Singulair and suicide

I just came across an article on the online "Huffington Post" by Dr. Doug Bremner, who researched the connection between accutane and depression, called "If Prescription Meds Don't Kill You They Might Drive You Crazy" He explains the link between Singulair, Leukotrienes in the brain and depression. There are numerous articles by him as well that are definitely worth reading.

Jenna M.
Parents United for Pharmaceutical Safety and Accountability

I am 15 and have only been on Singulair for a week. But I have already had sever leg cramps and my foot locked into place for a few minutes with extreme pain. I had a nose bleed today too, which is not normal for me. I have also had really bad cramping which I didn't think anything of but now I don't know what to do because I have sever allergies to almost everything outside and this seems to be the only thing that helps. After reading all this I am freaked about everything. And I have been really moody this week, but I thought it was just because I am a teenager but now I don't know.

I have a 7 year old daughter. She is taking singulair. lately she has been complaining about pain in her leg it hurts when she walk. She also have pain in her arm. I gave her a pill tonight but I did not find this website until afterward. I am so glad I came across this site. She was taking zyrtec and she was having behavior problem. So the doctor switch her to singulair. I was hesitant to give her this medication. She also have seasonal asthma so I just got to find another way of treating her. I hope someone have good suggestions.

IS THIS SITE AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS?

A little while ago less than two hours, after a very emotional, difficult battle with my daughter, we had yet another heart to heart to try to do better. At the end of our talk WE PRAYED for guidance to know how to help the situation. So I'm here looking for a link to her behavior fron the ADHD medication and I see someone had posted about Singulair side effects. I was floored! I have never thought that Singulair was not a safe drug. No doctor has ever mentioned any negative side effects to me regarding it. The more I'm reading about it the more in shock I am. Have I and her doctors been doing this to my daughter? My 12 1/2 yo daughter has been on Singulair for probably 10 years. She was a 28 week preemie and had severe lung issues so it was a needed medication. Her behavior has worsened the older she has gotten. Because of mostly anger issues and problems in school about a year ago she was started on ADHD medications. We are currently trying to find "the right one" . I feel so awful. Could all her misery have been caused by this little pill that was suppose to help her? Why has her pulmonoligist continued to give it to her although she has not had any serious asthma problems in years? I think I will stop all medications and see what happens. My daughter has also been on amytriptylin for about six months also for severe migraines. What do you think? Should I stop all of them cold turkey or gradually decrease one at a time? I would GREATLY appreciate any advise.
Thank you

My daughter had been on singulair from the time she was 8 yrs old until she was 14. This will sound as if I am a horrible mother but I just thought that she was a raging bitch. Without my knowledge, she stopped taking her Singulair for a few months and she became a different person. She was so sweet and loving. One night she came in my room having an asthma attack and I asked her if she was taking her meds, she admitted that she had stopped taking her singulair and I got on to her and immediately got her prescription refilled. Within a few days of taking the singulair she turned into a raging, screaming emotional wreck, a TOTALLY different person. I feel so bad that for 6 years of her life I put her on medicine that caused her to have screaming, uncontrollable tantrums, and severe mood swings that caused her to be miserable. It does seem to be the only thing that effectively controls her asthma symptoms but the emotional havoc that is causes her and the people around her is not worth the benefits. We have an appt. with her doctor to see what other options we have.

I just started the Singular and it has helped my asthma a lot. I can't tell about the coughing because I also started it while I had a cold. But now and then even before I took singluar I would cough. Sometimes coughs are produced from various types of airborne things, many different types of things. I have a mold aggreviated asthma so that could be why its helping my instead of causing me to go nuts like it does for some. But it doesn't sound like a very good drug for children. It seems as though none of the posts coming from children taken Singular are positive. But so far it's helping me. I made it through the day without grabbing for my inhaler which was a great relief for once.

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. researchers found no evidence to support regulatory warnings that Merck & Co.'s Singulair asthma and allergy drug, taken by millions of Americans over the past decade, may be linked to depression or suicide.

The findings will be published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the American Lung Association said in a statement on PRNewswire today. The study was sponsored by the association, which doesn't endorse products, it said.
HOLY COW

I just read an article dated 9/1/08 that stated that the American Lung Association just cleared Singulair as causing depression and suicide. They had researchers study the results from the original test trials because they are supposedly more accurate than after market reports. The article is at ******. I cried when I read this report. My now 8 year old daughter has been on this medication for mild asthma since she was 4. We have thought the stomach aches and tantrums were related to moving to a new town around the time she started taking singulair. But, 3 months ago, she all of a sudden started having depression, ocd about germs, afraid she might hurt herself and then depression and suicidal thoughts. She has been off meds for 8 weeks and still has some problems with thinking she wants to hurt herself and feeling down. She is normally very happy and our family is happy and normal, but dealing with this is difficult. How long does it take to get out of their system?

After taking a "leave of Absence" from this site, I see that Singulair is still up and thriving. I still see ads for it on TV, over and over again. They haven't been altered at all. Makes me sick. I wish there was away to get to other people whose children have died by suicide and investigate as to whether or not they were ever on singulair. Keep fighting. We'll get there! Kate K

SINGULAIR AND ZYRTEC SAME MEDICATION made by different companies. Be careful!

I have been reading all of these posts and have another question. I hope that someone can help. My daughter, 8 years old, has been on Singulair since she was 4. She is normally a very happy girl with a wonderful disposition. For the last year or so, she has been having trouble getting herself to sleep at night. She says that she hears things in her head such as ringing or "noises". A few hours before she knows it's bedtime, she cries and when we ask her why she's crying, she can't give us a reason. We initially thought that she was crying for no reason because she didn't want to go to sleep. I remember reading about the side effects of Singulair causing mood swings, etc., but her's are not violent mood swings. Just very emotional and has a hard time coming down from the "episode". I'm at a loss...I have not talked to her doctor yet about it, but have told her that we will make an appointment this week to discuss it with him. My husband suggested that maybe it sounded like she was having a panic attack or anxiety attack. I hate to label her as that at such a young age. My mind now goes back to the side effects of Singulair and maybe this is to blame. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Concerned Mom

My son became soo aggressive 3 days after starting Singulair, that he was almost banned from soccer for life because of attacking another player on the field. It resembled what I had heard of 'roid rage'. When I questioned the doctor immediately, was told there was no connection. After months of the aggression, then came depression and self mutilation. My 15 yr old was secretly burning himself to 'punish' himself for things he done wrong or "disappointing" those around him. He now has permanent scars all over his arms from these burns. The depression took to drug abuse and my A student fell to an F student in 6 weeks. He completely lost his will to live and thrive. After 4 months of hell, the dr informed us that the FDA just warned physicians of this side effect. Im furious now that I read through the court documents and find that the drug company knew this all along. I know I am a luckier parent than some whose children committed suicide, but still wish that the FDA would get off their BUTTS and do something to take this drug off the market. I was told by a rep at the FDA that Merck will not take it off the shelf until they're made to because even if they had to pay parents millions for their child's suicide, they would still be pocketing more profit than our children's lives are worth in the court system. Not sure WHY we even HAVE an FDA, they won't do anything to protect us from these money hungry drug companies. A YEAR to do an 'INVESTIGATION" are you kidding me? If the CEO of Merck had to bury his child, it would come off the shelf THAT DAY.

Sales of Merck's asthma and allergy drug Singulair dropped 1% to $1.1 billion for the second quarter. U.S. sales have been hurt by the recent introduction of an over-the-counter version of rival drug Zyrtec by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), as well as concerns about the Food and Drug Administration's March alert of a possible association between Singulair and suicide and related behavioral side effects Got this off cnn money,i don't know but thought zyrtec and singulair were different drugs,my son at one time was prescribed both to take at bedtime

My daughter has been off Singulair for approx 2 months and is back to her old self. Talkative and happy! How about contacting the media to see if they would be interested in doing a story on the problems that have been associated with this drug. Yesterday morning there was a story regarding the poor health of our children-high cholesterol etc, and my first thought hmm-wonder if they are on Singulair. I think if more light was put to this drug, maybe we could get answers faster.

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.

This testimony should help strengthen our case for warnings for Singulair.

Neurologist Sought Warning for Pfizer Drug
By JEREMY SINGER-VINE
June 20, 2008; Page B10

A British neurologist who analyzed effects of the drug Neurontin told a court hearing Thursday that he advised its maker -- now a unit of Pfizer Inc. -- to include a warning on the drug's label for potential side effects of depression and aggression, but his advice wasn't followed.

The University of London neurologist, Michael R. Trimble, was testifying at a hearing to decide whether civil cases brought against Pfizer alleging suicides linked to Neurontin can proceed. The hearing was jointly held by judges for U.S. District Court in Boston and a New York state court who are hearing similar cases. In various lawsuits consolidated in the federal court, plaintiffs allege more than 100 suicides were connected to Neurontin usage.

Dr. Trimble described what he said was a "plausible biological pathway" that could lead from the compound gabapentin -- the chemical name for Neurontin -- to suicidal behavior, hostility, and aggression. Dr. Trimble said that in 1995 and 1996, he was hired to write two confidential reports for Parke-Davis -- now a unit of Pfizer -- because the company "was concerned about psychosis in relation to their drug." Dr. Trimble said he was unable to find a link to psychosis, but noted effects of depression and aggression.

Lawyers for Pfizer argued at the hearing that the evidence linking the drug to suicidal side effects wasn't scientifically sound. Under cross-examination, they challenged his description of a pathway as a patchwork of studies that didn't prove a biological connection. Neurontin and generic forms of gabapentin are approved for treating epileptic convulsions, but have also been prescribed widely "off label" for other conditions.

In five of nine patient cases he analyzed in 1996, Dr. Trimble said he saw depression and aggression in patients who had no previous symptoms of the side effects, so he said he recommended to the company that the drug "should carry some kind of warning" for susceptible patients.

Thursday's proceedings were the initial phase of a hearing requested by Pfizer to challenge the opinions of the plaintiffs' experts. Under cross-examination and a subsequent examination by the plaintiffs' attorney, Dr. Trimble said the biological pathway between Pfizer's Neurontin and suicidal events were plausible and supported by a series of peer-reviewed neurology research.

My 54-year-old fit, social, successful husband was put on Singulair in January for newly diagnosed asthma. He developed a depression with anxiety, irrational fears, avoidance, mood swings and even one episode of suicidal thoughts out of nowhere. He saw a psychiatrist and a therapist, tried medications, yoga, a vacation, meditation, breathing exercises - everything! But he kept getting worse.

The day he was throwing patio furniture then sobbing uncontrollably was the day he realized he couldn't work in his condition. He negotiated a 60-day leave without pay. Even that didn't help. It was crazy. How could a man who managed hundreds of employees and a major health service system for 20 years suddenly be so paralyzed with fear that he couldn't walk down a beach or go into a Walgreen’s?

We found this site May 26th. He stopped the Singulair immediately. It has been 10 days and he is already 80-90% back to normal. Thank God.

Partly I am writing because it is so hard to read of parents' guilt that they "should have known" etc. Look, unlike a child, my husband is mature and very verbal; he is also a psychiatrist (!) with a capacity for self-examination and a language to describe his inner experience. And me, I'm a psychologist (!) trained in understanding people and I know him very well. And yet with all that training and skill and consultation and treatment, WE STILL COULDN’T FIGURE THIS OUT! So please, don't make yourself feel any worse with guilt. This is awful and tragic enough already.

I would add that the onset of mood and behavioral problems is so insidious that it is hard to connect the problems to the Singulair. Also, I suspect that children and adolescents are at greater risk because of their immature emotional developmental level. An adult l suspect may need some genetic or personal predisposition to mood disturbance, or stress, or both, to trigger these side effects. My husband had a depression episode 30 years ago and had recent traumas that certainly could have triggered the depression. But how treatment resistant that depression was, and those strange paralyzing fears and extreme anxiety – all that I blame squarely on the Singulair.

I have made a report to the FDA. I urge you to do the same.

This is my story. My daughter 14, the most precious child ever born. She has a wonderful disposition always happy, loving, and determined to succeed in whatever she does. She just brightens everyone’s world.
She suffers from severe seasonal allergies and mild asthma. She takes approximately seven allergy/asthma medicines a day during peak season. Over the past two years she has been taking Singular as one of her medicines. Being 14, sick of taking medicine she would not take the Singular on a regular basis. Approximately four months ago “MOM” says, if you take nothing else take your Singular it will work both for the seasonal allergies and your asthma. She has been taking this regularly four the past four months.
She became paranoid, she became a compulsive eater and bites the skin on her fingers. She would eat and chew on her fingers at the same time, until she choked. She had so much anger, she could not even go to the mall without temper tantrums.(As a child she never had any tantrums ) Always afraid. Severe depression set in. She would cry at a moments notice. She would say, I have a very sad life, sad very sad, nothing makes me like this, I’m just sad. She felt she should go live with the homeless people. I asked her why, she didn’t know, she felt maybe that’s where she belonged. Nightmares and sleepless nights.
She needs help quickly. Before calling the Doctor, I went on the internet and entered Singular and depression and I found 1900 entries, all people telling me what I was experiencing. Could this possibly be the answer for us? I called her Dr and told him what I thought, he said he has never had anyone that this has happened to. He hoped it was the answer, but really didn’t think is. He said if it wasn’t the answer she would need therapy, mood stabilizer and Prozac.

Its day four off Singular, she smiling, no tears today, no temper tantrums, looking forward to school next week, wants to play volleyball next year, singing in the car,
I hear that happy voice again.(Hi, Mommy!!!!!!) Every once in a while a glaze comes over her face. She isn’t a 100% back, but I know it is coming.

To all the people that don’t have the happy ending, I will pray for you and hold you in my heart forever.

June 2, 2008

My son has been on Singulair since the age of 6. He is now 13 years old. He developed seizures 3 weeks ago - temporal lobe aura epilepsy during which he was hearing voices. EEG abnormal, MRI normal. He hasn't started medication for the seizures but I have stopped his Singulair immediately! This was just a hunch - searching the net to see if there is any correlation. I have been to the Pediatrician AND the GP the past 3 weeks and no one said anything. I think a great number of children are on Singulair in SA. Does anyone know about the possibility of this danger?

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.

Here I go again, unable to fathom my son's suicide, I'm wondering about things again. Could it be possible that maybe some of the side effects do NOT go away with the discontinuation of Singulair? Can certain effects stay with you and do permanent damage? That is if you're on it long enough. A.J. was on it and off of it, (on it more than off) for 9 years. I never caught on. Now that it's too late, and I've learned about this stupid drug, I've got to ask every question that comes to mind. I, too, have asthma and I am tempted to go to my own doctor and request to be put on it just to see what happens to me. Right now I take Advair and I see where it causes problems that are equally as bad for some people as Singulair. I'm one of the lucky ones. It does me well. My depression comes from the death of my son.

Both my sons have bad allergies. Both were recently prescribed Singulair after other drugs were not very effective. My oldest, 12, started feeling "strange" and asked to be taken off Singulair. He was not himself on the soccer field or at school. Since we stopped the medication, he has returned to normal. My 8 year old had a much worse reaction. He has bad mood swings and tonight became suicidal. He was searching the kitchen for knives to stab himself. He had fits on the carpet beating himself and the floor until I got him a pillow to take his aggression. My wife notified our doctor and school counselor. We're stopping his Singulair immediately.

concerned citizen,i enjoy reading your posts and research you have been so helpful,but i do have to say,i do expect the doctors that write prescriptions to do their homework and research on these drugs,i do feel that they should be extremely knowledgeable about what they are giving our children,that is why i pay them the big bucks.I told them of my concerns and they poo pooed me,when as it turns out now i was quite possibly right,i will asked them to do another blood test now he is not on meds,and if as i suspect it has gone down i will loudly shout i told you so and demand answers from them.I so often questioned the meds and was always made to feel dumb,Ignorance is not a defense and someone was very ignorant

Thank you to this doctor for posting a response to Singulair problems. He has experienced problems with headache (actually 18% according to the Europeans). He has a patient who has been cutting and had a serious hospitalization possibly due to Singulair.

******

Sorry, I can't just walk away.

When you find patents or patent applications for certain purposes, then you know that your ideas are well founded. There are several patents for using an anti-malaria drug for asthma. I would bet that somebody had that idea all the way back to the 1960's. So it is very possibly no coincidence at all that a chloroquinoline or other quinoline ring would be part of montelukast's chemical structure.

Here is one of the patents.

******

It is well known that quinoline rings can be toxic to some people even very rapidly. As in this very extreme example.
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PEDIATRICS Vol. 27 No. 1 January 1961, pp. 95-102 This Article

FATAL ACUTE CHLOROQUINE POISONING IN CHILDREN
Howard M. Cann M.D.1 and Henry L. Verhulst M.S.1

1 National Clearinghouse for Poison Control Centers, Accident Prevention Program, Public Health Service, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Four cases of acute chloroquine poisoning in children are presented. In three instances death occurred within 2 hours of ingestion of larger than therapeutic amounts of the drug. The rapid occurrence of death in acute chloroquine poisoning is probably explained by complete and rapid absorption of the drug from the gastrointestinal tract resulting in high blood concentrations which depress vasomotor function and respiration. Cardiac arrest follows and may be caused by the direct myocardial action of chloroquine, to anoxia, or to both. The similarity of the manifestations of acute chloroquine poisoning and those of acute quinine and quinidine poisoning suggests that acute toxicity may be attributed to the quinoline ring portion of these drugs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think that we are seeing extreme examples. But we may be seeing less extreme immediate reactions or reactions where the toxicity builds up over time.

Quinoline rings are know to cause neurotoxicity. There are theories about how that happens. One of the theories is about blocking connexins which are gap junction proteins in the brains.

I don't know how montelukast could be breaking up so that it causes toxicity. Or if the problem is the how rapidly the liver enzymes can metabolize it. But there is plenty, plenty, plenty of clinical evidence that there is a quinoline ring culprit somewhere in the picture. Or some by-product of that causing problems.

Somehow it was decided that montelukast did not have the safety issues that the other drugs in the same category have. See this.

"The starting point in the development of montelukast appears to be a quinoline-containing structure, likely identified as a weak random screening lead (Figure 3). The Merck group hypothesized that this molecule was mimicking the olefin backbone of cysLTs, and that the addition of mimics for the acid and peptide regions of LTD4, might improve its potency. As a first step, the dithioacetal linkage first seen in some SmithKline compounds was incorporated; this led to a compound with greatly increased in vitro potency but poor oral bioavailability. When one of the carboxylic acids was replaced by an amide, forming MK-571, the new antagonist had even greater potency and good efficacy following oral administration. The enantiomers were resolved to yield MK-679 (verlukast), a compound with better clinical effects than MK-571, but whose clinical development was stopped for safety reasons. Further structure-activity relationship studies led to the development of montelukast (16), an antagonist that appears free of the safety concerns plaguing earlier members of this series."

If we can find out why the earlier versions were not safe and how they thought fixed it, then maybe we can find out what is going on with the quinoline ring in some people.

I would be very surprised if the FDA will address our concerns. Why does it always seem like they wait for enough people to die like in Vioxx? Wasn't Vioxx responsible for thousands of deaths?

Here is a story about another type of quinoline drug that also causes psychiatric side effects including suicide. Considering the side effects of Singulair, it may be worth investigating whether montelukast breaks up (in certain individuals) into chemicals that act in the same neurotoxic way that Lariam does. The neurological and psychiatric side effects of Lariam are very similar to Singulair in some individuals, of course, not all.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/27/60II/main538144.shtml - 95k

I spent the weekend reading about the development of Singulair. The early studies recognized that the first phase of the acute asthma response bronco-constriction was probably not caused by leukotrienes. They identified histamines and prostaglandins as the probable sources. I don't think that changed because the Singulair literature states that it should not be considered as a treatment for that. Leukotrienes were a source of inflammation caused by eosinophils and mast cells present in greater numbers (than normal) in airway tissue. So, it was beneficial to find a way to decrease that.

The cysLT1 receptor was identified as source of the signals that tell the cells to produce leukotriene. The receptor, a gene, consist of 337 (they think) amino acids. They modified a compound that would bind to that receptor thus blocking the cells ability to produce leukotrienes. This compound is very specific. It was formulated to bind to the "model" receptor. This compound will not even bind to cysLT receptor sub-types. (That is the good thing.) There is an enormous amount of research that discusses the genetic variability of the chemical reactions that occur in the leukotriene (calling it this for simplicity) pathway. We are also seeing that a number of researchers would like to use gene profiles to predict whether patients will respond favorably to different asthma/allergy drugs. ALL PATIENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW IF IT IS INHERENT THAT SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT RESPOND TO SINGULAIR OR RESPOND ADVERSELY.

There are many studies from the 1998 era that conclude that montelukast is not effective for everyone. Those researchers stated that it can be predicted that those people who are going to respond favorably will do that within the first 14 days or so. That conclusion would be consistent with a genetic component for efficacy and safety of Singulair. Those doctors concluded that those who did not respond within that time frame should not take Singulair for fear of harming them. That makes good sense.

The Italian researchers wanted to know if there was more going on than blocking leukotrienes in the action of montelukast. They set up a "test tube" study regarding montelukast, the cysLT1 receptor, and some t-cells that they selected. Why? Researchers always have something on their minds. They observed the death of these particular t-cells.

Montelukast is a quinoline. We basically know of quinilines and quinolones as compounds that were invented as broad spectrum antibiotics. They work because they interference with bacterial DNA so they cannot replicate themselves. Montelukast is a quinoline modified to bind with the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) and prevent that gene from activating. That's consistent with what a quinoline/quinolone does.

So what does montelukast do in blood plasma if it does not bind to the receptor because of genetic mis-match? (If montelukast does bind, then a chemical reaction has occurred and the liver will break down the by-products. Montelukast metabolized in 10-12 hours.) What happens if it doesn't bind? How long before it breaks down? Does it produce toxic by-products?

I want to know what happens to lymphocytes such as t-cells just because montelukast is a quinoline. Maybe nothing but what's up with the Italians researchers? I want to know if montelukast has the capability to interfere with lymphocytes who can clone themselves. That could be a good thing under circumstances when these lymphocytes are causing inflammation. But it could be a bad thing in the case of normal individuals with no problems.

I want to know if the bad side effects are due to the fact that the body has to break down and metabolize a quinoline that did not bind to the receptor for which it was created. The side effects of Singulair are strangely similar to what is observed in the quinolones such as levaquin. I have not as yet been able to compare montelukast as a quinoline to levaquin as a quinolone. I am hoping to find something on these categories. There may be no reason to worry that they cause similar damage. But frankly, I think that there is. There is some terrible chit happening to some people. The scariest is the neurological damage.

All of these questions would be in the everybody pharma knows to ask category. I don't know where the answers are. I haven't found them as of yet. Maybe there are no answers. We have to remember that Singulair and Vioxx were released in the same year. They have continued to be drugs under the current executive management of Merck. If the Vioxx marketing promoters had their ghost writers, why not the Singulair marketing promoters. The genetic component appears to be widely accepted but we haven't heard one thing about even that.

I think that it is sad that maybe the marketing of Singulair as one stop shopping for asthma/allergies may have destroyed the original concept. I really think from reading the original work that they knew that they couldn't engineer a drug for one size fits all. Everybody gets harmed when information is withheld.

Shame on the allergist who yelled at the mother who wanted to discuss issues. Does he know exactly who is allergic to Singulair and who isn't? Get him a dunce hat. Just because Singulair is marketed for allergies does not mean that you cannot be allergic to it. See the power of Madison Avenue? The ad agencies focus group these drugs to death. The ad agencies cleverly craft the product information. A good piece of legislation would be to prohibit consumer drugs ads.

I read that many of you blame Singulair for your side effects when you are also taking multiple drugs. As a public service, I put together a list of side effects from some of the other drugs mentioned on this site. These are by no means all the side effects listed for each drug. The first group is from allergy medications people have mentioned.
Zyrtec & Zyzol -
suicidal ideation, suicide, aggressive reaction, anaphylaxis, cholestasis, convulsions, glomerulonephritis, hallucinations, hemolytic anemia, hepatitis, orofacial dyskinesia, severe hypotension, stillbirth, thrombocytopenia.
abnormal thinking, agitation, amnesia, anxiety, decreased libido, depersonalization, depression, emotional liability, euphoria, impaired concentration, insomnia, nervousness, paroniria, sleep disorder.
accidental injury, asthenia, back pain, chest pain, enlarged abdomen, face edema, fever, generalized edema, hot flashes, increased weight, leg edema, malaise, nasal polyp, pain, pallor, periorbital edema, peripheral edema, rigors.

Benadryl-
Sedation, sleepiness, dizziness, disturbed coordination, fatigue, confusion, restlessness, excitation, nervousness, tremor, irritability, insomnia, euphoria, paresthesia, blurred vision, diplopia, vertigo, tinnitus, acute labyrinthitis, neuritis, convulsions. Epigastric distress, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, Urinary frequency, difficult urination, urinary retention, early menses

Allegra -
insomnia, nervousness, sleep disorders or paroniria, and hypersensitivity reactions (including anaphylaxis, urticaria, angioedema, chest tightness, dyspnea, flushing, pruritus, and rash). Back Pain, Stomach discomfort, Pan in extremity, Headache, Vomiting, Somnolence/Fatigue, diarrhea,

Claritin -
Hypotension; hypertension; palpitations; tachycardia; syncope, Headache; somnolence; fatigue, nervousness; hyperkinesia; paresthesia; dizziness; migraine; tremor; vertigo; impaired concentration; depression; agitation; anxiety;

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.

(A divorced father)
My son has been on Singulair now 5 years and I am in the middle of fighting to get him off. My son is now 7 years old and has been diagnosed with allergies (no test have been done which I find very odd), which leads to a case of mild asthma. This past weekend his mother forgot his Singular on Friday so I could not give him any till the next day, where we met at his soccer game. Saturday night I gave him his usual pill and thankfully due to his exhaustion from playing out side all day he went to sleep in 10 min. vs 3 hrs later which is the norm since Singulair seems to jack him up.
He also has red puffiness under his eyes - most likely allergies.
Seems depressed - just driving down the road and I look at him in the rear view mirror and he just sits and stares into space. When I ask what's wrong he either says nothing or I am tired.
He will try to tell a story or think for himself and just stops mid sentence and says " never mind I am just confused"
He will be having fun one moment and just starts crying or gets depressed.
He was throwing a ball in the house (yes I know) and accidentally knocked a glass over breaking it - he went running to his room, crawled under his bed and sobbed profusely for over 30 min.
He has a hard time doing / focusing on homework - becomes bored very easily.
Does not want to go outside. I will take him to allot of cultural events/ hands on or participation events - he will not try anything. He is unsure and will not come out of his box so to speak.
I spoke with his doctor who was reluctant to take him off, but then agreed that if it was OK with the ex, to take him off for a week to see what happens.
The fun part: My ex is convinced that since he has been on Singulair for 5 years he is fine and does not need to come off it.

1.) Son is diagnosed with mild asthma or allergy induced asthma.
He has never had an allergy test done and has not had a lung function test in over a year.

2.) It is documented that our son has four outbreaks a year. (sounds like the changing of the seasons) but is given Singulair all year round and the dosage has also been increased.

3.) Since the court order, ordered my ex to enroll our son in sports (she would not let him play anything) he does not wheeze or cough uncontrollably.

4.) Since I had to battle to get our son on my insurance I have cut her control issues off a little, but she is refusing to take him off Singular just for a week to see how he reacts. Although I do agree that he should have some form of allergies medicine.

5.) When I found out about the side effects of Singulair, I also found that his doctor was getting ready to add two other allergy medicines to his portfolio - totaling 3 different meds.

I see our sons behavior getting worse and I watch him turn into something he is not and with a controlling individual not believing anything about the side effects it looks like I will have to rely on the medical system to prove my point. I do believe he needs to be accurately tested for allergies and given a regularly lung function test but most of all since he is now on my insurance, a second opinion and a 3rd to narrow down what the situation is and an alternative medical procedure that is fit for the symptoms.

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.

I found this message board last night and until then, I thought my daughter was just bad. She is almost 3 and has been on Singulair for a little over a year. I have said on many occasions, "What happened to my sweet girl?" After the suicide and Singulair connection, my husband would joke and say that's why why our daughter is out of control. I finally decided to check into it and was amazed at the number of kids out there like my daughter. She is an emotional wreck! Her mood swings are something else. I have to walk on egg shells around her so not to upset her. For example, she will walk up to me smiling and give me a hug. When I hug her back, she screams at me and tells me to let her go or to stop touching her. When her brothers talk to her, she screams at them to stop talking to her. She has meltdowns numerous times a day. I am going to stop giving her Singulair as of today and hope that she will improve.

I am a mental health professional. I was on Singulair for 6 years. After hearing of the psychiatric side effects, I stopped it. The suicidal ideations have stopped, the depression and anxiety are decreasing. This information should have been made public long before now. And to think that I had actually calculated whether I had enough drugs on hand to accomplish suicide. I hold Merck responsible for putting myself and others through this torment.

Concerned Citizen Do you have a life? Quit scaring people and libeling a company. You don't know your science. Quit pretending you do.
Wait till you see the things that come out about the 15 year old in Upstate NY who committed suicide. You will wipe plenty of egg off of your face. Give it up.

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

Kate Kendle Here. I'm looking for Corey Miller's Mom. You had e-mailed me before. My son also committed suicide and you said that it was on your son's birth date. Please e-mail me at my personal e-mail address as I'd like to hear all about Corey and tell you all about my A.J. I'm sorry that we have to share this as a commonality but I'd really like to stay in touch with you.
If I remember correctly, your name is also Kate.
Hoping to hear from you. Kate Kendle

My son is off singulair for two weeks now and is showing improvements. He was on it for 7 years and at the beginning we blamed it on steriods, even though his dose was low. When he went off the steroids, the behavior didn't stop. I questioned the allerist if the singulair could be doing it, but was told no, it doesn't have those side effects. I don't blame the doctors because they weren't given the info. He was extremely emotional, cried for no reason, had no confidence, didn't like himself. We on more than one occasion have told his older sister that when he hits his teenage years we would have to watch him for suicide, as his reaction to problems was sooo out of whack! He was on motrin for headaches 4-5 days a week(blamed it on sinusses). Unexplained stomachaches. These symptoms came on over years, not right away. I have always thought that the steroids had done damage because he took them when he was so young. Until the news reports hit, and I started reading other people's stories and doing the "OMG, that's my kid!", I never put the problems on singulair. I was still skeptical, but took him off. His symptoms immediately got 100x's worse for a week. But funny thing is, his headaches are gone, his stomachaches are gone and he seems much less emotional. The strangest thing is, EVERY night, he comes in to kiss us good night 7 or 8 times, and sometimes by the 7th time he is crying and can't explain why. This has been going on for YEARS, EVERYNIGHT, never a break. It stopped! Just stopped cold 7 days ago. Comes in once, says goodnight, leaves and falls asleep. I know this isn't a coincidence. After years of wondering what's wrong with my kid, now I feel like I've been poisoning my him for 7 years. I'm not skeptical anymore.

Both my children, ages 4 and 7, are currently taking Singulair chewable tablets for their seasonal allergies. They have been doing so for about three months. At first, I was not consistent in giving them the medicine. It wasn't until recently that I decided I should give it to them as prescribed, once daily before bedtime. During this time I heard about an incident linking this medication to a suicide. I shrugged it off thinking this could not happen to my children. Little did I know that this medication has other serious side effects linked to it. For the past few weeks, my own 7 year old daughter has experienced many of those side effects including stomache aches, headaches, trouble falling asleep, irritability, mood swings, crying spells, and traumatic nightmares. She used to be a fun loving child who loved waking up to go to school. Now she does not want to get up in the morning and hates going to school. She cries easily over the smallest thing and complains frequently of headaches and stomach aches. My son on the other hand has become overly aggressive and I had concluded that maybe his video games or cartoons were to blame. Well, today I found your website and I will take them both off the medication indefinitely! Their allergies were not as severe to begin with so I figure that they should do okay without it. I will probably look into more natural/ herbal remedies to soothe them when they do get their allergies. I will definitley be reporting back as to their results.

Hi to all,
I am Cody Miller's mom, the boy who took his life after 17 days on SINGULAIR.I am just checking back to read some postings and I am truly amazed and saddened at the stories.I believe that if you follow through by filing your side effects with the FDA , advise anyone you know to do the same,the seriousness of this drugs danger cannot be hidden or ignored any longer.We have met with some knowledgable people on the drug company Mercks outlandish ,irresponsible practices .They said, the thing that helps in cases like this are,< REPORTS AND PHONE CALLS TO THE FDA>This is what we are being told.I have copied the pages on this website and, the Congresswomans that is helping us, has scanned your stories to disk.We will be taking them to Washington DC on May 2 to speak to the FDA.These stories cannot be ignored.Please make sure you look at all the serious side effects. When speaking to your doctor, let them know that this drug can cause alot of things besides suicide, although that is a serious added side effect. It can slowly steal the quality of your childs life and your family's life.Risk to benefit is all I am reminding everyone of,it seems the doctors sometimes dont look at the overall picture.I do believe however that more physicians are looking at this with eyes wide open, now that people are putting two and two together.My quest is relabeling this drug ,after removing it from the market to study further.Safety should be first ,not profit for GIANT PHARMECUETICAL COMPANIES.Your voices will be heard if you just make waves , have some faith.My husband and I will make it known to all who will listen, we are not alone in our request. They must seriously evaluate this drug and it's benefit to risk ratio, childrens lives are dependent on this important investigation.You can find the phone number to the FDA on the website if this number does not work,718-340-7000ext.5657 Alice in Jamaica New York.This person will direct you if your having difficulty filing on medwatch.com.She will file while on the phone with you.Please again, take these steps to move this important matter forward in the right direction.Blessings to all Kate Miller

J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., I hope that you google your name and will give us your opinion. We are going in the right direction. We need expert help.

Is anyone else interested in how many other medications that children or adults who took Singulair started taking after they were prescribed Singulair? If so, would you mind posting what the medication was and what kind of doctor prescribed them?

See comment by cheflette:
about 18 hours ago on Apr 05, 2008 by cheflette, #6727
Concernedcitizen, I REALLY appreciate the hard work you've done looking for how montelukast affects the brain. I think you're making an important point here. Everything we put in our bodies affects other parts of our bodies and I think these research companies forget that sometimes. You can't fundamentally alter a bodily function and expect the rest of the body to ignore it.

The scariest thing to me is that rather than removing the antagonist (in this case, Singulair), doctors will prescribe yet another drug. So many of these children are on a multitude of medications. What a mess.
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"We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events (OH REALLY, YOU MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT FIND ANYTHING AT ALL THAT IS POSSIBLY CONSISTENT???)," said George Philip, director of research and product development, according to AP. "But because suicide is a life-threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label."

In a statement released by Merck, they state that in their own analysis of trials of more than 11000 patients, there was no associated risk between them taking the drug and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

chris555 should be listed as a side effect. I'm one of the ones whose son committed suicide while on singulair and had the mood swings and such before hand. chris555is causing headaches and making people sick because chris555 is an ass!

My daughter was on singulair for about 2 years, off and on. Being a teenager, we thought some of the behavior problems were just a "teen" thing. She became dispondent, wanting to sleep all the time. She was hateful and resentful towards her family. She became depressed and talked of suicide. I didn't know what to do. We sought depression counciling.
My mother called me to tell me of the news report she saw. It described what we were going thru exactly!!!
I would NEVER have dreamed an allergy drug could have taken away my loving child and left a terror in its wake!
She has been off the drug for a few weeks now, and I can see a HUGE difference in her behavior. She is getting back to her old self. She told me she didn't realize just how bad it was until she stopped the drug and now feels so very good (read normal!). How terrible!
Even as I am typing this a singulair comercial is playing on TV. How DARE they!
Money and lawsuits will not bring back the years our children have lost, but big companies only respond when "profits" are involved. If there is a lawsuit, I too want no money from it. I do, however, want the drug company to have to pay and pay dearly for what they have done. The money could go to a children's charity.
Maybe the drug company didn't know before, but they know now and the drug is still being sold!

Here is some perspective for you all. I take Singulair and do well on it and in ACTUAL studies it has one of the safest safety records. Understand that post marketing reporting does not mean there is a correlation between the event and the product. Throughout the life of a drug the companies must disclose any report of side effects reported to them REGARDLESS of causality. A popular antihistamine that is OVER THE COUNTER also has suicidal thinking/behavior listed in its post marketing section. However, just because patients who had reported having these thoughts while taking the product doesn't mean it was a result of the product! Maybe they had a depressive personality and were also on multiple other medicines to treat that. You must look at the "Adverse Reactions, Warnings and Precautions" sections of package inserts to see the side effects that were actually seen in studies. You can die from ulcers derived from over use of aspirin or ibuprofen. Decongestants can throw off your blood pressure and these events are documented in actual studies! Listen to your bodies when taking any med. If you feel differently report it to your doctor.

These are all drugs people, there are potential side effects. There are also side effects to those "natural" over the counter remedies that are not nearly as regulated by the FDA or studies by the drug companies.

To anyone out there who has experienced side effects to singulair timed to when you started it, talk to your doctor, stop taking it and see if it goes away. Same advice for any product prescription or over the counter medicine. Side effects can be a combination of many factors (what other meds are you taking?) But understand for many people this product is the safest and most effective treatment for them. The FDA and Merck are reviewing all information to see if there is any correlation to the reporting. But singulair been around for about 10 years and prescibed to billions of people and is known to be one of the safer medicines out there overall.

In between the legitimate posts on this site I get the sense there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. People looking to cash in on this big drug companies. We want drugs, we want them cheap and with no side effects which is not a reality. Keep stepping up the regulation and make the companies hire more lawers to protect themselves and jump through even more hoops and see what happens to the price and access to new meds. Even better, see how regulation has impacted the development of new medicines around the world (here's a tip, it will dramatically decrease). Drug companies certainly aren't perfect but which industry is?

Please, when taking any medicine over the counter, prescription or herbal supplement listen to your bodies to see if the potential benefits of the product outway the risks or side effects. Report any changes to your doctor.

I'm 22 years old. I've been on Singulair for about 5 years. I have stomach pains and mood swings frequently. As soon as I heard the news about depression and suicide I stopped taking it. I have a family history of depression and suicide so I don't need anything helping it out. I thought the mood swings were just from my hormones... guess not. I have not felt much of a change yet. I've been off the med sinceThursday.

I have been taking Singulair for 11 years. I have been struggling with depression. My mother called me when she saw the news about a young man who committed suicide. I am completely shocked! I have been struggling with mood swings, stomach pains, and depression. I plan to talk to my doctor immediately.

I am devastated!! Everything that I am reading about your children is describing my son. He has been on Singulair since "06 and was hospitalized for 10 days in '07 for suicide thoughts and possible attempt. Before '07 and singulair he was happy,popular and class favorite. He was very charming and played well with others. After '07 and the singulair, he became very angry and defensive towards everyone. He isolated himself and had a bad attitude. We longed to just see a smile and guess what? We saw one last night! He has not been on Singulair since friday night. 3-28-08. I can see a difference in him now. Thank God for all of you sharing your experiences and lets all pray that they will not have longterm problems from all of this. God Bless you! Reecesmom

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.

It's interesting to read about children who get angry for no apparent reason while on Singulair. We experienced this with our 5 year old son also. His Kindergarten teacher always brought this up to me that he would never take responsibility for his own actions, but blame everyone for what happened. He was the same way at home. He was extremely sensitive about everything! If we laughed he would explode thinking we were laughing at him. He constantly said that no one liked him and that he was stupid.

As soon as he was taken off the Singulair, little by little the sensitivity disappeared. He became, again, the strong confident little boy we once had.

I think this is a huge side effect of Singulair that will get over-looked because of the major side effect - suicide. If Singulair is causing children to feel such a poor self image, the side effects may well linger on longer than we thought. We must reassure our children that they are special, and well loved, and get them off, I'm not saying we all haven't done that because I know we have or we wouldn't be here worried sick seeking help. I just think they need that extra hug.

We actually told my son a few days after we took him off that the reason he got so angry all the time was because of singulair. We assured him that he would feel great again soon and he didn't have to worry about that "feeling" anymore. Like many other parents, even within about 3-4 days our son's personality started to shine again. What a joy it is to have him back.