Singulair Good or Bad Thing for 2 Year Old?!?!?

Hi M.,

We have been doing "wheat free" at my house for about 3 years at the advice of our chiropractor for my daughter (teen). We have found that it made a big difference for her - much less stomach distress plus she had fewer injuries in gymnastics (that was a surprise!). We use spelt flour (it's closely related to wheat so I use it to replace wheat in all my cooking and baking - you just have to adjust the liquid slightly in baking), spelt or rice pasta, rye bread (we have a wonderful local German bakery that makes a rye and barley bread that's delicious), wheat free cookies and crackers, and even wheat free frozen waffles. If you need to go "gluten free" it can be harder but is getting easier due to more products catering to people who have that need.

Going wheat free can be challenging at first, but once you find tasty replacement products and see if your son responds to the diet change, you may decide - as I did - that it's definitely worth it!

Good luck,
M.

I'll try to offer some advice, but keep your appt at Jewish and perhaps see a pediatric specialist for the 'asthma' at Jewish as well. My daughter from the age of 9 months on, has had croup several times and our pediatrician believed that initially she had some type of mild asthma. She's now three. At the age of one, she was put on a preventative dose of Flovent (thru inhaler) to be given every day & doubled when she was sick. It was not an emergency inhaler, but simply a tiny dosage to act as a preventative. It helped extremely well, especially when she got respiratory infections. After a year of Flovent, we gradually took her off and she's been off it for over a year. Sometimes babies lungs aren't as strong as we like to think and have problems dealing with allergens/viruses, etc. I don't know anything about Singulair, but in my opinion, I would see a specialist and/or do research before going on a medication you might be nervous about.

Hi M.,

I recently read an article about Singulair being linked to depression and suicide. Be sure to do your research.

It may sound crazy but Chiropractic can help with allergies and asthma. If you have a Chiropractor i would aske them about it. If not I'd love to refer you to mine. He really is like no other Chiropractor I've been to. He is more focused on getting people as healthy as they can be not just cracking your back where it hurts to make it feel better until it starts to hurt again. Your body has everything it needs to heal itself, you just need to remove the interference(misaligned spine). Here is his number and website. If this office is to far from your home they will be able to refer you to someone closer who does the same type of work. God bless your search for answers and the truth!

Dr. Joeseph Arvay
###-###-####
www.SpineGeek.com

my daughter who is now almost 7 was on singular for two years because she supposedly had asthma and allergies. She kept getting this cough that would not go away and was worse at night. They would give her antibiotics and treat her for a sinus infection, but the cough always came back. It turns out that she has polyps in her sinus cavity. She has sinus irrigation surgery in May 2006 and the cough has not come back. She is allergic to dust and I found that zertec works much better than the singular and you can now buy it over the counter! I dont recommend having him allergy tested- it was horrible watching them poke my daughter 16 times to test for allergies- you might want to see an ENT( Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor. He was the only one who was able to figure out what was wrong with her and correct the situation. The allergist and immunologist were a waste of my time. Good luck!

My son has been on Singulair since he was 2 and has done fine with being on it. We took him off of it (per dr. suggestion) last summer at 5 1/2 years old. He did great off of it to. Until this March (beginning of tree pollen season) when his asthma flaired and he had the worst and most episodes of asthma he's ever had.

We put him back on it right around the time the news reports of it being linked to suicide came out. After talking with many friends who've had kids on it as well as his doctor (at National Jewish who we adore)we felt the benefits outweighed the risks. Watch your son's behaviour carefully and if you notice any mood swings, excessive crying, sleeplessness, etc, then bring it up with the doctor.

Good luck!
Ali

Both of my kids have been on SIngulair and when I do not have them on it I notice a huge difference. My son is now 5 and his allergies seem to become less noticable so I have taken him off it without a problem. My daughter however really needs to be on it. She too has had croup a few times and has had broncitis and pnemounia. She is asthmatic and has allergy tendencies. However, at age 2 it is hard to tell what they are allergic to even though she has had skin tests. I would rather her be on singulair as a preventative then have to get sick and then go on steriods or anitbiotics. I am also one who prefers to try natural methods before medication but think singulair is need in my daughters case. And by the way I totaly sympathize with the cost! Imagine when I had both my kids on it... UGH!