By Stephen Adams and Laurence Laluyaux For The Mail On Sunday
Published: 00:57 BST, 12 May 2019 | Updated: 01:06 BST, 12 May 2019
View
comments
Doctors have warned that children are being turned into aggressive youngsters who suffer appalling nightmares by a pill designed to reduce asthma attacks.
Some are said to have developed severe depression and had suicidal thoughts after taking montelukast, a drug often given to those whose asthma is poorly controlled by inhaled steroids. Almost three million prescriptions for the drug were made last year on the NHS in England alone.
Montelukast can reduce the number and severity of asthma attacks, potentially even saving lives, but some medics have become concerned by its effects on mental health, as parents report worrying side effects.
Among them is Rachel Masterman, 49, from Caldicot in South Wales, who says her son, Robbie, began having nightmares after being put on the Singulair brand of the drug when he was two.
Robbie Masterman, from Caldicot in South Wales began having nightmares after being put on the Singulair brand of the Montelukast drug when he was two
‘Robbie developed these dreadful night terrors. He would wake up screaming like he was being murdered. He could see things coming out of the walls, spiders, men coming to get him,’ she said.
When Robbie started school, teachers complained that he was naughty and aggressive. When he was four, Robbie, now eight, was taken off the drug which improved his behaviour and stopped the night terrors, his mother said.
Paediatrician Zeshan Qureshi, who attended a childhood respiratory conference at
