April 10th
2008
12:07 PM
I noticed a lot of postings about weight gain on Singulair, which is nowhere listed by Merck as a possible side effect. My 15 y.o. daughter experienced sudden weight gain at the age of 9 when she was actually underweight (BMI went from 17 to 21). To make a long story short, after being off Singulair for over a year, she is now over-weight, and diet/exercise have never made a big difference (gymnastics, swim team, figure skating, trampoline, etc.) Extensive labwork is always normal & there is no family history of obesity. It's a shame the quality of life of a child is RUINED by a drug that is deemed to have "no side effects", and the many drs. & specialists out there take it very lightly. We continually worry about our daughter's self-esteem, risk of diabetes, and other complications from weight gain which is not hereditary and goes on unexplained by the drug co. Reversing this weight gain has been nearly impossible. Everytime I hear a news report about our children being overweight and obese, it makes me angry because I think about the many kids that are taking this highly prescribed drug (for even the mildest allergy or asthma) and who knows how many parents don't make the connection!
-- By hrtprice | Reply | (4) replies | Private Message me
February 29th
2008
8:42 PM
Wow. Thank god for this Bulletin! I was diagnosed with hypertension at age 28
and tried a variety of drugs with no control over the BP. So, about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago, I was prescribed 100MG of Toprol XL which seemed to control it well, but with debilitating long term illness. I had no idea until today that Toprol XL was causing similar grief to others. The horrible symptoms that I have been experiencing now for several years are Extreme Chronic Fatigue, Profuse Cold Clammy Sweating, Dizzy spells, weight gain, seeing specs of light and thousands of eye floaters, severe depression, muscle aches, headaches.
After reading about others with similar side effects, I am confident that it's from this medication. I have had all kinds of testing done including T3 & T4 Throid levels and a full array of blood work with NO LUCK! Regardless of the consequences, I am going to quit this damn medicine today because it appears to take 5 weeks or so to get it out of the body to notice a difference. I am so desperate for change. It is ruining my life because I can
't wake up, I'm always tired even though I get 10-14 hours of sleep. My wife and kids are bummed because I have no energy to do anything, EVER!
If you have any other suggestions or would like to comment about this.
Sincerely,
Sean
-- By seand777 | Reply | (6) replies | Private Message me
January 21th
2008
9:35 PM
I have been on Topamax for a little over a year. I've had most of the side effects; tingling, numbness in the fingers, dry mouth, forgetfulness, and weight loss - love the weight loss. All the side effects have sort of slowed down as I've been on the medication longer. The weight loss has slowed and I've even began to get my appetite back- I'm afraid I'm going to start gaining weight now! I've lost about 40 pounds and I needed to lose it, so that was wonderful. I've had a very hard time losing weight all my life so this was wonderful.
I was addicted to Coca Cola and this med also helped me kick that habit because I lost my taste for the carbonation.
Does anyone know if the weight loss usually evens out after about a year or a year and a half? I need to lose about 30 more pounds and was hoping that I would continue losing weight!
Anyway, I was on the Topamax for headaches and it has completely helped that! It has truly been a God-send for me. Other than monthly hormone headaches, I don't get migraines hardly at all!
I am wondering about having my doc up my dosage for the weight loss aspect????
-- By mzcheryl | Reply | (19) replies | Private Message me
July 20th
2007
5:33 PM
I'm so happy I found this site. I've been thinking I'm crazy or just getting old for the last 3 years while on Yasmin. I started taking it at age 29 and almost immediately after started having mood swings, extreme irritability and depression. I had previously been on Ortho Tri Cyclen and the Ortho Cyclen before Yasmin and was on them for MANY years and never had one side effect. I only switched in the first place because I like to have very very few periods and I run all my active pills together to forgo periods very often and I was having breakthrough on the Cyclen. Hence, the Yasmin trial.
I'm actually a doctor (which is why I CANNOT have frequent periods with all the accompanying issues), but I didn't even realize the possible connection between IBS and Yasmin. This needs to be studied and taken seriously. I never once had IBS symptoms until a few months after starting Yasmin. Now, 3 years later I have almost constatnt trouble, to the point everytime I eat I run for the bathroom, yet my weight has never been higher. I asked a GYN friend at work if they could be related and she said definitely no, but reading all of these "real life" examples, coupled with my own experience has made me think otherwise. Often, the symptoms will occur shortly after taking the pill, even when I haven't yet eaten breakfast. It's crazy!!
I'm going to switch either back to Ortho Cyclen or to something new ASAP and will report back. I'm both excited at the thought that my "IBS" might really be Yasmin related but also scared that it might not go away and therefore might really be IBS. I'll report back... It honestly never entered my mind that all of it could be the Yasmin. I had just moved, started a new job in a town I hate and I thought it was all stress related.
I've also had an interesting side effect no one has mentioned yet- my hair texture has dramatically changed. It isn't falling out, but has gone from VERY curly with a nice soft spiral curl pattern to very dry, straight and hard to manage. Nothing else has changed and now I'm wondering if it's not the DRSP. If pergnant women can have hair changes, why not women on the pill?? It's all hormones.
As always with a drug, there are always possible side effects. No one drug is perfect, and humans are so complex in their make up and they way they process drugs. Therefore, please don't judge your family docs or GYNs too harshly as not even the best doctor in the world can predict every side effect.
-- By ibsqueen | Reply | (11) replies | Private Message me
Yasmin (2) Toprol-XL (1) Singulair (1) Vytorin (1) Loestrin 24 Fe (1) Risperdal (1) Topamax (1) Meridia (1)
June 18th
2008
10:42 PM
I took this drug for 2 years. I was put on it the end of 6th grade and taken off of it in the 9th grade. I know I put on a significant amount of weight. I put on over 100 pounds in 9 months. I went from a size 14 to a size 26. My previous doctor took me off of it, because it was causing me to gain too much weight. At that moment, I gained so much weight, that I was starting to develop health related problems such as high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar and high blood pressure. I was almost classified as "diabetic." in 2003, at 5'4" and 262 pounds, I had a BMI of 45. I was classified as "morbidly obese."
-- By broncofan990 | Reply | Private Message me