Cancer survivor symptoms and conditions

My time on Biaxin was one of the most TERRIFYING experiences of my life! (And I’m a cancer survivor, haha).
It all started when a doctor put me on Biaxin (500mg) for having Pneumonia. I was to take one pill at night and one pill in the morning for a week. The 1st day on the Biaxin was fine. Then the second night, I started to experience changes in my behavior. I began to cry and become extremely emotional to minor things.
The 3rd day I woke up and took my pill and started to feel extreme pressure pushing on my brain. I also got very agitated, grumpy, hyper, and over stimulated. That night I took my Biaxin pill and got 0 hrs of sleep. I was up all night paranoid, scared, hallucinating, crying, shaking, nervous energy, pacing back and forth, thinking in my head “what is happening to me!” The next morning, I took my Biaxin pill and then experienced the same horrific side effects. I was calling my family and telling them that something is going wrong in my head and I need help. It was as if I was having a panic attack. My stomach cramped up, my head hurt, and my heart was beating 10x its normal pace. I also felt hopelessness, couldn’t concentrate, shortness of breath, and worst of all the feeling of paranoia and the thought that my mind is being possessed.
Finally, I got on the internet and looked up “side effects of Biaxin”. Thank god I found this website and was able to see I wasn’t alone. I called my family and told them it’s the Biaxin making me crazy. That day I went and saw my doctor and he said, “Yes, Biaxin can cause emotional distress and all of those other horrible things you are going through." He says it is rare to get that many crazy side effects, but it is possible. He said to stop taking it, and go home and rest. I needed to allow my body to recover from what has happened the last 4 days.
I will never take Biaxin again for as long as I live. I literally thought I was going insane. The feelings and thoughts I was having was absolute torture and an emotional rollercoaster. I thank this website and all of you for your posts. This website truly helped me discover that Biaxin is a dangerous drug that is not intended for everybody. Especially not me!!!!!

I've been on Lo24 for a few weeks now and don't like it at all. This is my first experience with bc and was put on it as a hormone therapy. I had a tubal ligation 11yrs ago and am a cancer survivor most likely starting perimenopause. Since my tubal my periods have only lasted 3 days, well let me tell you, with this pill it seems like i've had my period everyday since starting it. I have the tender breasts, bloating, weight gain, painful intercourse,and stomach hurts to the touch like so many others have described. I have stopped taking the pill a few days ago and I'm still bleeding. How long will it take for all these side effects to go away? I'm especially looking forward to the bleeding and weight gain to go away. I worked hard in the last year to lose 50 pounds and am very upset now that my pants are snug because of this damn pill. My gyno said there would be no weight gain, minimal spotting for a few days...nice to know they like to bullshit us. I wish I never started on this, lesson learned.

I wanted to give an update. I'm the 31 year old cancer survivor who posted yesterday about my concerns with Toprol XL and some side-effects I was feeling. After a trip to the doctor, everything was made clear to me.

After having some bloodwork done and a chest x-ray, we determined that I, in fact, have congenital heart failure. This is when the heart is unable to pump blood fast enough to the body's organs. The result is weight gain due to fluid retention, shortness of breath, and especially trouble breathing when lying down. So, I imagine, the body's natural remedy to this is to speed up the rate in which the heart pumps, to compensate and get the needed blood to the body. That would explain my elevated heart rate.

Toprol XL did exactly what it was supposed to do: lower my heart rate. But, in my case (and, as it seems to me, might also be the case for many of the people posting here), that was not the right solution for me. Slowing the heart rate caused the natural side-effects of congenital heart failure to emerge. So, what I thought were side-effects of Toprol XL were in fact simply the my body's "normal" state, being someone with this heart condition.

As of today, I have stopped taking the Toprol XL and have been placed on a few new medications in its place. I have been correctly diagnosed now, and I look forward to feeling better soon.

I am a heart and cancer survivor patient and have just started on Vioxx for a large hematoma after breast surgery. I have been experiencing severe leg pain in the calf of my legs. Could this be caused by vioxx?