Bedtime symptoms and conditions

I've been on the pill for about 7 days, and yes, I know it takes awhile to adjust, but I really didn't expect to be cramping so much, or for there to be breakthrough bleeding every day. The pills are making me bloated and giving me gas; I have to take pain meds each night to sleep since the cramping starts around bedtime. How long should I give the pill before I give up on it?

I went to the doctor on 9/11/09, having been sick for a couple of weeks w/ nasal congestion and then developing muscle aches, fatigue, and a fever, along with the new symptom of a cough. My doctor was on maternity leave, so saw someone else in the practice, who hastily diagnosed a sinus infection and prescribed penicillin. Got the beginnings of hives on Sunday early in the a.m., called the pharmacy, discontinued the penicillin. Still had a fever and was miserable, called the doctor on Monday to document the hives for my medical chart, and said I thought it was flu, not an infection. Finally was called back, and they called in levaquin, despite my thought it wasn't infection. Fever had broke finally, and I was making some progress, but figured the doctor knows best and took one dose of levaquin before bedtime. Had horribly vivid daymares/hallucinations and kept telling myself, "Its not real!" Woke the next morning, and could barely move. Couldn't get from the couch to the tv a few steps away and knew I was in serious trouble. Called the doctor and the nurse said they wouldn't see me, no appointments, so my husband took me to the ER. ER doctor said it was a reaction to levaquin, discontinue use, and it would take probably a day to pass through my system. Also said I had a virus, not an infection to begin with. (Horribly ironic, huh). It is now Thursday, 9/17, and I move like a snail. I have no stamina, and can barely walk. I went to work (I'm a teacher) and cried after walking my kids down to art. Am I ever going to feel normal again? This is really depressing. I was a healthy, active person before I took a dose of this poison.

My doctor has upped me from 50 mg to 75 mg Toprol and i swear I am getting fatter by the day. Up until i was 55 i weighed 125 lbs now 5 years later i am 138 and cannot for the life of me shift it even 1 pound. Not only do i eat 6 to 9 fruits and vegetables a day, fish 4 times a week and chicken, no sugar in anything and do the 10,000 steps a day or treadmill. I probably eat and drink less and exercise more than i ever did and have never been so fat. Just out of interest I plugged in Toprol and found this site. I am going to go back to my doctor and ask her to change my medication.

I took one 100 mg tablet one night just before bedtime with a little water for my acne, bad idea! I should have taken it with a lot of water and should not have lain down for at least 30 minutes after.
I felt as if something was stuck in the middle of my chest and wouldn't go down no matter how much water,or ginger ale I drank. I could not go to sleep that night, and the feeling of having something stuck in my chest lasted for about 2 days, although to a lesser degree than the first night.
I took pepcid the next day because I thought I had acid reflux or heartburn even though I have never had this feeling before. Doxy makes me dizzy if taken on an empty stomach or not enough liquid. Always take with lots of fluids and make sure you do not take it on an empty stomach.

During a cold in late March 2009, I contacted a Doctor regarding my chest cough, running nose and wheezing when I slept at night. She prescribed Nasacort AQ one spray for each nasal passage in the evening; 10mg of Loratadine each day; and one tablet of singulair at bedtime for one week.

Because of my cold I could barely taste and smell. After taking these medications for one week, my cough stopped, my nose stopped dripping and my wheezing disappeared. However, I lost all taste and smell.

I returned to the doctor the following week and described my improved condition but that I no longer had any taste and smell. aaaaaaaaShe instructed me to continue administering the Nasacort and Loratadine for another week and then see my family doctor when I returned home. She also checked my ears and cleaned them out and took five (5) xrays of my sinuses and found no polps, blockages, etc.

Since April 1st I have not been able to taste or smell and this situation is now becoming aggravating since today is July 17th.

How can this situation be remedied ? HELP

I have been on Seroquel for about a month and a half.
When I first began to experience anxiety, I was given antidepressants starting with Celexa,(didn't work) Zoloft( made me feel worse), and Trazodone(same effects) , along with anti-anxiety medications.Nothing was working, and I ended up with Serotonin syndrome- HORRIBLE experience- did not sleep for a month, and it was as though my "fight or flight" response was on "hyperdrive".

Finally went to a Pdoc instead of a general practitioner,and he took me off what I was on . He put me on 50 mg. of Seroquel in the a.m., and 50 mg. in the p.m. before bedtime. I improved within several days, and have felt like myself for the most part ever since. I am thankful especially to be sleeping! Have gained some weight back, but since the serotonin syndrome caused me to lose 20 pounds in a month and a half, that is good. The first couple of weeks or so I had dry mouth, but that has gone away. There have been no sexual side effects like the ones caused by zoloft- that makes both my husband and myself happy.
Just hope if I continue to exercise and eat right that I won't experience the weight gain everyone is talking about.
My life is extremely stressful right now due to long-term circumstances beyond my control, and this medication is helping me to cope! Besides feeling some mild depression and grief due to those circumstances, I am just thankful to be functioning well again!

I have been taking Topamax 75mg twice a day since the end of April 2009. On some nights, just before I fall asleep, my mind begins to race. These racing thoughts continue for an indefinite period until I get up with a headache. I’ll take something for the headache, read for about a half hour or so and then go back to bed. Now I sleep to morning. When I arise, I forget the thoughts that had raced through my head the previous evening, which is good, because many times these racing thoughts are angry thoughts. Now. For the rest of the day, I am wasted, like I had not had a good night’s sleep; like I had been very active during that time that my mind was racing.
Note that these ‘racing thought’ episodes do not occur every night, nor immediately upon bedtime. They sometime occur if I rise to use the bathroom. They may not even be related to Topamax. They ONLY started right around the same time as I started using that drug.

I just got prescribed this med and am now scared to death to even try it. I am taking it because I have High Protein in my Urine and will be getting kidney biopsy in week sor so after a few 24 hour union tests that never improved. Has anyone had anything good come from taking Lisinopril. I don't know what to do now. Help!

I am 74 years old and have been taking 50 mg dose of Amitriptyline for 12 years and I take it two hours before bedtime.

Recently it has been causing sleep apnea. I am now taking 25 mgs, two hours before bedtime at 8pm and need to know what time should I take the second dose in the am? I took it this morning around 9am and was sleepy most of the morning. I am guessing this has to do with how long between the dose the night before and the am dose was taking.

How long between these 25 mg doses should I take them.

Thanks Much. D.

So glad I found this on the internet. I started taking Niaspan about 6 months ago..500mg at bedtime. I had some flushing, but nothing memorable. I have noticed that I will wake up with my heart beating fast, but I went right back to sleep each time. But, last night, I woke up at 1:30 am on fire..itchy, burning...and burning bad. It covered my face, upper chest, upper arms, buttocks, and the back of my thighs. Like many have said here, it felt like a very bad sunburn. My skin was hot to the touch, and red. I was so shocked and scared, that I almost went to the ER. It lasted for about 20 minutes, but then I got nauseated. I thought I was having a heart attack. I barely sleep all morning. I decided to search the internet, and found your posts. Thank you! I suspected it might be my niaspan, but then it could of been shingles or some heart problems. Know I have my answer. I'm calling my doctor first thing tomorrow. No more for me.

My 4 year old daughter was taking Singulair before bedtime (for asthma) and developed vicious bad dreams. I took her off the Singulair and the bad dreams disappeared. Through web forums I learned that this side effect has occurred in many children. For the past 2 months her asthma has been completely controlled through the use of a nebulizer and inhaler. I found out the Pediatricians and Nurses and our care facility were not even aware of this side effect. Why is such a mind-altering drug being prescribed to children? And why does a medicine that produces bad dreams require it to be taken before bedtime? She was also taking Zyrtec to control allergies. Her doctor mentioned that it could be taken any time of day, so we gave her the Zyrtec in the am and the Singulair in the pm. One morning during allergy season we forgot to give her the Zyrtec in the morning, so we gave it to her at night. Five hours later she was crying hysterically! It took hours to get her to calm down, and this girl is a very happy, social, well-behaved and well-adjusted child. I stopped both medicines the next day and within one week the bad dreams disappeared. So I would also cautious parents about Zyrtec as well.

I initially went to the doctor requesting my ADHD medication and within 10 minutes of talking to this guy he tells me I don't have ADHD and proceeds to tell me I'm bi-polar. I'm 30yrs old and was placed on 80mg/daily 40mg in the a.m. and another 40mg before bedtime. I was on this medication for 2 1/2 days and was taken off of it due to involuntary mouth movements followed by episodes of dystonia (neck, eyes, mouth and hands for hours at a time)...it was almost as if I was having a seizure without swallowing my tongue. I also experienced very blurred vision and now when I'm speaking to someone I feel like my brain went for a walk because sentences don't come out right and I find myself struggling to make rational decisions. I have now been off of it totally for 3 days and I'm still experiencing the blurred vision and I had 20/20 vision prior to taking this drug, The doctor wants me to try Abilify but the side effects of that drug are very similar to Geodon, I'm literally scared to even pick this up from the pharmacy and give it a try. My pupils are very dilated, I don't know how long this is going to last but it's affecting my job (meaning I haven't been to work in a week because I can't see straight. If anyone is experiencing the same issues after being off the medication for a while...can you tell me how long I am to expect this to go on.

I am a 38 year old male suffering from a combination of occipital neuralgia and migraines. For 20 years, until a year ago, i would endure pain that was only manageable with narcotic pain relievers (imagine all the gamut of such kind). I would have neck and head aches typically 3-4 times a week, accompanied by vomiting, dizziness which would put me to bed for the entire day. Work and family suffered in magnitude comparable to my own suffering. So then I finally saw my GP for that. The pain meds went up the roof, imitrex, maxalt was added to the equation with only marginal side effect. I saw a neurologist. He had me do an MRI and put me on Topamax starting from 25 mg, which I upped to 200 mg within 6 weeks. Past the initial side effects, the headaches subsided, the frequency reduced and i was able to enjoy weeks at a time with no episodes. Stayed at 200 mg for 5 months. In the meantime, the MRI came back positive for some brain inflammation. False positive they said, does not fit the clinical picture. Second MRI, same positive, this time proceeded with LP, which was negative. Third, MRI still positive; making the neurologist uncomfortable. While dealing with MRI results, the topomax had yielded positive results as far as pain management was concerned. But little by little I noticed that I was becoming more irritable, more impatient and more forgetful. Someone would have to remind me of something several times before it would even register in my mind. I empathize will all the posts that mention feeling like having Alzheimer's. I didn't care in the meantime. As long as I didn't have to deal with the pain it was ok with me. But the situation became worst and worst. I couldn't concentrate on anything, the mere task of remembering to do something was insurmountable. I would wake in the middle of the night and find myself staring at the bathroom mirror for no reason. I would have terrible panic attacks which i control with valium. But yet i continued on with topamax convincing myself and being convinced by other people around me that i just had a "personality disorder". Finally, work begun to suffer. I was loosing track of meetings, deadlines and when this happens someone knocks on your door (boss) telling you that something just doesn't click, something just doesn't feel like a personality quirk. Other people playing doctor would slap on my face that i just had ADD, that I should take something for that and get on with my life. But something was wrong. Pain or dizziness or lack of concentration etc are all electrochemical processes in your brain. It turns out that topamax was helping my headaches but it was not slowly deteriorating other cognitive abilities. Finally, the neurologist decided I should wean of the topamax, stepping down from 200 - 150 and then we go to 100 and so on. I dread the re-occurrence of the headaches. I am waiting for them to happen again at some point as I drop the dosage. But in the end of the day, I'd rather be in pain and in control of my life rather pain free and absent minded.

I had ankle surgery in March 2009. After several weeks of pain and inflammation, my doctor prescribed a Prednisone dose-pak to "settle everything down." Yesterday, day 1, I took 2 pills before breakfast, 1 after lunch, and 1 after supper. About 4 - 4 1/2 hours after taking my supper dose, I developed SEVERE abdominal pain (akin to labor pains) and diarrhea that lasted for several hours. The pain abated during the night and today I have had very sore abdominal muscles and a little bit of an upset stomach. I never took the bedtime dose

I don't care how much pain I have had in my ankle...nothing compares to the pain I experienced last night. I will never take this medicine again. According to all the information I have read about side effects, nothing indicated I would experience pain like this.

I am hopeful that now the stomach/abdominal pain "settles down."

A GP have me 8 Singulair tablets to trial for my 4 year old daughter to see if her night time cough would improve....(to determine if she may be asthmatic like me.) A month back I gave her a tablet at bedtime over 4 nights or so. She had a virus at the time, so I didn't think too much about her waking in the middle of the night very distressed, inconsolable etc. Tonight I gave her a tablet before bed, as her cough was quite persistent & I thought it may help her sleep. Well, she's woken up twice in the last 2 hours crying in her sleep and very distressed. Exactly the same way she did a month ago. I've just done a search of side effects and found this web page. Very interesting....I think the drug has definitely caused her to have night terrors and definitely won't be giving it to her again!!!

I have been taken ambien for aprox five years, now due to back problems I also wear a fentanyl patch, at bedtime I take the ambien and heart medicine, if I stay in bed I am ok, but If I have to get up to use the bathroom its all over, my husband keeps an eye on me and I get goofy, write on nothing, talk to people he never heard of. although its been less, I am still doing it the next am my husband asks me if I remember and I do not, I do go to the refrig and eat ice cream but thats it. I ALSO now am on lyrica for back pain and I believe the two are not intermingling ok, as soon as I started the lyrica I started to gain weight, all my life my highest weight has been 145 last pm I weighed in at 166.8 pounds, something has to give, I cant breath good so don't walk much, its your damed if you do and damed if you don't!

ALERT!!!

If you have been having any one of these side effects, then AcipHex may be causing nerve damage.

-- tingling or numb hands or feet
-- confusion / "fuzzy head"
-- ringing in the ears
-- vision changes
-- anxiety
-- depression
-- apathy
-- fatigue

It may be serious. In my case it certainly is. I can barely use my hands. Why it happens:

AcipHex cuts down on stomach acid. Sometimes it cuts down too MUCH acid. In that case, you are unable to break down animal products enough to absorb vitamin B12 from it. Without vitamin B12, your nerve sheathing erodes. My advice would be to stop AcipHex and get a good vitamin B12 supplement (sublingual -- the type that dissolves underneath your tongue, and at least 1000 mcg). I would also advise to get the book -- Could It Be B12? By RN Sally Pacholock. Before starting supplements, insist on a urinary MMA test. It is the only B-12 test that does not give false positives or negatives often.

This book has literally saved my life.

Hi there. A number of years back--maybe 8 or 9 years, I was prescribed Topamax for bulimia and mood swings. I was on a dosage that eventually went as high as 75 or 100 mg. At first it improved my mood and decreased my bingeing, which was very encouraging, but I began to have really awful side effects. First was the cognitive stuff: I couldn't remember people's names and even simple logic puzzles like how to fit a pair of shoes into a shoebox correctly stumped me. Soda tasted flat. Then my moods became somewhat erratic and I began to have intestinal discomfort. Then, even more oddly, my skin started having trouble healing from minor wounds. My hair became brittle and began to fall out. At that point I gave up and stopped the medication. It really felt like I was undergoing some kind of slow poisoning, like arsenic or something.

Now, I've developed migraines and my neurologist has put me on a small dose of 25 mg at bedtime. I've been highly reluctant to acquiesce after my former experience but nothing else has worked and I sometimes have headaches that last over two weeks at a time. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced side effects at 75 mg but not at 25?

Hopeful in NY

I started Topamax 3 weeks ago and gradually worked up to a dose of 25 mg in the AM and 50mg at bedtime. After one week at this dose I have to start decreasing the dose again due to undesirable side effects. I expected the tiredness, stomach pains (which subsided eventually), diarrhea, numbness in hands & fits( the doctor said that if this happened I should eat a banana for the potassium)...but I wasn't expecting the slowed physical response time and "diminished mental capacity" to be as extreme as they were. It's a good thing that I was on a leave of absence from work because I wouldn't have been safe to be at work or drive to work for that matter. It was quite disconcerting. It was so bad, I laughingly said that I should pin a note to my shirt that said "If I am lost, please return to......." ;-). I am now back to 50mg at bedtime and although am still tired through the day at least I'm not walking around in a drug induced fog. I would like to try this dose to see if it controls my migraines....the residual side effects may be worth it....we'll see??

I have had very weird, descriptive dreams....my weight has stayed the same...although i don't crave food as much...and i eat less. but it seems at night i am ravenous, which is not good just before bedtime. no other side effects here. i recently just lost my insurance cause of a drop in my work hours..so im weaning myself off of it slowly....in case Medicaid does not cover it, when I get it.

I took 400 mg of Topamax for about 5 months for migraines. It did help some when seroquel and verapimil were added to it at the end. I had a severe psychotic reaction and was diagnosed as bipolar. The dr wanted to put me on a high dose and let me spend the rest of my life twiddling my thumbs rather than admit Topamax was the cause. These psychotic event have been documented since the 90's.

It took me 3 years to regain my typing ability. I still scramble some words 4 years later. I proof read, but I may have missed some errors in this post. Thanks you Topamax!!

I have extreme sensitivities to most meds. including OTC. Taking any medication is always risky for me. Usually fall into the 1% of people taking this drug developed......
I just started taking Lisinopril last night at bedtime, only a 5 mg. tablet, starting out at half a dose. Was so tired all day could barely stay awake. Also, extremely bloated gut, lots of pain and gas and a pulled-muscle sensation BEHIND my knees Had to walk with bent knees all day to lessen the pain. Can the muscle pain really start this rapidly? Also, anyone else have pain behind their knees or just cramps in calves. Was on 5 mg. of Norvasc daily.. Would rather indure the swollen ankles from that than repeat today's pain. Will take the lisinopril for total of a week. No improvements, back to Norvasc for me.

Has anyone experienced heart palpitations from taking Zocor? I've been on it for 6 months and about a month ago started having palpitations that are becoming more frequent, like daily at this point. Went off Zocor yesterday just in case that is the problem. Has anyone else had this symptom?

I have to admit I am dumbfounded. I "stumbled" upon this information tonight.
I am a very healthy and active 40 year old female with no health issues other than seasonal allergies and asthma. I went to the dr. 4 weeks ago for a sinus infection. I was prescribed 5 days of Levaquin (called a “Lev-pak”??). The sinus infection seemed better but the symptoms of that came back after 10 days and I went back to the dr. only to be prescribed a 2nd round of the same medication. Again the sinus infection seemed to get better and now a month later I went to the same dr. again today because the sinus problem came back but worse. Today I was prescribed a different antibiotic called Avalox. Since I had not heard of this drug I decided to look it up before taking it.
I now look back over the last month and am horrified that I have had these bizarre symptoms and here they are experienced by 100's of other people. And this is just one website, with people that took time to speak up. Just one. All of sudden I already feel better because I can explain so much. Not once was I warned about this drug either by the doctor or my pharmacist.
Everything I am about to describe I have either blamed on still being sick (and getting sicker from the presumed infection) or have blamed on other meds taken in addition for congestion, headache, stomach problems, wheezing, etc.

I have had ridiculous sleep patterns. I was either SO awake some nights that I felt like I could run 10 miles or SO exhausted by bedtime that I could barely walk up the stairs to get to bed. I have had extreme nightmares and dreams. In addition I have had at times practically NO peripheral vision combined with a blinding headache. I also had ringing in one or both ears that was very random. I seriously thought several times that I might have a brain tumor. I have had all these weird stomach issues. I have felt bloated and my abdomen area has been painful at times. I also have gone from either having bad diarrhea to being very constipated. My heart has raced at times both while doing physical activity OR sitting still. For about 3 days after the first round I had sharp pains in my left side (abdomen and arm). I have experienced bizarre hot flashes combined with being freezing cold minutes later with no fever at all. And last my right leg, particularly my knee and foot have just hurt at odd times (just waking up, walking up and down stairs, after sitting for a few minutes). All of these things separated seem so random so I never suspected Levaquin. Having read page after page…they are ALL explained.

I can’t tell you how much better I feel right this moment. I feel sane again. I will never, ever take Levaquin again and am so thankful I was smart enough to get information before taking Avalox, which would have been round three of this poisonous family of antibiotics. I don't know how long it will take for the Levaquin symptoms to go away but at least I'll know why these things are happening. Thank you.

First I want to say, after reading several posts, that it seems a lot of you are taking Topamax without food, which may be causing your "spaciness." My doctor suggested always taking it with food, even though it says with or without food, and I only experienced spaciness the few times I took it at bedtime without food. Once I started taking it with breakfast and dinner, that never happened again.

I am a 48 year old woman, prescribed Topamax in September of 08 for migraine associated vertigo without headaches, with facial numbness. The first thing I noticed was I immediately had headaches, which to me indicated it was dehydrating me as that is the only time I get a "normal" headache. So I knew I had to drink a lot of water. Soon after starting Topamax I developed a dry cough that lasted the entire time I was on the med. I did not relate it to the drug at the time, however. It never even occurred to me. After about two months on the drug I started having trouble breathing with extreme dryness in my airways. I was prescribed an albuterol inhaler which did not help. I was then prescribed a corticosteroid inhaler which also did not help. I thought the trouble breathing was from taking Nadolol which I was prescribed for occasional heart fluttering - the neurologist said this was a normal side effect of Topamax. I stopped taking the Nadolol but the trouble breathing continued. I also had more migraines with vertigo and facial numbness than before I started taking the drug. I hoped it would eventually stop and the drug would kick in to help the vertigo, so I stayed on the drug. I had very minor tingling in my feet, but it was tolerable. I became very stressed out, had trouble sleeping, depression, my face started breaking out in November (and still is), I lost interest in everything that I normally enjoy - reading, photography, following politics in the news (sort of an obsession of mine). In December I was so depressed that for the first time in my 11 year career I started canceling appointments and eventually took three weeks off from work to "re-group." In January the neurologist decided that we would increase the dose from 100 mg to 150 mg for one more month, and if it did not get rid of my migraines with vertigo, we would discontinue the drug. The first day on the increased dose I had a killer headache, and I drank 150 ounces of water before it went away. That night I did not have to go to the bathroom during the night, unheard of for me. That's a lot of water to drink and not have to pee. Within two days of increasing the dose, my cough became much worse, and within three days, the breathing became more difficult. Within five days, I was having trouble speaking because my airways felt so dry. I called the doctor the next morning and he said it was not the drug, but if I wanted to, stop taking it. So I went off it cold turkey, per his instructions. I had rebound migraines every day for a week or two and my heart was pounding, sometimes for three or four hours at a time. Eventually the cough and trouble breathing went away, however, I had to continue drinking lots of water or I would notice that I didn't have to urinate, sometimes not at all. Again, unheard of for me. I saw a cardiologist at the neurologist's urging and they said the heart pounding was just anxiety. I disagree, as did another doctor of mine. We both believe it was withdrawal. I have now found out (by getting copies of my medical records) that the neurologist is now attributing all of my side effects from the Topamax to "somatization." In other words, psychosomatic - not a side effect, but just a way of getting medical attention. I am seeing a few people on this board who have also experienced a dry cough and trouble breathing. Can I have the same side effects as other people and have them still be psychosomatic, even though I had no idea those side effects could occur? I don't think so.

I have a theory that Topamax interferes with hormones which causes a lot of the side effects like lack of concentration, memory loss, anxiety, depression, insomnia, acne, and hair loss - all symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause. Ask any woman in her 40's or 50's if she has these symptoms and most of them will say yes. My face has not been this broken out since high school! My hair is falling out at a rapid rate. I won't even bother mentioning these to the neurologist. He'll just say it's not the drug.

I'm very frustrated and not sure what to do at this point. The neurologist has me taking a supplement called Migrelief now, but I think it takes three months to kick in, so I have no relief at this point.

Has anyone else experienced the trouble breathing with dry cough? I don't believe for a moment that it was psychosomatic.