Comments on: Government Investigates Singulair, Suicide Links

By: L.Hager

L.Hager — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:10:40 +0000

My two boys{6 and 4} have been on Singulair for almost 2 years now and unfortunately I’m just now linking their aggressive behavior to this medicine. My oldest has been having headaches and stomach aches for a while now and I just attributed the headaches to allergies. He did occasionally have some of the horrible nightmares as other children have experienced. He too says he cannot help his behavior and claims “my brain made me do it” which is an odd thing for a 6 year old to come up with on his own. My 4 year old is really aggressive and is almost fearless. Sometimes he just cannot be controlled. I just stopped their meds yesterday so I hope they will start to come off of the side effects very soon. Everyone is different, some people may have a reaction, some may not. I think it is unfair to dis-regard others experiences just because one has had a favorable outcome to taking Singulair. I don’t think any lawsuits should be filed unless there are long term effects that we are unaware of. I am glad I found this forum and got some much needed info.

By: Debi

Debi — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:54:34 +0000

I have 10 year old triplets. Both my boys are taking Singulair. One of my boys exhibited some strong anxiety changes recently. He became obsessed with seeing TV commercials where lawyers were trying to build cases against drug companies for meds believed to be unsafe (ironic).. Paxil was the commercial he saw the most and was terrified that harm had been caused to unborn babies. So much so that he asked if I had taken Paxil when pregnant. He would cry to the point of making himself sick. His pediatrician and I agreed that I could work with him and try and get through it. He is better now, but it has taken lots and lots of talking and loving from his dad and I. He is still very sensitive, though. My other son will on occasion exhibit aggressive behavior and when corrected he will become very upset and cry and say that he can’t control himself. Has anyone else had these type things occur? I will be taking them off Singulair today and see what happens.

By: Janice Falk

Janice Falk — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:30:02 +0000

My daugher has been taking Singulair for her asthma for almost 5 years. Before she was on it, she practically ended up in the ER with every cold. It is very scary watching your 2 year old gasping for breath. She couldn’t even be potty trained because she didn’t have the energy to get out of bed. Now she only takes Singulair daily and albuterol/flovent inhalers for a few days when she has a cold. Singulair has tremendously helped her quality of life. Yes, she can be moody, but was even before the medication and I think she’s acting like a fairly normal 7 year old. Millions of people take Singulair. Millions of adults have issues with anxiety/depression and millions of children have behavioral problems. I don’t think there’s enough evidence out there that links these 2 things as cause and effect, and I’m not going to take my daugher off it right now. Singulair enables her to have a normal life.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:07:17 +0000

I’ve been prescribed Singulair several times since it came out. Yes, it is a mood changer. Even though it may help some, it should be banned. Only one tragic death is not worth it.
Merck & Co. could care less as long as they get rich at the expense of some suicides or worse.
By banned, I mean banned. Not just change the name and sell it again as a “new wonder drug”.
It is absolutly worthless and does nothing for my asthma.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:05:11 +0000

My son, who is now 3 1/2 years old, was on Singulair for several months last winter and spring. We noticed extremely aggressive behavior and some major personality changes that caused great concern. We felt that it could possibly be related to Singulair so we took him off of it. The first few days off the drug, he had several asthma attacks (it really does work well for asthma). But the longer he was off Singulair, my son became more and more like the calm and happy little boy he had always been. My husband and I have no doubt his behavioral changes were linked to Singulair. It’s interesting to note in the comments below how many children around his age (3 to 4 years old) described similar behavior. Every person is individual and will respond to the drug differently. It just seems to be more than a coincidence to me that many young children appear to be having the same reaction to the drug.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:38:44 +0000

Our daughter,who is 11, has been on Singulair for some time and it has helped especially during allergy season, but she has shown frequent signs of mood swings and aggression. I know that medications have different side effects on different people but it never occured to me that this might be caused by Singulair. We need to explore this possibility, consult our doctor and make a decision on whether or not to continue to administer this medication.

By: Lily

Lily — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:14:40 +0000

I have been on Singulair for 8 years or more, and it has changed my life! (In a good way!) I have asthma, and Singulair has allowed me to function far better than I ever did before. I rarely have to use my rescue inhaler now, when I was using it daily before. I can exercise, now. I have not had a single suicidal thought in all the time I’ve been on Singulair. I’m not depressed, or anxious. I expect they will find these symptoms are caused by something else. I sure don’t want to go back to the way my life was before – waking up every morning wheezing and coughing, wheezing every time I laugh…

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:35:40 +0000

I’m 15 and have been taking singulair for a few years. After hard times last year I became extremely depressed and attempted suicide three times. This recent week I’ve been having the same thoughts. I NEVER would have thought it to be my allergy medication. It’s scary to understand that this could cause me to take my own life

By: Kate Kendle

Kate Kendle — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:56:16 +0000

My son took Singulair for his asthma. He was on it and off of it. He committed suicide on October 2, 2007. He was 17 years old. And yes, in the earlier years of his use, he did have a personality change and spoke of suicide with his friends. I can provide medical records of his times of use. Did Singulair help to kill my son?

By: heather

heather — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:29:18 +0000

I tried this med with my 5 year old son for 4 weeks. He developed motor tics, his attention span significantly declined, he spent alot of time rolling around on the floor after school instead of engaged in goal directed activities, complained of stomach pains and talked excessively. I stopped this medication because he was “out of it” and looked like a cat in the dryer. I did read that it can affect the serotonin neurotransmitter system. Serotonin is a neurochemical that regulates mood. Perhaps this is the contributing factor to those who have had adverse reactions. Sometimes negative/adverse side effects are hard to pinpoint as they come on subtly. It took me a while for my sons behavior to register with me. His teacher had noticed a change, but I thought he was just tired or perhaps a cold virus was affecting him for a brief time. However, the symptoms got worse and persevered. It took about 4 weeks after discontinuation of Singulair for the tics to subside. Interestingly, he also developed tic after using flovent and albuterol. I hope science and research can investigate this drug without funding sources from those with a conflict of interest.