Singular

Hi E.,

I'm D.. My daughter was on Advair 250/50 and Singular 5mg chewable for more than 1 year. Under the doctors care, we took her off Advair because she had not had a "flare up" in a long time. He advised me to keep her on the Singular. After hearing about the depression, mood swings etc., I took her off myself. Honestly, while she was on Singular I never noticed any mood swings or depression. I took her off because I dislike chemical remedies and she has been doing well. She continues to do well on no medicine at all. I give her a nutritional liquid supplement daily, and she is doing fine. When she coughs, I put a hot steam vaporizer with water only by her bedside and it works well. Hope that helps.

I was nervous about giving it to my child (age 4 at the time) before there was even the controversy. I can't explain why. I did try it for a few days and I did notice a big change in his behavior. He was in a fog just laying around on the couch with no energy whatsoever. He missed a week of school because he was so lethargic. Anyway, I took him off of it.

I'm managing his allergies in other ways.

E., our juice Mangosteen is all natural and has been shown to help other children and adults with Asthma. My husband and I take it for may problems in our bodies. We are both over 50. We also give my 13 year old maltese Dog the juice for his arthritis. My Grands take it for allergies also.
It is all natural. Please check out www.hawkins.whymangosteen.com and let us know if you are interested in trying for your child.
God has an answer for you.

i don't give it to my child,but i do take it.the only thing i have found is that it makes me sleepy about twenty minutes after i take it.so i take it twenty minutes before i want to go to bed.i sleep better when i take it,but if i take it too late at night,i have a hard time getting up in the morning.i don't know what it would do to a child,if your have dauts talk to your doctor and see if there are alturnitives to it.like herbales and such.my son has asthma too.he was on a nebulizer for a long time but now only takes a rescue inhailer when needed and has a nasle med for when he gets sick.but he tries to take it only when needed,i am the same way.i wont take the singulare on a regular basis.i only take it when i am botherd.but i know i probly shouldn't do that,but i hate meds.it works for us.hope this has helped some..sorry if it didn't..T....

E.,

My twins were on Singulair (for Asthama) for at least 3 to 4 years. One quit taking it last year and the other one -- like a month ago and we are just seeing if he is strong enough to go without Singulair (They are going to be 6 years old very soon). We did not notice any side effects when the kids were on medicine .. but when they stopped it for couple weeks, many times we had to start it again because they got cold and then asthama attack or cough etc ..The med. was prescribed by his Ped. but he also sees lungs spec. (Ped. Pulminologist) every other month. Also, most of my family is Dr. so I cross check everything from them also. It is possible that your son is allergic to it .. hard to say -- since there is always a chance. After my twins were born, I somehow got allergic to Tynelol and I did not realize it until I took it few times (for headache or slight fever -- - and ended up with burning eyes, throwing up and severe stomach pains). So that can happen -- it is always better to check if you see any issues when you start any new medicine.

Call Heather Michelle at ###-###-####. She's a single SAHM of 2 boys and she has XanGo mangosteen juice - it's AWESOME for allergies as it's a natural anti-histamine. It took care of my allergies completely. Safe for him to take. Would help if it's asthma too...I like to support SAHMs in their home based businesses so I like to send Heather referrals! - K.

My son is now 7 but has been on Singulair since he was 5 and has shown no ill effects. If you are looking for a good allergist to control his asthma (my son has cough variant ashtma - so I know exactly the cough you are talking about!) We use Dr. Roberto Garcia. He is a pediatric allergist. He is great with the kids although you don't see him much, his nurse practitioner and nurses are awesome. THe part I like best is instead of getting shots, my son gets his allergy 'shots' as drops under the tongue, SOOOOOOOO much less traumatic than the shots!

I hadn't heard about problems with Singular. My daughter seems to get this nasal drip and upset tummy (she describes it as something poking inside her tummy) thing that her pediatrician is treating with Singular and Allegra. Previously she was on Singular and Claritin. I've noticed she's much more moody -- she's usually my happy go lucky child -- but she's been rather mean spirited lately, and not happy at all. Tense in fact. Never correlated the two together. The dr also gave me some samples of Zyrtec -- think I may switch over to that and see what happens. Guess I'll just do the Zyrtec and not the singular/allegra. I'll let you know...

Both of my sons, ages 8 and 5, have been on Singulair for a few months with no side effects. it really seems to make a difference bor them. One of my other children was on Singulair a few years ago for an extended period of time and had no troubles either.
Good luck,
M.

Hi. I have two girls. My oldest is 6 and has been on Singular since she was 3. My youngest is almost 4 and has been on it since 2. I have seen no change in my kids in a negative way. I have seen a significant change in their allergies/asthma. I do not have to treat them with their inhalers any more or their resp. treatments. I am not sure what all the hype is about. I am a RN and will monitor my girls closely but haven't seen any change thus far. I think it is better than having a kid with breathing problems. Good luck in your decision.

E., my 3 1/2 year old son took Singulair on-and-off for about a year (ages 2-3). He's taken EVERYTHING imaginable for asthma, allergies, chronic ear infections, lower respiratory problems, etc. The Singulair (along with Albuterol) was by far the worst. It causes definite behavioral changes in him. Makes him hyper, super-sensitive, and generally ornery. When he's not taking it, he's a different child. We are fortunate that it's an 'as needed' medication and we can avoid it for the most part.
I think that like all medications, some have side effects on some kids and some don't. He also cannot take Claritin for the same reason, although LOTS of parents give that to their child with no problem. If he's not had a problem with it in the past, chances are he won't. There are a TON of kids who have benefitted from Singulair without any problems. And the research is really just getting under way and the 'warnings' are just that... there's not, at this point anyway, definite evidence that kids shouldn't take it. Sometimes it's just a matter of 'mommy knows best' (we OFTEN DO know better than doctors, despite what they may say!). My son's doc fought us on taking him off Claritin (this was when it was still a prescription... and when it became Clarinex) saying that couldn't be the problem. But we knew what we knew. And then found a lot of parents were seeing the same things.
Has the doctor offered another alternative. For us, for example, we now use Xopenex instead of Albuterol, which cuts down on the hyperactivity and other side effects. We never looked for alternatives to Singulair only because it was not necessary. Hopefully, if you see a problem or if it gets to the point where doctors become weary about prescribing, there will be an alternative.
I wish you and your little one luck. No fun having a sick baby!

Hi yes i have had experience with singulair. I did notice my daughter just didn't seem herself while on it, a little sad and anxious. So i stopped giving it to her when the report first came out because i hadn't made the coorilation until then. Well then i put her on claritan and flonase and for three weeks no improvement. worst of all was the cough, it sounded so terrible. Finally i switched to zyrtec and after 3 days the cough was gone. It was such a relief! I feel for you that is soooo hard. My daughter is 8 and has had terrible allergies only since we moved here. Hope this helps!

Not only has my son had asthma, but I was born asthmatic and have been my entire 47 years. First - My best secret to asthma, and even non-asthmatics is expectorant. You have to read the label, just because it is tussin, does not mean it has expectorant. Don't get anything else in it, no cough suppressant, just expectorant. There is one that is really good, I think it is called Benalyn, something like that. Publix always ha it. The bottle is opaque clear plastic & it is a red liquid. This is the only one my daughter would take. I give it to them the moment I hear a wheeze or cough. My son would get bronchitis, but the doctor would be surprised at how clear his lungs were. He never ended up in the hospital, and no pneumonia!
As for Singular, I am surprised at the side effects you are asking about. The standard side effects for asthma meds are hyperactivity, I think mostly because many of the meds have the same thing as caffeine, so you get the same side effects. Singular is great for my son & I because we have allergy induced asthma. When we are on Singular we may have an allergic reaction, but no asthma.
Take heart - with any luck he will grow out of it as my son did, even if he does not, I learned the triggers when I was growing up and I have always enjoyed doing anything I want to do, even taking the Scouts camping. I am 47, and expect to live twice that age.
God Bless

My daughter has been taking Singular since December 2007 and hasn't had any of the problems described above. She hasn't changed at all beside having less asthmatic episodes... I would prefer not to have to use any drugs/chemicals to treat her, but unfortunately I have no choice.

Good luck!

I heard about the controversy of singular. I have a three yr old son who has been on singular for over a year now. I haven’t seen any changes in his personality or attitude. I do notice a big change in his asthma when he’s not taking the singular. We had so many asthma problems with him. We were at the doctors almost every week and we had to do breathing treatments around the clock with him. As soon as his doctor put him on the Singular it all stopped. For now I’m going to keep my son on his singular. We go tot the asthma doctor next month and I plan to ask him about the controversy I heard about and go from there. I hope that helped. If you find out that you son does have asthma I highly recommend Dr. Gubernick for your son allergy & asthma. His number is ###-###-####.

Singular was suppose to be taken off the market because of all the damage it causes. The side effects are not worth hoping for some good results. Please consider some of the great natural remedies out there. I have first hand experience with my 6yr old son. True most people grumble because they can't use their insurance to purchase natural things but if man has made it - it probably isn't good for you. Money runs the drug industry and they push their products on the new and old doctors and the doctors prescribe the drugs they get the most kickbacks on. Sad but very true. My family has used natural products for a variety issues including different allergies and asthma issues and we have been very pleased with the results. Find a doctor that respects and uses natural remedies along with drugs. I use Robinson Family Clinic in Lakeland. I would highly recommend them for getting off a serious drug like Singulair. Just my feelings, hope you find some solutions. Take care.

I still take Singular and have for quite some time. I also get allergy shots once a week, take XYZAL, Qvar 4, Claritin and flonase. I haven't had any of those side effects either. I hope you can find something else for him to take or go back on singular since it worked in the past.

MY son was taking singular for his asthma. We stopped giving it to him because it made him extremely angry! He has been off of it for about a week in a half now. And his techers, myself, my husband, and his baseball coach can see a HUGE difference!! I call Dr. Hasley and let him know what was going on with my son. I know every child is different, but singular has some very strong side affects for children. I will never give that to my son again!!! Im the proud mother of three chilren Carl 15, Alexis 9, and Ahmad 8. Happily married for 15 years.

Hi, Just wanted to say that my 10 year old has ashtma and allergies and singular has been great. Since his allergies can trigger his asthma, taking singular keeps both under control. My 7 year old also has slight outdoor allergies and singular works great for him. So far no side effects after about 2 years on it. Good luck!!!

My child also did take singular. Now as you probabley know all children are going to react diffrently even to the same medication. I took my daughter off it because she was not sleeping well because that is a side effect.
Dr. Fox on BBD is our Asthma Dr. he is GREAT!!! he will work with you if you don't feel confortable with singular scare about depression. But please note all conventional medicine will have side effects. Not all kids though will have the side effects issues.
I hope that helps you

My 3 grandsons have all been on singulair for there asthma and have not had any problems . The littlest one is 18 months he is still taking singulair without any adverse affects. Zyrtec is another allergy medication that works wonders.

Hi E.,

really with the singulair it's to each his own...everyone is going to react differently...and just so you know before I go any further i read some of your posts and a few were talking about only taking the singulair "as needed" if you do decided to do it-it is not an as needed drug and does not work when you only take it when you have the symptoms-I am an RN and have a little experience in this stuff...

But anyway back to the point, my son is 2.5 and has taken singulair for almost a year for his asthma and allergies, the singulair doesn't seem to make a difference he is still a happy go lucky little boy, and still has the same mood swings he did before he started the singulair-typical for the terrible twos :) I do monitor him and his moods because of the controversy but talking with our allergist-Dr Halsey in Valrico, he needs it and neither of us see a reason to stop it. He also takes zyrtec (he has severe allergies) rhinocourt nasal spray, and pulmacourt once a day. he is a mess and doesnt know it, none of it bothers him, even when he is feeling sick he is still a happy little boy.

Good luck in your journey to an answer

My 4 yr old son has been on Singulair for almost a year now and we have not experienced any problems with it. He does react quite negatively (irritable, anxious, hyper, jittery, even mean) when he is on Albuterol though. Since the Singulair cuts back on how often he has to take the Albuterol I think it the better choice.