Singulair and next morning

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.

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!

To anyone new to this site whose child is on Singulair and having problems consistent with the adverse reactions to Singulair documented on this site: take your child to the doctor as soon as possible and tell them you believe that your child is having an adverse reaction to the drug. Do not let yourself be talked into believing that Singulair does not have these side effects. Too many of us right here can confirm that it does. Even though the prescribing information for this drug has been updated to include a warning about these adverse effects, and the FDA is conducting an investigation into the safety of this drug, not all doctors are aware and some are simply unwilling to believe. If you hear "anecdotal evidence", "highly unlikely," or "I've never seen it happen" uttered during your visit, know that your doctor is making excuses for not knowing accurate information about this drug.

Doctors may attribute your child's behavior to their personality or developmental stages. But any child on Singulair should be removed from the drug if a consistent pattern of different or abnormal behavior is present. Most children do not fly off the handle for no reason, have night terrors, prolonged, violent temper tantrums, and act anxious, angry, sad, hateful, disconnected, or withdrawn most of the time. Most children do not have behavior problems that consistently leave you feeling like the worst parent in the world and completely mentally exhausted at the end of each and every day.

Tell your doctor that you want them to prescribe another asthma maintanence medication with a documented low risk of side effects. If your doctor trivializes your concerns or refuses to honor your request, FIND A NEW DOCTOR! YOU are the expert on your child, not someone who sees them a few times a year for a few minutes at a time.

After Singulair has been stopped, watch for a positive change in behavior over the course of several weeks. Make sure you have rescue medications on hand in case needed.

Most importantly, GO WITH YOUR GUT. "If something doesn't feel right, then something ain't right!"

I have been on Singular for the past three years. I usually take a tablet in the evening at the same time I take a baby aspirin and Nyaspan (cholesterol). I didn't seem to have any problems except waking up periodically throughout the evening; thought this was due to age (63). I was without my Singular for about 10 days and then got a new prescription filled. When I took the first tablet I went to sleep and was awakened by a "burning, prickly" sensation im my arms, chest, face and thighs. I went into the bathroom and found myself covered with what I would call hives. I felt hot. Thank heaven I had some liquid Benadryl. After about 30 minutes I finally could relax enough to get back to sleep. By the next morning all that was left was a slight red "glow"; could have thought I went for a tanning session. The pharmacist couldn't give me an answer; I am now waiting for my doctor's input. In the meantime...I'll skip the Singular. (next time it may affect my breathing)

Up until today I was unaware of any side effects. I have been taking singulair for about a week and I felt fine, until yesterday. Yesterday, I felt anxious and on the edge. I felt as if I was going to blow up if anyone said anything that I did not like. I was feeling as if my heart was going to beat right through my chest. Then when it was time for me to go to bed, I had trouble falling asleep. I awoke the next morning with vivid memories of nightmares that I had throughout the night. Even after I awoke I felt in intense rage. I called my mom later on in the day and I mentioned to her that I was taking Singulair for my allergies. She told me to stop taking that drug immediately. She told me that she just heard last week that it may cause some people to commit suicide. I'm glad I mentioned that to my mom, if I hadn't I may be worse off. Unfortunately I did feel as if the pills helped my allergies, however at what cost? Possibly my life...

I just read a few days ago that Merck is trying to get approval for a new drug. It is a combo of Singulair and the Shering pharm. co. drug Claritin. Isn't it nice to know that while we are suffering from this drug, Merck and another pharmaceutical company are trying to make more money on a drug that is supposed to be under investigation. Fortunately, the FDA is not approving it along with a few other drugs Merck is trying to push. This shows us how concerned they are with public health. They would sell us arsenic if they could get approval for it.

I wrote an earlier post but I am now reading alot of your posts where you say your child experienced FEAR on Singulair. That is so interesting. When my son was on it for around 3 years he would never sleep alone in his own bed and he would have episodes every night that would last up to 3 hours at bed time because I would try to get him to sleep in his own bed, even at 8 years old. I thought he was possessed!!!! He would scream and fight me and I would literally have to hold him down to get him to stay in bed. It was horrible. I'm not sure how a hullicination would be described but maybe that was part of it. All I know is that he turned into a totally different child. It was something out of a horror movie. I eventually gave up and let him sleep in our bed cause it was exhausting. He would just make blood curdling screams and the terror in his eyes was horrific. Then the next morning he would be fine like nothing had ever happened.
Now that he is off of Singulair he will sleep in his own bed with the light off all night. It was an amazing turn around. He also told me he's not scarred anymore.. Who knew????? Has anyone else experienced anything like that with their child????

As I stated in an earlier post, my 3 year daughter takes Singulair and my 7 year old son took it until December 2007. I've been concerned about my daughter but after reading some of these posts I now wonder if this drug was impacting my son negatively. For the past year and a half/two years, he was waking up several times a week due to horrible nightmares or night terrors. He would cry out and when I would get to him his hair would be ringing wet. Although he would talk to me, he never made any sense but he was scared to death. He would never remember the episode the next morning. It's been months since he had an episode and I mentioned to a friend a few weeks ago that he seemed to have finally gotten through that phase. After reading these posts, it makes more sense. He stopped taking Singulair in December!

My 15 year old daughter has been taking Singulair for about 10 years for asthma, and it seemed to do a great job of controlling that condition. However for the past year or two (since onset of puberty) her mood swings, anxiety, sleep problems, ability to concentrate, etc., seemed to escalate to extremes. She has always been a little high-strung and emotional, but I never related it to the medication. Lately I tried to convince myself everything was a result of hormone fluctuations although things were going from bad to worse. Late this fall she suffered a series of back-to-back illnesses (flu, sore throats, etc.) which caused her to miss so much school she almost flunked her entire first semester of high school. After the holidays she seemed to be back on track but then another bout of flu triggered asthma, and then she seemed to bounce from one to the other - and missing a lot of school again which caused a lot of anxiety, which caused the asthma to flare, causing greater anxiety, etc., etc. For almost 3 weeks she barely came out of her bedroom, and looked more despondent by the day, begging me to not force her to go back to school because people would make fun of her. After lots of arguing one Saturday she agreed to go with me to a therapist while we tried to find alternatives for school this year. Well, that same night my daughter woke me around 3 a.m. (she also does not sleep well...) to tell me about the story she had just heard on CNN about Singulair. After finding this website the next morning I was horrified - and she has not taken it since. Our allergist dismissed the CNN story, saying there was no scientific evidence to support that claim, but agreed that maybe we should take her off Singulair. We did visit a therapist, although since that day I have seen a noticeable change in her behavior and moods. If anyone else is considering a class action suit, please email me since I am seriously planning to take some kind of action - I believe the FDA should move quickly on this so that other parents may be able to avoid seeing their children have to deal with the effects of this medication. I could probably write pages, I am so appalled that this has happened, but I will end here for now....

Went to my Dr for a sinus infection. I Came out with some Singulair and nose spray. Before the visit it was just a major case of Sinusitis. After the visit I thought I was going crazy. I have never experienced anxiety before. I am worried all the time, I thought I might be going crazy. I NEVER cry. I've cried about 4 or 5 different times. I feel like my arms and legs are restless, yet weak. I feel like I'm falling apart. I was in a constant state of worry, panic, anxiety and panic. I couldn't function, and when I could it was only barely.

I ended up going to the emergency room for the Sinusitis because the pressure was so intense. I was given more meds and told to stay on the Singulair. I realized upon taking it the next morning that I didn't know anything about this medicine because I was given samples with no insert info. I looked on line...I found this site. Thank you for posting your side effects. I'm not going crazy. I'm getting off Singulair. By the way did anyone else have these side effects?