Bottom line symptoms and conditions

I just had a mirena put in on Thursday, after the recommendation of the obgyn (she said she had one).
When I was asking my questions I was concerned about the acne, since I never really had it in my life and the possible headaches. BUT reading the above postings is not very encouraging: low libido, weight gain, mood swings. I will surely be back to post the results after a month.
Note: I have not had children, but since I was prone to severe pain/length of periods that is how mirena was suggested.
INSERTION was excruciating! "3 small cramps" was in fact pain that left me quivering and in shock. Doctor's need to be more transparent about the insertion process (especially if you have not had kids).
I will be back after my 4 week check up with the latest report. (and if need be, I will be assertive in the removal demand.)
Thank you so much, ladies.

Been on Topamax for almost a year. My dose was 150mg once a day for alternative treatment for chronic depression. I am also on Effexor and Lamictal. The tingling in the toes has lessened but not gone away. I have severe thirst all the time. My body seems to overheat easily. I lost 20 lbs but i was doing weight watchers and had just had a baby so its hard to give all the credit to Topamax. I definitely feel dumb. Words come and simply float away out of sight. My memory is extremely affected. I can fight with my husband and by the end have no idea what I had just said. Feel quite foolish. I am now titrating down and off by 50mg every 4 days. I am down to 50mg and have not had a good night's sleep since reducing my doses. My brain just turns on in the middle of the night. I am also pretty nauseated at this lowest titration. I just gained back 6 lbs but eating chocolate doesn't help either. I seemed to be able to keep my weight at 140 lbs no matter what i would eat. Not so anymore. Always trying to find the faster, easier way toward staying thin but it always comes back to that same bottom line. I have to discipline myself boooo.

hey guyz. I'm writing this all the way from Greece.
Im 26 and this is the first time i used contraception. Im in a relationship for two years now and i thought it would be a good idea to give it a try. I am a smoker (not heavy one, smoke like 5 to 8 cigarettes a day). My doctor gave me the Nuvaring as he said there are no side effects.
I am by my nature a livey person expressing my feelings and stuff. Im wearing the ring for two days now and i feel already nauteus. In the beginning i thought it was ok but my mood is turning really bad... Im scared with no reason and feel awkward... I don't know if that is all in my mind or because of the Nuvaring but when i found the website and the lawsuits and all the complaints i took the ring of me and never let it back in... I prefer to suffer a little bit more with my boyfriend (which by the way is amazing and waaaay to supportive) and go back to condoms than to risk my mental and body health. At the bottom line whats the gain if you do unprotected sex when ur not mentally healthy???

Anyhow thats all from me. Good luck to you all :)

I took levaquin (750) for a bronchial infection about 9 months ago. My doctor gave me individual samples with no info. on any side effects. Like most people, I trusted my doctor and took the pills without question. The aftermath has been a complete nightmare as I have suffered severe joint pain, depression and an atypical anxiety that at times that feels like a drug induced brain fog. I've seen numerous specialist searching for an underlying process causing the symptoms but nothing is ever found. Since the beginning I've contended that the Levaquin was at the root of my problem, but no doctor has ever given that thought any consideration. Prior to the Levaquin I was perfectly fine with no history of any joint pains or mood disorders. Does anyone have any ideas on how to reverse or heal the process?

1 minor heart attack 5 stents placed over past 6 years thru 4 angio episodes. each hospitalization plavix and statins prescribed each time the side effects started within 2-3 weeks, some times sooner . same crap as most...serious leg fatigue, joint pain, skin is tender to touch. But my FAVORITES are the chest/heart pain that mimic heart attack 'feelings' and the 3AM sweat and anxiety/panic attacks.......3 different statins all the same results symptoms
so intense that i have been admitted 3 times for heart cath, ALL false alarms
S-O-O-O DOC what the hell is going on????? ANSWER: must be reflux, must be stress, must be ANYTHING BUT THE STATINS!!!! each time i quit the statins soon after rehospitalization and each time the symptoms went away......last episode was Friday July 31st. i was really bad....constant chest pain and pressure, legs so fatigued that 1 flight of stairs felt like 10 ...shortness of breath...body aches like you feel when first getting the flu etc. etc you guys all know the crap
they rushed me in to the Cath Lab....nothing wrong...must be stress!! must be reflux!!! bullshit. I quit the Lipitor that day
Today is Tuesday.....I am WAY BETTER each time the same thing, on the statins ...feel like crap, get off the statins and feel almost normal within a week
I will NEVER take a statin again
I am lucky that I have been recovering quickly

I am 56 years old and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year and half ago. It was in the borderline stage but I was experiencing severe symptoms such as: intense hunger, blurred vision, and fainting spells. After a lot of begging, my doctor finally put me on Metformin.

Unfortunately, my diabetes went coo-coo on me last April and I got very sick. My glucose was at 465. I could not drink enough water, could not sleep, bad taste in my mouth, I thought that I was going blind, and I was urinating every 2, 3 minutes. I lost 31 pounds just in that short time. But thank God I started to recover end of June.

The most strange thing happened to my vision though. I had been wearing glasses for the last 20 years and now my vision is crispy clear. I do not wear glasses anymore.

I have depression, digestive problems, very bad constipation. For 2 long weeks, the Metformin could not bring my glucose down from 465, and therefore, my doctor gave me some samples of Januvia. Since I started taking the Januvia I noticed my constipation was getting worse so much that I had to take Mylanta to make me go. My stomach is engulfed with air/gas, and gaining the weight back.

I just picked up a complete new prescription of Januvia yesterday. I started this new prescription yesterday in addition to the Metformin and took one pill this morning. As I am typing this message, I am about to throw up, my stomach is so bloated and heavy I can barely move. I only have between 2 to 3 hours of sleep if I'm lucky.

And my question is, why does this medication is still on the market if it is so bad? Simple, there are many of these doctors on the payrol of these drug companies to push these drugs down their patient's throats. Keep in mind that Januvia is a very expensive drug so these doctors do get big cuts from the drug companies.

Only a few doctors who are still really abiding by the code of ethics by looking after the best interest of patients while for many other doctors it's all about the bottom line.

I'm so glad that discovered this site. Thanks to all of you. From this moment forward, no more Januvia for me.

I find it extremely annoying and offensive that people have the nerve to comment things like: You are all complaining or whining, read the side affects before you use it. why do any of you think that you are more educated or better than any of us? of course we all knew the side affects but people react to medicines (etc) differently. i find it very hard to believe that all of these symptoms are coincidence. 99% of us have given birth and raised children which is the hardest, most challenging, emotional roller coaster and im sure we are all able to deal with a headache now and then and mild cramps but that is not the case with us. its a problem when you wake up every morning with migraines and back pains. it is also a problem when women are so depressed and tired that they aren't able to take care of their children and husband. we all have one thing in common. We are suffering from these side affects. I appreciate everyone who has opened up and told their experience and i will not let someone comment about any of us and tell us we are making this up in our heads or that we are whining. if you feel any of those no one is making you read these stories.. so GET LOST!!!
for those of you that have had a great experience with Mirena why are you even on this site?? you are no help to those who actually need help and those that are suffering.
bottom line is no one is right or wrong but this forum is made for those who want help not someone adding their input to make us feel even worse.

Wow, thank you all for your postings. I just wished I had found this before I had Mirena put in. I had it placed in Feb 2009, it's been exactly 5 months. I have been extremely tired and agitated. I didn't really associate this with the Mirena until reading the other posts. My hair comes out by the handful (with root attached), I never have solid stools, I have gained about 10 pounds even though I have been trying to lose weight through a diet and exercise program. All the weight is in my stomach and people keep asking me if I'm pregnant. I started to wonder if I could be seeing as I was crying all the time, extremely moody, and that I look at least 4 or 5 months pregnant. All pregnancy tests have come back negative. I got this put in the day before my fiance and I got engaged ( not knowing at the time) and last week we were about to call of the wedding because of my emotional state and constant conflicts. I have to wonder how much of this is caused by the Mirena. I have already made an appointment to talk to my doctor after reading what all these other women have been through. It's just so tough because with any type of birth control their are side effects so I don't want to make it out to be like this is the worst thing ever, it may be exactly what someone is looking for, but just be informed that there are some side effects because I like a lot of other women on this post was lead to believe that there were no side effects or very little side effects.

Hello everyone. I too am experiencing the same problems described here from Lisinopril. On January 1st of this year, ( 2009 ) I was taken to the hospital emergency room and admitted into the hospital under the assumption that I was having congestive heart failure. After a barrage of tests it was determined that I have diabetes and I was already taking hydrochlorothiazide ( 50 mgs ) for water retention. I was prescribed Lisinopril ( 10 mgs ) and told to cut my hydrochlorothiazide in half. Everything was fine for about a month and then it started...
I had noticed on the bottle of Lisinopril that the one side effect in some patients was a dry cough but disregarded it since it didn't seem to be affecting me. After being on Lisinopril for a month, I began having this awful dusty feeling in my throat. It actually feels like someone has a bellows filled with dust which they've placed in my mouth and released a spray of dust which caused me to have this feeling of needing to cough almost to the point of choking. I don't have this cough all day long. It only happens intermittently throughout the day. Sometimes when I am standing or sitting but mostly when I am laying down in bed. I've also noticed that it seems to have somewhat of a consistent schedule. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I would take the pill every morning around the same time. However, I've stopped taking it about a week and a half ago and still seem to have somewhat of a pattern of when the coughs occur. Strange.
Another thing I noticed is that I've seemed to have an excessive amount of saliva which would also cause me to choke at times. Have any of you experienced excessive saliva with this medication?
I've been trying to lose weight without success and I'm wondering if Lisinopril has something to do with that as well. After reading all of these comments on this forum, I am wondering if doctors as well as The American Medical Association should take a closer look as to whether the side effects of this medication out weigh the benefits and/or what this medicine is supposed to be helping the patient with. So far I see no positive effects from this medication.

Well, my Fiancee (Sandra) started taking Topamax a few months ago. Her side effects have included: loss of energy, tiredness, tingling in the feet, nausea, chest pain, appetite lose, rapid weight loss, and a severe decrease in her sexual drive. The worst of the side effects is her sudden and unpredictable mood changes. She verbally assalts me and her children all the time. She is aggressive and picks fights over anything and everything. I love her with all my heart but I can not live like this. So bottom line, Topamax has gotten rid of her migraines and/or decreased their frequency and severity. And the cost of that benefit is the destruction of the relationships with the people that love her most.

I started taking prednisone when I was only 12 years old and I was on it for about a year and a half. At the age of 10, I was diagnosed with glaucoma, uveitis and cataracts and for about 10 years now I have had all these illnesses. My experience with prednisone had been HORRIBLE. Within two months alone, I gained 50 pounds, my skin started to get really really thin, I started to develop stretch marks ALL over my body with the only exception of my face and hands. I started to get the chipmuk cheeks to the point that my family was afraid that I was going to literally explode. My liver was damaged. My kidney was damaged. The vertebrates in my spine where being chipped away. There was a point in that year and a half where the doctors told me that there was a 70% chance of me going blind. The bottom line was that PREDNISONE WAS BRINGING NOTHING FOR ME EXCEPT RUIN. On top of that, I was constantly depressed. Kids at school would point at laugh hysterically at me. And if people weren't laughing, they were struck by fear and were trying to figure out what exactly I was. I remember this one instance in my school cafeteria where one girl stood up on the lunch table, pointed at me and screamed SHE'S AN ALIEN!!

I was and still am scarred physically and emotionally. My arms and stomach are really saggy because the skin is soo thin. As I said my entire body is scarred with stretch marks. I can't show the slightest bit of my body to anyone because I am so ashamed, embarrassed and afraid of peoples judgments. I am afraid that no one will ever want to be in a relationship with me.

All I can tell you is that though I stopped using it about six and a half years ago, this dreaded drug has truly ruined my life from the very start of my childhood.

Do cholesterol lowering drugs do any good? Thats a good question considering the debilitating side effects everyone here is complaining about.
Advertisements in the USA claim "30% reduction" in heart attack and strokes, but does that mean that everyone that takes the drug reduces their individual risk by 30%. Not exactly. The advertisements boast what is called relative risk reduction. The absolute risk reduction is what counts and is less than 1% on most statins. So how did lipitor do on prevention of events? Here is the bottom line: If you are a middle aged male, 100 MEN will have to take lipitor for 3.3 years to prevent one MAN from a heart attack or stroke. WOW! You have to treat 100 guys for over 3 years in order for one guy to benefit.

im on my third week of my first nuvaring and ive noticed a lot of changes. i get the mood swings, headache, low sex drive, but another symptom i was worried about is that after my last period it seems like ive been bleeding very minimally ever since and every time my boyfriend and i have sex i bleed a little. this has never happened before so if anyone else is experiencing this let me know.

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I changed to Femcon Fe from orthotricyclen after some break-through bleeding. Within the first few days I had nausea, vomiting, and cramping. But the worst side effect was the mood swings. I became very angry and restless. I felt like a totally different person, and the people around said so too. Bottom line is I switched back to orthotricyclen before my first pack of femcon fe was even finished...I would rather have breakthrough bleeding than feel like my blood is boiling with rage.

I've been on levothyroxine 150mcg for about 3 months before that it was 100mcg and so on. I have gain lots of weight and tired all the time. depression also, headaches. I hate this gaining weight, sleepy all the time and depression is from gaining weight. I thought this med is to up boost my thryiode but it doesn't seem to be working. my dr. said I'm on the highest dose there is. I don't know what to do any more. I was thinking about taking myself off this but not sure what will happen if i do. I hope there is someone out there that might be able to let me know if they are going through the same things what they are doing and how they feel now.

First of all, I want to say that I'm sorry for all of you having physical discomfort in your lives right now. I feel for anyone who is experiencing such problems.
With that said, I have been on YASMIN (not YAZ - those are two different things people!!!!) for 8 years and have NEVER experienced any problems despite experiencing problems on other pills. Pardon me being frank... If you are one of the women who BARELY started this pill in the last 3-6 months, you may have not given it enough time. You must remember that by taking any medication you are changing the chemical balance of your body and it will take time and adjustments. Bottom line, you need to carefully monitor your problems and discuss them with your ob/gyn and possibly general physician. You may just need to try other pills. This is TRIAL and ERROR, there is NO way for a doctor to be able to know how each person's body will react to any particular drug. Be open and pay attention. If you search about any birth control pills, you can find there are side effects for all of them. Second of all, some of you may have these existing problems, but never noted them until you started taking the pill, or as I said before, you have not allowed time for your body to adjust. For example, when you have a headache or indigestion, you take medication and it takes time for your body to adjust to the meds. Please ladies - don't bad mouth or assume, without first allowing for the already published side effects to come - and most likely, pass. And if they don't - talk to your doctor!!! Seriously!!! The makers even say to talk to you doctors if any of the published side effects happen. I do apologize for being harsh, but I must insist on being practical and reading the material provided. I do hope that each of you stay in good health and have no lasting problems.

This drug works great for like one year. Then, it wears off and you feel on auto-pilot. I was on this for 3 years and at the end it does not work, you just function with no passion at all, always tired no matter how much sleep. With a physician's help, you can taper it down safely and get off of it. I felt so alive and awake once I got off. bottom line, if you need it short term for something like post partum depression, it is good to fight off anxiety, but long term, you are not enjoying life to its fullest....it is a drugged life experience.

I suffer from chronic sinusitis and rhinitis. When I develop severe sinus pain and headaches, I break down and get antibiotics from doctor. I had an allergic reaction to Levaquin (hives), so the doctor put me on Avelox. It worked well and I've probably had it 4-5 times in the past 2-3 years. I had one round of it a couple of weeks ago and was fine. However, yesterday I was suffering from the pain, nausea, etc again so the doctor gave me another round of Avelox. Within 15 minutes my ears and throat started itching, then the palms of my hands started itching like crazy and turned bright red. Itching and rash spread to my underarms, then to my chest and back. I was feeling a little tipsy too. I knew what it was so I took Benadryl right away and called the doctor. He confirmed the allergic reaction and took me off the drug, said to take the Benadryl, drink a lot of water and no meds until this is out of my system. Bottom line: an allergic reaction can occur at any time, even if you've had the drug before. I keep Benadryl on hand at all times, just for that reason.

My 3 year old son was just prescribed Singulair today. After reading the pamphlet that came with the trial pack, I decided to do more research. All of the side effects that most people have mentioned on this post are listed in the pamphlet. I don't know if I will put my son on this medicine but thought I should mention the importance of actually reading the pamphlets that come with your medicine.

I have intense pressure in my head, left front lobe. Had MRI and MRA and all was normal. OK on lisinopril for many years at 10MG when it was the little blue football shaped pill. Then, they switched it to a white hexagon shaped pill in January of 2008. That's when the pressure in my head started. When to GP and Neurologist and could find nothing wrong. Told to go to a holistic healer and laughed off that it could be lisinopril related. When I stop the lisinopril the headache goes away. When I take it just one time to test the headache comes back.

Birth control has been such a headache for me! If I wasn't married I would probably just give up on sex period. I'm 20 & it depressing to think this is what I will be dealing with for the next 30 years. Of course at some point either me or my husband will be "fixed" but we do want one more kid a little farther down the road. Bottom line, I HATE THE NUVARING! Yeah, its more convenient than taking the pill but after only 3 weeks I found too many things to hate. I'm already clinically depressed and take medication so I can't tell if that's been a side effect. I never feel like its in all the way. I'm constantly trying to shove it in farther. Over time it slowly slips down. I followed to instructions thoroughly & believe me, there's no way to get it any farther up. I'm already sensitive to tampons at times & sometimes sex but the NuvaRing was awful! Immediately I got a yeast infection & a UTI at the same time. Miserable. If you have recurrent UTI's like me, don't use the NuvaRing. Me & my husband have tried to have sex about 10 times now over the past few weeks to no avail. Its like my insides are swollen & raw... it stings! I could barely handle it for 30 sec. My husband says he can feel the ring & his penis will start to sting a little bit. He also says I feel extremely tight & swollen to the point where it almost hurts. So I know I'm not crazy. What's the point in using it if you can't even have sex? Also, no sex drive ladies. I have sex because he wants to. And I feel awful that I can't help him out there now. Hmm, wonder why they birth control is so effective... of course it is if you're not having sex!! If me & my husband are only going to have sex twice a month anywhere I just don't see the point in putting all these hormones in your body... I've just about had it with birth control.

I started taking Lipitor in 2004 and by 2008 was taking 40mg daily. I'm not sure exactly when certain symptoms manifested themselves, as looking back they now seem insidious, but I do know they became bad enough in 2008 I went off the drug myself, especially after reading postings like those at this website. After being off the drug for a month, it was clear to me the most of the symptoms dissipated, but it did have a residual affect. I realized I had suffered a loss of range of motion (ROM) in my left arm (frozen shoulder) and have been in physical therapy for over a month to restored 80% of it. I could not have done this while staying on Lipitor as I was experiencing “deep” muscle pain and weakness. I still have some weakness and pain in my left arm and shoulder and don’t know if it is permanent.

I am Hypothyroid and take Synthroid and am currently going through menopause and am on partial HRT. I took no other meds other than the Lipitor. At one point, I thought my symptoms were stress related, but realized my symptoms were causing the stress. Aside from the muscle pain, spasms, tingling and numbness experienced in my left extremities, I experienced gastro intestinal disturbances, occasional vertigo, some lower back problems and other aching in other extremities (like that of flu symptoms). I also suffered recurrent mental fogs, which I initially attributed to some lack of regular exercise (although I lead a relatively an active life), but that was not the case, as even after aerobic activity the tingling and pain would resume.

When I told my physician I had stopped taking the Lipitor (at that time for nearly a month), he didn't blink an eye. I agree with previous blog; the idea of statins are to lengthen your life, but what kind of life is it when you are in misery and nothing short of ceasing the medication brings relief?

I'm not advocating everyone "doctor themselves. Listen to your physician, but most importantly listen to your body and trust your instincts when it comes to these types of medications. Symptoms listed about scripts described as "rare" are usually not that rare at all. You are not crazy.

I take Lamictal for seizures for 3 years. I had my first unexplained seizure at 25 and another 6 moths later. Both times I had drank heavily two nights in a row. After the second seizure I was put on the Lamictal. I was slowly ramped up to 100mg in the morning and 200mg at night. On occasion, I get horrible "poop pains" as I call them. It feels like my insides are being ripped apart. I can sit on the toilet and poop incredibly runny stool, then I have to wait up to 15 minutes for the second batch. The pain doesn't subside until the second batch but it is immediately gone. It usually only happens when I wake up in the middle of the night. I have tried to correlate it to foods that I have eaten and can't match anything up. I also have horrible short term memory. I sometimes tell the same person the same story twice and they will be like "you just told me that." Also, golfing is the best example. I have a hard time remembering my strokes. My long term memory is fine. As fair as hair loss, I was already on track to lose my hair before I was on the meds so I don't know if they made it any worse or if this is a natural progression. It seems somewhat rapid but I never loose it in quantities or clumps. I just notice it in my hats and beanies every once in a while. I also have a hard time falling asleep on occasion and if I wake up in the middle of the night I have troubles falling back asleep as well. The bottom line is that this drug WORKS. I can live with the side affects cause they are random and not that often. I am a volunteer Fireman and cannot risk loosing that again so I am too hestitant to change meds as the doctor said Lamictal has the least side affects of the seizure drugs.

I am 41 and have been taking Yaz for about 6 months. My skin is much clearer and that is nice, but on the other hand I have had a continuous headache for two weeks now. Just in case, I took meds for a sinus infection but the headache has stayed... so now I am being treated for migraines. The problem is: the meds for migraines don't work. I am wondering now if it is the Yaz. When I first started taking it I got headaches at the beginning of each new packet, but now it's non-stop. After reading some of these posts, I am worried that coming off it will also have side effects, but it can't be anything (I hope) like the pain and fatigue associated with a long, drawn out headache. I am deeply scared that this headache will turn into a stroke or a tumor or something.

Hi, I am a 45 year old male with high cholesterol. prescribed 20mg. of Lipitor to control it. Am having a strange twitching muscle in my right calf since I started the meds. Forearms hurt, trouble sleeping, twitching in my sleep, apparently, tiredness. I'm worried about going off it. My dad died of a heart attack. Would it hurt to try going off it for about 3 months?