Singular ?

WOW! Yes, it worked for my son. He also takes Advair. If I had known sooner how much better it would have made him feel, I would have had him on it sooner. I was having issues with him at 2 1/2 too and didn't know what was going on. It was more skin reation then. Singular tastes good and it has made the outdoor tollerable. Try it.

This may sound crazy, but try taking him off of dairy for like 10 days. This is really not an answer to you question, but it just might help. I have bad alergies, my 2 1/2 year old suffers from cronic ear infections and eczema, and a girl friend of mine also has a 2 1/2 yo son who had asthma, ear infections and eczema. All of us have elliminated dairy and have had significant improvement. My girl friend was having to use an inhailor with her son, but not anymore. It is just a suggestion, a good 10 days to 2 weeks and you'll know if it works. We weren't super stingent either, baked goods with dairy and things like that seem to be OK.

Hello,
I have taken Singular for my allergies and asthma and I never noticed much of a difference. So I stopped taking it and went back to claritin.

Hi C.! My son (age 5) takes a regular dose of Singular evry day during cold/flu season and it has made an incredible difference. Last year he was sick with cold induced asthma symptoms for almost 5 months resulting in pnemonia and about 13 chest xrays (the cost of which far outweighed the price of the Singular). This year he has had ZERO symptoms - yahoo! My insurance does not cover the Singular either, but I have been able to get samples through our pediatrician at no cost most of the time. Good Luck!

My 7yo granddaughter has been taking Singulair for several years. Singulair is not the same thing as Zyrtec, Clariton, or Benedryl. Singulair acts differently than anti-histamines in controlling allergies and asthma. My granddaughter did have more asthma events when she was off the Singulair.

My granddaughter takes both Sinulair and Zyrtec. Zyrtec is now an over the counter drug and much less expensive in the generic version. I found the generic version at COSTCO.

You are fortunate to have found medical help before your son has full blown asthma. My granddaughter had a couple of asthma attacks, when she was a toddler, that sent us to the ER. After she was prescribed Singulair but wasn't taking it because of it's cost she had an asthma attack along with other symptoms that she had to be hospitalized. I strongly recommend following thru with the Singulair

Merk, Sinulair's maunfactuer has a "patient assistance program." After you fill out some forms, including one to be completed by the doctor, they will send you Singulair for free.

My daughter didn't find out about this program until last year. She called Merck in frustration because of the cost and they told her about the program. Information is also available on their web site but it may be buried because we both had looked on the website. At the time my daughter called, my granddaughter was not covered by insurance.

Hi.

I have two children and myself who used Singular. One has very bad allergies. I started reading up on it and took us all off.

My oldest as GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), which became extremely bad when they put her on it. When she went in for a check up the allergy specialist couldn't believe they put her on it. I have noticed a remarked difference in the two to three weeks she's been off it.

My other daughter is bipolar and has learning challenges. Again, I noticed a bit of difference in her blow-ups and concentration level. For me, not much, but I'm getting more frequent headaches.

I've resorted to going back to using dimetapp (liquid form) or benadryl (liquid form) and trying the smallest dose possible. The adult doses of each in a tablet are fine, but when you can use a 1/4 tsp of dimetapp which is less than the tablet dose, my theory is the less medication the better. The same w/ the benadryl. Both can be sedating, so you may choose to use them in the evening. Especially for a two year old.

I also use liquid sudafed at home as it reacts to all of us with the same effect - jittery, too much caffeine feeling when using the tablets. So again, using a 1/4 tsp when the child gets old enough to use it and see if it takes away the sinus pressure/headache is far better than the tablet dose.

And, all of these are over the counter and cheaper than Claritin or Zyrtec. Both my girls are on Claritin - but again, it was when the got older and allergies were identified. Both notice it seasonally, or around certain animals.

I hate to say, the good old Vics Vapor Rub also helps - even if you rub it on their back a little. Just the menthol helps clear the sinuses.

I hope this helps. Valerie

Our son's insurance wouldn't pay for cymbalta. What we had to do was try everything else on the market and prove they didn't work or work as well as the cymbalta then they had to write the insurance company and had it over written. Now his insurance pays for it.

Hi C.,

My son is on singular. He has been for awhile now. I do not want the inhaler as that has to do with steroids. He gets really,really, bad twice a year when he can hardly breath and sounds like he is caughing up a lung. No it is not a cold not one other symptom but the cough is horrible. He does do great on it. I do not give it to him dailey like the doctors say. I give it to hime when I notice the cough or itching. you are right way to expensive.

Let me know how it works for you
Christa

Talk to your doctor about this. Tell him what your insurance will cover. That to me is your best bet. Good luck. T.

C.,
My son was also put on Singular & Zyrtec at the age of 2 because of allergies. Have you ever considered switching all your necessity products in your home to ones that do not contain harsh and harmful chemicals or toxins? We switched all of our products over and our son was able to go off both of his meds within 2 months and hasn't been put back on anything since, which was almost 4 yrs ago. I love the products so much, I actually partnered up with them and am now working from home. If you would like for information on using better safer products less expensive products you can email me at ____@____.com Luck! Hope you have a good weekend!!!
~R.~
http://www.MomsOfferingMore.com

Ask your pediatrician or the nurse for samples. Doctor's offices are normally flooded with free samples from pharmaceutical companies - but they don't always offer them to patients. I ask for samples every time we go to the doctor - it keeps us stocked in children's Tylenol and Motrin.

If the Singular works well, you'll know it's a good investment!

Well my son is 5 1/2 and from the time he was born till he was 3 we fought allergies like crazy. We are also a military family so we move quite often. With each move we are subject to new environments with new allergens in the air (ie,different trees, pollen). I'm not sure if you’re aware of the fact that EACH allergy med covers a DIFFERENT set of allergies. With that being said after each move we had to trial and error meds until we found what worked best for him. Then when he was 2 we got a new doctor who suggested we have an allergy test (why this wasn't suggested before is beside me) that would test him and find out exactly what items he was allergic to. Then when we had that list the Dr was able to compare it with his drug lists on what exactly worked for him! It made things easier for sure! Okay so the rest of the story....he fought allergies so bad and ear infections like crazy as well as sleeping problems. SO we went to an ear nose and throat Dr(ENT) and they decided that his tonsils were so abnormal they needed to be removed. Once they were removed ALL allergies became obsolete--as well as all the other issues! Our Dr even gave us hope before the surgery that this would happen.
Samples are always a plus from you doctor--even if it's just long enough to see the effects and if it will work or not. If it does work then absolutely don't give up with the insurance. Have the Dr submit an explaination in writing why the child needs this particular drug. I'm not 100% knowledgeable on all the pharmaceutical companies but I'd check into whether or not there is an equal non-name brand to Singular. Some times insurance companies won't cover certain name brands but will cover the generic. GOod LUCK!

C.,

Have you considered getting a second opinion from a Naturopath? Before resorting to placing your child on permanent medication, try some natural means first. A Naturopath can really help a lot. I agree with what another mom said about switching the cleaning products and things in your house too. That can make a huge difference for our those little noses and underdeveloped immune systems. Hope this helps!

My aunt is a nurse and has worked in an allergy clinic for years - she's really an allergy specialist, and knows a lot about the various drugs out there. She told me that Singular was pretty much a failure as an asthma drug, so Merck (the drug company that developed it) in an effort to still make money off of it, decided to market it as an allergy drug. She doesn't think much of it. Personally I take Zyrtec or Claritin for my allergies, but I don't have asthma, so I don't know how they are for that. I just thought that was interesting info, and something you might take into consideration. Docs often get pretty big incentives for "selling" these drugs to their patients. Sad, but true. And if its' going to cost you out of pocket $$, well, then...

Good luck, it's tough having to make these kinds of decisions for your kids.

my care provider wanted me to use singular for my 6yo because he has seasonal asthma, i wont do it. he does get zyrtec but im not about to start using a steroid on him because then his body will start to need it. if his asthma was that bad i would first talk with a naturopath its gonna cost less than the rx for the meds if your insurance doesnt cover it. does he ever use a rescue inhaler? if so how often if daily you may wantto think about it if not then why consider it? my sone sometimes uses a nebulizer at home but has never needed rescue meds. ultimatly its what you feel comfortable with but i woudl see a naturalpath or ped chiro 1st.

My child is not on it, but I am. I have very severe allergies and have tried everything. It seems to work well. I cannot believe your insurance doesn't cover it though. I've never had a problem with that. I wonder if it would help if you doc wrote your insurance a letter about why your son needs it??

Glad you have insurance! Find your nearest N.A.E.T. practioner and get rid of those allergies for good! Why mask them with drugs when you & the family can get rid of them! Go to NAET.com & punch in your zip code. If you are in the Tri-Cities, I know a good one.
(When my son started having allergy symptoms, I tried 1 or 2 of those drugs. I didn't like the way he acted while he was on them. His whole personality changed. Has anyone else noticed that?)

My son has asthma that we have been fighting with since birth. He was on singular for awhile be with it not being covered on insurance it was very hard to buy. I really didn't see a big advantage from one medicine to another.What I did see was that as they grow, which they do fast there little body changes and so will your asthma medicine it seem like they grow out of the medicine as fast as they grow into it.

Does your doctor know your insurance won't cover it? Some times they can give you a sample, that way you can try it out before you commit to purchasing.

My 5 1/2 year old takes it on an as needed basis. She doesn't have asthma so I can't tell you how well it works for that but when her allergies act up and she can't sleep because she is coughing, the singular clears her right up. Our doctor often gives us samples of the pills so we can try out a new dosage before filling a full prescription. You should ask you dctor if he has samples available so you can try it out before you pay for a full bottle.

My son was put on Singulair about three weeks ago and it does seem to be working better! I have recently heard some scary things about it, so I am researching it and watching him carefully. It is the only thing so far that has helped his terrible allergies. We haven't even needed a nose spray!

we have noticed that nettles (found in the natural foods section of fred meyer or other natural food stores) worked WAY better for my husbands allergies then claritin and was a whole lot cheaper!
Also, I have heard some awsome testimonials about mangosteen juice and asthma. I always prefer to try the natural remedies before the heavy drugs! check out www.jfe12.mymangosteen.com

First thing I would do is cut out all dairy products. If that doesn't fix the problem, check for other allergens.

C.,

Both of my children (3 and 4 1/2) are on singulair. They started with the singulair granuales that had to be mixed with one of only 4 types of foods (carrots, apple sauce, ice cream and rice, I believe) and at 2 they were put on the chewable tablets. It has made a HUGE difference in them. They have both been diagnosed with asthma, although the doc believes that it is allergy related so the singulair "kills 2 birds with one stone" for lack of a better way to put it. We have taken them off of the singulair when allergy season was not at the worst and they did okay, but, when they started to show symptoms again, put them back on it and within 2-3 days they were great. My doc gave me a lot of samples, I believe it was enough for 2-3 months for EACH child. I would recommend it for your child, only after you try a sample of it for at least 2 weeks, as the first time that we put the kids on it, it took about a week to notice any difference. Also, my insurance didn't cover some of the meds for my children and the pharmacist told me about getting a physician's authorization and after they did that (they took care of all of it for me) it was covered, so you might want to see if that is a possibility as well.

Good luck!

K.

my daughter uses the claratin ready tab melt-aways - they are available at costco pretty reasonably. Out insurance doesn't cover either, so we had to find an affordable alternative.

It did make a huge difference though!
HTH,
J.

Hi C., Do your research on Singular. There are some side effects that you may want to read about. My daughter had been on it for quite some time and a friend had told me that her daughter had taken Singular and was experiencing stomach aches. When she took her off, they went away. My daughter was experiencing frequent stomach aches, and I took her off and they are gone. She does however get allergy shots and we use a generic allergy pill from Albertson's. I'm trying to move both my girls to only the allergy shots, and control the rest through diet and environment. Hope this helps!

Have you ever looked into a Naturopath that would look at your sons diet to find out why he has allergies? My daughter was four and when she developed increased allergies and full blown asthma. I had always kept her off of cow's milk, but as a child grow's up they can get additional intolerances. After countless trips to UW I finally took her to a Naturopath and found out she was wheat intolerant (not Celiac). I took her off all wheat and all her allergies went away WITH her asthma. She has not had an allergy or been sick for the last 5-years.

My 9 year old son takes Singulair and Claritin. They work differently - can't remember exactly how, but I know he benefits taking them together. He has had no adverse affects with these meds - not hyper, not sleepy.

Bummer about your insurance.

I on the other hand, take Zyrtec. When I took in the morning, it made me dizzy at work - now I take it at bedtime and sleep like a baby.

Moms, I've responded many many times to your questions. Many moms have responded to me and have been helped time and time again. Your health problems can be helped with the whole food juice called XanGo. Don't be deceived into thinking that the only solution is medications.

D. B
____@____.com