Behavior Problems While Taking Cingulair

Hi A.,

I have experience with Singulair because my son, who is now 7, was taking it from abt the age of 4 til he was 5 1/2. We noticed a few issues that we did not attribute to the Singulair right away. He had trouble sleeping at night, was very moody and having trouble concentrating during the day, but the biggest problem we encountered were the nightmares. He would have really bad nightmares almost every night. I spoke to his pediatrician about these issues and she assured me that they were normal behaviors for boys his age and that Singulair has no such side efffects. We asked around and did some research on the internet and found that there were so many other parents that had similar experiences with their children so we decided to slowly take him off the medication for a little while and see what happened. The nightmares stopped almost immediately, he began sleeping better at night and was so much more alert and happier during the day. It's been almost 1 1/2 years since we stopped the medication but he hasn't had nightmares or trouble sleeping in that time.

Yes, there's actually an FDA alert about this. I get their "Medwatch" alerts for work.

Interestingly, my son did not have this reaction to cingulair, but DID have it with Zyrtec. A couple friends told me about the Zyrtec behavior problems too -- it's like it makes them depressed or something.

It won't take you more than two minutes to google that medication and find out that it definitely causes this reaction in many children....I have seen what you are describing and heard of others having night terrors, etc.

Absolutely, it is the medicine. Is it for allergies or asthma?

My 5 yo. son acts horrible on allergy meds. We've tried so many different kinds and they all make him grumpy and defiant. Ask the Dr. for some other options. They should be able to give you some samples to try so that you aren't out a bunch of money trying to find what works. We ended up using a smaller dose of one of them and it made it a little better. We use a nasal spray every time he starts having allergy issues and try to only give the liquid meds when symptoms are really bad. Most of the time we just use the spray, and when we are consistent with it, the symptoms go away after a few days. I also have him drink lots of water when he is having problems and it helps a lot, too.

Singulair is Merck's biggest selling product and one of the world's top selling medicines with 2007 global sales of $4.3 billion -- $3.4 billion in the Unites States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators are probing a possible connection between Merck & Co Inc's blockbuster Singulair asthma drug and suicidal behavior in adults and children, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday.

The FDA said it is reviewing the issue after receiving reports of mood and behavior changes, suicidal thinking and suicide in patients who took the drug, which is used to treat stuffy nose, sneezing and other allergy symptoms, as well as asthma.

********* Remember that Merck also makes Gardasil and Vioxx - lots of terrible effects and even death from both drugs, but the information is still being minimized and suppressed. Don't depend on your doctor to give you unbiased advice, because he or she receives lots of perks from pushing Merck's drugs.

Hello A.,

YES! singulair affects their behavior/moods. It happened to my daughter. no more singulair for her. Good luck! ~C.~

hi A.,
I know it affects everyone differently, but my little boy (5) started having nightmares. I thought it was in my head, but we took him off and the nightmares stopped. I give him claritin (walmart brand) and no more problems. good luck

Cingulair is a stimulant - so yes, behavior problems while on it are not super uncommon.

The nice thing for us was that his body got used to it (kind of like your morning cup of coffee doesn't give you a real buzz anymore) - so we got the airway opening benefits without wanting to string him up. :)

Does albuterol make him act like a monkey on speed too? That one still gets me and my oldest.

S.

My daughter, who is 6, was taking this and had the worst side effects. She got very depressed. I know that that sounds unbelievable at 6 but she was always so down. She was always saying how bad she was at everything and how no one liked her. She had never had these issues before and hasn't had them since we stopped giving it to her. It got to the point that it scared me, she was so unhappy. I would ask the doctor for an alternative to cingulair. Good Luck_ V.