Could this be the culprit ???? | ADHD Information

Had my first visit today with a therepist and my 5yr old son.  Filled out a TON of paper work.  When she seen that his was on singulair for his asthma, she said that she has seen where the Dr. has changed the kids meds and it made a hugh difference in their behavior. 

My son has been on singulair his entire life.  It would be nice to know if this has caused his hyperness all these years and his meds can be changed :)...  He doesn't take breathing treatments on a regular basis, only as needed when he has a cold. 

Has anyone had this discussion with their Dr or therepist?  If so, was the meds changed and did it make a difference???

Thanks,

My son was diagnosed with adhd at the end of May--he's almost 6 now. He's asthma and allergies all his life. Up until a year ago he was on singuliar and qvar (inhaler) but we've actually been on pulmicort and albuterol as well.  We moved over a year ago and most of the sinus/allergy problems have gone away and he's been weaned from all the meds over time.  Unfortunately the behaviours and hyperness have only gotten worse--though I was hopeful that taking him off would help.

The truth is though--every child is different and it very easily could be the reason for your child...it is best to discuss it with your doctor and see if it's possible to remove him from the meds.  I will forwarn you--at least for us, being in the midwest, our doctor wanted to wait until we were through cold and flu season before we started to wean him off--weighing the possible link between the behaviors and adhd up against the medical issues being off the meds cold and flu season might cause.

Regardless, I wish you luck!

Vicky

I have been reading some blogs on the website medication.com.  There are some interesting stories relating singulair to behavioral issues.  My son is adopted and has never had an attack since we have had him.  Now 5, came to live with us at age 20mos....I think I am going to try taking him off the singulair to see how he does. 

I have been wanting to take him off of it for some time, just because he seems to be doing so much better with his allergies/asthma as he has gotten older and he had his tonsils and adnoids removed last year.  He is now, never sick.

Thanks hoosiermomma2 for your concerns.  We live in North FL, so w have alot of climate chages as well...Hot one day, then cool the next.  tipical florida weather.

My daughter has been on Singulair for many years. She also takes Claritin (generic), Veramist nasal spray, asmanex inhaler and albuterol breathing treatments when needed.
I have also wondered, at times, if her medications could cause ADHD symptoms (she has inattentive type and is not hyperactive). There is also concern that allergy and asthma symptoms (not enough oxygen, not feeling well) can cause ADHD symptoms.
Whenever I've asked doctors about the possibility of medications causing ADHD symptoms, the usual response is that they "shouldn't."

At one of our last visits with my daughter's pulmonologist, I did ask specifically about Singulair, since someone else on this board had posted concerns about it. She said that she'd had one patient who had psychotic episodes (or something like that) that the parents thought were caused by Singulair, but when the child stopped taking Singular, the psychotic episodes continued. She also said that Singulair can interfere with sleep for some patients, and that we could try taking it in the morning instead of at night.

So I did switch my daughter to taking Singulair in the morning. I don't know if it made a difference, but she is doing well. We also increased her Singulair dosage a couple of weeks ago and I haven't noticed any problems or difference.

It doesn't hurt to talk to the doctor about switching meds and see if it makes a difference. However I believe Singulair is unique and unlike other allergy/asthma meds in the way it works, so I'm not sure what an alternative would be. Also, just because a child hasn't had an "attack" recently, doesn't mean that the asthma is not affecting their airways.

Thanks all.  He has now been off the singulair since Friday.  We had a wonderful day Sunday.  He was the sweetest and most loving he had every been.  It was amazing how well he behaved.  He was so calm it was scary.

But, he had a bad morning.  It has only been a few days of not taking singulair and from what I read on medications.com, it could take up to 2 weeks to completely get this out of his system.  I don't know, but that is what I am holding onto. 

I'm sure there are going to be good and bad days.  Since he doesn't know any other behavior. 

As far as I know, he doesn't have allergies to mold.  He did have an allergy test prior to us adopting him at 20mos and nothing tested positive.  So, I believe the singulair was only prescribe to control his asthma.  He was very sickly when he came to live with us, but as he has gotten older, he is rarely sick.  So, I am hoping he is outgrowing the asthma or has a less case of it.

I know a couple of people whose children became very hyper and/or irritable when taking Singulair.  I also know several people where Singulair had no side effects (including my own ADHD child). 

I'd talk to the dr. whether it's safe to do a trial of a few weeks off it.  If your child is ragweed or mold allergic, you may want to wait until the seasons change wherever you are.  I mention mold b/c there's a lot of mold on the fallen leaves.  My mold allergies are awful these days.

my 10yr old son is on concertta 72mg in the am and strattera 40mg in the pm.  He has had problems with reccurent croup all of his life and has been hospitalized several times.  He has always taken xopenex via a nebulizer during these attacks.  About a month ago he had another attack and the doctor wanted to try singulair after two days he took a tailspin, was suspended from school, we could not calm him, and no matter what we did he was aggervated with every little thing. ex. tv is too loud, we looked at him wrong ect..    After a call to the doctor who said that they should not have interacted, we took him off of the singulair, and he has been fine

Thanks mommy2boys.

If you visit this website www.medications.com and search the letter "s" for singulair and read the posts under side effects, you will be amazed.  I was totally blown away as to what some of the posts reported. 

I did not give my son his singulair today and he so far he has been fine.  I know it will take some time to get out of his system just to see if it changes his behavior.  He as been on it most of his little life.  Since he is adopted, we have never seen how his behavior could be without it. 

Plz. keep your fingers crossed, i am so hoping that this will make a difference.  Even with the disruptive behavior at school, he is doing great accademically. 

Again, thanks for sharing.  Oh. is not currently on any ADHD meds at this time, we are praying that taking him off the singulair may make the difference.... 

 

our prayers are with you   i hope that it works