anybody's child taking singulair?

[Jeannie in NJ]

my ds, age 13, was diagnosied with asthma 2 weeks ago and was put on 5 mg singulair once a day at nighttime, advair inhaler twice a day and xopenex for his nebulizer 3 times a day (will probably be taken off this soon per doctor). Anyway, in the last few days, he has started becoming very upset (but he tends to be a kinda drama kid anyway, he tends to over drama any aches and pains). He is in special ed. at achool and he was mainstreamed this year in science and history and is pretty much lost in those classes (due to budget cuts, there is not special ed. in history and science anymore).

 

Anyway, I don't know if he is so upset because of school or if it could be the singular. I have heard that it can cause such side effects as anxiety. He has an appt. at the asthma center tomorrow so I will ask them about this but I was also wondering if any of your dc have had any problems with singular of the advair? He has been on xopenex for a while so I don't think that would be causing any problems.

[secular_mom]

I can't take Advair, it makes me feel like junk. I'm taking Singulair now and it doesn't bother me at all. The advair would make me feel like I was on speed or something.

[Tap]

I saw a personality change in dd4 when she was on singulair at 2yo. I have heard from patients about this happening to their kids as well. I would talk to the doctor about taking him off for a few weeks, to see if he returns to his former personality. If he does, you can try him on it again, to see if it was a fluke or if his anxiety returns.

 

 

Good luck, it is a great med if the person doesn't experience the side effect from it.

[AnotherLinda]

I've got one child on Singulair and one child on Advair and and Singulair. We haven't had any problems, but I think there are others who have. :grouphug:

[annabanana1992]

My son and I were both on it for about a month before I figured out that it caused anxiety in me and rage in him...

[The Girls' Mom]

My daughter was on it for a year or more. I took her off of it because it made her extremely weepy.

 

She's on Advair right now with no problems that I can see.

[littlebug42]

Singulair for us was torture. It definitely changed our daughter. Although not mentioned as a side effect, her behavior bordered on manic. My normally high energy child had her hyperactivity multiplied about 3 times. She also had difficulty sleeping. We took her off of Singulair and she returned to normal pretty quickly. The docs still don't really believe me when I refuse Singulair but I know what happened with my babe. Many others take it without difficulty. She is now on a Flovent inhaler twice daily and it controls her asthma very well.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

My daughter is on Singulair and we haven't noticed any change at all in her personality.

[AuntieM]

There have been several threads on this, you may want to do a board search for "singulair."

 

The bottom line is, breathing is not optional. Regardless of what one chooses to use or not use, good air in and out has to be the goal.

Edited November 10, 2010 by AuntieM

[sbgrace]

Singulair has been a key for asthma control in my son and causes no personality or anxiety issues. He has to take allergy meds (anti-histamines) at certain times of the year though and those do affect his personality and make him very angry. We have to use them/haven't found any alternative unfortunately. My point is Singulair is fine here but any medication can certainly affect any person. I was nervous about Singulair and our doctor told us that she has very rarely seen any effects and when she has kids "went back to normal" when they went off. So I think you should be able to sort out what, if any, medication is the issue. Singulair isn't usually key in a spiral--it's more of a control medication. The xenopex is doing a lot for getting him out of it and the Advair is a good control for many people with asthma. So I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor pulls it for now to see if it was the culprit. Many wouldn't need Singulair and Advair anyway.

[rafiki]

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[smrtmama]

My oldest son had HORRIBLE reactions to Singulair! He was very agitated all the time, developed some gross nervous tics (this weird compulsive multi-finger nose pick thing), and when his dosage was increased, because deeply depressed and paranoid (He'd say stuff like, "The world is bad and dark and will never be good again."). It was really awful. When we took him off of it, he improved immediately. The compulsions quickly started to fade, he snapped almost immediately out of the depression, but it did take a lot of time for the anxiety to go away, because he'd really developed a mindset of responding to everything with anxiety after two years on meds that made him anxious. Had they not increased his dosage and the results been so clear, I might never have figured out the medication was doing it.

 

He has a similar reaction to Zyrtex, btw.

[KrissiK]

We had ds on Singulair and didn't notice any effects on his personality, but paranoid me took him off. Generic Zyrtec controls it just as well and it's so much cheaper. I'm not sure if he's growing out of it (he was diagnosed at age 18 months, he's 7 now), but he hasn't had an attack in about a year now. We control it with Zyrtec, Nasonex and Q-Var, adding Xoponex as needed. For him, though, it's not a breathing issue. It's a coughing issue and when he has an attack, it sounds like he's going to cough up a lung and it's very very bad.

[Jeannie in NJ]

last night ds was the worst ever. He had a major panic attack and was crying horribly. He has never been this way before, this was much more than any of his rare but normal upset issues. We are taking him to the asthma center today and having the dr. find an alternative. Is Claritan considered an alternative? Ds has taken that before with no problems.

[golfcartmama]

My son, only 5-6 when he took Singulair, changed into a different human being while on it. It took me several months to figure it out and actually it also caused him migraines (with vomiting too!). It was only after many tests, MRI, etc that I started elimnating everything and it was the Singulair triggering the migraines. Within 2-3 weeks he was back to normal and no more headaches either.

[Mimm]

I took Singulair myself and still do when my lungs are acting up. It's really great, really takes care of the cough. However, it can have some freaky side effects, especially in children. For me, it just put me to sleep, I was absolutely exhausted. I would get 10 or 12 hours of sleep at night and still want a nap in the afternoon. The drug seems to work really well, but some people just get really awful side effects.

[SheilaZ]

There have been several threads on this, you may want to do a board search for "singulair."

 

The bottom line is, breathing is not optional. Regardless of what one chooses to use or not use, good air in and out has to be the goal.

 

My son has gotten a bit "dingy" since we've started all his asthma meds. He's on Advair twice a day, Singulair at night, and an albuterol inhaler as needed throughtout the day. he's had surgery to remove his adenoids and will have a second surgery to improve air flow in his nose.

 

He would have to have some really henious side ffects for us to take him off any meds right now. But I will keep a look out for more serious personality side effects.

[LizzyBee]

One of my kids was on Singulair for several years. We didn't realize it until much later, but Singulair may have triggered depression for her. She now knows and her doctor also has a note in her file that she is not to take any meds that can trigger depression unless there are no other options.

[Faith]

My son was on it but became very weepy and he even said suicidal at times. Since we took him off of it, he has been normal acting. He now uses Oregano Oil daily and an inhaler (as needed).

[jenL]

My son was on Singulair for about 2 months when he was 5. It made him incrediblly irritable and anxious. We took him off and tried something else (that I can't remember right now), and he returned to his usual self. I'd be very cautious of Singulair.