Cartilage symptoms and conditions

I started NuvaRing 3 weeks ago yesterday after having the Mirena IUD removed (kept in all 5 years). I removed it yesterday as planned. 1 week ago, I felt a terrible pain in my right side under my ribs. I started having very slight trouble breathing, pain when laughing or coughing, etc. I applied heat and the pain subsided over the weekend and I could breathe easily. On Monday, I decided it best to go to the doctor since I had trouble breathing, I didn't want to assume it was nothing. I went to a doc in the box (bad idea) and I was told that I had a swollen rib cage (the cartilage). I'm certain I was misdiagnosed because the dude didn't even do xrays, even after I explained that I had just started NuvaRing. I wanted them to be aware of everything. The doctor dismissed it.

On Tuesday night, I was in so much pain and my difficulty breathing was worsening that I cried myself to sleep. Wednesday I went to work and was in so much pain that I was in tears and headed to URGENT Care, as my primary care physician could not fit me in. They xrayed, ran a urinalysis, a CBC to check my white blood cells and found nothing except for a bit of what appeared to be constipation, though I have regular bowel movements. My white blood count was slightly elevated, but distributed normally. I was prescribed a laxative and Lortab for the pain, which was excruciating. The doctor told me to come back the next day (today) to retest my white blood count. It went down a tad, as I had taken the Nuvaring out yesterday evening. The doctor seemed puzzled, but gave me my CBC results and urinalysis just in case I developed a fever or an infection of some sort, but told me that she thinks I am having side effects from the NuvaRing. She asked me to not put it back in.

On a side note, I had called my OBGYN on Wednesday before I headed to Urgent Care and explained the situation and they advised me to remove the NuvaRing as well.

I'll have to bite the bullet and pop the daily bc, such as Ortho Lo.

I started feeling much better very quickly after being off Lipitor now 7 months. However, the symptoms I had using the RX has cause significant problems. I fell so many times with my weak joints and muscles, that I had severe problems. I now need to have knee replacement surgery after falling so many times injuring my knees and weakened muscles to support myself. I am getting cortisone shots in that knee, as well as physical therapy. My MRI shows a torn meniscus, stretch PCL very thin, cartlidge loss and debris, still swollen with csyt after all these months. With no meds, and lack of being able to exercise, I now have hig-chol back. On and on it goes.... a real catch 22. Take care of yourself, watch out for symptoms. I ignored sx's thinking it was stress but after reading adverse reactions, it fit me to the T.
My original posting re: Lipitor is Forestseaski on Jan. 2, 2009

C.

My healthy, active 55 yr old husband of 30 yrs was prescribed SIMVASTATIN in Aug. of last year. He started having pains in his legs & back and had an appointment in Oct. with the dr. to check on how he was doing with the new drug. When he went in to the office, he was having terrible pains in his chest, legs & back. The dr. immediately called 911 thinking he was having a heart attack. He was in the hospital for a week while they ran a multitude of tests. All came back clear for his heart. He kept telling the dr. that the back & leg pains were still there. They didn't seem to be concerned about anything except his heart. He was dismissed continuing to have pain. The pain steadly increased over his whole body, then in Feb. of this year, he suffered a major seizure and spent another week in the hospital. This time they wrote it off as epilepsy and put him on anti-seziure pills. After he was released, the symptoms increased, his memory, vision & balance are all effected, he has chest pains, depression, and is in constant pain. He's been sent for numerous MRI's, bone scans, blood tests,etc. He has been to neurologists, neurosurgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, etc. The entire time, his health has declined because he was being poisoned by Simvastatin. Finally, after doing our own research, we found a neurologist that recognized the problem. He told us that this drug distroys muscle tissue and that the damage may be irreversible. My husband can no longer work, drive, or enjoy life. He walks without a cane or walker, and depends on pain pills because the pain is so severe. He stays in bed most of the time due to the pain and lack of energy. He has been off Simvastatin for a week now with no change. We are hoping & praying for improvement over time. PLEASE, if you are your loved one are taking this drug-STOP IMMEDIATELY. The results can be devastating. I can't imagine why the FDA would approve a drug like this that destroys quality of life.

February 24,2009
I am a 66 year old woman in good physical condition(that is until I took Levaquin) I took it in December 2008 and it is over two months later and
i am still suffering from extreme jount and muscle pain especially in my left
shoulder and left knee. I took it for twelve days for a sinus infection and
on the eighth day woke up with great swelling lumps on the back of both knees. Initially thought it was just old age and arthritis. Soon all the joints in my body begin to ache and swell causing severe constriction of movement. Could hardly manipulate the stairs in our house. I quit taking the meds as I had never experienced anything like that before and knew it was the Levaquin. I can only hope that the damage is not permanent but am afraid it might be. I can't sleep on my left side for the pain and it never goes away. Left knee is still swollen and sore. Elbow joints are also painful and hands are sore. I know the medical profession will not acknowledge this so I didn't even tell the Dr. This drug is dangerous
and should be taken off the market. L. H., Blanchard, Ok.

Wow! I must be the latest in a long line of Lipitor users and apparently pain sufferers. I have been on Lipitor for over a year. I am 56 years old, active and healthy (thank God). Around November 2008, I noticed a "twinge" in my left hip while sleeping. This has gotten progressively worse over the months and I thought it was due to arthritis (which runs in my family). But after reading these blogs, I am not so sure. If anyone has anything definitive regarding this, ie: tests, studies, etc., I would really appreciate a point in the right direction for more information. I was thinking (until today) that I was headed for hip surgery or something equally drastic. Now that I have a clue that it may be the Lipitor, I want to investigate further and then, if necessary, change to another medication that won't break me down like this. My heart goes out to anyone that has suffered through hip pain. It is a miserable, painful condition that saps your energy and your desire to even move sometimes. I appreciate any help you can offer. God bless all of you. - L. B. ******

I had been on simvastatin a couple months when the debilitating fatigue started. Since I have hypothyroidism I blamed it on that. The fatigue got worse along with severe depression, brain fog. Numbness in my hands and feet and kidney pain kept me up at night. And then the shoulder pain started. It was excruciating. While pulling a dress over my head, my shoulder literally blew up. Turns out my biceps tendon rupture and filled my shoulder joint with chunks of cartilage. After looking at my MRI the orthopedic surgeon said if I didn't have surgery, the excruciating pain would only get worse and I'd lose the use of my arm.
Now, after stopping simvastatin my LDL has gone up to 300. Dr. wants me to start Welchol. After reading the side effects on this site....um...I don't know.

I have taken 4 doses of Fosomax-1x a week - and have noticed weight gain, nausea and lethargy. After the first three doses noticed a mild headache, which I blamed on my sinuses. After this last dose ( taken 6 days ago), I have had an excruciating headache, and facial pain. I have a constant burning feeling in my stomach. I will not take another dose. I saw that someone had previously mentioned taking Bone Up, and had good results. Has anyone else tried this? As a breast cancer survivor with borderline osteoporosis I am looking for a good alternative.

I am a 49 year old male and took a 14 day course of Cipro for a UTI. By day four the souls of my feet were very sore, especially first thing in the morning but no other side effects. Mentioned sore feet to Dr after 7 days of Cipro but he did not believe it was from Cipro and had me complete the course. After 14 day course of Cipro feet were now so painful that I could barely walk on them especially after resting or getting out of bed. Also burning sensation on skin of feet and hands and some minor tremor. Saw a specialist and he immediately confirmed Cipro as the culprit and advised never to take that drug family again. Have since done the whole web search thing and discovered the whole saga of these drugs. Other symptoms have also appeared, some pain in middle of back, sharp pain in middle of back of both knees, hot and cold flushes, pain in left bicep, fingers that are very susceptible to joint injury and feelings of weakness and anxiety. Has been over three weeks now since I stopped Cipro and condition shows no improvement, may even be slightly worse. About to try a shotgun approach with treatment as there appears little documented evidence of anything conclusive on line. Starting course of anti-inflams (Voltaren) and these have already reduced the pain in my feet. Also magnesium and calcium supplements (theory goes that it may mop up any remaining Cipro and there is plenty of reports from sufferers saying that symptoms continue to appear for some months after stopping Cipro), Vitamin B6 (can apparently help with some types of nerve pain and tingling) and Fish Oil (omega 3's can help reduce inflammation). Not very scientific I know and can't be sure that all these are compatible with each other but am a bit desperate at this stage. Bracing myself for a three to six month recovery (just based on experience of many others). At this stage I am just hoping that damage is not irreversible as this appears to be a real risk. As everyone here will agree it is amazing how this situation is being allowed to continue. I could have stopped my Cipro on day two or three if I had been made fully aware of the risks and what to look out for. I am no expert by any means on this but from what I can gather Cipro and its relatives do nerve damage by the very way they work. It appears that anyone taking these drugs will inflict some nerve damage but for many it will not manifest to a degree that is a problem or at least a noticeable problem. So in some ways we are all sufferers, just to varying degrees. Another point mentioned often is that the symptoms may not appear for some months after the Cipro is stopped and therefore is not always associated with the drug. Also some say there is an accumulative affect with using the drug a second or third time. Symptoms may appear only after multiple use or symptoms may get much worse and more likely irreversible with multiple use. It's all scary reading. At this stage I am just hoping I can make a full recovery. Do damaged nerves repair themselves, does the Cipro eventually leech out of our systems .... I don't know. I will post in this forum again in a few months or sooner if I make a recovery.

I am 54 years old and on simvastatin for the past year. My nails have become brittle and break off easily. I have never had this problem before.
On the up side, my symptoms of GERD are better and my joint pains have also improved. I also used to have bleeding from gums while brushing (I do realise it is from plaque build up) but that has disappeared since I started simvastatin. When I stopped the medication for a month, the bleeding re-started from my gums. Simvastatin seems to have an anti-inflammatory effect, but I am worried about what it is doing to my nails. If my nails are getting brittle (? dehydration of cartilage), is it doing the same to the cartilage in other places too, e.g. knees and hips etc?

After having been floxed back in December, I am finally able to say I'm symptom free. The only permanent damage I have is a floater in my right eye. I'm grateful that I have it because it occurred on the third day of 750 mg levaquin and because of it I stopped immediately. I also had tinnitus, ruptured tendons in my ankle a torn rotator cuff. I had pain in my rib cage that felt like someone punched me in the lungs. I had an eczema like rash on my elbow, neck and back but that went away in a matter of days. I had a low grade fever and night sweats. I noticed real improvement at the four month mark (things were the worst at the 2 month mark) and now at nearly 6 months, I can say I've completely recovered. Make sure to eat organic meats, dairy, eggs and produce because they put fluouroquinolones in non-organic animals and once you've been floxed it only takes a small amount to cause a reaction. I also take supplements--a good multivitmin, extra C, Acai juice, glucosamine and chondroitin with ASU (to stave off the inevitable cartilage erosion) SAM-e and MSM. I'm able to do vigorous exercise with no ill effects and I'm sleeping well. I will not take any prescriptions nor will I trust any doctor unless it's a matter of life or death. As long as we continue to have a "for profit" health care system, our well being will be secondary to the obscene wealth gained by pharmaceutical companies and the entire health care industry. It truly is caveat emptor as long as we live in a country where corporate profits trump the public good.

I was prescribed Levaquin 750 mg 1 a day for ten days. On the fifth day I woke up with both knees swollen and extremely painful. I did not connect the pain to the Levaquin and took two more doses at which time my knees were so painful I had trouble getting up from a chair and walking. My wrists were beginning to hurt and I had developed a deep rattling cough. I went back to my doctor who sent me for an MRI of my right knee. The result is that I have almost total loss of cartilage and suspected torn medial meniscus. My doctor says I probably need a knee replacement. I continue to hurt and now my feet and hands hurt and pop as well as my knees. I believe that this drug should be contraindicated in anyone with arthritis. I am very worried as I feel this pain spreading all over. It has been about 3 weeks since I stopped the Levaquin and I feel miserable, waking up 2, 3,or 4 times a night in pain.

I had a Kenalog injection into my knee joint after my orthopedic removed 30cc of fluid from the knee. about 2 hours later, I began to experience pain around the knee joint. Rapidly, over the course of 15 minutes, I went from mild pain to pain so actuate, I could not function. I could not move, speak, or do anything that might move my leg in the tiniest of motions. The pain extended down my calf, and into my foot. After 30 minutes, I was in such acute pain distress, I was transported to the emergency room. It was by far the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, worse than labor, and even more severe than a disc herniation four years prior to that. I experienced flushing and stomach pains and it took too pain injections to bring it under control. After ruling out a cartilage tear or fold with an MRI, it was determined that I experienced what is known as a steroid flair. I spent the next day resting and recovering from stomach pains. The pain subsided but left my knee in a worsened state than before the injection, although the inflammation went down. Needless to say, I will not be accepting Kenalog injections again.

Hello,

about a week ago I admitted myself to ER because of terrible breakout of hives (never had them before) but was covered from head to toe.

Doctor prescribed PREDNISONE 80mg for 4 days, and gave me an IV with the drug a week ago Saturday night (don't know how much was there), 12/29/07, I took my daily dose 80mg Sunday noon. I only slept about an hour or two. By new years eve 12/31, I have started getting cold chills, feeling unbearably cold, then the next day 1/1, I felt like I was 100 years old, all my joints were stiff, I couldn't get up from bed, couldn't sleep much but there is still more.

By Wednesday I have felt even more stiff and hives were not going away, I went to the doctor (my stiffness went away after couple hours in the morning) he prescribed more PREDNISONe for another week, luckily I have stopped taking the medication after 5 days of 80mg, plus whatever they gave in in an IV but I still have what I think are side effects from taking it.

Ankles are still sore, I cannot sleep because an extreme numbness sets in my left hand middle to index finger, it is no numb it hurts like an elephant is sitting on it, that is why I am still up at 4:30 in the morning. When I am up it just tingles. Not sure what to do but can't sleep at all for last 3 days and getting really tired.

If I knew what Prednisone does I would never take any of it, I'd rather deal with hives oh and they still didn't go away, I have had them for about 10 days now, they did stop itching. Honestly I felt very very sick a day after taking it, I didn't associate this with Prednisone, until I found this website. Please if you can stop taking it or see for yourself how much you should take 80mg is definitely too much, for me at least.

Did anyone have to deal with joint stiffness, and numbness how long does it take for it to go away. My wife says to to ER again because I can't sleep I am just very uncomfortable with the numbness and rattle in bed, but guess what they could shoot me up with more Prednisone.

My son is 14 years old and was given two rounds of this drug for an infection (two weeks and one week respectively). Last round in the middle of September. The pain started with the first round and got worse the second time. Real bad. We had him tested for a multitude of diseases and x-rayed the knees - all came back normal. We finally stumbled onto the fact that the joint pain coincided with the drug - WE WERE NEVER WARNED!

Well, he's a heck of an athlete/student/good kid...and has been wrestling since he's 5 years old, has competed nationally and this sport is "his thing." Well, now he's finally in high school and can barely make it through practice - can't go live at all. The pain and stiffness ain't going away even though he's been off it since September!

What in the world can we do to treat this effectively (or t all)? Doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and they did nothing. Physical therapy is doing nothing. Ultrasound treatment on knees is doing nothing.

How long will it last?

Help please anybody with any information - we're disparate.

Prayers are welcome too.

Thanks.

Craig V. (Dustins Dad)

Only 34 I have had problems sleeping. Pain in legs. Developed chest cartilage pain since taking Simvistan.

i am a 33 year old male and i have been taking warfarin for the past nine years. i have had most of the side effects that i have read about here. before i began taking the drug i asked my doctor about side effects and i was told that there were only two; bleeding and bruising.
i have since learned that the research had not been done. that is why they don't know about the side effects.
here are just some of the effects that i have had in my nine years on this drug. memory loss, hair loss, itchy feet, blurred vision, headache, brittle/crumbling teeth, stomach pain, non healing wounds.
i have began to do more research on my own lately, since it has been almost 10 years since i first began taking warfarin. the only new side effect that i have learned about is calcification of cartilage. i have been lucky not to have had this problem yet.
i have had no trouble yet with bleeding, although i do get some pretty bad bruises. i usually have three or four bad ones on my legs or arms at all times.
i am sure i will develop more side effects as the years go by. i am 33 years old now and will be taking warfarin for the rest of my life.

p.s. i have a titanium st.jude mitral valve

I was on Levaquin in February of 06. Although it helped the sinus infection, the price has been great. I had severe burning and tingling in my lips. Lower lip still numb after 20 months. Soreness and weakness in fingers--sprained two fingers while doing routine things. Stabbing pains in soles of feet, decreased over 4 months. Excruciatingly sore Achilles tendon, especially sore to the touch. Large muscle twitches in arms and legs. Decreased over several months. Ear ringing began--still have it. Dramatic increase in floaters in eyes also during the course of the drugs--still have them. Serious back problems began then also, with 4 herniated discs being diagnosed 5 months later. I have read that connective tissue damage may result from Levaquin. I feel that everthing that stated then is related: back, ears, eyes, numb lips, hands, etc. I checked with my doctors office, told them the symptoms, and I was instructed to keep taking the drug if I wanted to get well. But I only spoke with a nurse. . .shame on me. Good luck to all of you.

i'm glad i found this site. I had fluid in my ear drum. went to quick care and they gave me a prescription for levaquin 750mg. On the fourth day i woke up not able to close my hands. The pain and stiffness in my joints was severe. unable to hold on to anything. I also have pain in every joint in my body or it feels like it. What can i do to get this stuff out of my body? I ache all over. Need some feed back, please help if you have info on this.

Just got back from the dr. She said it is definitly caused by Levaquin. The knee pain etc. is from this drug. She said it putme right over the edge after taking it for only one week. Hopefully it will subside. This is a powerful drug that attacks cartilage and joints and should not be used by people prone to arthritic conditions. Anyway, I feel better knowing I don"t have Lyme or anything more serious. GoodLuck to all of you out there, hang in there.Marsh

I was prescribed 5 days of 500 mg of Levaquin for a possible UTI. I had some vision disturbances - seeing spots and shapes that weren't really there on the 2nd day. On day 3 I had a night of complete sleeplessness. On day 4, I noticed a slight soreness in both calves. I thought it was just from gardening. On day 5 (after I had taken the final dose) the calve stiffness/pain got much worse - it was like the muscles had become extremely tight and was centered around the tendons. I realized it was from the Levaquin when the insert and way down at the bottom it said to call your doctor if you had leg or tendon pain. Since then, I have looked at several sites and it's very scary. I can only hope that the leg pain goes away in a few days - I can hardly walk and it hurts with every step. I have always been a very active person. If this is permanent, it will change my life completely, as I walk everywhere and right now can barely get down the street or up and down stairs. My doctor said that only prolonged use would cause tendon tears, but that is not what I am reading. It damages cartilage, muscles, tendons. That's one of the reasons they don't prescribe it for under 18-year olds.

It should not be prescribed for anyone. There are thousands of entries on the web about the sometimes permanent and very serious side effects of this toxic antibiotic. I feel very sorry for all of us.

Marianne
7/3/07

I am a 39 year old female. I have been taking Advair for about 4 years now, since a bad attack landed me in the hospital. My pulmonologist initially put me on the 500 strength and told me to take it twice daily. After a couple of week of that my skin broke out in small bumps all over the place - my face, my chest, my back, even on my scalp. I suspected the Advair, told my doctor, and she advised me to reduce to once daily. I did, and the bumps were gone within days. After a few months she decreased me to the 250 dosage and I remained on that for 3 years with no debilitating side effects. Unfortunately my doctor retired around this time and another doctor took over her practice.

About a year ago I noticed that my joints were weaker, specifically my knees, and I had one bad fall caused by complete loss of strength in my left knee. My new doctor said I might be experiencing cartilege loss but did not mention it may be from the Advair.

Then a few months ago I had got an upper respiratory infection which went into bronchitis. My doctor put me on an antibiotic that I'd never taken before and increased my Advair to 500 again. Almost immediately I began experiencing racing heart, joint pain, extreme skin sensitivity, sore throat and ear pain. I also got a yeast infection, which is something I have never had before. I still did not suspect Advair as the culprit. Although I reported all these symptoms to my doctor, he also did not mention the possibility of Advair playing any part in them. He told me it was acid reflux, although I've never had a single GI problem in my life. He told me the muscle pain was stress, for Heaven's sake. I wasn't very comforted by his diagnosis, but couldn't think of what else I could do.

One morning a few weeks ago I woke up and for some reason decided to Google Advair, and found copious documentation from reputable sites like Mayo Clinic that detailed all the possible side effects of the drug. I was floored to see that I have been experiencing so many of them.

I have now taken myself off Advair. It's been a week thus far and my breathing has not gotten any worse but the heart racing has already gone away. I also feel less ear pain. The joint pain has remained. I suspect that bone and cartilege damage done by this drug will not be reversible.

Tomorrow I have another appointment with my doctor and plan on showing him the information I printed out from the Mayo Clinic site on the effects of Advair. I do not plan to resume taking that drug.

I have constant bladder infections and have tried all the other drugs that they normally give--my doctor prescribed Levaquin 500 mg and I was on it for three weeks. During this time I have had severe pain in my muscles, I got so I couldn't even BEND my knees and I had to go to the emergency room one morning when I tried to get out of bed and step down on my leg I was in excruciating pain--it felt like one leg was shorter than the other since I could not get it straightened out it felt like the tendons had been shortened. I went to a Urologist and he took me off of the Levaquin--in three days my knee pain is gone! I don't ever want to be on this drug again. I asked my Urologist why it did this and he said it softens the cartilage around the joints.

I'm in a living hell because of prednisone withdrawral. Was on the other coast of USA and my knee gave out (have severe OA with no cartilage left). Had cortisone injection but didn't work after one week. Went back to dr. and got prednisone injection and prescribed 60mg / day. I had a schedule for tapering off, but as soon as I went from 60 to 30, pain came back with a vengence. I was in So. California and had to drive back to upstate, NY, so i had to go back to 60mg. I returned to NY with only 4 pills left. Went down to 30mg/day in Georgia, then 20 in N. carolina. I feel like death warmed over.

I am now taking 10mg / day and i'm having full body muscle spasms daily which are excrutiating. I gained weight and diabetes is difficult to control to under 250. My dr. said he will not give me refill, but I see him tomorrow and will tell him what it's been like. I can't sleep unless taking 20mg vicodin and 1050mg. carisoprodol and 5 benedryls. then only sleep 3-4 hours and wake up to cramps unbelievable.

When on the 60 per day and the IM injection, the pain in knee almost disappeared. Now, it is back plus every side effect from the prednisone. If this is hell, I feel as if I'm in it. Can't be cool, can't be warm. Either sweating bullets or chills. Definitely not the "miracle drug" it's touted to be. Good luck to my fellow sufferers. Keep the faith, believe this too shall pass. -Jay

After completing a regimen of Levaquin, my UTI cleared up, but later, in the space of three days, i went from skipping down stairs to shuffling, holding onto the wall. Doctors informed me i had arthritis, MRI showed nothing. Knee arthroscopy revealed that i had virtually no cartilege in my knee joints.
Pain was unendurable, finally had to have both knees replaced. Two years out of my life for pain and rehab.
Is it possible to develop severe arthritis pain between Tuesday and Friday?! I hope it is, because the only other cause could be the Levaquin.
Janet

Magnesium supplements and Omega 3 fish oils are supposed to help get the cartilage to heal after Levaquin. Dr Jay Cohen has published this and been on NPRadio