Leukotriene Modifiers
MontelukastMontelukast Sodium
Montelukast (generic Singulair) is a once-daily tablet that blocks leukotrienes to help control asthma and treat allergic rhinitis. It is an inexpensive generic that carries an FDA boxed warning about mood and behavior changes.
This page is general information about a medication and how cash prices for it are set. It is not medical advice and does not replace the label, your prescriber or your pharmacist. How we handle medical information
All forms are generic.
About Montelukast
Montelukast blocks the receptor for leukotrienes, inflammatory chemicals that narrow the airways and increase mucus. It is a controller medicine, taken every day regardless of symptoms, and is not a rescue treatment. It is approved for asthma maintenance in adults and children, prevention of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, and allergic rhinitis.
In 2020 the FDA added a boxed warning about serious neuropsychiatric events, including agitation, sleep disturbance, depression and suicidal thoughts, and advised that for allergic rhinitis it should be reserved for people who cannot use or tolerate other treatments. For asthma it remains a useful add-on, particularly for people who also have allergies or exercise-triggered symptoms.
It comes as a film-coated tablet for adults and adolescents, chewable tablets for children, and granules for infants and toddlers. The chewable tablets contain phenylalanine, which matters for people with phenylketonuria.
Taking Montelukast
- How to take it
- Once a day. For asthma, take it in the evening; for allergies, at any regular time; to prevent exercise-induced symptoms, at least two hours before exercise, unless you already take it daily. Granules can be put directly in the mouth or mixed with a spoonful of soft food such as applesauce, carrots, rice or ice cream and given within 15 minutes. It does not treat an asthma attack; keep a rescue inhaler.
- If you miss a dose
- Skip the missed dose and take the next one at the usual time. Do not take two doses in one day.
- Storage
- At room temperature, away from light and moisture. Keep granules in the sealed packet until just before use.
- Interactions to know about
- Few medicines interact with it, though phenobarbital and rifampin can lower its levels. It carries a boxed warning about serious mood and behavior changes, including agitation, sleep disturbances and suicidal thoughts; contact the prescriber promptly if any appear, in children or adults.
This summarizes the official prescribing information. Your prescriber’s and pharmacist’s instructions, and the leaflet that comes with your medicine, take priority.
Why the cash price for Montelukast differs from pharmacy to pharmacy
The 10 mg tablet is a commodity generic and the cash price is mostly the pharmacy’s fee and mark-up. The chewable tablets and granules cost pharmacies more per dose, so children’s prescriptions are priced differently from adult ones even at the same pharmacy.
Because it is a long-term daily controller, a small difference per fill compounds over years; pharmacies with a flat-price generic list often include montelukast.
Upload it and licensed pharmacies reply with their own cash price. You pay the pharmacy, not us.
Ways to pay less for Montelukast without insurance
- Ask for a ninety-day prescription once the dose is settled.
- Ask whether montelukast is on the pharmacy’s flat-price generic list.
- For a child moving between chewable and film-coated tablets, ask the prescriber when the switch is appropriate; the adult tablet is usually the cheaper form.
- Compare independent and mail-order pharmacies.
- Upload your prescription to Script Unlock so licensed pharmacies can quote their cash price. You pay the pharmacy directly.
How Script Unlock gets you a cash price for Montelukast
Prices on this site come from pharmacies responding to a real prescription. We do not publish estimated, average or "typical" prices, because none of those would be your price.
- 1You upload your prescription
A photo of your Montelukast prescription is enough. Nothing is sold on the site; you are asking pharmacies to quote.
- 2Licensed pharmacies respond
Pharmacies that Script Unlock has verified see the request and each can reply with its own cash price for your exact drug, strength and quantity.
- 3You choose and pay the pharmacy
You compare the responses, pick a pharmacy, and pay that pharmacy directly when you collect. Script Unlock never takes a patient payment and never sets the price.
Questions to ask your pharmacist about Montelukast
- 1.What time of day should I take it?
- 2.What mood or behavior changes should I report?
- 3.Can I take it with my antihistamine?
- 4.What should I do if I miss a dose?
- 5.Is this the right form for my child’s age?
Where Montelukast fits
Related medications
Sources
Script Unlock is a marketplace that lets licensed pharmacies quote a cash price on your prescription. It does not prescribe, dispense or sell medication, does not process patient payments, and does not give medical advice. Always follow the instructions of your prescriber and pharmacist and read the medication guide supplied with your medicine.