Celebrex symptoms and conditions

been on them for nearly two years. i've had painkillers for 15 years due to ankylosing spondylitis and have been through a whole rake of medicine.
about a year ago i started getting tired spells, now in 6 weeks i see the specialist in the endocrinology unit with suspected hypoglycemia. But i reckon it's these patches, i went from 25 to 37 (25+12mg) and i got worse so it seems straight forward and all the blood tests are negative in regards to glucose. As for the constipation, a diet of all bran every morning without fail and it solves that problem. I still take celecoxib and omeprazole as well as 2-6 co-codamol per day. The withdrawal on these patches is awful. I am going to stop them after new year and go back to codeine/paracetamol and the celecoxib(celebrex) to manage the pain.

Over the past few months, I have been experiencing a variety of very bothersome symptoms and after trying to think of what medications I have recently started, the only two that I could come up with were Omeprazole and Celebrex. My symptoms are these: I have difficulty getting a "deep" breath. When I Iay down to sleep at night, I feel like I can hardly breathe. My face and neck are very swollen. I wake up in the morning with bright red cheeks and hot to the touch. I am extremely tired and depressed lately but have just thought that it was because of my increasingly bad health (chronic lower back pain and burning pain in my legs that has not "let up" for nearly 12 years now. I have recently gone on disability and this has been a very depressing experience for me after having worked and enjoyed working my entire life since I graduated high school). However, the extreme lethargy and depression I have been feeling has just been for about the past 6 to 9 months, and I started taking Omeprazole approximately November 2008. Other symptoms are swollen legs and feet....when I am out on a very hot summer day, my fingers become so swollen that by the time I get home, I cannot remove my rings from my fingers! I have begun to wake up in the morning with the most debilitating leg cramps! I have to hop out of bed and walk around to make them stop. My hip bones hurt so bad sometimes that I can hardly stand it! I have pain all over my body...it feels like it's in my bones. My joints are swollen and painful....I can hardly lift my leg and bend my knees to even get into my shower. My feet feel numb sometimes. I just ache all over! By the way.....I am a female...53 years old. Please.....has anyone else out there experienced any of these symptoms and have attributed them either to Omeprazole or Celebrex?? I feel like I'm about to lose my mind (by the way...that's another side effect I just thought of...I have a terrible time concentrating or focusing on anything! My paperwork is so backed up that soon the creditors will be after me!). But I just feel like I could lay down and sleep away the entire day and not give it a second thought. It is taking all the energy I have just to commit to typing out this posting! PLEASE HELP!! HAS ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE EXPERIENCED THE SAME SIDE EFFECTS I HAVE AND ARE BLAMING IT ON OMEPRAZOLE (OR CELEBREX?). I am on a variety of medications because of 3 failed back surgeries, however, these are the only 2 medications that I have RECENTLY begun taking. THANKS FOR ANY HELP THAT ANYONE CAN GIVE ME!!

I am 29 years old and started taking Yasmin in January 2009....by month 2 I had severe pain in the nail bed of both hands....I kept hoping it would just go away...then 2 weeks later both hands hurt not just the nails...I started having to take advil just to get through the day...I figured it was the side effects of Yasmin b/c it was the only change in my lifestyle...I kept taking it thinking perhaps it was just my body trying to adjust....a couple weeks later my arms started to hurt....long story short, I stopped taking the pill in June 2009 and had to fly to my mother's house for help b/c I had gotten to the point that I was barely mobile and everything hurt...I felt like I was in an 80 year old's body....I had severe joint and muscle pains everywhere and I starting looking like Professor Klump, my hands and feet where so swollen I couldn't do anything (even picking up a pillow to make the bed hurt)...I asked my doctor if it could be the Yaz and he insisted no....I was told that it looks like I have arthritis...but I stuck to my guns and said that it was way too much of a coincidence that my health started deteriorating around the start of Yasmin.....my doctor decided that he could help me detox my body to get rid of any Yaz left in there and to see how I felt after....he did put me on celebrex (arthritis med) to relieve the inflammation and pain...I am also taking a diuretic to flush out my system...I am on day 2 and already feel better...I'm not sure if it's b/c of the celebrex or the detox, but I will know in 2 weeks when I finish all the meds.....after reading all these stories I feel a bit of relief...I'm not crazy, these symptoms really could be b/c of the Yaz!!

i have had my mirena for about 1 1/2 months now, and so far i love it, i have had the spotting for the first month which doesn't bother me and now my period is on and i do have very bad diarrhea which im sure is associated with the period more than the mirena itself. haven't had any lack of sex drive in fact i 've wanted to have more sex, and i haven't' been irritable or anything else, so some of the side effects i believe everyone is having may be made up, think about it if you read over and over and over again how bad the mirena is your going to begin to feel that way i know if i tell myself that my arm hurts all day long then eventually it feels like it hurts..neways all im saying is relax stop reading these scary ass posts and do something to take your mind off of it, i know 3 other people who have the mirena that live down the road from me and NONE of them have had any of these problems...ladies i think you are just trying to find something to blame it on...

I have read the posts below and thank goodness I found this site! I got an injection on Wednesday, 6/17, in my right knee and for the first 24 hours it hurt like heck - more stiff and painful than prior to the injection. On Friday I woke up shaky and started to feel anxious. My face and chest flushed a bright red which lasted all day. Saturday was worse; shaky, heart racing or palpitating, head/neck pressure with headache, hot flashes, nausea and stomach cramping/pain. I even actually had a panic attack (already a predisposition for me). I became uncontrollably weepy and depressed! Today, Sunday, I STILL have major anxiety and headache/pressure. I'm convinced the injection brought all of this on because before this, all I had was knee pain. So, WHEN will these icky symptoms start to subside? I was told the cortisone was good for 4-6 months. I can't live feeling like this everyday for that long!!! Any suggestions or encouragement?

My symptoms started with aches in my ankles and I thought I should stop wearing heals for a while. But then the tingling pain moved up into my lower legs and then my arms/wrists over a period of a few days. I felt like I was having constant shin-splints. I was heavy joint/muscle pains. Then the back of my head hurt really bad on the left side, just at the top of my neck/bottom of my head, and was also really sore to the touch. Then massive headaches. Probably migraines, although I have never had them before. My MD immediately put me on celebrex, which did nothing. I was eating Advil and Tylenol like candy and couldn’t sleep. So the doc put me on steroids (prednisone). That took the pain away. After a few days, while at work, the vision in my left eye went in and out (perfect vision to completely gone). I have never had any issue with my eyesight before - perfect vision. Then at one point (actually while I was in for my first MRI) my vision never came back. No one thought it was serious enough until I demanded to go to the hospital. I spent three days in the hospital, where they ran tests after tests (including MRI, Lumbar Puncture, blood work, neurological tests, echogardiogram, dobblers, etc). Upon leaving the hospital actually diagnosed me with Optic Neurosis, and gave me a 15% chance of getting MS later in life. We were all relieved it was not MS, like they originally suspected. After going to the Eye Dr, they told me that was not the case. This kind of eye stuff only happens to people in their 80’s! I will never regain my vision. If my diagnosis had been optic neurosis, it would not explain the joint pain. I have seen specialist after specialist over the last two months, and they still have no idea. Every test I have undergone has come back clear and I am perfectly healthy. My doc said we might have to go with the retinal specialists theory - which was a piece of cholesterol that clogged the artery in my eye. I just don’t get why a piece of cholesterol would have caused me so much pain over the rest of my body. After viewing this site and the Mirena pamphlet that I found online they give to the doctors, I really think it was the cause. The packet even notes, if you have symptoms like visual loss and headaches/migraines for the first time, to remove it immediately! I did not get mine removed until a month after my vision loss. Every doc I have seen I have asked if it was Mirena and not one of them thinks that could be the cause. But it is ironic, that when you see someone for the first time, the first question they ask is if you are on birth control or any other medications! I think I need to show them this site, so they can read other women’s symptoms. I did also have all the other symptoms as well - weight gain, irritable, oily skin, cramps, moodiness, vaginal odor, gross discharge, headaches, nausea, low sex drive, hot flashes, anxiety, restlessness at times, fatigue, and the list could really go on and on.

I have been fighting a sinus infection for over two years now. Two surgeries for my sinuses so far, and every time I see the Doctor, I get the Levaquin every time, 750MG for 14 days. I have another sinus surgery in another state, with a specialist, I hope, better than my last ENT. But my left shoulder froze up and my right one is trying to freeze up. I am headed in Friday to get the Ortho to put me to sleep and twist my arm around and shoot it with cortizone, and I am hoping my shoulder will be ok then in another week, I head out to get another sinus operation. I was a very active, healthy mid 40's female. Now I can't seem to function. But I just stumbled onto this sight, and I am sure I am going to have to take another anti biotic. Any suggestions on which one? I will never take this Levaquin again. This is all to coincidental for all of us to have similar side effects. I had very bad headaches as well, but blamed the sinuses.

January 26, 2009
I stopped taking 20mg of Lipitor for the following reasons: arm and muscle pain, wrist pain, neck and shoulder pain, knee pain, foot pain, arm weakness when raising my arms, mental fuzziness. I
Withdrawal symptoms : headache, eye ache, increased neck pain.
My goal is to see if the dosage symptoms decrease within two weeks and maybe I will try 10mg of Lipitor and see if that amount produces the same symptoms. My doctor directed me to a Rheumatologist as recent blood work showed inflammation in the arthritis panel. I am waiting to see if being off Lipitor for two weeks might reduce my arthritis symptoms .
I had a stint put in March 2008 and I am on Plavix (75mg), Lisinopril (10mg) and Lipitor (20mg).

I am a male 45 years and used simivastin another statin for three and a half years. Over this time i had severe muscle pain at time then about 4 months ago the muscle pain in my legs came on with a vengeance. It started in both thighs then calfs got very tight sore ankles feet and eventually got in to my arms. A deep achey sort of a pain and an irritability that casesa feeling like a toxin in my inside elbows that makes me want to stretch all the time. I feel very weak compared to my former self. I tried many things to alleviate the pain but nothing really took the pain away or even decreased it much. sometimes i would lay and groan in agony. I especially noticed that draghts and weather changes made me feel worse????. I stopped taking the simivastin 6 weeks ago. I have not had a lot of improvement but must admit thet i have been trying to push my self over this and probably done more damage. My ck levels are normal but my liver enzyme is increased a little. I started also to take q10 and L- carnitine along with magnesium. I might be improving a little each day but nothing definite. I saw a rheumatologist who has no diagnosis and isn't to committal on whether the statin is to blame. He put me on celebrex which has finally given me some relief. Can anyone relate to the worsening of symptoms with cooler changes in weather? and is there anything else i could do to hasten recovery? Thank you to all contributors on this board although it is the first time i have contributed this board has been a scores of help to me.

In the past five years I've gone through two six month Lupron treatments. The first Lupron treatment was given without a Laparoscopy. After being told for ten years that I was one of the unlucky few who have "bad periods", I finally found a doctor who would listen. She diagnosed Endometriosis after I listed my symptoms and put me on a Lupron treatment plan. I had one one-month injection and two three-month injections. Most of my side effects were tolerable; weight loss (almost sixty pounds but I was over weight to begin with), hot flashes, night sweats and memory loss. However, I experienced horrible back and hip pain...to the point of following up with a pain management doctor who insisted there was no reason for me to be in pain.

About four years later I found a really great doctor who performed a laparoscopy to diagnose my endo. She removed fibroid tissue from both ovaries and my colon. My next period was just a horrible so she suggested we follow up with another Lupron cycle. I expressed my concerns with the pain I experienced the first time and she suggested I have add-back therapy. She prescribed a regimen of Estradiol and Norethindrone along with six monthly Lupron injections. The side effects were worse this time around. My depression kicked into overdrive, I was constantly struggling to keep my anger in check, I would wake up dripping from night sweats, hot flashes were bad, blurred vision, memory loss, insomnia and the pain in my back and hips was excruciating. She prescribed Celebrex for my back and hip pain, which didn't help too much. I have a three year old son and had to use a wheel chair when we went to the museum because being on my feet for more than fifteen minutes was impossible.

I've now been off the Lupron for about six months and I have yet to regain any sort of short term memory. My vision is much worse than before I started the second cycle and has yet to reverse. My depression is still bad, as well as anxiety and irritability. However, as soon as the last month of Lupron started to wear off, my back pain did dissipate. I'm still having trouble sleeping but have found solace in Ambien...which could be a bad thing. I don't want to depend on chemicals to help me sleep at night. I just had my yearly exam with my doctor and she apologized for all the pain I experienced. She told me that in all the years she's given Lupron treatments, she had never seen a patient in as much pain as I was in. I don't think I'll be undergoing the Lupron treatments again in the future. I'm currently starting Yaz as a way to keep my periods at bay and only have three or four a year. I'm not real sure if that's a good thing either but we'll see. I have sympathy for all the other Lupron patients out there who experience the bad side of the drug. I don't understand how a medication such as this, which has such drastic side effects, can be marketed to people who are already suffering from pain in the first place.

Let me start by giving you some history.

My sister is a 22 year old girl who worked full time and was never seriously ill until this summer.

During the last full week of June my sister started having headaches. She told me that these headaches were like none she had ever had before. Days later she started complaining that her legs and wrists hurt. She said that her legs were so tired and achy she could barely walk up the stairs. At that time I dismissed what she was saying. My sister constantly wears heels and I chalked up the complaint to a pair of shoes that were not yet broken in.

By July 4th, the headaches were so intense that she went to urgent care. The physician she saw in urgent care gave her an antibiotic and sent her on her way. By July 7th, she was having difficulty standing up and walking was almost impossible. My sister started complaining about severe joint pain. Her ankles began to swell and her stomach appeared distended.

On July 8th, my sister went to her primary care physician. I believe he sent her for an x-ray and said that she had a cyst on her sinus cavity which was causing her to have severe headaches. He then gave her another antibiotic and referred her to a rheumatologist never even thinking that these two symptoms may be related.

On July 10th, my sister saw the rheumatoid arthritis doctor her pcp referred her to. He dismissed her complaints saying that she probably has some form of arthritis, but that there are over 800 forms and it would takes months to pin point exactly which one she has. He then gave her a prescription for Celebrex and sent her on her way. She spent the entire week in bed because her joints were so swollen and achy that she could not move. She actually crawled to go to the bathroom.

By the middle of the following week, my sister's stomach began to burn. She contributed it to being a side effect of the Celebrex and stopped taking it on July 21st. We had no idea that the pain was so bad. My sister's last normal meal was on July 22. By the 23 she had no appetite and could not go to the bathroom. On July 24, the stomach pain was so bad that she could not work, or sit, or function. All she did was cry. She went back to her primary care physician who then prescribed her prevacid to help with the so called indigestion. He told her if the pain continues she could call him. On July 25th the pain became unbearable. My sister called her PCP as directed and he told her to go to the ER. Never once did he say he would meet her there! I brought my sister to the ER where they did an x-ray and cat scan of her stomach. They found nothing. At that time my sister had not gone to the bathroom or had anything to eat since the 22nd. The physician in the ER said that she was literally "full of shit" and needed to go home and take a liquid laxative. My sister is only 22 and my parents were away on vacation. We were stupid and didn't know any better and were so happy that they didn't find anything that we accepted his findings and got out of there.

My sister took the liquid laxative prescribed by the ER physician as soon as we got home. We waited anxiously for it to relieve her stomach pain. After many hours the laxative did not work and my sister ended up back in the ER. This time she was screaming in pain. One of the doctors there told her that if she couldn't calm down she needed to leave her ER. My sister did just that. At this point my parents (back from vacation) took my sister home and called Digestive Disease. A doctor there told my mom to give my sister 2 Enemas. He said that should relieve her pain. My mother followed the doctor's orders, but the pain did not stop. Sunday, July 27th my sister was right back in the ER - this time at another hospital. This time my sister was admitted to the hospital for severe stomach pain. After 5 days and numerous tests my sister was discharged. The doctors found nothing in her cat scans, x-rays or ultra sounds. The pain was more manageable (she was on morphine every 2 hours) and they said she was ok to go home.

August 1st my sister had a great day. She was sitting up in bed and seemed to be in good spirits. The following day she couldn't get out of bed. This time it was neck pain. My sister said the pain in the back of her neck was so severe that she could not lift her head up or move it side to side. By August 4th she was admitted to the hospital again. This time we brought her to University Hospital in Syracuse, NY. We were sure to get some answers there...or so we thought. As soon as my sister arrived in the ER they started treating her with antibiotics. They were certain she had an infection. They then told us they would have to do a lumbar puncture to check her spinal fluid for infection. We thought we would finally have an answer to what was wrong with my sister, so we agreed. The spinal fluid came back fine - no infection. At that time they admitted her to the hospital. While at University Hospital my sister was treated by a team of doctors. They tested my sister for lyme disease, west nile, lupus, leukemia etc. They performed a spinal tap, cat scans, x-rays, ultra sounds, blood smears, etc. All of these tests came back negative. The doctors could find nothing abnormal except for an elevated white blood count -22,000 (it was also very high during her last hospitalization), an elevated C reactor and a very high SED rate. After 4 days of numerous tests and pain killers (first morphine, then Dilaudid, then Dilaudid with a fentanol pain patch) they discharged my sister. The head doctor told her that he believed she had viral meningitis and that it would eventually work its way out of her system. By this point my mother and I were skeptical. We did the research and viral meningitis should only last approximately 10 days. Mig had been sick since the last week in June. No one was putting all these symptoms together. On the day of her discharge my sister started getting her stomach pain back. The pain was mostly on the left side of her lower stomach - under her belly button. Again she was told the pain was due to constipation and she should buy some Miralax when she got home.

My sister was home for a mere 2 days before she would be hospitalized again...for the 4th time. Her stomach pain was back and worse then before. My family could not believe this was happening. My sisters spirits were down and the excruciating pain was making her mentally unstable. This time the ER physician recommended a hematologist come in to see my sister. We just wanted answers so we agreed. This hematologist, Dr. R stated that she believed my sister had drug induced lupus. We were shocked as my sister was tested for lupus twice before and both times the test came back negative. Dr. R explained that she believed my sister got drug induced lupus from the Gardasil shot. My entire family was shocked. We had never heard of any severe side effects like this from the Gardasil shot. Dr. R asked my sister for her permission to test her again. My sister agreed and a week later my sister learned that she was positive for drug induced lupus. My entire family was so happy that my sister finally had a diagnosis and could begin treatment. We were told that after a 6 week steroid treatment (Prednisone) my sister would be back to her old self. We were ecstatic!

My sister was home from the hospital and on the steriod treatment for 10 days when things started to go wrong again. The doctors were very concerned with the dosage of Prednisone that my sister was taking (80mg. I'm not sure how many times a day). They cut the dosage down in half over the course of a few days to prevent kidney damage and other side effects. Once the Prednisone was decreased, my sister started getting sick immediately. Her forearms were very weak - she could not put any pressure on them. Her shoulders would tingle and she would get shooting pains down her right arm. One of her doctors believed she was developing fibromyalgia and prescribed her lyrica. Shortly after my sister began taking lyrica she started seeing stars. She had double vision and a migraine that would not go away. My mother called her doctor and told him about this. His answer was for my sister to stop taking the Lyrica. She did immediately.

On August 29th, my sister still had a migraine. This was day 3 without a break. She woke up early Saturday morning and began vomiting every 30 minutes. After a few hours of non stop vomiting my mother called her doctor. His nurse practitioner was on call and she told my mother to take my sister to the ER immediately. My mother went back into my sister's room to tell her they had to go back to the hospital and she found my sister having a seizure. My sister has no history of seizures. My mother called 911 and the ambulance came to bring my sister back to the ER...her 5th hospitalization.

Shortly after arriving at the ER, my sister had another seizure. Immediately after the seizure the ER doctor ordered my sister to have an MRI. My sister had one during her last hospitalization only 2 weeks before. That MRI was normal. This one was not. There are lesions all over my sister's brain. The neurologist told us that he cannot believe she does not have permanent damage. According to him there is no oxygen going to her brain.The neurologist also explained to us that her brain looks as though she has been poisoned. He said that her MRI is very similar to an MRI of a patient who has been poisoned with antifreeze. Later I learned that Gardasil has both aluminum and sodium borate (which is in both rat poison and cockroach killer). However, according to the doctor once your brain looks like my sister's all the poison is out of your body. My sister's team of doctors started debating as to whether this could all still be from the Gardasil shot...my sister's last shot was on 02/22/08. Some believe that the side effects started off as mild, but since they were left untreated for so long they've turned into a serious neurological problem. They told my family the only way to truly know what is going on is to do a brain biopsy.

Yesterday, my sister was transferred to Mass General in Boston. We were hoping for a bigger hospital, better technology, more seasoned doctors. So far my sister has been treated badly. When my mother told the doctors' about the Gardasil shot and the devastating effects it has had on my sister they dismissed it. When my mom asked the doctors to test my sister for heavy metal toxicity they completely ignored her. I fear that she will never get the proper care.

I was prescribed Prednisone along with an H2 Blocker and an Antihistamine for a severe chemical reaction to using old lotion in a tanning bed. I only laid 2x, but I am severely paying for it now. I was only prescribed Prednisone for a 9 day treatment. By the 3rd day I had the acne. I suffered with Acne all of my life until I was 18 (I am 27 now) ... and haven't looked back at that terrible part of my life since... well, now I am faced to stare right back at it. Literally. I have only been off of the prednisone for 2 days, but I can not WAIT to get my life back. If I could take back the last 2 weeks over something so stupid and cosmetic as tanning, I certainly would. I have never had any previous problems with any of this, and this is the first time I have really had an allergic reaction to anything.... typically, Benadryl would have cured me. Although this time incurable with Benadryl and Cortisone, I regret the Prednisone. Severely. I hope this goes away within at least three weeks.. as my husband is coming home from Iraq and that is not the welcome home I want him to have (even if he is much less superficial about it then I am). Sigh.

July 8,2008
In October 2007 I had surgery to remove a salivary gland. Due to severe infection, I was on 500mg of Levaquin for 20 days and an additional 10 days of Avelox. While taking the medication I suddenly had severe leg and knee pain. At times I could hardly walk. I would be awake a night with severe pain in my knees and legs. I also had the tendon in my left shoulder start "snapping" while sitting in a chair. My shoulder became so bad at one point that I could not lift my arm. I never related any of this to Levaquin until at a later date learning of this kind of damage. My shoulder finally got better after weeks of not using it. I still am experiencing pain in the muscles and tendons in my legs. I have just started seeing my doctor about it this past week. She has me taking Celebrex, which has helped somewhat. I keep hoping that tendons will heal eventually.

Following a deadly allergic reaction to Celebrex, I was given an injection of prednizone, and prescribed 60 mgs. of Prednizone per day for a week. By the third day, my anxiety and what they call "steroid psychosis" was so bad I thought I was going mad. I suffered horrible insomnia, crying attacks, paranoia, fear...you name it. On the fourth day, my knee swelled up horribly and walking was nearly impossible. I stopped taking Prednizone cold turkey on the fourth day (which you are NOT supposed to do, but my doctor didn't tell me that). It has been over 6 weeks since the episode and I am still suffering knee and joint pain, gained 26 pounds and have a red face and horrible acne. My knee has a horrific bulge still. I had an MRI on the knee, and they say that I have fluid buildup on the joint. I have no idea how long it will take to get this drug out of my system, but I would caution anyone to seriously reconsider taking it unless it is life threatening. I believe my allergic reaction could have been treated with just benadryl alone.

I think you guys are all crazy liars. I have mine and I love it also I work in a GYN office and I've asked the other women who had it inserted and they all love it too.

I had been taking Lipitor for well over six years to help lower my Cholesterol count with no know side affects. A problem developed about two and a half years ago with nerve damage that gave me excruciating pain in my shoulder and arm. After an MRI and three cortisone shots I was referred to a neurologist for help. He had no idea what was causing the problem.

About six months after many doctors could do nothing for me, and referring me to a physical therapist, my wife showed me a story in a magazine, which I can no longer find, that talked about problems with Lipitor that had not been properly documented. The article talked about exactly the side effects I was having. The article said there was a problem with nerve damage. It had been well documented that some people had muscle problems, but it was not know there could also be a problem with nerve pain.

I contacted my doctor and stopped taking Lipitor. Two months later, the pain just disappeared. The very day the pain ceased, I had a visit from a good friend of mine who is a Radiologist and who had studied Lipitor because of a problem he was having.

He explained that Lipitor was doing the job it was supposed to do, namely keeping the liver from producing all fats. The problem I was having was that I had injured a nerve and Lipitor was keeping the liver from producing a particular fat needed to help heal that nerve. It seems that the myelin sheath around the nerve needs that fat to help the nerve heal itself, and Lipitor was preventing the production of that particular fat.

Once I quit taking Lipitor it took about two months for the healing fat production to do it's thing. Recovery of the nerves in that arm has been very slow, but they do seem to be healing now.

I thought this was such an important finding that I notified all the doctors I had seen about this problem. To my great surprise I heard from no one. Not even a thank you. I guess that since they didn't find the solution, they just were not interested.

I hope this discussion helps someone else. Thanks for listening.

I have active Rheumatoid Arthritis and am currently on Methotrexate, Celebrex and Vicodin to alleviate the symptoms. My rheumatologist at the beginning of December gave me a flu shot due to low immune side effect of Methotrexate and also gave me an injection of Kenalog (80 i think) for the pain. She told me it was a cousin to the cortisone shots I had in the past but that it was much more effective and with a lot less side effects. I did feel better after a few days. But now 2 months later a large apx 3" long by 1 1/2 inches wide jagged edged discoloration has appeared the entire area is indented almost to the bone apx 1/2 inch deep in the center. This occurred during one week time. last week was not there, this week it is. Very worried looks just like some of the melanoma pictures on the internet. Glad to have found this site. I am seeing a doctor tomorrow morning will update this site once it is diagnosed, hopefully it is from the Kenalog shot - it is in the same area, left arm starting just below the ball and joint of the shoulder.

I have PCOD and I have been advised to try Yasmin to try and stop ovulating because I get cysts so bad. I switched from ortho to Yasmin about 2 mnts ago, I am on my second pack and just recently, last week, I was rushed to the E.R. My husband had to literally carry me because I could not walk. At the time I was exercising because I have also put on extreme weight very fast, almost 10 lbs since starting this pill. Well the x-rays on my knees did not show I had anything wrong and I was literally bed bound, I am a medical asst so I know my body well and I have had some medical background to know maybe this pill is causing the knee problems, I researched it and found this site among many others. Thank god you ladies shared so others could come away from this before it was yrs as some of you have suffered. Can anyone tell me how long after you stop taking Yasmin do your problems go away, meaning I guess when I can walk again, I am on Celebrex now because of this dam pill.

Hello Everyone ---
I just wanted to share my story and hope that it helps others. On December 20th I was prescribed Levaquin to help clear up a bad case of Bronchitis that I had taken a Z-Pac for a week earlier. I still had remnants and the doctor saw as fit to give me the Levaquin to help me get over what was remaining. I had a 10 day supply of the 500mg Levaquin prescribed to take once a day. After (2) two days of taking the medicine I noticed that I was having a slight amount of pain in my left knee, and by the 23rd of December it hurt to walk or stand or sit. The pain was just a dull ache however; it would also become sharp with any movement. Just to let you know I finished all of my 10 day supply, not knowing that the Levaquin was what was causing my problems. I am a healthy 31 year old male that has a 3 year old daughter, so I am always on the go. However, beginning the 24th & 25th of December the pain had spread from my left knee to my right knee, ankles, as well as hip bones. By the end of my prescription my pain was all over my body, it hurt to sleep, it hurt to move, however, taking 800 mg of Motrin every 6 hours seemed to help ease the pain but never seemed to knock it out. I tried everything from Tylenol to Aleve...however, Motrin was the best. Not knowing what had caused my problems, and getting tired of being in pain I went to see my family medical physician on the 7th of January. He ran me through the mill with test to figure out what was going on. Nothing out of the ordinary, I was a little anemic, however, that had nothing to do with my problems. We talked about the Levaquin, and he as most doctors dismissed the chance of that being the case. However, he did prescribe me 200 mg of Celebrex per day, and told me to take Tylenol as needed to help with the pain. After taking the combination of those drugs for 10 days, I called his office back and told him I was still having problems not as strong as before and I could tell I was getting a little better however movement was still bad, so he referred me to a Rheumatologist. I saw the Rheumatologist on Jan. 22nd and he seemed to help more than anyone else, he also did some blood work, however, nothing out of the ordinary once again, he also check for arthritis, and nothing came of that either. He believes that the medicine was the root of the problem, and until it is gone from my system nothing I am going to continue to have problems. He upped my Celebrex to 2 times per day, and told me to take Tylenol Arthritis 2 pills 3 times a day...this combination has almost knocked away all of the pain. I can still tell that I have problem areas such as my wrist when opening the car door; however, hopefully those will go away in time. Apparently, according to him there is a small amount of people in the world that is allergic to fluoroquinolone drugs and do not know it until they take one of these. I go back to see him again on the 12th of February hopefully I will be back to normal, however, I do have one burning question in my mind…what happens if I get off the Celebrex? Hopefully he will be able to answer that one for me. For anyone out there that is having these same problems as I have you might want to recommend for your Doctor to prescribe you Celebrex and see if will help you…

Stomach cramps, night sweats which stopped when I forgot to take them on a long weekend away.

I have been taking levequin 500mg for a spider bite. The doctor gave be a ten day supply. I noticed after a couple of days that the taste in my mouth was nauseating. Then the pain in my arms and legs was just horriable. Then the diarrhea started and I though Id never get rid of it. The waking up in the middle of the night and it felt like I had ran a race in my sleep, I was exausted, I couldnt get my head off the pillow. I will never take this poison again.

I was prescribed Levaquin for what appeared to be impetigo on my outer ear. The first dose gave me a monster headache and very weird almost-dreams (because I couldn't sleep). After the second dose, I had a horrible stabbing pain in the middle of my back, my wrists and upper arms began to ache, my vision was disturbed and I couldn't concentrate. Weirdest of all was a sudden compulsion to shave my head (which I thankfully snapped out of). I'm a textbook normal 45 year old woman, otherwise healthy, and professionally employed. It's been 30 hourse since my last dose, and the mental stuff has subsided, but my arms and hands are still very painful. This is a bad bad drug. I'd have to be on the verge of death to consider it again.

In brief, I am a 35 year old mother of two. I have been suffering with endo since I am 14. I had a span of 4 years with no symptoms at all and in Sept. 05 I had a total hysterectomy for endo and cancer cells on my cervix. I recently spent a week in the hospital for 2 endometriomas which are on the one and only ovary I have left, they are both bleeding and my doctor whom I trusted and his colleagues recommended a 6 month depo-lupron injection treatment before they do surgery to fix up the endo, they are reluctant to remove the remaining ovary due to my age but I will INSIST until someone listens. They did not tell my husband or I about any side affects and because I was in a tremendous amount of pain and because I trusted Dr. Shine so much I accepted the treatment, they faxed my husband the prescription at his work and he had to go find it when he did finally found it he brought it to St. Marys hospital and the nurse injected me and 2 days later I went home, I was sent home with celebrex, iron pills and morpheine pills for the pain...well I was back in the ER 3 days later because the pain was unbearable, my blood pressure was high and I was going insane, I met with the gyno on call and she expressed her disgust with her colleague for not telling me about the side affects of lupron and how the drug worked. My first shot was on the 13th of April and today is the first day I am feeling human, I have little endo pain but let me tell you the hip and back pain are killing me slowly. I am a very active mother and wife and I play sports but even the thought of that now hurts. I have not been able to work and will not return until I feel good, I am REALLY scared of getting the next injection which will be on the 11th of may and my new doctor told me to go through with the treatment for the next 5 shots because even though it will not be easy she insists that it will help me and once I am done they will perform surgery, I have set-up 2 other appointments with specialists and my Family Doctor is the only one that has been there for me, he follows me daily and has set-up a bone density test. Is there anyone with similiar situation that can help me out. I have other side affects but the hip and back pain are the ones I will never forget, I think I would have 10 more births drug free then to have to experience the pain again after the next shot...

In January I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and temporal arteritis (giant cell arteritis). I was put on 60 mg prednisone and an array of other meds to help with pain, inflammation, water retention, and stomach problems from everything. I've lost some vision from the TA. I've experienced the weight gain, the moon face, stomach problems, depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, lack of memory and concentration, and generally feel miserable. The brain fog is awful! I don't trust myself doing much of anything these days!

When I was first put on the prednisone it completely took away all my TA and PMR symptoms. I could walk and get up and down again, didn't have the headaches, and didn't hurt all over.
My doctor tried to taper my dosage about 6 weeks ago and all my symptoms returned and increased as I went down on the prednisone. He upped me back to 60. That time the symptoms didn't go away. They lessened but were still there.

He's trying to taper again, and I'm down to 30 mg now and feel worse and worse. My sed rate has been normal, so the doctor thinks it's from the prednisone. Does it mimic all the TA and PMR symptoms? I also am having a lot of hand and feet cramping.

Does anyone else have these two illnesses? I would be interested in your experience. I want off these meds! Anyone found an alternative approach that's helped?

God bless!