Pediair Special Precautions

Consult a pharmacist/doctor before taking this product.
The diagnosis of persistent asthma in very young children (12 months - 2 years) should be established by a paediatrician or pulmonologist.
Patients should be advised never to use oral montelukast to treat acute asthma attacks and to keep their usual appropriate rescue medication for this purpose readily available. If an acute attack occurs, a short-acting inhaled beta-agonist should be used. Patients should seek their doctors' advice as soon as possible if they need more inhalations of short-acting beta-agonists than usual.
Montelukast should not be abruptly substituted for inhaled or oral corticosteroids.
In rare cases, patients on therapy with anti-asthma agents including montelukast may present with systemic eosinophilia, sometimes presenting with clinical features of vasculitis consistent with Churg-Strauss syndrome, a condition, which is often treated with systemic corticosteroid therapy. These cases usually, but not always, have been associated with the reduction or withdrawal of oral corticosteroid therapy. The possibility that leukotriene receptor antagonists may be associated with emergence of Churg-Strauss syndrome can neither be excluded nor established. Physicians should be alert to eosinophilia, vasculitic rash, worsening pulmonary symptoms, cardiac complications, and/or neuropathy presenting in their patients. Patients who develop these symptoms should be reassessed and their treatment regimens evaluated.
Treatment with montelukast does not alter the need for patients with aspirin-sensitive asthma to avoid taking aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Neuropsychiatric events (e.g. agitation, aggression, anxiousness, dream abnormalities, hallucinations, depression, disorientation, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, suicidal thinking and behaviour (including suicide), tremor) have occurred. Since other factors may have contributed to these events, it is not known if they are related to Montelukast. Physicians should discuss these adverse experiences with their patients and/or caregivers. Patients and/or caregivers should be instructed to notify their physician if these changes occur. Prescribers should carefully evaluate the risks and benefits of continuing treatment with Montelukast if such events occur.
Effects on Ability to Drive and Use Machine: Montelukast has no or negligible influence on the ability to drive and use machines. However, individuals have reported drowsiness or dizziness.