Behavior Problems with Allergy/Asthma Medicine

Yes, my five-year-old son had the same reaction to Zyrtec. He was also very tired and cranky when taking morning doses of Claritin. We recently switched him to Astelin nasal spray in the morning and just use the Claritin at night. He is much easier to get along with now.

I can see you've gotten a ton of responses already! I just wanted to add that my youngest child was on singulair for a while from age 1-2 and we had trouble getting him to go to sleep at night. We took him off of it and haven't had trouble since. We continued to use an inhaler with him, but he's grown out of his wheezing stage. All three of my boys Wheezed terribly with colds until around the age of 2.

My son is 5 and takes Singular but only at night. When he first started taking it, it was first thing in the morning. It was awful! I called his ped doctor and they suggested him taking it at night just before bed. We've had no problem since. Call the doctor and see about switching the time or changing the medication all together. Stopping the medication is never a good idea without the doctors approval.

L.,
My daughter was put on several asthma medicines when she was 15 months old (she is now 9 and taking none).
She would be wired for sound, bouncing off the walls, cry and then laugh, then hit me. This was not her nature at all. When she had a asthma attack, I knew I was up for the night!
There are so many things you can do now to control asthma naturally. Chemicals in the home, plug ins, food is a big thing you can change. Read, read, read. My friend has a daughter that has severe asthma and she gets no dairy, all soy, no sugar, she uses no chemicals in her home whatsoever and no perfume, no plug ins and goes to a holistic doctor who has her on some different homeopathi/vitamin regimens that keeps her feeling much much better.
I encourage you to seek out a holistic provider and do a lot of googling. I did and I am so glad I did. Sam is off all medications and has had no asthmas attacks in 4 years. Praise God!
Good luck!
W. from Indiana

The FDA is reviewing this drug due to a number of reports of people experiencing mood changes, suicidal behavior and even suicide.
I personally know two other young children (around 3 and 4 yrs. old) who have recently been put on Singulair and very soon after had noticeable mood changes such as irritability, disobedience, tempers, and just being contrary. Their behavior was completely out of the ordinary for them and luckily, their parents picked up on it right away and immediately took them off Singulair Within a few days, they returned to their happy, sweet selves.
You can google this topic and find tons of links and info. Here are just two.....make sure you read the comments at the end of both articles.

http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/fda-issues-early...

http://pediatrics.about.com/b/2008/03/28/singulair-side-e...

Hope this helps!

Singulair has been a life-saver for my daughter. She actually takes it PLUS two antihistamines. She did have problems with nightmares so we changed the time of day she gets it. What made her almost psychotic was the Advair she was put on for the asthma. Whoa! Since we cannot go that route, we supplement her meds seasonally with additional nutritional supplements such as extra Quercetin, Butterbur and Rosmarinic. The non-profit Life Extension Foundation (http://www.lef.org) has pharmaceutical quality food supplements and they are comitted to scientific research.

Hi L.- I have heard of others having problems with these medications. Its a catch 22 for parents- you want him to feel better but the medicine creates other problems. You may want to try something some friends of mine have done. They switched out all of the personal care, household cleaning and other items to all non-toxic ones that are safer for their children. The results were that they used much less (if any) medicine and their children are doing better. Please visit the Mamasource business listing for a business called Safer Home for You under astham and allergies and read Sheri's note. She is a great success story. Then please visit www.saferisbetter.com/dcbel to read more and to request additional free information. Anything you can do to help a child without the medication is a plus.
C.

I would check with your pharmacist about the singular, I believe I heard that it is causing mood swings and depression in children. A daily anihistimine should help with the mild allergies. My children took one for a few years before they got better. Claritin or Zyrtec worked well for us. Good Luck.

Read up on Singular in the news and discuss this with your doctor! There have recently been concerns about behavior changes with taking it. My teen aged son has been on it for about 6 years, since he was about 10. It definitely raised his peak flow by 50 points when he started (he has asthma) but we have a checkup soon and I plan to see what my allergist wants us to do long term. Likely this summer we will take him off of it for a while. We had not been concerned about his behavior before the news story. I do think his asthma has been improved by the Singular.
You might discuss a lower dose. Singular has to be taken
daily to work. It lowers the leukotryines (spelling), the white blood cells involved in allergic reactions. There is an antihistamine-type effect also.
Antihistamines dry up the muucus. Benedryl has a side effect of strong drowsiness which can make kids grumpy. Zyrtec still lists drowsiness but it is not as bad. We take try to take it at night when needed, just in case.

We as a family have gone almost completely organic. This experience has opened up a whole new way to look at medicine, food and wellness for us (for more information on tthe link between diet and behavior : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-next-big-au.... The thing that we cannot understand is how doctors prescribe medicine without trying to augment the immune system. We marry traditional and holistic approaches. My son who is ten and my daughter is two, takes daily a probiotic, liquid fish oil (Nordic Naturals or Carlson's) it is a anti-inflammatory.In the link I put in, the article mentions how corn is so ubiquitous in kids diets. The article mentions how corn is naturally an inflammatory.(we limit exposure in food to ingredients like corn syrup and it's like ingredients in foods consumed)

We also immune boost with a liquid tinctures we buy at Rainbow Blossom or Whole Foods of elderberry and echinacea as well as making sure they take a lot of B and C vitamins. All these can go in juice with little taste. The fish oil cannot! it can be taken in a medical syringe orally once a day, a teaspoon a day. We give our kids an organic chocolate chip or two after taking this.It tastes better cold so we refrigerate. We did allergy shots and allergy meds, but aside from my son taking a 5 mg Singulaire every other day we do the above with much better results. We also limit dairy and supplement with magnesium citrate.

L.,
Doctor's think that medications are the right answer, for all our problems..Children are still developing, and medications have drastic effects on their little bodies, as you have seen for yourself....Allergies are often a result of interference with the nervous system....My husband is a wellness Chiropractor, who has a family practice...and about 30% of his patients are children...some who have come in with various health issues, and have seen drastic results...others whose parents know that keeping their spine aligned will keep them healthy and prevent illness and "dis-ease" My son, has been adjusted since birth, and is a walking testimony of the miracle of Chiropractic....Our mission, as I am a former Labor and Birth Nurse, is to reach families, and teach them all that we are blessed to know!
Our practice is Abundant Health Chiropractic....###-###-####...Good Luck!
Warmly,
M.

I have a 9 year old daughter who also suffers from reactive airway distress syndrome. She has been on Cingular for 5 years. I have never noticed a dramatic behavior change like you are describing. However, recently we took her off of the meds to get a better indication of how much they were really helping. We noticed that after having been off for a few days, her mood improved and she seemed less stressed. On the flip side the RADS symptoms flared up. In the end, we cut her dosage in half. I still see a little more moodiness than I would like, but that is preferable to her coughing so much that she turns blue around the lips.

I agree with the mom that posted about switching to an organic diet and supplements to boost the immune system. At the very least I would avoid high fructose corn syrup, additives, and colorings.

Also, have you considered switching to all natural laundry and bath products?

Good luck and I'm glad you figured it out.

I have 4 boys and 2 of them have bad allergies and excema and one of those also has asthma. For my child with asthma (he is 12 now) I started to take him to see a wonderful chiropractor when he was about 7. It helped his asthma so much that I was able to take him off of one of his daily inhalers! It did take a good 12-18 months to see a marked difference but I still take him once or twice a month now and he rarely has an attack.

Hi L.,

Both of my sons and I were on Singulair. Neither I nor my oyounger son have had any problems with it, but my older son has had about the same issues as your son. The anger, rage, etc....it was awful. I had even taken him to a psychologist to try to get him some help. When I heard about others having similar problems, I took him off of it and we haven't had any trouble since. He had been on it for a couple of years and, although the number of ear infections went way down, it's not worth it! He even told me that he's muich happier now.

Please read the recent reports that have been in the news regarding Singular and consult your physician. Singular has recently been linked to behavior disorders, depression and even suicidal tendencies. My daughter also has asthma/allergies, and luckily her physician switched her to another medication a long time ago at the appearance of side effects.
Karen

The side effects listed include behavior and mood changes. Have you reported this to the prescribing physician?

I know of several children with similar responses, but my own child has done extremely well on the medication.

L.,

Had a friend that was having a similar problem w/ her daughter who was on Singular -- talked to her doctor and told her to take her off it immediately and she is doing great now! Check on-line about Singular -- sounds like more and more doctors are finding problems w/ it. My daughter is on Flovent and has been working very well for us. Good Luck!

I don't have any experience with kids and allergy medicine but I recently tried Claritin for my own allergies and went into a pretty severe anxious episode that made me start to look for a psychiatrist to prescribe an antidepressant fast! I finally linked my anxiety to the Claritin and went off it. As an experiment, I tried the Claritin again just once a day and the same thing happened. I wouldn't be surprized about the Singulair.

My daughter has been on Singular for 7 years with no behavioral changes. Steriods on the other hand...WOW. She got the nick name Kidzilla from steriods! She was a holy terror!

L., I have a 10 year old boy with cystic fibrosis, another lung disease. He also has allergies, etc. I would certainly question the medication as the possible root of his behavior problems. Make sure you read the VERY LITTLE print on the inserts that come with the prescriptions. We fought very hard to change medicines from Advair to another similar medicine. Although he is still emotionally immature, his rages all but stopped when we changed medication. I urge you to look into it. While I am not a doctor, I am a parent who really had to fight to get his medicine switched. Some of your son's behavior may be a stage he is going through, but he may just need a different medication. Good Luck!

I have a child who took Singular for several years for allergies, but we never had the problems that you are having with your child. I am a nurse, and I am wondering what time of day you are (were) giving the Singulair; it is recommended that it be given in the evening before bedtime. I am almost hoping that you were giving it in the mornings, and that possibly changing the dose to bedtime might solve the problem. Of course, you may have been giving it at bedtime to start with, but it was a thought. Good luck!

My 9 year old son had the same problem. We thought it was 3rd grade "nasties" because everyone had said to expect bad behavior in 3rd grade but last week his pediatrician called and said to take him off Singulair. He said there was a 17 year old who had been on it and committed suicide and that there have been MARKED behavior changes associated with it. We switched him to Zyrtec (over the counter now) and have seen a tremendous difference. Be sure to ask your pediatrician. Mine said that he expects they will take it off the market.

I don't remember the specific allergy medicine my daughter was given - but yes, we had exactly those kinds of problems. The doctor didn't want to believe there was any connection, but like you, I know my kid, and she was falling apart when taking it and back to normal when she stopped. Keep asking for something different.

Hi there,

My daughter is almost 5 and she is allergic to pets, dust, and pollen. I was worried about taking a daily medicine but she began taking a 4mg chewable Singulair every night before bed about a year ago - it has made all the difference. In addition to helping with wheezing, over time her doctor says it reduces inflammation in her lungs - something that could cause scaring and problems later on. She was also taking a Benedryl at night which was fine however, I noticed that if she took a Benedryl during the day, it made her grumpy and "mean". Recently we switched to Zyrtec at night in addition to the Singulair (Zyrtec is better and longer lasting) and things have been fine.

I suggest you talk to your doctor... it maybe a simple as switching the time of day your child takes his meds, or a combination of meds... Good Luck!

We tried Singulair with my 20 month old daughter, who, of course, could not TELL us what side effects she was experiencing. We were on it for less than two weeks, due to what must have been TERRIBLE nightmares. Her behavior during the day was spotty, as it usually is with toddlers, and, then, there was the fact that she was not sleeping... BUT a week's worth of screaming NONSTOP for hours at a time was enough to make me do more research and I discovered nightmares to be common, so I took her off. She was her normal self after about two days. My daughter has bad sinus problems but not asthma, so I put her on the daily dose of chewable Claritin, and it helps a bit with no side effects.

When my daughter was 2 1/2 we had to start her on breathing treatments for her asthma. She is the sweetest, calmest, most polite child in the world. The first medication we used was Albuterol. That night she was running around the house, screaming, crying, etc.- we thought she was possessed! Come to find out it was the medicine. We switched to Pulmicort, and she was totally fine. I've talked to other moms whose children had the exact opposite reaction with those medications. So each child responds differently to the meds. My daughter takes Singulair, and does great with it. But there are oral meds out there that I've given her for coughs/colds that have caused her to react the same way. Tell your pediatrician how he is reacting, and ask him/her to give you something else. If you need to, go see a pediatric allergy doctor to get the right med for your son. Hope this helps!

Yes, we have had many of the same problems when my son was on singular. He also started having bad dreams and would wake up shaking. When the Dr said to take him off of the meds it all stopped. I also felt guilty because at the time my son was three and i was wondering if it was a new phase. I felt bad that it took us about 5 months to figure out that is was the singular. We have since just started pulmocort and now we are having the same behavior problems. Now, I am frustrated because I don't understand why these meds do this to my son. He does have asthma and I don't want him to have difficulty breathing. So We are going back to dr this week to find out what the next step will be. On a side note in the past we used to use albuteral for his asthma when needed. This made him very hyper we have since switched to Xopenx and it has been much better. He does not get hyper with this. However my Dr never told me that there was an alternative to albuteral a friend did. When I asked about it the Dr said my insurance may not pay for it but he gave me a rx anyway. My insurance did pay but if it didn't it would have been about 250.00$. Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have since put your son on a different medicine that is working better. Thanks

Yes! My son, who will be 4 in July, has been on Singulair for his asthma since January. About mid February his temper started to get worse and by March he was having the same issues daily it sounds like your son is having. We went back to the doctor this past Monday and decided to take him off of the Singulair to find out if it's from the medicine or if it is just him. Well, just in the past day and a half his temperament has already improved! He is no longer screaming and crying uncontrollably and he is laughing more. He seems happier already. I really hope it continues like this and that we were right in feeling it was the medicine causing the problems. I'd talk to his doctor if I were you. Let them know the problems and do a trial period without the medicine. According to our doctor the medicine is out of their system in just a day or so and you will be able to tell quickly! Good luck!!

L.,

Hi there. Your not alone in this. I have a 3 year old little girl and she has allergy's. Her Dr told us to try her on Zyrtec. It was like she was a different child when she was on Zyrtec. I tried to call her Drs office but they were not in so I called our Drugstore and they told me that Anthistamines sometimes will cause that to happen. So I took her off the zyrtec and went back to what we had been using. The last time we took Her back to see her Dr I told the Dr what had happened and she was like we will have to keep trying different meds till we get the one that works for her. Good luck and try to remember when there on meds it may not be them that is acting out. I hope that your son will grow out of the allergy's and asthma there not fun things to have. God Bless you and your family.

K.

Most allergy medicine or cold medicines WILL cause almost an instant behavior change. Trying a very 'small' dose of benadryl, instead, will will not cause a major behavior problem. But may cause some drowsiness.

YES! They put our 3 year old girl on Singulair last summer for seasonal allergies and it was like living with a different child. Tantrums, hateful, raging....not a fun person to live with....I stopped it at the end of allergy season last year and she's been much improved since. I was afraid they would put her back on it this season, but right now they've got her taking childrens zyrtec which doesn't "seem" to have the same effect. I don't have any advice for you other than to just try to get your doctor to prescribe something different, but I can sure sympathize!!!!!

Hi L., Sorry to hear Singulair has been a disappointment for you. It works great for my 6 year old grandson. Since starting on it a few monbths ago, he hasn't had any of the allergies miseries that were driving him (and us) nuts. It works well for my allergy and asthma symptoms too. Your pediatrician or ENT Dr. will probably offer Zyrtec next, and it may work better. You're wise to watch for behavior and physical problems with any new med, and it may take some more experimenting to find one that helps. With my older kid's allergies, I found the old routine of keeping their bedrooms extra clean helpful. COver the mattress and box springs and pillows with the covers that are advertised for minimizing allerens. Remove everything out of the room except essentials (esp. stuffed toys and books) and clean the room everyday. Just a quick vac and dust is fine. I used an air cleaner too--and the ones they have now with HEPA filters are even better. The idea is to give him all his sleep hours in a relatively clean environment to give his respiratory system a little rest. I hope that helps. Also, as he grows and changes, so will his sensitivities--sometimes they just dramatically get better! D.