Singulair and prednisone

My 4 yr old daughter has been on Singulair for 3 weeks and one day as prescribed by an ENT for her persistent sinus problems. I made the mistake of being too trusting and not reading enough about the medication before giving it to her every night for the last 3 weeks. She has been out of control. I blamed it on her oppositional personality but yesterday at my whits end, sat down at the computer to find some parenting advice to work with her temper, aggression, crying, whining etc. - Not to mention nightmares almost every night. When I made the connection to her behavior changes and when she started taking Singulair i found more info than I could imagine. She will never take this again nor will either of my other children or myself! I can't believe a drug with this severe of side effects is prescribed so freely and without any caution from the docs. I blame my self and hope there are not any long term effects from this useless medication.

I am a loving mother of a 5 1/2 year old boy. He has been on Singulair for over 3 years. In this past 3 years my son has suffered in an unspeakable amount. He came down with Rota Virus and was hospitalized at 2. He then came in contact with Pneumonia in the hospital while he was there. They automatically put him on Singulair, Zyrtec, Prednisone, and antibiotics to treat the pneumonia. Since that day, my son has gone though more tests than I have in my entire life. He has had asthma, sinusitis, leg cramping ( to the point he cannot walk for 2 years), IBS, Acid reflux,(they gave him laxatives for a year that made things worse and addicted to them also), stomach pain, constipation and diarrhea back and forth. He also got Erythema Mulitforme TWICE, while on this drug. All of which the doctors said could NOT be caused by Singulair. He has had several Upper GI's and CT scans. Along with Barium enemas, several hundreds of blood tests, and many many pokes and prodded that were not necessary. All since he has been on Singulair. He now has frequent bathroom trips, depression, confusion, and anger outbursts. He also has to go to the restroom every 5 minutes. He has had genital swelling, and many other aches and pains. None of which his "doctor" ever said could be a result of Singulair. I am 100% sure it was!!!! He currently has anxiety and emotional sporadic issues causing problems in school The teachers and counselors say that it is so strange because there is no TRIGGER and the outbursts are completely inconsistent. His preschool teacher and director are sure he has ADHD. Well, we had him tested and he does not have any part of it. He has no learning disability what-so-ever. So that brought me back to square one. He is in a positive loving enviroment. How could he be depressed and want to hurt everyone around him? He cannot sit still. He cries and says he is 'stupid" and "can't think" like the other boys. He has nightmares and cannot sleep alone. He is scared of everyone and everything. So, as I sit here crying, I realized that this has all been a reaction of his "medicine" Singulair. He never should have gone through all of those painful tests, only to prove they couldn't find anything. So many treatments and sound full advice speeches from his doctors. How could they be so naive and selfish in the life of my son?

When I called my pediatrician of 5 years, she told me that " parents that have children with behavioral problems will LOOK for something to blame their problems on." She also said "drug companies only put side effects on their labels to PROTECT the drug companies. (as she laughed at me) They are not always valid". Then she said "if you take you child off of Singulair you will be playing Russian Roulette in his life." Then she said that all children around 5 or 6 go though this emotional time in their lives." She told me that if I take my child off of Singulair that she would no longer be a part of his health regimen for his asthma. She told me to see a Pulmonologist for further treatment.
Who is paying who? This is my son's life???????? I decided to go with my mother-gut instinct and get him off of this medicine. No matter what. He has been a different person since. He is currently going though a lot of side effects and withdrawals (leg pain, insomnia, hic-ups, emotional distress) but every day is getting better. How can the drug companies say that this is a "wonder drug?" There are more reported side effected patients then clinical studied patients! How can a "medication" that stimulates the brain not be connected to other problems? This "medication" interferes with the bio synthesis and action of LTs and has been marketed as NOVEL medication against asthma and allergic rhinitis. Who the hell is playing God here??? The pocket books of Merck or our over PAID "doctors?" Who pays the price? Our children? Or us. Thank god I found this before it was too late. I would not be able to withstand the pain of losing my son due to their lack of scientific evidence. They are lucky I am one of the smart ones. I will not settle for less than Justice for the drug companies and their paid "doctors?" You all end up in the same place. HELL

There are 18 million people on this drug. Most of them are children. Please save a life if not your own child's life. Thank You

While I am sure that Singulair has adverse effects for some children/teenagers/adults, I took Singulair for 2-3 years (until my asthma symptoms improved to the point where I didn't need to take it) while I was a kid and had no adverse side effects. Started back on Singulair in April after having severe reactions to my new puppy (I am now 21). Since then, I really haven't had any side effects at all. I agree that they should black box Singulair and possibly not prescribe it to some children/teens, but for some people (like myself), it works, and shouldn't be taken off the market completely.

Hi everyone, I just want to say thank you for all who shared on this site. I am a 47 year old woman. I have spent several hours reading posts last night and today, and discontinued my Singulair last night. I have been taking it for approximately 4-5 years for mild asthma. Since then my health has gotten worse and deteriorated rapidly in the past year. I have had chronic chest congestion leading to frequent infections. Have had pneumonia three times in the last three years and frequent bronchitis. In the last eight months I have been on antibiotics more often than not, along with Singulair and Advair and frequent rounds of prednisone. Still I continued to worsen. I have had a rash on both legs since March which clears up with a shot of prednisone, but comes back within a few weeks. I've been going to bed nights by 7:30 and still find it hard to get up and go to work. Energy levels would vary, but some days I literally felt as if I could not keep putting one foot in front of the other. I have always been the quiet, serious type and prone to depression, but this past year it has been getting progressively worse. I have become very antisocial and even missed my son's wedding because I was so stressed out about it. I have also had alarming hair loss and just feel that my body is in a very depleted state.
My doctor, an allergist, ran a number of tests, but could find nothing. He finally referred me to a specialist at a University. He did a bronchoscopy and tested for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis because I had very similar symptoms to both of those diseases. They were both negative, but they found a rare form of bacteria in my lungs that doesn't respond well to medication. They felt that it should run its course eventually. I'm sure all of the immune suppressing drugs I have been on have made it difficult to recover from this. Aside from a two week prescription for a form of sulfa which they felt the bacteria may respond to, I am off all other drugs. For congestion they have prescribed a therapy vest instead of medication. I am very anxious to see if being free of Singulair and Advair helps me to recover more quickly. Already on day one I feel a better outlook on life and even went on a shopping trip with my mother today :-) I can't say at this time what role Singulair has played in all of this, but am anticipating an improvement after reading all of your posts. Thank you.

I started full body internal itching after taking 10 days of Singulair. The physician that prescribed it said it couldn't cause itching. My new doctor tested for Lupus, I have an autoimmune disorder called Churg Strauss. After undergoing several steroid treatments and 3 days of IV Prednisone I got some relief. This has been going on for 6 months now. The itching becomes severe enough to make me want to commit suicide. Luckily it is pretty controlled by taking nightly doses of Atarax along with Periactin. Thank God I found a doctor who cared enough to search out the symptoms and help me get thru day by day.

My daughter is 20 years old and a chronic asthmatic with severe allergies. She has been on Singulair for 8 years. She has been complaining and in some instances begging her asthma doctor for a reason for her insomnia and restless sleep over the last several years. She takes other asthma and allergy medications. He told her to not take her Xopenex inhaler before bed, as that may be causing the problem, that didn't help at all (sometimes a Xopenex nebulizer treatment is needed for her at bedtime and during the night, during asthma flair-ups). Her doctor just switched her from Allegra (which she has been on since she was 10) to Zyrtec, which is helping with allergies, but not with the sleeplessness. She was taken off of Advair and put on Symbicort in September 2007, this made her asthma worse requiring Prednisone off -and -on since January. She is back on Advair and doing better, but the sleepless nights continue...

We are seriously contemplating taking her off of the Singulair. We aren't 100% certain this medication is causing her insomnia/sleeplessness. However, as she explains it..."If I could get one really good nights sleep, I would go off of the Singulair in a heartbeat". Our fear is that by going off of the Singulair that her asthma will worsen.

Hi All -- I am reading the effects that you have posted, and while I agree that after taking singular for 4 years, I do have the some of symptoms listed... BUT.. NOW I BREATH... I was living from nebulizer treatment to treatment, on Prednisone 4-5 times a year, had no energy and was afraid to do any exercise at all because of lack of breath. I used to negotiate with my Doctors on trying everything before taking Prednisone because of the side effects which are also mood swings and major anxiety... since taking Singular I have had a life -- I am aware of my asthma and allergies but have had pneumonia only once...

PLEASE -- Weigh the options... consider death through lack of breath and life - compared to suicide ... both are not living.

While the anxiety of Singular is real - through experience so is the ability to breath, live and when you are aware of it - the anxiety is manageable. NO DRUG IS WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS... you need to balance the pro's and con's for you and your family. Make conscious and informed decisions, work with your physicians.

Behavioral changes started when my son was 3 years old and on Singulair, 4mg chewables. He became more angry, irritable, and even stated a few times that he wished he were dead. He has had trouble concentrating and has frequent nightmares.

I went to the dermatologist and was diagnosed with a severe case of hives/rash. Has anyone ever been prescribed Singulair in combination with Xyzal for hives? He also prescribed Tagamet for the stomach problems apparently these two drugs can cause. I am very afraid to take this but talked to two different doctors that are telling me to take my medicine and are getting angry at me for not wanting to take it an are getting impatient with me for being scared about it and asking questions. I was also prescribed a Lidex cream that has steroids in it even after telling the doctor that I just got off Prednisone for a sinus infection last month and had a really bad reaction to the Prednisone (steroid). He still gave me the steroid cream and said "this is a topical you won't have any side effects with this and your reaction couldn't possibly have been from the Prednisone, it had to be from the antibiotic" If anyone has heard of or taken the combination of Xyzal and Singulair for hives or skin problems please post me a response before I go get these prescriptions filled. All four of these will cost me almost $100 because the Xyzal is $40 and the Singulair is $25, they do not offer a generic for these two money makers. I have insurance and still will cost me a hundred for all four (steroid cream and Tagamet as well). Please someone let me know about this combo and if you have been given for hives as well. I don't know why I am given the Singulair at all. It causes hives in some people from what I have been reading. I can see the Xyzal because it is an antihistamine, that's fine but the Singulair seems to be a cause of hives. Doctor mentioned something about H1 and H2 inhibitors or something but said it so fast and speaks with such an accent I couldn't understand what he was trying to tell me. Please help before I get really bad reaction and have to go to ER like last month with the Prednisone. Thank you and God Bless.

My 2 year old son was prescribed Singulair for eczema yesterday and gave him his first dose last night. His bedtime is at 8 and since he is two years old and fights sleep, it normally takes him 30 to 60 minutes to actually fall asleep. He was still awake at 10:30. He couldn't seem to wind down. I knew it was from the Singulair immediately. I woke up this morning and got the prescription literature to see if this is even prescribed for eczema. It didn't say. So I got on Singulair's ...... and nothing about eczema. I then searched ...... and found this website and I am completely blown away by everyone's stories. I think I will take the 30 bucks for next months prescription and buy a humidifier for the apartment and use some Cetaphil lotion. He didn't have breakouts this summer due to the humidity, so I will just make my apartment humid. The doctor not only prescribed Singulair, but also Clarinex. The pharmacy had to order it and I was supposed to pick it up today, but I am going to search the side effects for it first. I will probably just save my money and see what I can do with home remedies.

I was on Singulair for about 5-6 years and I rarely had an asthma attack. I had the vivid dreams that are common with Singulair, but that didn't bother me. I also had the occasional earache, but it was tolerable. My last 3 months of taking this drug, I started "seeing things." I would see shadows darting out of the corner of my eye. At the time I was waitressing and I went out to wait on a table that I thought was there. When I looked up to take their order, there was no one there. One night I almost got into an accident because I thought a car was behind me that was tailing me when there wasn't one. It was at that point that I really started to freak out. I thought I was going insane, possibly schizophrenia. One day I was flipping through a magazine and happened to see an ad for Singulair. I read through all the fine print and saw that a rare side effect was hallucinations! It all made sense at that point and I knew I wasn't going crazy!

I stopped taking Singulair and then started to have breathing problems (I wasn't taking anything for my asthma at that point). I went to the doctor and he laughed when I told him about the hallucinations being from Singulair. He told me to go back on it and see if it happened again. The second or third day I started to see shadows again. I lasted about a week and then just stopped and went to Advair. It doesn't help much.

It makes me really sad that Singulair did this to me. It was the only time in my life where I didn't have to worry about breathing. Now I have to take prednisone about twice a year, which I never had to do on Singulair. I just wanted to write this in case anyone else was experiencing anything similar.