we had no setbacks. Our doctor noted the side effects, but was rather surprised about them. Obviously, I will NOT EVER give my children Singulair again, no matter what the doctor will tell us.

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.

My 13 year old son has been on Singulair for about 4 years. I considered it a wonder drug because he would always get sick from his asthma. For the past couple of years my son has been very inattentive. I blew it off as the preteen hormones. It wasn't until recently his dad made a comment about him never smiling or enjoying things they use to do together. If you saw any of his recent photos compared to his past pics, he appear dazed and depressed. I would always ask he's okay, any new changes in school. OMG! I can't believe they are marketing this medicine to our children.

He always complained of stomach upsets, really bad headaches every week, pain in his legs and hallucinations. I know this sounds crazy, but I would have never considered it may be the medicine, but after reading the blogs, I'm starting to realize it could be contributed to Singulair. It's been two days since I've taken him off Singulair and I can only hope and pray his asthma does not flair up like it has in the past. I also pray that Merck is reading these blogs and will take Singulair off the market until a more detailed research is conducted. I at one time looked at Singulair as being the greater good for my son's asthma, but it's not worth risking my son's mental health. I wonder if Merck would give this medicine to there children?

After one week of being on Singulair, I lost the use of my feet and legs (Vasculitis. foot drop and parathesis) The doctors in hospitl said I developed a rare disorder called Churg Strauss Syndrome. It has devastated my life.

I have read what everyone has said about the side of effects of Singulair. I really thought it was safe as for I researched the side effects and the clinical pharmacology. I also really trust our pulmonologist. My daughter started taking singulair at the age of 3 due to asthma induced pneumonia. She will soon be 4. She also has had terrible nightmares, which I dismissed as night terrors. She also complains at times it hurts to walk and her legs are tired. I thought she was over reacting and just wanted me to carry her....maybe not! I have decided to take her off the medicine today. I don't want to take the chance of her having any type of emotional side effects. It is not worth it for "mild" asthma which hasn't been confirmed, just assumed due to her age.

My now 16 yr old started taking Singulair 11-17-2003. Within months she started changing. Grades dropped, started dressing in dark clothes, withdrew from most friends and family, tremors of hands and feet, anxiety attacks, and worst of all started cutting her legs with razors. I took her to our mental health clinic for counseling and they put her on depression medication. All these things are documented. I stopped the Singulair 3-27-08. Will my child return from this nightmare. Please help!

I had been on singular for 10 months and have gained 40 lbs. and retention of water in my calves and ankles. I spoke to my doctor but that fell on deaf ears. He told me that they are not side effects of singular. My eating habits are the same, if anything I have never eat better due to the weight. I had been thin all my life - maybe too skinny. I am 49 years old. Also, due to the weight and water retention I have started a health club with no weight loss. I went off the singular 3 weeks ago, my calves are back to normal, but still have the 40 lbs. Anyone have any advised. MK

I have been crying for almost 24 hours now. I cannot believe what I am reading and hearing about Singulair. My son has been to hell and back again and again. I cannot say for sure the Singulair is the culprit. But after reading all of the other stories on this website, I am convinced it is a strong possibility.

My son is 11 years old. He has severe allergies and asthma. He takes many, many medications for this including Singulair. He as been on Singulair for about 8 years now (my best guess because he has been on it for sooooo long.)

My son was diagnosed with ADHD in pre-school. He has taken many medications for the ADHD, but none have ever done any good at all. We thought some of the medications even made things worse. Now, I'm not so sure.

After exhausting all the ADHD medications, our pediatrician sent my son to a psychiatrist and a counselor. The psychiatrist put him on 2 different antipsychotic medications. Again, neither one did any good and seemed to make matters worse. The psychiatrist sent my son to a psychologist to be tested for Asperger's. For those of you who don't know Asperger's is a high functioning form of autism. The psychologist ruled out Asperger's by diagnosed ADHD and Anxiety Disorder. He did not prescribe any medication.

For some unknown reason, I've only given my son the Singulair off and on for the last year. My son had the best year in school ever. However, his pediatrician was still not satisfied. He sent him to see another psychiatrist at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. We were told he is believed to have more than one disability. He is believed to have ADHD, Aspergers, Teurettes and a possible 4th medical problem that has not yet come to light.

We are scheduled to see a neurologist at Children's Hospital on the 15th of April to rule out any medical reasons for his tics. We see the psychiatrist again on the 18th of April.

I am so tormented by this recent news. Has all of these problems been caused from him taking the Singulair for so long? Although he has had his best year in school yet, he still has a lot of problems. Are the side effects of the Singulair permanent.

The other side of the coin is this: It is also very scary to watch my son not be able to breath. Asthma can also be life threatening. What is a parent supposed to do.

Also, I now don't know whether to keep these appointments that are coming up. I hate so much to put him through more. He has endured enough doctors and tests to last him a lifetime. However, what if it is not the Singulair and there is help out there for him that I am not aware of.

Please if anyone else has had a similar experiences e-mail me. I would love to hear from you.

God Bless everyone who has been through this kind of hell.

I also just heard about the Singulair side effects. I am a 58-year-old female with recurrent sinus infection and general allergic reactions. I had testing at my ENT's last spring--I was allergic to nothing specific. It was thought that I am generally sensitive to lots of different things. Well, the ENT put me on Singulair and I never put two and two together until now--- I became extremely anxious and depressed, couldn't sleep, my legs were so restless at night that it was unreal. I also had frequent urination and bladder spasms, low pelvic pain, etc. Over the winter, I stopped taking the Singulair and gradually was able to get off Lunesta and an anti-depressant. These were the worst months of my life---I went through all kinds of urinary and gyne testing to no avail. The urologist couldn't give me any answer---just that he though it might be a neurological issue so I also spent a lot of time and $ getting CT scans and MRI's to no avail. I really thought I was losing my mind---it was half a year during which I was definitely not my usual healthy, upbeat self. I will never touch Singular again!

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

I have an 8 year old son who has been on singulair for about 2 years now. We have a very busy schedule with school, scouts, and football. So we often times would forget to take the pill as the Dr. recommended to take it before bed. Well around November we began taking the medication on a daily basis as prescribed. And since November the number of side effects from this medication has been alarming. I never made the connection to the medication until I came across the information on this website and on other forums. Since November my son has been on his medication consistently and over the past 5 months I have seen so many changes in him. Many that alarm me and have caused me concern but many others that through this website have come to light.

My son has always been a shy but outgoing child. He is very caring and loving and recently he has turned into this selfish, depressed, paranoid, and emotional child. His teachers have made comments saying they don't know what it is with him but they see a change and they were not sure what the cause. I was not sure either. Recently we went for a walk at the park and he said, "I feel like everyone is looking at me". I just shrugged off his comment and said, everyone is looking at you. You are a handsome boy and we are at the park. People enjoy watching other people. Then he would often times tell me he was sad and he did not know why. Said I have a whole in my heart and I don't know what to do to make it better. My heart would just break for him. I felt helpless for him. He has also been aggressive. He has been in 3 fights in the past 3 months. My son also experienced rashes on his body. He has a batch of rough dry irritated skin on his belly and it has now cleared up. He had 3 patches of dry skin on his back and that also has began to clear. His legs also were achy and he has not since complained about leg pains.

This past week we were on vacation for spring break. Well being vacation and not being at home threw our normal schedule for a loop. So we took the regular AM medications (Flonase, Pulmacourt inhaler) but forgot all about the Singulair evening pill. He has not had a pill for 9 days now. Last night we had football practice and I noticed how eager he was to do well and I noticed how much more excited he was about it. I thought it was because he was enjoying it and learning something new. Now I feel like I have a clearer vision into what was REALLY going on. I will NOT give my son Singulair EVER again! I feel misguided that my doctor did not tell me that these were possible side effects. I trusted him and was at my whits end in finding a reslution to my sons asthma issues.

My 5 year old son was having problems constantly with his seasonal asthma. His Dr. put him on Singulair and after about a week he made significant improvement and could even run and jump on the trampoline again and then on the 2 week mark, every morning he would get out of bed crying with severe leg pain in both legs and then he went from my sweet spirited, always sharing his things, wanting to play with everyone and make new friends, to cranky, moody, whiney, selfish and sleepy all of the time. He then started complaining of dizzy spells with vision changes such as not being able to see at all when he gets dizzy. His doctor said he needs to see a neurologist but I think it is all caused by Singulair and the doctor made me feel like a bad mother for wanting to take him off of it. he said the side effects would pass. This morning I watched a couple on the news who's son committed suicide after starting Singulair and they were talking about the mood changes, etc. I took all of my sons Singulair and threw it out. Now, I feel like a bad mother for letting the doctor talk me into keeping him on it. I am hoping that he gets back to normal within the next couple of days and I can cancel the appt. with the neurologist.

I'm totally shock..about this....my 10 year old daughter is been on singular for the past 2 years, and she struggles in the school with concentration issues, sinus infections ,cramps in her legs, nose bleeds..and after reading this I can not believe that I 'm intoxicating my child because the pediatrician never told me about those side effects.....I can't believe this medication is in the market with safe issues....So what is the real meaning of safety for the doctors in our days.....scary!!!

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

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

I have been on this disgusting drug for three weeks and today I ended up in the ER. I was prescribed Flonase and Singulair for allergies. I didn't have actual allergy symptoms but I kept getting sinus infections. Like many others posting I did not look at the side effects until right now. I have blurred vision, red itchy eyes (I constantly look stoned), pasty puffy eyes, cannot wear contact lenses anymore, body aches, ringing in my ears, and disorientation. I had a terrible reaction at work today. I started feeling like I couldn't breathe, then like I might pass out, and then started shaking uncontrollably. I'm disgusted that this drug is even on the market b/c it is ruining my quality of life and that of so many other people. I'm 27 years old and I have never felt so lethargic and unmotivated. I struggle to keep up at work (I'm a social worker) and the doctors at the ER asked me if I have anxiety attacks. I never have had one in my life and am normally energetic. I feel so weak right now that I am barely able to hold a bowl of soup and eat. Thanks for posting and spread the word about this awful drug!

I have been taking Singular for over 5 years for mild asthma. My allergist has told me several times that taking it is "as safe as drinking city water". Last year I had trouble with palpitations and had the cardiac testing including the Holter monitor. All the tests were fine. I have had trouble sleeping for a couple of years--waking in the early hours and finding it nearly impossible to return to sleep. Additionally, for the past 6 months I have had an annoying tingle in my feet and lower legs. My PPO just set up an appointment for a Brachial index test to test my circulation. The tingling is worse after lots of walking. Most recently, people have said my skin looks yellowish! No, I am not gorging on carrots! Just the other day I came across an old sheet that came from the pharmacy when I filled a Singulair prescription. I noticed some "unusual" side effects with long term use--yellowing of skin, palpitations, tingling in extremities, sleeplessness! Yikes! I have stopped taking Singulair. So far, so good, no asthma problems. But this is very scary. Has anyone else had the tingling, the yellow skin? I've started taking B12 and B vitamins as I read that the tingling is from a B12 deprivation caused by the Singulair.

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

Hi all,
I've been taking it for a month now and for the last 2 weeks I,ve been having nightmares every single night, severe musle pain in my legs, my arms feel weak and shaky, my mouth and nose are extremely dry. I have itchy skin - the itchiness attacks are so bad - I can't control them, and also I have very strange headaches -at the back of my head and neck - not just a muscle tension, migrating all over the scalp.
I don't have an asthma, but I had a very bad sinus and ear infection, and was feeling dizzy, so my doctor advised me to give it a try. Singulair has eliminated those symptoms in 2 days, but the side effects are even worser.

I've been taking singulair for about 3 weeks.....been experiencing severe aches everywhere.....especially in the legs and hips......had originally blamed it on starting levaquin.....but since reading these comments.....I'm beginning to believe it may be the singulair.....I also have been extremelytired and irritable....not to mention strange dreams.....I will stop both meds for now and try to see if that helps.....thanks to all who have given me a possible reason for the changes that have occurred.....oh by the way......dieting is working....the harder I try....I still can't lose.....wonder if this may be the reason......headache and nause are also a problem every morning....I will write again....if the symptoms disappear after stopping this med.....thanks to all who have written to give me a possible solution

I have been on singulair for 4 days. My ears hurt, my throat is sore and I have been getting SEVERE muscle spasms in my feet and legs when i go to bed. Taking med in p.m.____getting little sleep and feel very "fuzzy". I have asthmatic bronchitis and mild to moderate copd. Is anyone with these dx. on this med? any good effects with breathing? I can't take the pains and am stopping the med tonite.There HAS to be a better way!

I am simply astonished by what I am reading my 8yr old son has been taking singulair off and on for about a year he too would complain about his legs hurting to the point where I would be in tears just watching him. Most recently we started him on meds for add/adhd i noticed the days when he would not take the singulair he would do wonderful in school,however when he took the singulair he would have low attention span, disruptiveness,etc. now after reading this post I'm wondering if he really has add or if it was the singulair. --Thanks lgbeaumont

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

My doc put me on Singulair a few years ago and I quit taking it after realizing it was causing horrible pain in the muscles of my back and down my legs. Nothing seemed to make it go away either. Then she put me on Advair which made me feel like I was loosing my mind plus other bad side effects so I quit that drug too. So recently she asked me to try Singulair again. I said no but she talked me into trying it again because she had never heard of those side effects. I am now two weeks into it and have been experiencing different side effects this time. And worse. Migraine for 3 days now, disturbing dreams, abnormal uterine bleeding, abdominal cramps, sleepyness, and irritability.
I thank you all for sharing - it has helped me make up my mind and I will direct my doc to this site so she will know the truth - not what she hears from the drug reps!

Male, 53. Started Singulair about a week ago. Very tired & pains in both legs. I had legs cramps during dinner last night. Legs feel like concrete. But I'm breathing great. This stuff works but I can't handle the side effects

I have been taking Singulair for about two years now and I have been getting increasing fatigue so profound I have had to go from a 40 hour week to a 15-20 hour week. I have noticed increasing pain in my feet and legs which which affects my ability to stand and walk more each day. I also have stiffness in the ligaments of my hips, knees and feet. Medical tests show no arthritis in any of these areas. My memory is not as sharp and I have very restless sleep averaging 4-6 hours a night. My mind seems to be constantly running with thoughts and my concentration is gone out the window. After reading the the comments on this site, I am surely going to have my doctor change my medication to something else!

My son was on Singulair for just about a week and he was complaining about pain in his legs and knees and had some mood changes. He doesn't normally complain so we took this seriously, and after researching sites like this one, we were surprised the doctor gave him Singulair with no hesitation. I would never give it to my son again and I'm so glad we took him off it after only a few days.

My daughter has been on singulair for about a year now and she just turned 3. I discovered in about January that all through the night she would make weird noises with her mouth because her mouth is so dry. Then came the disturbed sleep. For the last two months she would wake up in the morning crying because her legs would hurt so bad. She wanted me to carry her everywhere. She could never keep up the other kids because she was physically exhausted. Then came the tantrums and crying. She just started biting, hiting and being mean to anyone around her. She also started not being able to remember her numbers and colors. I took her off of it a week and a half ago. The last three days her mood has improved and her memory seems better. The only thing that has not improved is her dry mouth. Hopefully that will improve with time.

I have been on Singular for about 2 weeks now to help with my allergies. I was fine the first week, but now this week I have had constent back and neck pain and headaches that simply will not go away. I have also had pains in my legs. Simply said I can not get comfortable at night. I have not experienced and nightmares or and problems sleeping, but I am a very heavy sleeper. My allergy symptoms have pertty much gone away though. I shoudl have known something was up when I had to get special approval from my health insurance in order for them to cover it. I am going to take myself off it and see if the body aches go away. Good luck to all of you.

I've only been on Singulair for about 2 week but after seeing your posts today I won't take any more of it. My legs and especially my feet hurt constantly. Standing, sitting, raising legs...nothing seems to help. What's really scaring me is the veins in my feet have started bulging any time I am on my feet. Just wearing shoes is so painful I've been going without them whenever possible. If the Singulair is what's causing the pain I would prefer to suffer with the asthma!

I have had and still have all these terrible side effects but no one seems to know why I swell so much.My hands and legs.i am 7 months pregnant and my gyno says I am dehidrated and need to drink more water then I notided(DUH) the main ingrediant in singulair is salt!!!!SINGULAIR OR (MONTELUKAST SODIUM 10 MGS).Hello!!!!No wonder I am so Bloated and Swelled!!!Any one else have this symptom????I have been on singulair for about 8 years now and will be looking for a natural alternative to treat my asthma after I have finished nursing my baby.Good Luck Ya'll!!!!!!