Chronic illness symptoms and conditions

I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ENDO ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS 21 YEARS OLD. I WAS TOLD I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A TOTAL HYSTERECTOMY BY THE TIME I WAS 25. I LIVED OUT OF STATE AND DID NOT LIKE THE DOCTOR I WAS SEEING SO I JUST DISMISSED IT. YEARS LATER AFTER MOVING BACK HOME AND GETTING MARRIED TO A WONDERFUL MAN WHO DOES NOT HAVE CHILDREN ( I HAVE TWO) I WENT TO MY OLD DOCTOR THAT I WAS REALLY COMFORTABLE WITH. TOLD HIM ALL OF MY SYMPTOMS AND ABOUT MY PAINFUL PERIODS AND HOW ME AND MY HUSBAND HADN'T GOTTEN PREGNANT AFTER FOUR YEARS OF TRYING. HE SCHEDULED ME FOR A LAPROSCOPY TO LOOK AROUND AND SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON. HE IS ALSO A FERTILITY SPECIALIST SO I KNEW HE WOULD TRY TO DO WHATEVER POSSIBLE FOR US TO HAVE A CHILD. I HAD A CHOCOLATE CYST ON MY RIGHT OVARY, ENDO, AND THE ENDO HAD FUSED MY BOWELS TO THE LEFT SIDE OF MY ABDOMEN. I HAD ALWAYS HAD PROBLEMS WITH CONSTIPATION BUT I JUST THOUGHT I WAS LIKE ALOT OF OTHER WOMEN. HE TOOK CARE OF ALL OF THAT AND WHEN I WOKE UP HE TOLD ME HE WOULD LIKE FOR ME TO GO ON LUPRON ONCE A MONTH FOR THREE MONTHS. THIS WAS ON SEPT. 11TH. I HAD READ ALL THE BLOGS BEFORE HAND ABOUT LUPRON AND I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL AND JUST PLAIN SCARED ABOUT TAKING IT. MY DOC TOLD ME IT WOULD HELP W/ THE PAIN AND AFTER TAKING IT FOR THREE MONTHS IT WOULD HELP US GET PREGNANT. I TOOK MY FIRST INJECTION BEFORE I LEFT THE HOSPITAL THAT DAY. THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS I REALLY COULDN'T TELL ANY SIDE EFFECTS EXCEPT FOR HOT FLASHES. THEN THE HEADACHES STARTED. I HAD ALWAYS GOTTEN MIGRAINES, BUT THESE ARE 100 TIMES WORSE. I COMPLETED MY THREE MONTH CYCLE OF TAKING LUPRON ON NOV 6TH. I HAVE TURNED INTO A MOODY, CRANKY, ANGRY PERSON. IT IS UNCONTROLLABLE. AFTER MY LAST SHOT BEGAN TO WEAR OFF I GOT A HEADACHE SO BAD MY HUSBAND HAD TO PICK ME UP FROM WORK AND TAKE ME TO THE E.R. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS HORMONAL AND THAT I WOULD JUST HAVE TO DEAL W/ IT. THEY GAVE ME A SHOT AND SOME SAMPLES OF BUTALBITAL. THE SHOT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING AND THE BUTALBITAL ONLY MADE ME SLEEPY. I HAD THIS HEADACHE FOR OVER A WEEK. THEN IT JUST WENT AWAY. WHEN I HAD MY LAST SHOT MY DOC TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE A PERIOD WITHIN 6 TO 8 WEEKS AND WHEN I OVULATE AFTER THAT I SHOULD GET PREGNANT. IT TOOK ME OVER TEN WEEKS TO START. I FINALLY STARTED MY PERIOD A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. I FEEL AS IF I HAVE ALREADY HAD A CHILD WITH ALL THE BLEEDING AND THE PAIN. IT IS UNBEARABLE. I FEEL SO SORRY FOR EVERYONE AROUND ME BECAUSE I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT I AM BEING HORRIBLE. THROUGH THE LUPRON I HAVE GAINED 20 POUNDS, HAVE HAD SEVERE HEADACHES, HAVE BECOME VERY FORGETFUL, VERY VERY MOODY, AND JUST FEEL LIKE A TOTAL DEFERENT PERSON AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. I WILL NEVER TAKE LUPRON AGAIN!! NEVER. IF ME AND MY HUSBAND DO NOT GET PREGNANT AFTER THIS I WILL JUST HAVE THE HYSTERECTOMY AND BE DONE WITH IT. I AM HOPING I BECOME LESS MOODY SINCE NOW MY BODY IS STARTING TO GO BACK TO NORMAL. OR AT LEAST I HOPE IT IS. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET PREGNANT WHEN I AM SO MOODY THAT NO ONE CAN STAND TO BE AROUND ME? PLUS I NEVER WANT TO HAVE SEX. DOES ANYONE KNOW EXACTLY HOW LONG IT TAKES LUPRON TO TOTALLY GET OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM?

I HAVE BEEN ON METHADONE FOR ABOUT 4YEARS NOW AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH WEIGHT MY ENTIRE LIFE.NOW I MIGHT EAT A SMALL MEAL A DAY DUE TO MY ILLNESS AND I EXCERCISE AS MUCH AS I CAN AND NOTHING WORKS. I HAVE A CHRONIC ILLNESS (with several operations) AND HAVE ASKED MY DOCTOR IF METHADONE IS THE PROBLEM TO MY WEIGHT GAIN. OF COURSE HE SAID NO POSSIBLE WAY.I HAVE ASKED TO CHANGE MY MEDICATION TO SOMETHING EQUAL TO WHAT I AM TAKING AND WAS TOLD THAT I WAS ON SUCH A HIGH DOSE AGE (160MG) IT WOULD TAKE A VERY HIGH DOSE OF ANOTHER MEDICINE TO BE ADEQUATE.I JUST WANT TO FEEL O.K AND TRY TO LIVE MY LIFE AS ELL AS I CAN WITH DEALING WITH A CHRONIC ILLNESS AND NOT BEING OVERWEIGHT JUST FOR BREATHING.HELP!!!!!

I have mixed feelings about Advair. Quick history-at 30 I was dx with Asthma, at 32-COPD. I went on Advair after the COPD dx. Primarily-it certainly helped my breathing-gloriously. I have since gone on and off Advair periodically. Before last year (Pneumonia)-I had not been on the Advair for more than four months. BUT the Pneumonia combined with the COPD reduced my lung capacity by 25%. I allowed my Dr. to prescribe it indefinitely. However within a year I had gained thirty pounds. I started reading more, and found out that the AMA recommends only a six month duration of Advair therapy. My asthma symptoms had worsened over the last three months of that therapy. My untrained hypothesis is that if you exceed the recommended six month treatment-you will suffer the above outlined side affects. I simply quit it. Granted, my asthma symptoms increased for about three weeks-so I kept my handy little inhaler nearby, and gave myself one month to see if the asthma symptoms would decrease. They did. The long term-I have now been off of the Advair for nine months, and I rarely use my inhaler (knock on wood). The long term benefits of the extended Advair use has been a decreased problem with SOB- yes upon exertion(that is one of the symptoms of COPD), it is still present, but I can usually ride that out with patience, and rest. In conclusion-I would not hesitate to go back on the Advair upon my next COPD exacerbation, but I will absolutely stay within the six month suggested period. And, this time I will eat a lot of lo cal foods. Smile. It is always nice when people with chronic illness can smile over their disease. This has been my experience over the last five years that I have been introduced to Advair. One more suggestion-see if you can get your doctor to try you on the 250/50 before jumping right on the 500. The 500 is noted to have the side affect of increased SOB, and Asthma attacks-more often than the 250. One more note-although your doctor might forget to mention this-Advair is a steroid- and, steroids are known to cause weight gain. What can be done to reduce this affect-I do not know-Prednisone will do it too,now a combination of the two-which I have, of course, utilized a half dozen times or so in the last five years of my dx- is almost a guaranteed weight gain. If you manage to find out how to avoid that particular side affect-please let me know, and suggesting a vigorous work out to a patient with COPD in a bit insensitive, but if you have any other plausible ideas-I am anxious to hear them.

I have bipolar, and for a year I was willing to attribute my symptoms to that illness. I started the lisinopril when I moved and made a bunch of life changes, so I didn’t connect the onset of the symptoms with the med. Every night, though, I would get sick around 5 or 6 PM (I took lisinopril in the morning): nausea, headache, body aches, extreme lethargy, shortness of breath, fluttering feeling in my chest. These symptoms were so bad that twice I went to the emergency room. (Unfortunately, I presented as a bipolar patient with anxiety, so my treatment was less than comprehensive.) I swapped out all my bipolar meds to rule out drug interactions, but never touched lisinopril because I thought of it as a “safe drug”. My PCP (who prescribed the lisinopril) referred me to a cardiologist who did a battery of tests. I stopped the 30 day heart monitor after 3 weeks because every time I had cardiac symptoms, I checked out fine. The only option left seemed to be that the symptoms were psychosomatic, which scared me because I had no idea how to tackle that. I finally decided to investigate lisinopril and found this site by accident. It was amazing to read all the posts that were similar to my experiences. The day I discontinued the lisinopril in the morning, that night I did not get sick. I waited until I had been well for a week before concluding that the symptoms were indeed side effects of this med. It’s been a couple of months since I discontinued the lisinopril. And I have not been sick once, though I do struggle regularly with the bipolar. (I do monitor my blood pressure regularly: there’s a reason why everyone tells you to do that!) I feel stupid for not suspecting lisinopril earlier (I’m the kind of person who has a PDR and quizzes doctors on pharmacological modes of action) but I just thought that someone would flag it if there could be a problem.

I think those of us with a chronic illness tend to try to make symptoms fit within the framework of our known disease models. I’m writing a book and would welcome input on any aspect of bipolar or about dealing with chronic illness in general.

This site is a blessing. Congratulations on finding it!

i posted last oct/nov of 2005 and have quite a progression with my 7 year old daughter. in october we decided to take her off of singular due to anger, hyperactivity, chronic illness. she was on at the time singulair 5mg, zyrtec, nasonex, advair 250/500, constant antibiotics and orapred.... and still not well. she was tested for chrones disease due to chronic stomach upset, several ct scans due to recurring sinus infections. we removed her adenoids in december....still sick. i finally took her off all her medication except nasonex, and advair 100 1x a day and had a blood test done called elisa. docs thought i was crazy and said it was worthless. turns out she is allergic to several foods. wierd ones like garlic, onion, melon, bananas, beans etc.....anyway, she is no longer on any of these foods and no longer needs ANY medication....it has been 2 months...we'll see, but there really seems to be something to it. ****** feel free to email me to discuss. we have been through it all!!! hope it helps someone a little. apparently, all those years on antibiotics only made things worse and weakened her immune system which created this horrible cycle.