Montelukast and Nightmares: What Users Say

• Dee...
• May 8, 2017

Montelukast for Allergic Rhinitis "My doctor prescribed me Singulair after my allergy test results came back. Went straight to reviews and seeing so many bad reviews, I got worried. I have a history of anxiety and panic attacks, and people were stating it's only getting worse when you take Singulair. I even rang my doctor, saying I'm really afraid to take them, but he politely asked me to give them a go. Not only did my allergies settle down and symptoms were really bad, I must say. I got back my sense of smell, I could breathe through my nose again, my sleeping patterns improved a lot (some people experienced nightmares after taking Singulair, in my case I finally could sleep through the night, having the nicest dreams ever). Anxiety and panic attacks went away. In my case, it did wonders."

• Kdh...
• September 26, 2019

For Asthma "My daughter had her life ruined by this drug! Had I known I wouldn’t have given it to her! It was good for the asthma at night at first. Then she started having nightmares, odd behavior, aggressive & hyper. The asthma nurse said it was a phase & put the dose up. The next day she was suffering with awful headaches and started to hallucinate...wouldn’t go out in public & ran into oncoming traffic because her brain told her to. Had panic attacks, admitted to hospital for the headaches. I mentioned the drug, they ignored it, took her to doctor who prescribed it to her and he said the drug had crossed the brain barrier causing inflammation and prescribed antibiotics...discontinued it...improvement but my girl will never be the same again...she’s now diagnosed with severe anxiety, OCD & SPD...under CAMHS, mental health, had school counseling...and still to this day no help with withdrawal didn’t go into any detail, no doctor, nurse, or pharmacy will acknowledge that this drug has done this to my girl."

• Gco...
• October 19, 2016

Montelukast for Allergic Rhinitis "My wife was on this stuff for at least a couple of years. She suffered severe tiredness, nightmares, irritability, and even suicidal thoughts, accompanied by severe depression! Although it did make her feel better, the side effects are not worth it at all! She switched to Flonase, and it is just as good. Please, if you are on this medicine and have any of these side effects, please stop!"

• Zaa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 17, 2021

For Asthma "I wish I never even heard of this tablet. My daughter was prescribed this for her asthma symptoms. First, she stated with nightmares, was afraid to go to bed, was irritated very easily. I was putting it down to being tired. I started to notice she was developing tics, clearing her throat and a humming sound. I was at a loss. I was racking my brain, wondering what was happening to her, she never displayed anything like it. I thought I would check up on the new tablet she was given to check the side effects. To say I was horrified was an understatement (I wish I looked at it sooner). There they were, all of the above. I rang the doctor, he took her off straight away. She was on the medication for 7 weeks. I just wish I connected the dots sooner. She has been off the tablets for only 2 days. I am just praying to God there are no lasting effects. Please, if you are thinking of giving this to your child, research it."

• Ash...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 18, 2020

For Asthma, Maintenance "Think long and hard before you take this stuff! I ended up in the psych hospital on suicide watch! I’ve never had mental health problems in all of my 64 years. I am/was a successful, healthy, and articulate attorney/professor/writer/dancer. The bizarre nightmares/paranoia/hallucinations became so severe they thought I had schizophrenia. I lost my job and almost lost my husband. My doctor doesn’t believe this was caused by the Singulair, but all of the symptoms slowly went away in the 6 months after I quit taking it. Sadly, I’m not sure I’ll ever be the same person. My cognitive ability has greatly suffered."

• Ada...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 24, 2016

Montelukast for Allergic Rhinitis "This medication was given to me after Blue Cross and Blue Shield stopped covering levocetirizine, which I had taken for 7 years. Singulair is awful. Within 2 days, I had nightmares so very vivid that were scary. The dreams would come in few minutes intervals during hours and hours of not being able to sleep at all. By the third day, I had tremors in my legs, which kept me awake anyways. During the day, I thought about nothing then killing myself. By the fourth day, I broke out in hives. That's when I stopped it. I would not recommend! I am a very healthy, athletic person, and I love the outdoors, this medication was debilitating."

• Kel...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 12, 2019

For Asthma "My seven-year-old son was given montelukast from the age of 2 for his asthma. We were not told of any side effects at the time. Although since an increase in his medication from the age of six, we noticed a massive change in his behavior. He went from such a happy, outgoing child to the complete opposite. Constant mood swings, aggressive, angry all the time, hating himself, terrible nightmares to the point we can not get him to go to bed. We became that desperate trying to help him, we even looked into seeing a therapist when my mum just by chance saw a newspaper article on montelukast explaining someone’s terrible experience and how it changed them mentally and emotionally. We have just stopped him from taking the drug after all these years and seeing my happy boy coming back. Just wish I had read up on it sooner."

• Kel...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 13, 2020

For Asthma, Maintenance "This medication, montelukast, stole 4 years of my son's life. My son was on this medication from the age of 3 to 7 years old. He came off 10 months ago when we finally made the connection with the troubles he was having. He suffered the most horrendous nightmares and hallucinations. He spoke about death all the time. Severe anxiety, night sweats, always paranoid, hyperactivity. He hated his own face. When he first came off the drug, he also developed facial tics from withdrawal and bouts of up and down behaviors. This lasted for around 4 to 5 months. We finally feel like we have our happy little boy back. If I could get those four years back for him, I would in a heartbeat. PLEASE DON’T TAKE THIS DRUG. The benefits do not outweigh the risk."

• Vir...
• August 25, 2016

For Asthma "There is a gap between the known side effects of this drug and doctor education. We placed my child on it unaware that it causes nightmares and violent behavior in children. He did experience both, to the point where he was almost removed from a regular classroom in 3rd grade. I had a nurse friend educate me, and we did take him off. The nightmares and violent outbursts have completely gone. It doesn't happen to all users, but it did for my child. We switched and are managing with saline spray and Flonase with success. It almost ruined my child's life at the time. I also filed a complaint to the FDA on our experience on this as well."

• Anonymous
• September 4, 2015

For Allergic Rhinitis "I have been taking Montelukast for about 5 years. It's helped me considerably with my extremely severe urticaria. It basically stopped the symptoms completely. Since my condition was so extreme, I ignored the side effects of the drug for a long time. I have insomnia. I wake up every 2 hours, and I have mad dreams. I've always been a big dreamer, but since being under the influence of Montelukast, all dreams are basically nightmares. I'm extremely agitated during the day. Everyone basically annoys me. It's a bit rough, but I have it under control. I get a low fever randomly and quite heavy night sweats, too. I have now stopped taking it to see if my condition has improved so I can maybe sleep through the night again. Fingers crossed."

• Ddr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 15, 2018

For Asthma "I went on montelukast three weeks ago. I have had no prior mental difficulties, anxiety, or depression. Three weeks later, I’m experiencing agitation, anxiety, nightmares (which I haven’t had since I was a child). I’m a 52-year-old woman. I’m irritated, and my thoughts race. As far as those racing thoughts... I seem to get obsessed on a subject, and I can’t stop googling, looking, checking, and doing something related to that topic! Every day it’s something new to obsess over. A close friend who is a psychologist looked at the side effects of montelukast and said CALL YOUR DOCTOR. NOW. She also gave me the phone number of a psychiatrist. I called both my pulmonologist who prescribed and the psychologist. Ugh. This stuff works wonderfully, but quite seriously, I’d rather just cough and have asthma attacks."

• Lex...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 13, 2015

For Allergic Rhinitis "When I developed late-onset asthma and lost my sense of taste, in addition to the chronic nasal allergies, I was finally put on this. It works wonders for allergies - no doubt about it. But ... poor sleep, vivid unpleasant dreams/nightmares. Increased anger & irritability (husband says complete personality change), severe & worsening memory problems. Last two weeks strong salt taste in mouth? Don't know if this is relevant? Any way, going to try to come off it, but not looking forward to return of allergies..."

• hea...
• June 23, 2015

For Asthma "I just started taking this medicine this month. I've taken it before as a child, and it seems to be working great for me now, but I have been experiencing nightmares for the last week or so, which I thought was odd because that's not usual for me. But I didn't think it was related to the medicine until I started reading other people's reviews and seeing others have had the same issue. If anyone else has experienced the same problem, can you please share?"

• dan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 23, 2020

For Allergic Rhinitis "After two weeks of using montelukast, I started having really bad nightmares, waking up early, feeling anxious. During the day, I would feel really tired, with pain in my ankles. Some days later, my memory got worse, I started forgetting words, was really slow, it just felt as if my mind was blank and I didn't know how to do basic stuff. I had very strange thoughts, felt really dark and in a bad place. I started feeling really depressed because of this, I was afraid that I'll lose control of myself, became a totally different person. It was then I read this page and started crying when seeing that there were so many that had the same issues. I stopped taking montelukast immediately, now it's been 72 hours off montelukast and I'm feeling almost back to normal. The first day after the medicine was rough, but slowly it got better. Please take this and other users' experiences into account before starting the drug, it should be forbidden to take it."

• npj...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 29, 2021

For Asthma "First of all, this was not the first drug recommended by the pulmonologist since a bout of bronchitis a year and a half ago. I'm very sensitive to most meds. The hope is the benefits outweigh the side effects. Well, they did not for me. Barely lasted three days on this. Heavy nausea and tiredness in the first 24 hours. Yes, that did subside a little, but there were other concerning issues. Nightmares, increasing anxiety, deep negative feeling, increasing stomach issues, increasing asthmatic pressure in the mornings. Pretty sure it made the nose runny, too, because of course it did. Just did not help at all. I just stopped it and pinged the doctor, who agreed. The side effects subsided after about a day."

• Ast...
• February 23, 2017

For Asthma "Hysterical crying bouts in my 6-year-old son on just the second night of taking it. He woke and came to the side of my bed in almost a dazed state, crying and whimpering. When questioned, he couldn't even speak! Didn't realize how awful this drug was until I did the research. It causes childhood depression, nightmares, hallucinations."

• Boa...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 24, 2019

For Allergic Rhinitis "I was prescribed this Rx for chronic sinusitis one year ago by my PC physician. Due to the powerful effect of this drug on me, I could only take 1/4 of a 10 mg tablet each day. The drug worked well for a few months, but suddenly the results tapered off. Coincidentally, at this time I started experiencing moderate depression, dark thoughts, paranoia, nightmares, and lack of energy and motivation. My husband has clinical depression and anxiety, and I became concerned when I started experiencing similar traits. I have never been depressed, but now I have developed it from taking just 2.5 mg per day. Better product guidance on packaging for patients and physicians may be helpful."

• Kay...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 28, 2021

Montelukast for Allergic Rhinitis "This medicine has helped me tremendously! It has stopped my chronic cough and nasal drip. I couldn’t get good night's sleep. Keeping my husband up too. No bad nightmares or bad feelings of depression. I’m so glad I tried this med."

• Ros...
• November 13, 2020

For Asthma, Maintenance "On montelukast, I had headaches, restlessness, restless leg, and acid reflux got worse. My whole body ached. Then I started having dreams. It felt like these vivid dreams would last all night. I was falling asleep earlier and waking up later. Sleeping 10+ hours and woke feeling I had not slept at all. The dreams turned into vivid nightmares waking me. I was exhausted. I was in a constant fog, and my brain and body didn't want to function. I stopped montelukast 6 days ago. I don't feel normal yet. Still dreaming and tired, but the dreams are less vivid and not scary. I'm still sore and worn out, and I've had an achy stomach since I stopped, but I'm not sure if it's an effect of this. The only positive is it did help with the asthma, and now that I stopped, I can feel it again. I will take asthma over the effects of this medication any day, though. I am giving a negative rating since the terrible side effects so greatly outweigh the benefits. It completely destroyed my quality of life by the end period of taking this."

• Sin...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 28, 2023

Montelukast for Allergic Rhinitis "Gave me terrible nightmares and night terrors. I took it for several months, and though I’ve always had night terrors, I’ve only had them periodically. Then I started taking this, and I had them almost every night. When I stopped taking it, the nightmares and terrors subsided. It helped with some of my allergy symptoms, but the risks did NOT outweigh the benefits. I felt like I was losing my mind!"

• A...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 17, 2018

For Allergic Rhinitis "Not sure if it's because I started using this medicine at the end of spring (summer not as severe), but so far this has been THE BEST medicine I've tried. If there's a day where I feel like I need something on top, I take Claritin (as recommended by my doctor). I no longer use nasal spray. No more Benadryl making me drowsy. As for side effects, I am normally a bit of an anxious person, and I have seen no increase. Still as happy as can be, no nightmares, no depression. No fatigue, no cold sweats at night, it's been great! However, my menstrual cycle has been the only thing that has DEFINITELY changed. Went from a 28-day cycle to a 35-40 day cycle!! Talk about a lot of confusion when that time came around and nothing happened. I keep close track and am very in tune with my body, and yes, this has definitely changed my cycle. Other than that, I am so thankful I can live more of a normal life. I can't wait to see how it holds up when it comes to sinus infection season."

• Mou...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 26, 2015

For Asthma "I had vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC), and recovering from it was a very painful experience for me. I was 10 at that time, and I wasn't affected much. I had asthma before, montelukast helped me to beat asthma without nebulization and inhalers. With an increase in asthma attacks, the intake of montelukast increased. I started to get anxiety, nightmares about various things, and my VKC experience haunted me. Tremors occurred, and my chess skills went down. I hate that drug and discontinued it. The increase in dosage ruined me."

• Mom...
• September 7, 2016

For Asthma "My 5-year-old son experienced terrible nightmares every single night he used this. It was to the point where he was afraid to go to sleep, so I would have to stay up with him. Once we stopped the Singulair, his nightmares stopped. Never again will my son be taking this medication."

• Fri...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 8, 2022

For Asthma "I've used this medicine back then in 2019, but I was having a really tough time sleeping back then after taking this med. Anxiety and depression skyrocketed, and I was so tense and worried all the time! I was prescribed to use it for several months. It did help with asthma, but I was having a really tough time sleeping. I stopped the med. But then I started taking it again in 2022. I noticed that I gained a lot of weight suddenly that won't go away! And I'm having trouble sleeping again, and my belly often aches. The sleep problem is the worst for me. The nightmares and stuff. Sucks!"

• Lav...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 20, 2021

For Asthma "I was concerned about taking this, but it's been brilliant. I started taking it in the evenings but did have some nasty nightmares, so took it in the morning instead and have had no problems at all since. My breathing is 100% better, and I'm barely having to take my inhaler. I've had no mental health issues and no weight gain. I'm 63 and have taken it for 4 months."