Montelukast

What is Montelukast?

Montelukast is a generic medication sold under the brand name Singulair. It’s produced by many different manufacturers, but the active ingredient is the same - Montelukast sodium.

It’s an asthma treatment that’s often prescribed alongside your inhalers or other asthma medications. Montelukast is a preventative treatment that you take once a day, and it helps with exercise induced asthma, wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness.

How does Montelukast work?

When stimulated by allergens, our immune system secretes molecules called leukotrienes . These molecules cause swelling and tightening of our airways, and it increases mucus production. This causes problems like allergies and asthma.

Montelukast is a leukotriene receptor antagonist, meaning that it keeps the receptors in your lungs from reacting to leukotrienes. So not only can you experience an improvement in your asthma symptoms, but if you have allergies like hay fever, Montelukast can help relieve unpleasant symptoms.

What doses of Montelukast are there?

The Montelukast film-coated tablets are only available as a 10mg dose. If the medication isn’t working for you, we can advise you on an alternative course of treatment since we cannot adjust the dosage of Montelukast we give you.

How to take Montelukast

• You need to take the Montelukast 10mg tablets once a day, every day.
• You should aim to take it at the same time every day, preferably in the evening. There is no clinical reason for it to be taken later in the day, but in most clinical trials people took Montelukast in the evening. So to be safe and ensure its maximum efficacy, you should take it in the evening too.
• You do not need to take Montelukast with food.
• Continue using any other asthma treatment you are using.
• Do not stop taking Montelukast without speaking to our clinician first.
• You need to take Montelukast even if you have no symptoms or aren’t having an acute asthma attack, as this is a preventative medication.
• You should take Montelukast exactly as you were advised to do by our clinician. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us for advice.

How long does it take Montelukast to work?

Montelukast starts working as soon as you start taking it and reaches peak levels in your system after three hours. The leukotriene levels affecting your lungs will start to reduce immediately, but it can take up to a week for you to get the full benefits this medication can offer.

What should I do if I make a mistake when taking Montelukast?

Forgetting to take medication happens to everyone and you shouldn’t panic if you realise your mistake and too much time has passed. Just skip the dose you missed and resume your routine the following day. If this happens often, you can set an alarm for the same time everyday to help you remember.

If instead of forgetting to take your pill, you took one or two more than you should have, do not worry too much either. It’s difficult to accidentally overdose on Montelukast, so if you take one or two extra pills by mistake, it would likely cause you no harm. But if you feel ill after taking too many pills, you should seek emergency medical attention immediately.

Medically reviewed by

Dr Daniel Atkinson

GP Clinical Lead

on August 02, 2022.

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