Kids on Singulair

Stacy - posted on 05/09/2013

Randa, I have been in your situation recently but my son who is 12 years old didn't have the same reaction to the medicine as yours did. He started having mood swings and depression after being on the singulair for 6 months. After looking into it we found out that I had started him on a new bottle of the generic singulair and that is when it all started. I took him to a psychologist to try and figure out what was causing this problem. After discussing different things going on in his life did she realize, after I mentioned him having asthma, that his medicine could be the problem. I did a internet search and luckily found this website which confirmed our suspicion of the singulair. For my son, it took him two weeks to the day for the medicine to get out of his system and get back to normal. We have not had any problems since he has been off of it and I don't plan on starting him on it again. One thing you do have to watch though is that the pediatricians don't believe that singular is the problem. My son's doctor told me that it was highly unlikely that it was the singulair, but we could stop it if we wanted to. I really hope that your daughter's symptoms go away when those two weeks are up.

Randa - posted on 05/01/2013

My daughter has been on it for about a month and the last week and a half she has seemed down which my daughter is the opposite of that she is very outgoing and up for anything shes a free spirit..well she has had bad dreams, cried in her sleep she sais her brain doesnt feel good she is 5! she kept saying mom i dont know what is wrong "wif" me...she became non social etc....and she said cars sometimes scare her because they have scary faces???? well i took her off of the medicine 2 nights ago and im giving her over the counter claritin for children so far it seems to be helping and she has woke up happy but how long does it take to get out of their system? Is it about 2 weeks since it takes that long to build up?

Mary - posted on 05/01/2013

Hello Nicki Smith, My son is 3 and we too had some issues with the stuttering,night sweats,and seizure( for no apparent reason). He did have a complex febrile seizure 6 mos ago, but that one was sickness related. This last one he wasn't even sick. I read that seizures can be a side effect also. They now want us to do further testing with him to see if there are spikes in brain waves. We took him off singulair and now waiting to go ahead and schedule test. How long was it to see side effects improve with your daughter? Do you know how long this drug stays in their bodies? It just doesn't make sense to test him with a drug that can have this side effect in his system. How is your daughter doing now? Hope to hear from you soon. Take Care. Mary M.

Jackie - posted on 03/13/2013

Hello everyone, i can't help notice that most of the post are related to girls is it possible this medication has more side effect on girls then boys?
I have a 8 year old daughter she has sever seasonal allergies and her asthma gets worst during spring, so 4 years ago her pedi got her on sigulair after 1month of use, she started crying and complaining she was lonley and she wanted to die!!! i was so frustrated so i went to ped and she said it was one on the side effects, so we got her of after 4 years she is back on meds singulair the ped thinks she is older and probably we wont have more issues, well to our surprise after 5 nights of taking singulair she tells me her heart is in pain and the she feels sad and doesnt understand why oh and keep in mind i don't tell her anything about the medication, last night she was crying in her sleep, woke up in the middle of crying and said she was having a horrible nightmare,, obviously i will not give my daughter this medicine ever again i will try natural remedies.. Moms and Dads please watch out for these symptoms

Nicki - posted on 03/04/2013

Hey, sorry for raising an old post but I wanted to share our experience. Our 3.5 year old has been on singulair since aged two. It was prescribd for a persistent cough and allergic shiners. I remember joking that my baby boy changed overnight when he reached the age of two but we just put it down to the terrible twos. Night terrors, really bad sweats, lashing out, mood swings , social anxiety. We are even in the process of having him evaluated because we felt he was experiencing developmental issues. What bought is to a head was a few months ago he developed a psuedostutter . Nothing overly concerning but we were keeping an eye on it. Then last Monday he woke up and could not speak. My gorgeous boy, who has been chatting like a pro since he was 1.5 could not get the words out due to an extremely profound stammer. He has become depressed, reserved, isolating himself from friends, and to see him struggle so desperately to get his words out is heartbreaking. Then I looked up diets and stammering which raised the issue of medications. Looking up singulair I realised we've been, I'm essence, poisoning our poor little man. It's packed full of aspartame which is hugely toxic. Amd there is anecdotal evidence to support the correlation between singulair and stammering. We've taken him off it tonight and it is the first time in forever that he has not screamed in his sleep. Nor is he sweating or tossing and turning. I'm praying this will have a positive affect on his speech. Good luck everyone

Heather - posted on 03/02/2013

I know I am replying to an old post but I wanted to share this anyway. My 8 year old son started with the generic version of SIngulair about 5 months ago. I noticed an increase in his anxiety and a darkening of his moods. After reading the side effects we decided to take him off the medication even though it was extremely effective in controlling his asthma/allergies. A doc at Childrens Hospital suggested we give the Brand name Singulair a try - thinking that perhaps the brand name is chemically different enough to avoid the potential depressive side effects. Well after about 2 months on the brand name, my son is experiencing what I would identify as deeply depressive tendencies. He told a teacher at school that he wanted to hurt himself. It is totally out of character for him - he is normally the brightest most bubbly positive child in the world. I would value knowing if anyone else has had these experiences and if there are other med alternatives out there.

M - posted on 02/09/2013

My son has taken singulair since he was 4, and he will soon be 9. He is and always has been a very well- behaved, good, kid. My other son, however, used to have horrible night terrors and insomnia. He was diagnosed with apnea, and also has anxiety and ADHD. When he was first trialling several anxiety/sleep meds, he had really scary hallucinations, where he woke up wide eyes, glassy, and didn't seem aware of us. We stopped it right away. I think it important for individuals to be wary of jumping on a bandwagon, and consult with their individual child's paediatrician, AND know that as your child's parent, YOU know them best. I also agree with other comments that dyes and added ingredients can cause a lot of worry, and concern about a med that might not be the actual med but the additive! You can ask at many pharmacies, especially compounding pharmacies, for additive free meds. Singulair has been a godsend for our youngest son- without it he was sleepless, had pneumonia constantly, and coughed all night. Our pulmonologist and pediatrician recommended trying singulair. He has never been better! I think it important to note that ALL medicine has a long list of fairly significant side effects. One has to consult with the appropriate doctors and if researching online make sure to consult REPUTABLE medical sites such as the MAYO CLINIC, etc... But parents know their kids best! It is benefits outwaying risk, on a very individual basis. Good luck to every family dealing with the stressors of a chronic illness.

Diana - posted on 02/04/2013

OMG, My son has been taking Singulair since he was 4! He is now 12 and taking Focalinxr because we thought he had inattentive ADHD. Everything I've read here says Singulair could be responsible for that! The biggest alarm is the fact that my son had to have occupational therapy because he had poor gross motor skills and I am reading here that Singulair can cause Hyperkinesia which my son displayed all of the symptoms for. Wow, time for me to have a nice long chat with the Pediatrician!

Holly - posted on 01/11/2013

Pharmacies will occasionally change between generic forms of a drug and each one has a little different formula giving you different side effects. If your child was on a generic this could be the reason.

Danyell Arrae - posted on 12/11/2012

both of my sons that were on it for about 5 years it wasn't til after about 2 1/2 years when they started having serious behavioral issues night terrors .... i took them off it after several times of taking them into the dr. and the last visit i had for my daughter the dr said "oh yay there are some side effects to this medication, but it is very rare so we doctors tend to forget to to tell them to the parents" and guess what all the same issues i have been askin about with my boys that they never would do anything about. She prescribed it for my daughter i refused to give it to her and imediately took my boys off it. Within a couple months they where great school and home behaviors are gone and my 11 year old was having depression and suicidal thoughts now he is a great team leader in school and his 6th grade football star. It is just scary i am very careful about what i give my babies or even myself anymore.

Danielle - posted on 12/11/2012

Our daughter age 5 was on Singulair for 10 days worked great, but after 7 days started talking about wanting to die so I called and we took her off, now she is having troubles breathing again! What can we do for her that doesn't have all those side affects we hate drugs I want natural that works!

Nancy - posted on 10/22/2012

My daughter did the same thing she was fine w it then about a month later she got that I tool her right off!

DAP - posted on 10/18/2012

I have a daughter who had the night terrors, but no medication issues. She had them from 3rd-5th grade, not all the time. Just around times when she was stressed, when school started, etc.

Smcromey - posted on 10/12/2012

My daughter has been on singulair for a couple years now. Throughout these years, she has been sleepwalking, waking up confused and disoriented. However, sleepwalking runs in my family so we thought nothing of it. Within the last month and a half, she started taking the generic version of singulair. Since then she has woken up twice with anxiety attacks and hallucinations. She said that things in her room were getting bigger and smaller, and that her fingers were stretchy and getting too thin. We took her to the doctor after the episodes and the doctor took her off her breathing treatments (Xopenex and Pulicort). During the appointment the doctor said that she was pulling her off the breathing treatments because she might be over medicated, since her lung were sounding very clear. But she also mentioned that usually singular is the drug that they have issues with, but since my kid had already been on it for 2 years, she doubted it was related. Then last night at dinner, she said she had an episode in class where something on the white board got bigger than everything else, and nothing else on the white board looked right. I felt like I got the air knocked out of me. I was absolutely terrified for her. I was up all night worrying, and it was then that I remembered the doctor mentioning Singulair during the appointment. I looked up the side effects, the report from the FDA, and found message boards like this one. Thank goodness! I called the doctor this morning and we are discontinuing Singulair immediately. She said that it takes a few weeks to build up in your system, so it will take a few weeks (at least) to leave. Thank you all for posting your experiences. I thought my kid was losing her mind, and I was about to lose mine.

Stacey - posted on 10/01/2012

My 6 year old was prescribed Singular. Just recently divorced and moved to country. His allergies got worse. And a few weeks later my son starting having nightmares, crying fits, angry outbursts, saying he wanted to die and was having bad thoughts of going to the devil. After many months of sleepless nights, missed school and me and his father at our wits end, my sister suggested it might be the Singular. We took him off it and have not had a single issue. I must say it was the most tramatic few months of my life and it sickens me to think what my son went through!

Stacey - posted on 10/01/2012

My 6 year old was prescribed Singular. Just recently divorced and moved to country. His allergies got worse. And a few weeks later my son starting having nightmares, crying fits, angry outbursts, saying he wanted to die and was having bad thoughts of going to the devil. After many months of sleepless nights, missed school and me and his father at our wits end, my sister suggested it might be the Singular. We took him off it and have not had a single issue. I must say it was the most tramatic few months of my life and it sickens me to think what my son went through!

Joelle - posted on 09/20/2012

My daughter is 19 months old and has been on Singulair for 6 months. She was getting sinus infections every couple of weeks and at one point it turned into pneumonia. So in an effort to keep her off of prolonged use of antibiotics, we tried Singulair. It worked really well for allergies and she hasn't had a single sinus infection since. BUT within the past few months she has been violently tossing and turning in her sleep, dreaming about "mean puppies" and screaming about them while she is still asleep. I let this go on as I thought I could attribute it to her teeth. Within the last month she has become EXTREMELY irritable and aggressive with me and her dad, our dog, her aunt, and the other children at my daycare for no reason. There are points where she is totally fine and then a switch flips and she begins to shake and scream if anyone comes near her. She will cry uncontrollably if I don't warm up her milk in the morning(just started with this this week). All of the teeth she is going to get for awhile have come in, and I have worked with this age for 7 years now. This is not typical "toddler" twos behavior. This is a normally happy easy going child with a severe mood change. It almost seems as if she is Manic...but this is just nuts for a child who is 19 months and never had issues before. The real kicker is that I started singulair 2 weeks ago for my own sinus and allergy issues and within the past week there have been 2 whole nights I have not slept at all and have a constant migraine for a week. I feel anxious and nervous about weird things. I am waiting on a call back from the doctor to see what else we can try. Never taking singulair again.

R - posted on 09/01/2012

My daughter is 7 and was given Singulair to combat a mysterious cough that wouldn't go away. After that she developed severe nightmares which we attributed to just being "that age" mixed with anxiety over Dad leaving for the military. What we didn't know was that she was hiding the true extent of her nightmares b/c they scared her so much. She didn't tell us what she was really experiencing until one day at dinner she began crying and said she didn't want to exist...Long story short. It was the medicine which never occurred to me until I did an internet search. We removed the medicine and the next night: No nightmares. It's almost a week later and she's asking me why they prescribe this to children? I can't provide her answers. I was on it. I stopped taking it b/c I'm nursing another little one. My son is on it but his asthma has been bad at times and he shows no side effects. When we consulted the pharmacist and doctors, they agreed: Remove the medicine. "It is well known for this." !!!! Thanks for lettings us know! She was on it for 9 months!

Susan - posted on 07/24/2012

Hi all!

My 5-year-old son was just prescribed Singulair to help with Allergies in an attempt to treat his sleep apnea. He also takes floanze daily for Allergies. I am concerned because he was prescribed 10 mg... and the recommended dose for children is 5 mg. He is heavy (85lbs), but it is my understanding that typically, adult dosage does not begin until roughly 100lbs. Does anyone have any experience with 10 mg of Singulair and children?

Thanks! Susan

Rebecca - posted on 07/17/2012

Glad to see this thread. My 3-year old was just diagnosed with allergies and the Allergist prescribed Singulair for her. He told us it might affect her mood. She took it for 4 days and we took her off. We do think it affected her mood - just made her more hostile/agitated/difficult, etc. The only thing is that the doc said if it affected her mood, it would be drastic. There would be no question as to whether the med was affecting her - it would be such a huge change. I don't know if I'd say it was as drastic as that but my husband and I both noticed changes. I just don't want her on anything that could mess with her brain like that. Scary! So now I'm looking for some more natural alternatives or remedies. My daughter's only allergy symptom is congested nasal passages. I don't want to minimize that ... I know she needs to breathe! But I feel like the possible side affects from Singular are way worse than having a stuffy nose. She is on Flonase every night, and a nurse friend suggested doing saline nasal washes several times a day to try to clear out her passages. Does anyone have any ideas for other ways to combat allergies besides Singulair?

Danyell Arrae - posted on 05/19/2012

I am so glad i have read this . I have two sons (11 & 7 ) who have been on Singulair for 5years and in the past 3 years my sons have been going up and down with their behaviors and emotions. Dr's telling me that it's ADHD and the teacher's are saying no and then they say he will grow out of it. then they tried to ask what was going on at home maybe he needs a counselor My oldest is getting meaner and depressed and it's not like him he is all star football and basketball player he is one of the biggest and most feared kid in the school and he was never like this . he cries cause he doesn't know whats wrong. Just recently i took my daughter in due to her developing asthma and allergies same as the boys and our same MD suggested the inhalers but not the Accolate or Singulair and she stated " oh i forgot to tell you when the boys started on Singulair there is a very small side effect that is not common so we don';t always remember to tell people. but it is physciatric." i freaked out i told her you mean everything that has been going on with my sons . she told me to take them to a physcologist .I have chosen to completely take them off .the medication and will be more aware of the medications my children take it's sad to see how many kids have gone through this because it takes away their child hood it is scary to them and as parents you don't ever wanna see your child go through it .

Leeann - posted on 01/26/2012

@Erin its one step at a time babe, don't feel bad I thought the same thing with mine dealing with a few of his other meds. Just keep your head up, do your own checking of meds. and remember you can always come back here!

Erin - posted on 01/21/2012

Our 3 1/2 year old son has been on Singulair for nearly 3 months and started up with some strange behaviors. He absolutely hates his room, refuses to fall asleep there by himself nf wakes up screaming a couple of times during e night. He has also become neurotic about his

hands, telling me they are sticky all the time when clearly they are clean. I am going to stop his medication and meet with his doctor ASAP! Allergies are better than what we are seeing in him now. I'm so glad I found this thread... I was starting to think he was showing signs of some behavior disorder and now I think it's probably his medication.

Jennifer - posted on 01/20/2012

My son has been on singulair about a year now and has restless nights. He's almost 5 and wakes up nearly everynight aroung 10:30 p.m. They just upped his dose from 4mg. to 5 mg. (which is for 6 & up). I went outside the Kaiser network to the UCLA asthma doc and he's looking to take Daniel off of it. He's not convinced the Sing. helps. Plus, just a day or two after they upped his dosing, his behavior reminded me of how he acts when he's on Prednisolone. :/ Can't wait to see if his asthma stays controlled off the Sing.

Kattia - posted on 10/06/2011

My daughter took singular from age 3 to 7. We took her off when she became depressed and had trouble sleeping. This was was 4 years ago. Since then I've heard similar stories from mothers. I don't understand why this med is still being given to kids.

Leeann - posted on 09/27/2011

so far so good for us, but then again he's only been on it for little over a week. we've actually seen an improvement in his behavior, also he was unable to eat red apples and have any red fruit drink. but i notice the other night he had fruit punch and was fine and in the hospital he had apple juice and was fine no adverse reactions. so here's hoping none of this happens i'm already freaking out as it is.

Shelly - posted on 08/31/2011

My daughter was on Singulair and became very moody & emotional...We gave it several months. She is a very happy go lucky kid so this was very abnormal for her. We stopped taking it without our doctor's blessing. She returned to her old self.



I also had a friend who's daughter had problems as well.

Sugirdha - posted on 06/28/2011

Hi Susie...I'm so sorry that your daughter had to go through that. After reading about what people had to say abt the drug i wonder why its still available in the market!! I took my son to the Paed again and guess what?? he said the symptoms weren't suggestive of singular causing it!! So i took him to an A&E where they said it could be the singulair. Anyways we are into the fourth day now after stopping it and though he is able to sleep okay he still complains of pin princks in his legs below the knees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and we also have an appointment with a neurologist in 5 weeks time. I wish your daughter complete recovery from the adverse effects. Good Luck and thanks for sharing.

Susie - posted on 06/26/2011

Hi Sugirdha - When my daughter took Singulair, she had terrible hallucinations that night. Because of this, I had forgotten that she had been complaining about itchy legs as well. I just never put that together. After I took her off, the hallucinations stopped. However, we endured about 21/2 months of night terrors, resulting from this traumatic experience. I'm sure your son's symptoms will subside soon. If not, you may want to talk to your doctor. When I talked to the pediatrician and the allergy doctor, they brushed me off like I was crazy and that it couldn't possibly be from the drug. I said that I have read about many people's stories that beg to differ. Good luck.

Sugirdha - posted on 06/26/2011

I came across this thread when i was searcing for side effects of Singulair. It was prescribed for my son's asthma and after 5 days of taking it he is now showing some adverse effects. He was tossing and turning in bed and complained of severe itching in his legs. i also noticed uncontrollable movements in his legs when hes sleeping. when awake he is restless and cranky and is screaming at everyone. I stopped the medication last night and he is still showing all the signs. How long do i have to give for it to subside??

Susie - posted on 04/14/2011

My daughter is 7 and was just prescribed Singulair. I gave it to her just before bed and when I tried to get her up for school the next day, she was very tired with a low grade fever. I kept her home from school and she slept all day. Then in the late afternoon, she woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. She was staring in the mirror saying that the bed was flipping around and that the blanket was flying around the room. I talked to 2 pharmacists and the doctor who said to try again in a few days to see if it was the medication. We tried again and she came to our room screaming in the middle of the night, pointing at things (that weren't there) and screaming "Make it Stop". It was the most frightening thing I've ever seen. I again called the doctor and was told to try giving it in the morning. To be honest, I will never give her this drug again. I do not like things that mess with the brain. Then I came across the website http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.as... What an eye opener!

Inga - posted on 10/01/2010

Hi Andrea, I'm new here. My daughter is 3 and just got diagnosed with asthma about a month and a half ago. She's been on Singulair for 3 weeks, and I also noticed that she's waking up a night crying, most likely after having a nightmare. I'm not sure if Singulair is that effective, because she's having another flare-up, only after 3 weeks...

Karla - posted on 07/30/2010

My son has been on singulair for 2 years and not one problem! My daughter who was 13 at the time was started on it earlier this year. Within 2 weeks of taking this med, she was vecoming very depressed, having extreme anger outbursts, and telling me she didnt want to live. I did research on this drug and found out this is one of the side effects. within 48 hours of taking her off singulair, we noticed a complete 360 in her behavior. I would say if you think its the meds, take your child off. There are def other meds out there that you can try.
good luck

Carrie - posted on 04/12/2010

I had my daughter on Singulair for over a year and then out of nowhere she started getting really emotional then bad mood swings at age 4. Finally after talking with alot of doctors they said it was best to take her off of it because the side affects are to intense in alot of children some just take longer to hit then others. Hope this helps

Mercedes - posted on 03/14/2010

My daughter had night terrors but I never even associated them with the medication! wow. She got over it, and is 7 and still on sigulair. I 'am going to look at those side affects and depression and anxiety run really close to home(me) I dont want the meds. to make it worst if she ever has those sympthoms.

Kelli - posted on 12/25/2009

My daughter has been on singulair for almost 4 years and has never experienced any side effects, Thank God for that.

Jenna - posted on 12/21/2009

The FDA is continuing to investigate Singulair. Parents United for Pharmaceutical Safety and Accountability is urging parents whose children had any type of adverse reaction to Singualir to file adverse event reports with the FDA. The FDA needs to know how many children have experienced problems with this drug. This is the link to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm

Michelle - posted on 12/21/2009

Singulair gave both of my boys severe nose bleeds so they didnt take it very long. Night terrors can come and go even in children who do not take medications and often start in the preschool ages.

Jenna - posted on 12/14/2009

Hi Brandi,

If you haven't tried any medications other than Singulair, now may be the time to start exploring an alternative. The side effects your daughter is experiencing are serious:
"The presence of severe and frequent nightmares or insomnia was a strong predictor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors." From new research conducted by Rebecca Bernert, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Florida State University. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/...,8599,1904561,00.html

If you are not already seeing a pulmonologist or allergist, it would be a good idea to find one. My son received better care from an allergist vs a pediatrician, and the allergist was much more knowledgable about medications and side effects.

Here's some information about other treatments for asthma:
Inhaled corticosteroids are considered the most effective treatment for the long term control of asthma by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. ICS also have side effects; a child may experience side effects with one type of ICS but not another. ICS and other treatments are outlined in the NHLBI's guidelines for diagnosing and treating asthma: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asth...

Asthma can be triggered by allergies, so keeping allergies under control is really important. Control can involve environmental controls, antihistamines (which can also have undesirable behavioral/psychiatric side effects), and allergy shots. Intranasal corticosteroids (which have a low risk of systemic side effects) have been clinically proven the most effective treatment for allergic rhinitis: http://www.jcaai.org/file_depot/0-100000...

I hope you find this information helpful. Good luck and best wishes for your daughter.

Brandi - posted on 12/14/2009

The Singulair has given our daughter terrible dreams and makes her extremly hyperactive and not able to fall asleep! I don't know what else to do, though. She has to have the meds to keep her asthma under control. Good luck!

Stacey - posted on 12/02/2009

Now that it was mentioned in the article I noticed the difference in my son's behavior when he went from the 4mg to the 5mg dosage. I am just glad he is off of it. We have just decided to also pull our 7 yr old son off as well. He has always been hyper but we are seeing improvement with his focus now that we have discontinued the Sigulair. I wish I would have known about the side effects earlier.

Jenna - posted on 12/02/2009

My son had a terrible time wth Singulair. He took it for about 5 1/2 years starting at about age 3 1/2. He experienced several behavioral and psychiatric side effects which severely impacted the quality of his life. Last year he became depressed and started saying that he wished he were dead so he "wouldn't have to feel this way." Last fall we discovered the connection, stopped the medication, and within a few days observed a dramatic positive change in his behavior and mood. His behavior has continued to improve during the last year.

Our experience prompted me to found an advocacy group to raise awareness of Singulair's side effects and provide support to parents whose children are experiencing adverse reactions to Singulair. I have been in contact with hundreds of parents. One valuable thing I have learned as a result of this contact is that side effects do not always occur immediately when Singulair is started. Parents have reported that side effects began days, weeks, months, or years after starting Singulair. The longest was 2 years. A few parents reported their children experienced side effects after a dosage increase. Looking back, my son's problems worsened after his dose was increased from 4 to 5 mg.

Dream abnormalities (which are what night terrors are) are documented side effects of Singulair (www.singulair.com).

This past June, the FDA announced the findings of their year long safety review of Singulair and required a precaution about neuropsychiatric side effects be added to Singulair's label. Detailed information is available on our website: www.parentsforsafety.org. We also provide a link to report adverse reactions to the FDA. This is VERY important to do because these reports are what lead to labeling changes and research.

Singulair's neuropsychiatric side effects include:
agitation including aggressive behavior or hostility, anxiousness, bad/vivid dreams or dream abnormalities, depression, hallucinations, insomnia (trouble sleeping), irritability, restlessness, somnambulism (sleep walking), suicidal thinking and behavior (including suicide), tremor

Hyperkinesia (which is related to ADHD) is listed on the Canadian prescribing information for Singulair (the link to this document is on our website).

I encourage every parent whose child takes Singulair to monitor their child vigilantly and contact their child's physician IMMEDIATELY at the first sign of any behavior, emotional, mental, or mood changes, or the development of any physical complaints or problems.

Please share this information with other parents. We also have a facebook support group: Singulair Parents. Anyone whose child had an adverse reaction to Singulair is welcome to join.

Stacey - posted on 11/16/2009

Hi. I have three kiddos who were ALL on Singulair. On a recent 6 yearly visit to our pediatric allergist I complained that my middle child (5yr old boy) had been becoming more and more violent and having severe temper flares.... I was concerned that he may have a mental illness and wanted a referral to a specialist. The doctor looked my son over and spoke with him at length and then turned to me and told me to take him off the Singulair. That this was a side-effect of the medication and my son was not bi-polar in his opinion. So we have taken him off singulair and I am so thrilled to tell you that I have my loving warm caring snuggle boy back! AND we saw a change in him within 48 hours of being off the Singulair. My two other kids (one older and one younger) have no issues with taking the drug. I don't know if this helps or not.... just wanted to share.

Karen - posted on 11/03/2009

My son is 12..he has been on it since he was 4 years old...no problems...he is on it now...none of that....sound fishy to me...need to investigate

Christie - posted on 10/23/2009

About a yr ago I had both my youngest and my 8 yr old on Singulair. My pediatrician talked to me about taking my older daughter off the medication after several cases of preteen and teen suicides related to the drug. While still leaving my 2 yr old on it. She said that children around 7/8 through late teens are under so much pressure peer and otherwise that they are more likely to have the more serious side effects. She had been on the drug for about 2 yrs before that and I had just started seeing signs of depression when her doctor brought it up. I still have my youngest take it only during her big allergy months Oct-Feb as long as she doesn't display any symptoms..she still really young.

Rickita - posted on 08/19/2009

My 3 year old son is on Singular and no I have not had any problems with it yet but thanks for the warning. I will definately keep a close eye on it though. Thanks again

Katrisha Ann - posted on 08/08/2009

Oh that's scary! My daughter was on Singulair but we never had any problems. It is best to let your daughter's doctor know what has happened and maybe change her prophylaxis. I think children react to different medications differently. Hope everything will be fine.

Ayishah - posted on 06/13/2009

My son was prescribed Singulair, but I never really gave it to him because of the potential side effects. Recently his doctor told me that it's primarily for used to treat allergies and he rarely uses it to treat his asthma patients. He had only renewed my prescriptions because my son had been taking it prior to us switching to him. I say keep her off the meds and treat her allergies, if she has them, with Claritin during the day and Benedryl at night as my doc recommended.

Teasha - posted on 06/09/2009

No problems here

Juanita - posted on 05/28/2009

i hear ya, my daughter who is 3 1/2years went on singulair this year and she had the exact same reaction the first night she started to take it! It doesn't really work for her though so the dr's are going to take her off it soon.