Patient/caregiver was educated on how to take Montelukast as follows:
- Maintain strict compliance with intake of the medication as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication.
- Take the medication dose at the same time, every day, to avoid forgetting the intake of medication.
- Do not change the dose on this medication without consulting your doctor.
- Montelukast can be used either alone or along with other inhaler medications, to prevent activation of asthma and COPD episodes from happening. Montelukast is usually taken once every day, for prevention of asthma episodes and activation of allergy symptoms.
- Montelukast alone does not help much, after the symptoms of acute asthma and COPD have started. Maintain compliance with any other bronchodilator and steroid medications prescribed during activation of acute episodes of asthma and COPD.
- Montelukast can be taken two hours ahead of exercise schedule, to prevent exercise-induced asthma.
- Drink plenty of water while taking Montelukast, as it can help loosen thick secretions in the airways, if any, thus promoting to cough them up. This helps prevent any chest congestion and risk for chest infections.
- Montelukast could be taken with or without food. If intake of Montelukast on empty stomach causes nausea and vomiting, taking the medication with some food or snack can help avoid these unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms.
- Take the regular Montelukast tablet as a whole, with a glass of water. If you encounter difficulty swallowing the whole regular tablet, you may be prescribed Montelukast as an orally chewable tablet. Orally chewable tablet must be chewed completely before you swallow it. Then, rinse the mouth using some water and swallow the water, for any remnant in the mouth to be swallowed and prevent any wastage of medication.
- Montelukast could also be prescribed as oral granules, which can be swallowed whole. These granules could also be sprinkled on a spoonful of soft jelly or applesauce and swallow the jelly or sauce along with the medication granules.
- Montelukast takes some time to fairly adjust to your blood levels and prevent any activation of allergy and asthma episodes. It could take about 1 – 2 weeks to show the desired effect. Do not discontinue taking the medication without your physician’s consult, as you failed to see the improvement with symptoms immediately after taking the medication.
- Your physician could change the dose of Montelukast, based on the response you show. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
- Montelukast only helps with prevention of acute allergy and asthma episodes, but is not a permanent cure for these conditions. So, continue taking Montelukast, as ordered, even if there is no activation of symptoms. Discontinuing the medication abruptly can result in activation of seasonal allergies and acute asthma episodes and should be done only on the recommendation of your physician.
- Notify your doctor of any activation of symptoms of allergy and acute asthma, progressively increasing shortness of breath, any episodes of recurrent chest infections, despite compliance with Montelukast, so that, your dosage on Montelukast could be revised.
- If you miss a dose, try taking it at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the dose scheduled. Do not take an extra dose to try making up for the missed dose, to avoid risk of overdose. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.
