Singulair, Side Effects, And My Child

Our youngest son was diagnosed as asthmatic at around 3 years of age. The formal diagnosis was made at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital by a specialist in their pediatric pulmonology department – and we believed them. We had a handful of scary instances with him at 2 years of age that had us very nervous.

They suggested we treat his condition “aggressively” – and we did. Part of that regimen came in the form of Singulair.  However, with his “first seizure,” we have been re-evaluating that regimen, in the hopes of eliminating all possible contributors to his seizure.  Singular has side effects, and children may be even more susceptible than adults.  It’s a concern, particularly in light of evidence about over the counter medications being one of the causes of hearing loss.

Singulair, Side Effects, And Children

Singulair is a selective, active leukotriene inhibitor antagonist. It’s approved for the treatment of asthma in children older than 12 months and for “exercise induced bronchoconstriction” in patients older than 15 years of age. Finally, its used for the treatment of allergy symptoms. I have been told by at least one medical professional that it has “revolutionized the treatment of childhood asthma.” That may be true. Certainly at the age of 3, the aggressive treatment of his asthma made a tremendous difference in my son’s life. Whether it was the Singulair, one of the other drugs, or the combination, I don’t know. But his asthma symptoms improved dramatically, and that’s all that matters.

However, Singulair – like all drugs – has side effects. Some of them are well documented in clinical trials, while others may be less well understood. Its easy to forget that the decision to take any drug involves weighing the risks and rewards. Reading the literature, the following are well-documented potential side effects of taking Singulair.

• Stomach Pain
• Heartburn
• Tiredness
• Fever
• Headache
• Allergic Reactions (swelling of the face, tongue, throat, etc.)
• “Pins and Needles” feelings in legs
• Mood changes
• These are not all the possible side effects of taking Singulair (On Merk’s website).
  • RxList reports a number of “Post-Marketing, Adverse Reactions that have been reported.”  These include:
    • Immune system disorders
    • Nervous system disorders – including seizures
    • Cardiac disorders
    • GI disorders

Naturally, the part about seizures caught my attention.  We brought this up with his pediatrician, and basically got brushed off.  Not satisfied with this, we decided to take him back to Vanderbilt for a pulmonary function evaluation, and to discuss this subject.

The good news is that, (while taking medication), he performed very well on the pulmonary function test.  We may question how well he would perform without medication, but for now, things looked good.

We discussed our concerns about the medication, and the response was more “satisfying.”  The doctors there said they were not familiar with evidence linking seizures with Singulair, but also agreed that, if he doesn’t need the medication, why continue to take it?  Even a slim chance could constitute too great a risk.  So, they suggested stopping the Singulair, as well as changing his inhaled steroids.  We’re going to take him back in 3 months for a follow up pulmonary function test.

That was a load off our minds.  My wife and I were both very appreciative of their willingness to treat address our concerns, and treat our son as an “whole” patient.  It may be that there’s no link at all.  But, all we can do as parents, is try to eliminate as many potential factors that might contribute to lowering the seizure threshold.

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