Chronic pain symptoms and conditions

Well hi all. I see we have some new ladies on here since I was here last. I had my Mirena removed on Feb 14, 2009 after it nearly ruined my life and my marriage over a nearly 3 year period. Feel free to read my old postings. My Mirena symptoms have been gone for months now. My chronic pain has been diagnosed as Enthesopathy. It may or may not be related to the Mirena, but I'm getting treatment from an internist, not a moment too soon! I was at the point where I couldn't go on another day. The interesting thing is, Enthesopathy is a disease of the ligaments and tendons. I couldn't figure out why I had little to no pain whatsoever when I was on my period, and my pain and mood and depression got progressively worse as my period approached. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mirena is involved in this. Anyways, I recently did some research and discovered that during our period, we release a hormone called relaxing, which relaxes our ligaments and tendons (among other things). So it's nice to finally put things together and make some sense of it all.
Since the removal of the Mirena I have energy again, I used to be so sluggish I would cry, sex drive is back, I'm not crying all day and am very happy, not angry at my hubby, no more insomnia, and my hair is still growing back. I didn't realize how much I had lost until it started growing back and see all this 1-6" -long hair.

Since July 12, 2009 (Saturday) my life has been altered by a cure for a UTI that caused me to be taken by ambulance to the E.R. with a 105.6 fever. The horrible feeling of waking up shaking from the fever and not being able to stop it was scary. That was quickly followed by an ambulance ride to the local E.R. It was explained to me that the cause of my fever was a UTI that became a kidney infection. The E.R. doctor prescribed Levaquin 500 mgs for 10 days and Lori-tab for the ache very typical of a kidney infection. I am a 42yo woman who owns a motorcycle, swims, dances with a group and loves to wear beautiful heels. My life has changed since that night in the E.R. July 14 (Tuesday) , I was in my doctor's office complaining about bad headaches and feeling achy. I asked if this should be a concern since headaches were part of the warning label. The response was to remain on the antibiotic since the benefit far outweighed the side effects. The rest of the week was full of aches, pains, swelling, and a cloudy mental state. By Friday, the 17th of July I was laying in bed after noticing I no longer had ankles and I hurt all over. Thinking maybe this would pass I rested for an hour and my partner came to check on me. My jaw was tight and felt like it was locking down, every part of my body, every joint was hurting including my head. I called my doctor's office and asked if this was an allergic reaction and should I go to the hospital. The on-call said she was at the E.R. and maybe I should come in to be seen although it would be a long wait time because they were busy. I was seen, they talked about finishing with Cipro and then decided they would give me Bactrim. I asked how long I could expect to feel the effect of the Levaquin, the answer was 3 to 4 days. Since then, I have been in and out of the E.R. with acute and chronic pain. Walking has become almost impossible on some days. All of a sudden I have a back and hip problem. I am getting lumbar epidurals now and have sold the motorcycle. Oh, Dr. Higgins said, "Levaquin is a great drug". This was a E.R. doctor that was angry that I asked if this seemed to be an on-going issue from taking Levaquin. I am desperate to be pain free for even one 24 hour period. A storm of depression and clouds have set in...the thunder is my pain....

I have been taking perocect 10's for the last 1yr or so and it is very bad when I don't have them I feel like crap. When taking just one it is like taking 3more 10 min later cause it does not work as well from when I first started taking them. When I run out I am looking for them everywhere and taking other pain meds to cover the withdrawals. Man it is so bad feeling like that the runny noise,sweating,being angry,shaking, throwing up,shiting my guts out etc. I have a chronic back problem and I'm only 24yrs old. I have a very supporting husband who is there for me when I'm withdrawing all the time and I love him for that cause if it was any other man they would of left me hanging. I advice anyone who starts this pain killer to only take it when needed cause the chemical in the pill will mess your who life up and you will have some serious problems for realist is true but how I'm going to stop I will take a week out of my life to go to the hospital for help. Also there is so many other medication that can make you sleep.(PEROCECT'S WILL MESS UP YOUR LIFE SO DON'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD, PLEASE TAKE THIS MESSAGE SERIOUS THEY ARE VERY BAD, DON'T COVER UP THE PAIN GET IT TAKING CARE OF AND IF THE DOCTOR GIVES THE PEROCECT'S TO YOU DON'T TAKE IT CAUSE THEY DON'T CARE IT IS NOT THEM PLEASE DON'T).

I have been on levoxyl for about 8-9 years now. I have an under active thyroid which I believe is from radiation over my neck area for benign tumors. I have been reading the side effects from people and I am starting to think that most of my symptoms or side effects are from this medication. Slowly over the years I have developed several of the same things people are talking about on this, especially restless leg syndrome, fatigue, chronic pain in legs, trouble sleeping, anxiety, lack of energy, cold feet/hands, lack of sex drive depression, b-12 deficiency, neck and back pain. I am talking to my doctor tomorrow and see if I can go on something else. I am being treated for all these other things that could all be related to the levoxyl side effects. I had none of these other things before taking this medication, what is going on?

I am 57 years old, male, and active, and have been on Warfarin since 1987 post Aortic Valve Replacement. I was quite happy with the dosage up till 2001, when I had an episode of TIA due to a malfunctioning thyroid and when my heart rate went down to 30 bpm. Since then, I have also been on a daily dosage of thyroxine, just enough to get my TSH up to normal levels.

Since then, I have a creeping condition of body aches and back pain, which has now, after 7 years, become chronic. This does not seem to alleviate with change from the Eltroxin from Glaxo, to Thyronorm from Ranbaxy. I have now accepted to live with this sometimes-chronic pain.

I tried some experiments with my dosages of the medications, and so I reduced my Warfarin to 5mg from 8mg. Within a week I was plagued with cramps and aches, and I got scared and went back to my old dosage.

Has my body, my heart, my arteries, adjusted to the thin blood over this time since 1987? Due to this thinning of the blood, will the detection of constriction of arteries and veins be more difficult? And consequently the detection of angina pectoris and atherosclerosis? Or can it be just old age catching up?

If any of you are on a similar combination of these two drugs and with similar symptoms, I would appreciate a line.

I've been on Topamax (100 mg 2x per day) for 5 years as mono therapy for epilepsy. I switched over from Depakote which was a *nightmare* and it has been great, no seizures. I've had the pins and needles, diminished vocabulary and memory, and intermittent eye twitching but this week my right eye (why is it always the right eye?) has started twitching almost constantly. It is frightening and embarrassing and I am not sure what I should do.. I guess it's back to the neurological drawing for me because I am not sure why it's happening now. Has anyone else had the eye twitching occur after long term use?

I was given Cymbalta to help me deal with chronic pain. For the last 7 years I have tried one thing then another.....this was a drug I actually asked for...I thought I knew the side effects. Well my nails look like I filed groves into them after 2 weeks and now I have all but lost the hearing in my left ear. I have quit taking the cymbalta...and have been seen twice now for my ear(s). Nothing is adding up....it came on all of a sudden. It has been very hard to cope with and now my right ear is acting the same as the left. I am scheduled to see a ENT in a week.
Anyone else had these type of symptoms...and did your hearing come back??? I'm only hearing out of one ear.

I was on percocet for 8-mos. for chronic joint and back pain. The Doctors never found out what the cause was and piled on the percocet. I was in heaven. It made my pain go away and I felt like the old me, happy and super friendly. I laugh now because I did not know at the time that I was on opiates. One day I was explosively mad at some issue with the kids and my wife gently whispered, "...hon, maybe it is the pills that are making you this way.". I was floored. Mt beautiful wife lovingly stripped me of all doubt that I was addicted, and that they were changing my personality. I stopped "Cold Turkey" right at that instant. It was horrible. I was in such pain! Every fiber of my being wanted to ease the pain just a bit. A week into my withdrawals (perfectly described elsewhere), the pain was gone. I remember the original pain being much worse....I was wrong. It turns out that when I got honest with myself, I could live with the pain. It was/is far better than needing to "Dose-up" before getting out of bed. I still have chronic pain, but I lost the monkey.

My girlfriend is 36 she had a kidney infection and got Levaquin IV in the hospital. Her legs were going numb and she could hardly get up to go to the bathroom in the hospital. She thought it was her infection. They sent her home two days later with 5 pill containers. One of them was Levaquin. She called me today and said she is having terrible pains in her hands, wrists, hips, and knees. She says she cant make a fist or hold a bag of groceries and her hands have swollen up so that she cant get her rings off. I told her I would do a search on the net to see if it might be one of the drugs she was taking. Slowly but surely I made it to the Levaquin. The drug maker fairly non chalantly refers to tendon rupture as a side effect effecting mostly people over 60 years old. I dug a little further and found this web site and was amazed at how many people are being poisoned by this drug. I am praying if she stops taking it the pain and debilitating effects will go away quickly. She has two disabled boys she has to take care of, including lifting them into wheel chairs and into beds. This is no joke! I am so angry at this drug maker and these doctors who often times do more harm than good.

I've been on the fentanyl patch for almost 3 years. I started on the 25 patch, then went up to the 50. Now I've weaned myself back down to the 25 patch. I was put on it for chronic back pain caused from a car accident.
I'm determined to get off this drug, so any and all suggestions are welcome!
In the last few months I've been experiencing some odd side effects that seem to be becoming worse by the day. Firstly, it seems like I can feel the effects of the patch more so, like when I first started using it. I also started experiencing nocturnal problems, my legs in particular felt like they were burning up and the muscles were really tight. If I stretched them it only seemed to worsen the problem. The only solution, weirdly enough, seemed to be jumping into the tub for a half hour.
In the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing MY FULL BODY HEATING in the middle of the night, as though it's the middle of summer in the middle of a big heatwave. I move around on the sheets and try to find a cool spot. I manage to sleep for only minutes at a time. For awhile this was only happening the second day with the patch (I only wear it two days at a time). Now it's the first and second. It's disrupting my sleep and I'm exhausted. My doctor gave me some sleeping pills which worked rather well but now I've run out and I really don't want to start depending on another drug.
I NEVER should have started on this drug and though it does work and work very well for chronic pain, I still highly recommend finding any other option out there for dealing with your pain. The withdrawal effects are horrendous. The first time I went through withdrawal I could not believe how terrible the symptoms were. Vomiting, diarreah (never could spell that one right, lol), and the pain was amplified times 100. My Doctor seems to not understand how scary it is to even contemplate getting off this drug, the withdrawal is that scary!
I managed to get down a patch size by cutting a tiny sliver of the plastic backing on the patch (NOT THE PATCH ITSELF!!!! The backing that you remove!) and sticking it on the patch before transferring the patch to my skin, so in essence, I was blocking out part of the patch and just made the plastic a little bigger until I had finally blocked out half the patch at which time I went down to the 25 patch with zero side effects.
I'm on percocet for the fallout pain and take up to 8 per day, although some days I can take as little as 3. After I'm off the patch I'm determined to get off of this drug as well and learn to manage my pain in a different way.

I am a 34 yr old woman who has suffered from migraines for 13 yrs and chronic head pain for most of my life. I have had sinus surgery, my vision checked, TMJ corrected and anything else I could think of to alleviate my headaches. I took various anti-depressants to treat for chronic pain. About 3 yrs ago I began taking Topamax after my grandmother & both my sisters went on it for migraines. We all have experienced success in treating the headaches and both sisters lost weight. Grandmother and I did not. We all still have migraines occasionally and my youngest sister cannot miss a dose w/out having a headache. My grandmother has had to discontinue Topamax because it was effecting her memory, speech, and concentration so badly. All of us experienced the "loss of words" problems at first, but learned to adapt and became used to it. But grandma is in her 70s and its not as easy for her. However, in the past month, I have been experiencing the same thing--memory loss, calling a place or object the wrong name, and poor concentration. I feel like I can't even read today. I was taking 150mg and thought I was pregnant so I started decreasing my dose down to 100mg to wean off. I'm not pregnant and I'm thinking of discontinuing the Topamax anyway. It's bad enough when I can't remember things at home, I can't work like this. I have always raved about how great Topamax is and that if it kept my head from hurting, I would take it forever. Now I feel like I'm in the early stages of dementia.

I had steroid injections until the side effects got too extreme. I thought I was doing fine until I noticed nausea and some vomiting for about 72 hours. Is it possibly due to the amount of injections I have at one time.
I cannot find any PDR information on the web does anyone no where I could find it?

I was diagnosed with endometriosis five years ago. I had laproscopy surgery and it was recommended that I start the Lupron shot right after. I had read lots about all of the side effects and decided to just stay on my birth control pill. After four years of dealing with chronic pain, my doctor said the Lupron shot was my best option. At the time my pain made my decision for me. My first shot was ten months ago. I continued with the shot for six months, gained weight, had terrible hot flashes, anxiety attacks, depression, mood swings, exhaustion, memory loss and the pain didn't improve at all! Besides the fact that I was so upset that the shot didn't do what I was hoping I lived with all of the side effects for those six months and I continue to live with them now even though I haven't had a shot for four months. Do these side effects go away? I feel like I am in a fog and often I feel so alone. It is hard to explain to doctors, let alone family and friends what my life is like.

I have been taking 100 mg twice a day for less than a week. What I first noticed was seeing dark spots on the wall. Other side effects have been------dizzy, depressed, nausea, lightheaded, shortness of breath, sudden weight gain(5 lbs), swollen hands and feet, uneasy feeling in my chest. I am 58 years old and had been taking Norvasc for over 10 years ---- MD decided I should change to metropol. After reading this page and after how I have been feeling for over 3 days, I am not taking this med ever again. FDA should not allow this med to be prescribed.

I got my Mirena removed two weeks ago after seven years of carrying it around in my uterus. I had horribly painful periods before (like vomiting and fainting from the pain horrible), so I was glad to be rid of that.

What I'm not glad about, however, is the thick black BEARD HAIR that I've developed (which returned after expensive laser treatments), losing about a quarter of my previously thick hair (now I have to wear extensions to appear somewhat normal), and walking around for seven years with acne, a pooch that had me constantly pregnancy testing, hoohoo odor that sometime persisted despite bathing AT LEAST daily, and oh, the wonderful gas, bloating, and bowel irregularities that caused me constant anxiety in the tiny, quiet house I live in with my boyfriend.

Then there is the chronic pain for the past two years that they can't find the cause of - could this little miracle have anything to do with it?

I've brought these things up to doctors, all who knew I was on Mirena, and was always blown off. But it's obviously related, along with the my eyesight now being that of an 80-year-old, my very own snowstorm of dandruff no matter what I wash with, and, quite possible, the depression that no medication makes a dent in. None of which I had before Mirena came waltzing into my life.

Here's hoping for a return to normal now that it's out, and perhaps a lucrative class action lawsuit in the future that nets us each at least enough to get electrolysis and a hair transplant.

I THINK WE WERE DUPED!

Is anyone thinking that the drug company knew all of this, and therefore has been marketing specifically to women who have just given birth... this way, the postpartum symptoms are the scapegoat:

bleeding
cramping
hair loss (very common 3 months after.. I believe I lost more than most)
insomnia (very common after delivery due to motherly hormones have
you on high-alert))
No sex drive (because we're either breastfeeding, hormonal, or just feel
fat)
Mood swings (because of our ever-changing post-partum hormones)
depression, crying (must be Post-Partum Depression!)
Joint pain, back pain (we're carrying our new baby around too much)
Bingeing and Food cravings (we're home alone and bored or
breastfeeding)
No sex drive (we are bitchy, unsociable, depressed, feel overweight and have no energy.. I'm surprised they still want to have sex with us?!!)

I had Mirena put in Nov 2007. I have lots of pain, but I never attributed it to Mirena. When I was first looking into having it put in I did a lot of research. I felt very confident about my decision to get Mirena. My husband asked me today if all the pain & other problems I have got worse after getting it. I didn't think they could be. I hadn't read anything like this site when I decided to get it. Then today when I started typing "Mirena" in the search engine the 1st thing that popped up was "Mirena side effects." So, could it be that the chronic pain, fatigue, weight gain, irritability, etc. could be b/c of Mirena? I have had pain issues for years, but this last year has been worse. I have a check-up for it next week. I might have it removed.

I am 35 years old and I was put on Methylpred 4 mg for an allergic reaction to Sulfamethoxazole (septra). I broke out in bad red spots from head to toe. My doctor prescribed this medication for the reaction. I took the last of my 2nd day pills. Two hours later I woke from bed with a painful burn in the bottom of my feet and palms of my hands. It then went to my legs which I took a luke warm shower to see if that would help. I then continued to ad aveeno cream an didn't work, it then started to go through my body in 10-15 minute intervals in different parts of my body. Now when I itch it feels like I'm burning. I can't eat anything cause I have the taste of this pill in my system. This is the only side effect that I have been having with this medication. I noticed today the 3rd day of my pills that the red spots are starting to get lighter. I will never take this pill ever again.

i've been on bactrim dm for about a week now (2 doses/day for 14 days) for a possible MRSA infection (should know the results tomorrow...hopefully). about 2 or 3 days into it, i felt extremely lethargic and achy (all my joints were sore and almost 'warm'). woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago with my entire tongue feeling numb and the base of my skull hurting like hell and my lymph nodes on the back of my neck swelling and sore to the touch. since then, i've had chronic pain in this area. after reading some of the posts here, i decided to stop my dose until i could speak to my doctor since i wasn't able to speak to him yet today, i decided to resume bactrim until i can get on something else. it's a terrible feeling being trapped between treatment for a potential MRSA infection and stopping treatment because of the possibility of serious side effects. i just took another dose moments ago and am honestly worried i've made a mistake. but what choice do i have when faced with the possibility of an infection that is also very serious? i can't do nothing...

i honestly don't have a lot of options with a MRSA infection...i see people on here mentioning cipro or levaquin, but these also have tons of posts on here about crazy side effects.

this past week has been a living nightmare...

i hope those of you who have experienced such terrible problems with bactrim will find something that helps you...

I am taking Levaquin one time a day, 500 mg. for diverticultis. I have fibromyalgia so attributed symptoms of EXTREME FATIGUE to that but this is fatigue like I've never known. I can't do much of anything. I don't work outside the home so will just deal with it if it cures my infection. I'm using sleep meds too...but that could be fibromyalgia kicking in too. But fatigue is much worse. I hope it kills those bad bacteria!

I was prescribed methadone for chronic pain associated with partial paralysis from the chest down, 5 Macerated Discs, and a slipped disc right against the spine, preventing surgery as a cure. Believe me, the partial paralysis begins ONLY on the right side, and ONLY from the leg down, so the back pain is horrible!
Methadone has SLOWED the pain, but has not cured it in the least. Morphine helped, but I was so irritable to be around, I was losing family, so I tried changing to Methadone, and so far have not been very impressed! Highly addictive, cancels out any Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Morphine-based meds, so if your treated in the hospital and they treat you with any of those meds, they will not work for around 3-5 days, and then not well for another couple of weeks. I was in the ER for Kidney Stones, and was given, over a period of a couple of hours, 20cc's of Morphine straight into my IV, and was still wide awake, and was only on 60mg of Methadone per day. I WOULD NOT recommend this as treatment to chronic pain, even though more and more pain clinics and Neurologists, or even rehab specisicialists are changing to it, because the AWFUL SIDE EFFECTS. I still have not found my medication of preference, yet, but Methadone definitely is not suitable, for me. Though everyone is different, for me, the Methadone has increased the pain level due to, when I am NOT on it, I feel awful, so I wake up having to dose myself, and can not sleep until I have stopped taking the meds long enough to cause pain.

I did a post a few days ago--but must add to it. I have SLE, MS, CAD, HBP, having 5 stents, asoteoporosis, arachnoiditis, cerebritis/vasculitis from lupus, chronic pain(fibramyalgia) and a bucn more that ill give u sum idea. I am also a RN for28 years and KNOW what medications can do. I mena come on lets face it--if we ALL read THOROUGHLY all the inserts with ANY medication--NONE of us wud take any of it. Even ADVIL and ASA have horrific side effect.!! I saw my doctor yesterday afternoon due to this rash--not my typical lupus reash---doesn't look like discoid lupus, it begins on my chest goes uop my face then all down my back then gradually works its way down my leg---it gets rasm, macular and some some end up with a popular looking area. The PAIN from if is almost as bad as the itch from the rash. I have had shingles and it is similar to that pain. I have been putting topical steroid base creams all over to no avail. I begged my doctor for the KENOLOG shot and discussed GREATLY the side effects: I have had a hysterectomy so that is nothing, it cause cause a psychosis, depression, panic racing thots insomnia--basically ALL the side effects everyone has mentioned---but IT WORKS -I JUST GOT UP AND THIS DIFFIGURING DISCUSTING RASH ALL OVER IS ALMOST 90% GONE!!!! Like I said I have been on steroids most of my life--and I KNOW the side effects of them--PERIOD. Educated patients READ the inserts and ask their doctors---all meds have risks but the questio is does the risk outweigh the benefit t
??????????? I am on a mediation that has you with an increase of 10-15% increase of having an heart attack--which I have had two--but I CHOOSE to take it becuz the benefit outweighs the risks. I understand 100% all the complaints concerns and everything, attorneys will NOT take cases where the medication is used and adminierted the correct way--esp. when the side effects are clearly listed. Doctors are TOO freaking bust these days to sit and TALK and explain every side effect with each of their patients. Does each of you know that the average physician HAS TO SEE at least 60---yes sixty patients A DAY???? That is actually in their contract--thata approximately 7 and a half minutes ith each of us.!!!!!!! Make a list of all ur concerns, questions etc for the doctor and I do this ---I manuaver my chair to in feonrt of the door and I DO NOT LT THE DOCTOR OUT until he has answered ALL my concerns---yea they get mad tell me I can't do that--and my response is is IF YOU can make me wait in ur office lobby for more than an hour--I will do what I have to do to get proper CARE!!! Shuts most of them up. But I am lucky I do have 6 of the most careling and compassionate physicians--I have lucked up--I have had my share of "stupid" doctors but-hey WE are the patient-=-go to another one until ya get one ya like. If you go to other website about medicine there are many more complaints and unhappy patients with medications they take. But I understand where all of US are coming from---Doctors are no different than us--and they are not GOD--they make mistakes and as long as they don't KNOWING harm you---or commit fraud--no lawsuit happening---now sueing the MAKER of kenalog MAY be a possibility( my sisiter is an attorny) thats her advice and itd have to be a class action suit and its kinda sad--patients don't ever get much in things like this but its worth a shot!!!

I just started using Singulair a few days ago. I am 54 years old and just started coughing at night only. I would be fine during the day and then never failed, at night I started to cough keeping me awake. I was given antibiotics, narcotic cough syrups but it only helped temporarily and then I went back to coughing nights only again. So as I mentioned, I started taking Singulair a few days ago because my physician thinks I have developed allergies and Singulair is noted to help night coughs. It is helping my night coughs but I still cough a few times at night and now I cough quite a few times in the day when I never use to cough in the daytime. Wondering if Singulair is worth taking as the symptoms are becoming opposite? I hate taking drugs and don't know if I should find a safer alternative? Help, anyone? Thank you

After visiting this web site everyday for the past four weeks, I feel the need to share my daughter's (and my families') experience with singulair. My 8 year old daughter was put on singulair aprx. 2 years ago in addition to zyrtec to treat her allergies. Shortly after starting the drug, she developed stomach pain. After a few weeks of chronic pain, I pursued help from our pediatrician. After visits to two different pediatric GI doctors, an allergist (to test for food allergies), and an orthopedic surgeon ( because of sudden leg pain), the results were inconclusive. During this time my daughter also became very sad, angry and fatigued. She also completely lost her appetite and refused to eat much of the time. I attributed all of these symptoms to her stomach pain . In addition, she developed difficult sleep patterns and would often wake-up exhausted in the morning. Over time she also began to have more and more "melt-downs", breaking into crying spells over the smallest provocation or challenge. I recently contacted my daughters pediatrician to discuss what other testing or direction we could take to help my daughter. In the interim of making that contact, a friend told me about this web site. As I read page after page of other parent's experiences, I was in tears. I felt as if I was reading about my own family for the past two years. I say "family" because when one child is living through this kind trauma, everyone in the family is negatively affected in some way. My husband and I felt completely frustrated and unable to help our daughter. Our older children began to resent the great amount of time and energy I spent on behalf of our daughter. My younger daughter who had always looked up to and loved her older sister was sad and confused by her sister's anger and impatience.On March 29th I took my daughter off singulair. Unbelievable. Within 2 days, my daughter's appetite returned. On the second day, she came home from school and requested a corn dog and then some ice cream. She suddenly wanted to eat breakfast again. She started smiling and laughing again. She has suddenly become capable and responsible for doing her homework and chores. She is going to sleep more quickly and waking up happy. The best part is having our daughter back...the sweet, wonderful, happy six year old who I feel like I lost for two years of her life! As a side note-the return call I got from my pediatrician was that he wanted my daughter to see a psychiatrist. That's how close we were to taking another (completely unnecessary) path to helping my daughter. I also recently spoke with my daughter's allergist about our experience. At first he was somewhat dismissive. I asked him to listen to me parent, to parent for just a moment. He seemed to soften and said he would take a second look at singulair and its side effects. I encourage every parent who's child has been so adversely affected by this drug to be proactive. First, please contact the FDA to report your experience. Second, talk to your children's physicians and share, with confidence your experience. Third, share this web site or a similar one with everyone you know. I have been astounded how many children are on singulair just within my own small circle (school, church and play group). I really believe one voice can make a difference. I have to believe that for the sake of all the children still suffering.

My chronic pain has really increased since being on Lamictal for 15 months for bipolar. I have had fibromyalgia for years. The bipolar developed after that. Since starting Lamictal, I have developed headaches so severe that I have been off work 3 times in the past 7 months, inc. 5 weeks recently. I've always had headaches, but these new, more severe headaches are non-stop. I have to take 3 time-release 100 mg codeine tablets every day, plus Gravol to keep the headaches bearable. Even then, many days I end up bed-ridden. I've also developed chronic, very bad plantar facsiitis in my left foot since starting Lamictal. I did weeks of intensive physio, plus swimming therapy to no avail. Finally had to get a cortisone injection in my foot.

I hate being like this; I like my job and was used to leading a very active life, despite the fibromyalgia, before I went on Lamictal. I briefly tried Lithium recently, but it had a whole other set of side effects, so I am really frustrated.

Has anybody else had increased or new pain since being on Lamictal?

Rosslyn