Montelukast intolerance

[Carriejen]

I haven't spoken to my doctor about this because its pretty hard to get appointments at the moment if they're "routine" but I will get in touch.

Does anyone know if there's another tablet like montelukast for asthma? I'm currently meant to be taking it but have recently discovered I have a dairy/lactose intolerance. Montelukast has lactose in it and my symptoms from this intolerance are not tolerable enough for me to continue taking the tablets for now.

[JosephBritain]

Hello Carrijen. I have taken Montelukast and Singulair. They tell me in the pharmacy they both are basically the same so you could ask for the second one. Regarding the lactose matter I don't know. I hope everything goes well. By the way, I suppose (correct me if I'm wrong) you talk about public health service when they tell you it's hard to get an appointment "if it's routine". Have you tried private/paid assistance? Regards.

[Carriejen in reply to JosephBritain]

Hi Joseph, thanks for your response. I haven't tried paid or private support as unfortunately I couldn't afford it. My gp are actually quite good, compared to some others in the area, but unfortunately if it is just a routine appointment it is harder to get in because they prioritise emergencies (as they should) and you have to try and book an appointment on the day. So you can't phone and ask for one in 2 weeks or whatever. I might speak to the pharmacy about singulair and if they can tell me its lactose free I'll try get into my gp. Thanks!

[Homely2 Administrator in reply to Carriejen]

My gp operates the same way for appointments, so I send non urgent requests for change in medicines, or technical queries, via e consult or email to the surgery. This works well for slightly complex questions, as it gives the gp or pharmacist time to look up and consider their reply.

[Carriejen in reply to Homely2]

Yea last time I did that they did get back to me eventually. I'll probably do that again im just worried they'll tell me I have to keep taking it but I genuinely cannot cope with the symptoms it give me (nausea, migraines). So I'll maybe mention the singulair so I'm at least going in prepared! 😬

[Myasthma1]

I think there is singulair but not heard good reports about it I took montelukast and it affected my liver really bad my ALT liver enzyme went up from 43 to 361 pretty poorly from this a nasal wash is about the best I’ve heard about

[Carriejen in reply to Myasthma1]

I have a nasal wash as well but tend to only use that as and when required. I'm currently having a bit of an asthma flare as it is so have a wee course of steroids to help out with that.

[Poobah]

Both Montelukast and Singulair 10mg contain lactose. However, there's a Singulair Paediatric Chewable 5mg that is lactose free. You would need to chat to your pharmacist about availability in the UK and then ask your GP to prescribe it, assuming you would just take 2 tablets in order to achieve the 10mg dose.