Montelukast toddler

[stressedtiredbuthappy]

My 2yo dd has been prescribed montelukast, she does suffer with a terrible wheeze when she gets a cold, but I'm not convinced she needs this.
Every winter so far has been awful,broncilitiois when small , hospitalised and on oxygen, she has inhalers(which work!) and is absolutely perfect in the summer, no cough, no eczema.
Both have come with a vengeance since September.
Any advice or experience???

It is much worse for her to be wheezy and itchy than to take the steroid. Inhalers can only do so much on their own. Being wheezy is horrible, it feels like someone is pushing down on your lungs.

With the eczema, what have you been given so far?

My 4 year old was prescribed it last winter for his asthma - despite his inhalers he had one constant cough that meant he didn't sleep properly for so long. It was a miracle worker for him - no more coughing/wheezing at all! Kept him on it until spring. He hasn't been back on it this autumn/winter so far as I want to see how he is without it.
He had no side effects at all, only a positive experience.

My 4 year old has been on it daily since she was about 18 months. Works a treat, our hospital admissions have dropped dramatically, as has our use of oral steroids. She also has a brown inhaler twice a day and blue one as needed. We've had no side effects from the montelukast and have seen a vast improvement in her quality of life over the Winter months.

Oh and my DS is the same - absolutely no cough or eczema from April through to October!

It's good for bronchial illness, but be warned it can have side effects. DS was given it and he had the worst diarrhoea. If that happens they can try Prednisoline Soluble instead.
Have they tried a preventative inhaler though? Long-term steroid use really should be avoided where possible.

It’s helping my DS a lot with his eczema. My gp said it’s much better for him to be on the montelukast than have steroids. He itches a lot less and I’ve been able to reduce the steroid cream to very very occasional use now, so that seems to be good. He hasn’t had any observed side effects.

She is poorly with her wheeze but no hospital admissions, doesn't stop her playing or eating, just unpleasant to witness, and can't be nice for her.
Her eczema, again not awful we've used avenno which helps but although a bit red her skin doesn't seem to be itchy this year(although previously it has)

She has been particularly poorly this week had predisonole for 6 days instead of the usual 3.

Usually she has no temp or antibiotics, just working hard to breath tracheotomy(???) tugging and sucking in at the ribs.

Yes we have brown inhaler and blue when breathing is bad,

I'm very worried about side effects, especially night terrors or any kind of anxiety,I suffer myself with anxiety so concerned she maybe predisposed to it.

It worked wonders for my daughters asthmatic cough, unfortunately it caused stomach ache and vomiting so we couldn't carry on.

don't fuck about with lungs.
wheezing is not the only symptom, being less active and quiet and pale and tired can also be symptoms.
if there are any concerns take the medicine as prescribed to avoid issues later on.

I would suggest try it. If your dc does have side effects then reevaluate. It works for some people.

My ds was on it for three days. The nightmares were instant and horrific but his consultant was very understanding when I told him why I had decided to discontinue with it. But you can see from previous posters that it works for some dc.

My daughter has been on it for almost 2 years with no problems whatsoeve. She has had much better health since being on it and never had to use her inhalers. We have tried to take her off it twice now and each time we have noticed a significant difference in her health. We have been recommended to keep her on it until she starts school and try taking her off it again then.

Thank you, I am worried about the side effects . My dd is always well in herself happy, playing etc but for the wheezing and working hard to breathe, which is obviously really concerning.

Montelukast works amazingly well for about 1 in every 6 kids. For the rest ,5 out of 6 it doesn't really work at all. (It's a genetic thing whether or not you respond to it). Generally the advice is try it for maybe 2 months then decide whether it's working and if it does then great, continue , if not then stop it. Worth a try , but yes watch out for hyperactivity and diarrhoea

Is any of that evidence-based jelly?

I do not want to be a scaremonger -however I so wished i'd known all of the warnings before my DD took montelukast.
She had horrific side effects and I am still devastated that she suffered so much- i wish i had had more info as I unquestioningly took the consultant advice.
For my DD it was a disaster.
So I feel that I want to give a heads up so that people go into it with all facts.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/child_adolescent_mental_health/1551022-Montelukast-singulair-caused-depression

Well except for working hard to breathe is NOT well. It's badly managed asthma.

As a person with mild lifelong asthma diagnosed age 32, it was a revelation to find out what normal breathing felt like. Wheezing and tugging means she is working really really hard and struggling all the time.

Please don't mess about with lungs.

Both of mine (1 & 3) are on Montelukast.

A few weeks ago the youngest was struggling to breathe. Well in herself, but struggling, just like you describe. She wasn't really sucking in her ribs, but definitely around her throat. We thought it wasn't that bad, we waited it out, instead of putting her to bed we called 111 just in case.

They sent an ambulance. They took her to hospital; they nearly took the worst too! Despite a queue of 10 ambulances waiting with patients in they took her straight in. She was too ill for kids A&E, they took her to resus. She had lines and wires and drips... she still just seemed like she was working hard to breathe... They were one step away from putting her on a ventilator. The 6 year old in the same room as us when we subsequently moved to intensive care WAS put on a ventilator.

So mine have it. No noticeable side effects, and so much better than taking steroids!

I don't mean to scare you, but if there's sucking in around the ribs and a 2 year old it's struggling to breathe I think you need to call 111. It's easy to dismiss it when it's familiar, but that doesn't mean it isn't serious. There's only so long their hearts can work as hard as they have to to compensate for the inefficient breathing.

The eldest, not the worst! That doesn't even make any sense

DD has had it every winter since it was still a trial drug and hasn't been admitted to hospital since then for her breathing touches all of the wood

If you aren't asthmatic yourself then you honestly don't know how bad she's actually feeling. I always thought it's just a cough, just a little wheezy until I ended up on steroids and inhalers myself and then I realised what my poor little boy was going through.
Montelukast worked brilliantly for ds and I wouldn't hesitate to use it again if he needed it.

My younger son had viral wheeze badly and was on Montelukast from about 18 months with no side effects.

He too had a very serous 'silent' asthma attack when he was about 16 months. He was still walking around playing but stopping frequently, so I didn't think there was too much wrong with him but that he needed an inhaler. When I took him to the GP, the doctor said that he didn't like his colour and when he listened to his chest said that there was hardly any oxygen getting into his lungs - gave him oxygen there and then before transfer to hospital. He was on hourly nebs and in for 4 days. So if there's any struggle to breathe, please get them checked out.

My son is now a strapping 17 year old and grew out of the viral wheeze by the time he was 4, but it was frightening for a couple of years.