Singulair and viral infection

My 12 year old son started on Singulair 10 days ago. Yesterday, he threw up blood twice, so I took him to urgent care. He said it felt like someone was shoving knives into his stomach. He had blood tests and a CAT scan -- the connective tissue in his abdomen was inflamed and his lymph nodes are slightly enlarged. His white blood cell count is up slightly -- just above normal -- and his liver enzymes are elevated, which the doctor said is common with a viral infection. He has also had migraine-type headaches twice in the last week. HOWEVER: my 16 year old son has been on Singulair for four years, and it has been a lifesaver. He has had some hand tremors, which could also be aggravated by the decongestant he also takes, but no other side effects.

Concerned citizen!!!
Just had to share the news! 3 months after stopping singulair and taking omega 3 (for last 3 months) has resulted in my 6yrs olds cholesterol going down from 236 to 202! Absolutely no diet change, in fact he has been eating worse due to throat condition/tonsils. Makes me go HMMMMM!!!

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.

"OH MY GOD"!! Is all I have been able to say since I learned about this on Friday!!! Reading all these posts is just like reading a diary about my 5 1/2 yr old daughter. She was diagnosed with asthma when she was just 2yrs old....continual trips to the ER because she was wheezing, breathing sounded like she had swallowed something and it was lodged in her wind pipe, lethargic, high temp, etc only to be told it was bronchitis, pneumonia, a viral infection etc., until she was referred to the pulmonologist and he told me it was asthma, never the other diagnosis she was given, so he put her on SINGULAIR. Shortly after she started SINGULAIR she became an entirely different little girl. Threw "OUTRAGOUS" tantrums/fits, was "wild", moody, poor attention, uncontrollable, angry, screamed and cried all the time, very defiant.......just this being that I didn't recognize as my sweet affectionate little baby. Even the "please and thank you's" and the hugs and kisses just because eventually slipped away. I sit here today recalling the day that I was at my desk at work and called this doctor's office, spoke to the nurse and said to her..."I think that SINGULAIR is causing her to act like a totally different person, something is wrong, this is what she is doing, and I told her the symptoms, I think it is the medication"!! She spoke with the doc and called me back only to say, "It cant possibly be the medication, it isn't a steroid type med that causes behavioral problems, it has to be something else"! So knowing how well controlled her asthma was on this medication, I "fell for it"....who wants to see their child in such distress with asthma (not knowing that I was in fact right about the med being the culprit)?! Months went by and her behavior got increasingly worse, she would literally whip things off a counter with one stroke of her hand, she has knocked over 20 pound 4 foot high stereo speakers and took a big chunk out of my wall, she has hit and bit, the list goes on and on-keep in mind she was just 2 at the time. She was very unsafe to be allowed to play outside with out being in a fenced in back yard because she would dart to the street and pay no mind to that scared mom yelling for her to STOP, it was like she was in another state of mind, a different person, you could look at her face and see in her eyes, my baby just wasn't there. When she was 3 she got upset at day care lodged a toy at the teacher and jumped over the loft for no reason. She has been knick named "klutz butt" because she has been so unstable on her feet, she trips over her own 2 feet, falls all the time and we just look at her like, how in the world did ya do that---is that related to SINGULAIR as well?!?!? She was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, worked with an OT/PT, her behaviors got increasingly worse and I had no idea what was going on with her, I took her to see neuropsychologist and was told definite sensory issues, possible obstinate defiant disorder, taught how to do "the hold" when her behaviors got so out of control that either she was going to hurt herself or someone else, she has torn her room and the house apart in these fits of rage, at 4 took her to see a child counselor and told "Oh classic ADHD for sure"! All along I have told people I just don't feel in my heart that ADHD is what is going on with her, I think it is something else...her kindergarten teacher commented that her abilities in school are inconsistent, I note now that after her dose increased she forgot everything she knew academically and people thought I was crazy when I told them yes, she knows her ABC's, can identify numbers, etc! The behavioral things that this girl has done are just sooooo unexplainable and to now see all the posts that others who have loved ones on this drug have dealt with brings some relief to my mind to know that I am not crazy! but it brings deep sadness and anger to know that I suspected it to be the SINGULAIR early on and did not go with my gut and take my child off this drug!! She has been on this med since she was 2, she is now 5 1/2. In September 2007 her doctor suggested she be taken off SINGULAIR and put on Flovent because Flovent covers better......I was too scared to take her off (imagine that) so she did not come off SINGULAIR until January of this year- BEFORE I became aware of the risks. I have a strong glimpse of my baby again.....less and less of these horrendous fits she used to throw, less crying and screaming, her breath doesn't have that wrenched smell, she is doing much better in school, easier to get along with, is happier these days. I am now struggeling with the fact that after these last 3 1/2 years of literal turmoil and having been ridden with such anxiety of raising this child that acted like such a monster thinking that she was always going to be this uncontrollable child with all this anger and it would only get worse as she got older.............it's now a habit of being on the defense all the time, waiting for the next shoe to drop.....but that is over! so now we have to re-adjust our life....this is a horrible feeling to know that this medication has ruined the first forming years in my child's life and strained the bond between her and I.
Where do I go from here??? Do I call her doctor and start screaming at him? Do I call an attorney?? What do I do??? I know what I have done is thank GOD that I have the opportunity now to regain my sweet little baby and pray to Him that there are no lasting side affects from SINGULAIR!!!
If someone knows what it is that we are to do please feel free to comment me.

My three-year old son complains of feet pain when he's on Singulair. We took him off the medication and he stopped complaining about 3 weeks after, but we thought he just had a viral infection. We then put him back on it last week, and after taking it for 5 days, he's complaining that his feet hurt again.

My daughter is 11 years old and was put on Singulair in September 2004. We haven't noticed any side effects until the weather started warming up and she started playing outdoors for over an hour at a time. After playing on a sunny day, she develops hives on her face, neck and recently her arms. Her doctor is suggesting it is a viral infection and is putting her on Zyrtec for two weeks. I am very suspicious of her Singulair. Has anyone else been having this side effect?
Also in reading all the other postings regarding the nightmares and mood swings makes me wonder if this has been a side effect all along and we have overlooked it as preteen hormones. I am going to gradually take her off her Singulair this spring (the doctor has already suggested this do to her asthma symptoms being worse in the winter
months) and take note of any differences! Thanks everyone for taking the time to report on this drug!

My husband went to the doctor Saturday, 3/19/05 was there at least 3 hours before being seen by the doctor. He went for sinus allergies. He was prescribed Singulair, my husband took the dose late that afternoon after having lunch with a close friend. At around 2am he started having stomach pain and the urge to release everything in his stomach. Since 2am that morning he had strong vomiting and diarrhea up until 4pm the next day. I gave him a warm chammomille tea and Immodium advanced to help him get through this horrible ordeal. He also came down with flu like symptoms of aching muscles and the vomiting/diarrhea continued it was extremely difficult for me to watch him suffer this way. My small 4 year old started crying feeling that his daddy would not get better, this was extremely sad for both of us. My husbands diarrhea finally calmed down at around 7pm Sunday. The vomiting continued since he did try to have a light soup, he then went to bed early at around 9:30pm and later complained of having dilusional dreams as though they were very real, this is one of the symptoms described on the medication. My husband was never really able to sleep since he had taken this medication it wouldnt allow him to get any rest. Finally at around 3:30 am that Monday he finally dozed off and slept until 7:30 am. only 4 hours of somewhat sleep.

He wasnt feeling well enough that Monday morning so he forced himself to stay home from work to catch up on some rest, my husband had gone through an absolute horrible ordeal only because some doctor gambled on guessing this medication would be ok for him. My husband also had very fast heart rate along with everything else I've talked about.

He did mention to this doctor that he had previously had open heart surgery and the doctor didnt feel that this would be an issue with Singulair. When the doctor was contacted on Saturday morning he simply told my husband that his symtoms were due to him picking up a viral infection from the patients sitting around him in the waiting room that Saturday morning he came in. I strongly doubt that this was the case.
To everyone out there if you read this message please do not allow your dear family loved one to be put on Singulair, this medication is extremely destructive. My husband simply went in for allergy treatment and ended up having a weekend nightmare. So please I strongly advise that if you suffer from allergies do not allow any physician to prescribe you this absolute nightmare medication. I wish you all well and take great care of yourselves along with your dear loved ones.

Thank you.
Ms. Hicks

Oh My Goodness, I wish I would have read all these wonderful post before last night. My doctor put me on this horrible medicine. I developed a very bad sore throat and lost my voice for three days. During this time I was so worn out and tired all the time! My doctor said I had a viral infection, I got better and started taking the medicine again, last night. I woke up with a sore throat and tonight after work I am throwing all this medicine away. I don't like all the side affects headache, constant thirst, weight gain, etc.. Bye Bye Singular