Claustrophobia symptoms and conditions

I started using Nuvaring 4 months ago. Im 26 years old. Nausea started like 2 weeks after I started using the ring, but I never related it to the ring since my GYN didn't tell me about possible side effects. The first 2 weeks the ring slipped out until it became really uncomfortable to the point that I thought it would come out when I sat on the toilet. So, I developed my anti-slip technique after reading the leaflet (that says it doesn't matter the shape inside), to fold it in two rings like an eight, so when it gets in, it would be open like butterfly and it wouldn't slip out. It worked out great and didn't slip out. I wasn't aware of the ring at all, not even when I had sex. It didn't bother my husband or me. However, the nausea got worse and worse with the time. There is nothing in the world that I hate the
most than to vomit and I try very hard to avoid it.

Also, I start getting really nervous for everything, first I thought it was because of the nausea, but then I started getting paranoid about vomiting in front of everyone or on the street. Then it started developing more and more to the point where I was so nauseous I couldn't be 15 feet away from a bathroom. The nausea was permanent, so I couldn't ride the subway. I also got subway-phobic, more like a claustrophobia mixed with nerves, and I felt I was about to lose my mind. I couldn't be around masses of people or the subway and that is kind of impossible in New York City. I has horrible panic attacks, e.g, fast heart beat, crazy sweating, nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. I feel every time I was riding or underground with a bunch of people that I was running out of air. I cried all the time because of my subway phobia and felt it was nonsense, since I have been living in New York for a while and using the subway all the time. I barely went out of my apartment for almost three months and at some point I was really afraid of going outside just to my doctor appointments.

The paranoia, anxiety and nervousness was out of control. So anxious that I complained to myself about how slow I walked, even though I was almost running to get to places. I wanted everything to be fast with no reason. Not to mention that in addition I had some capillaries or broken little blood vessels in my legs they were blue and purple. I was previously been using Ortho Evra, which I stopped taking because I felt lots of pressure in my legs and when I was lying down or sleeping I felt like pins or needles in different parts of my legs. And I also broken capillaries. I was really concerned with my use of Ortho Evra.

The worst part of my situation was the severe depression I experienced with Nuvaring. I am a very positive woman. I love nature and being outdoors. I have always considered myself strong and I rarely if ever cry. Well these three nightmare months were all about crying. Once I was in a ballgame with my husband, we both love baseball. I start feeling so nauseous and bad that I start crying but trying hard to contain myself of expressing because i didn't want to make my husband upset. Thank god my husband is a understanding and patient person.

I spend almost all day at home waking up really late or sleeping all day, feeling nauseous but, don't get me wrong, I was really hungry. As soon as I ate I got nauseous. I felt in the top of my stomach really nauseous and in the bottom of my stomach really hungry. I became totally intolerant of wine or coffee, and eventually even water. I lost all interest in the gym, or making new friends or meeting my old friends, just crying and crying for no reason. I lost interest of everything, when I thought of something to do, 5 seconds later I was thinking of how negative that activity was even if my first thought was...this could be interesting. I lost interest in life, even though I love my life and love myself. I'm a newly wed, I didn't have problems of any kind. I'm a happy and positive person. My husband was looking at me weird at some point. When people were speaking to me I was like on Mars looking at the infinite. That is scary! I have never had mental problems or anything like that.

My husband told me I was completely another person and that he felt I wasn't the person he married. I consulted our family doctor who referred a gastro for my uncontrollable nausea. I was loosing weight really fast - 14 pounds in total - and I am very thin and that was concerning. The gastro prescribed some antibiotics, thinking was some kind of infection and
prescribed medicine for the acid, both of which made the situation even worse. I never talk to him about the depression because I couldn't identify my negativity and depressed feelings with my stomach. I got really constipated and even more depressed. Also I got night sweats that would wake me up. I didn't see anyway this would end.

The gastro told me that he couldn't figure it out and my lab test came out with good results. So his next step would be a endoscopy to see what was going on. Every day I was trying to return to normal activities like riding the subway, going shopping, walk some, etc. I went to a store one day. Like 10 minutes later, I felt really dizzy, couldn't see very well, sweating, nauseous and about to faint. I left the store really fast throught the elevator
(the fastest way to leave, so my problem wasn't quite claustrophobia) And I went home thinking of how miserable I have been these days and how much I hate it of course crying like a baby. I had to cancel at the last minute a wedding in the Caribbean of a friend that I really wanted to go. And the fact of missing the wedding was so sad that I started thinking of all the medications I was taking.

Of course the ring was not taken by mouth and I wasnt aware of it, just when it was time to change it. I start reading all the leaflets that comes with the medicines and voila the ring side effects are bloating, nauseas, vomit, depression, weight loose or weight gain, among other serious side
effects.

I took out the ring two Sundays ago, Oct 19, and the nausea considerably lowered down after a few hours after I took it out. It has been lowering down gradually since I took it out. The nausea comes like a wave, but is not constant as it had been, and is coming less often. I haven't feel depression since Wednesday, Oct 29. And I am getting better
every day. I don't know when all these symptoms will disappear, but I hope really soon. I just know that this hit me really strong and I don't wish this to anybody. Stay away from ,Nuvaring!! I know not all the bodies are the same or have the same reaction, but, If you have to choose, don't use hormonal contraceptives. Please look reviews before you try a medicine, so you are aware of the side effects. Make your family aware so that if you have strange behavior they could let you know. The doctor told me that it will take two weeks or more to get rid of the hormones in my body.

Looking for an alternative I found a natural way called cycle beads that I will try, and there is also the rhythm method. The only good thing about the ring it is that keeps you from getting pregnant and you just think of it once a month when you're taking it out. That's it! I felt I have wasted 3 months of my life, but I am willing to recover and enjoy my precious health these future months.

I took Doxy for about 2 weeks as a remedy for a bump on my eyelid. This first exposure to Doxy seemed only to cause a little skin sensitivity and burning in my fingers, no big deal.

When my eye problem didn't go away, my eye doctor prescribed Doxy for a second time a month later. This time my side effects were much different. Within a couple hours of taking my first pill I felt a bit off, I felt anxious and unsettled. I Continued on the medication for a total of five days. During this time my side effects progressively worsened. The first few days I had very abstract thoughts, and began feeling strangely claustrophobic. By day three I was beginning to feel paranoid and fearful over just simple everyday things. Day five is when it all hit the fan. I started having difficulty breathing and feeling extreme tightness in my chest. My feelings of claustrophobia had also worsened to the point where I began having panic attacks, like I was trapped inside my own body. It was at this point I made a desperate attempt to search the internet for a possible cause, in hopes it might be the Doxy medication I was on. I was somewhat relieved to find this website and read that others had similar symptoms, maybe I wasn't losing my mind. I immediately quit taking the medication, but unfortunately the symptoms didn't go away for several more days. That night I was unable to sleep, I had mild nausea, and would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic and would shake uncontrollably. Lovely huh. It gets worse. I began to feel extreme fear and paranoia like I was going to die, or lose my kids and family. I began to feel if this didn't go away, I would not be able to go on. Thank God it did, and by day eight the extreme thoughts began to subside. I continued to have the breathing difficulty and mild depression for several days after, but the worst was over. Within a month I was back to normal.

I write this as a warning to those who are taking this med and feel anything close to this... stop taking it! I am a healthy, normal, 40 year old male, that has no history of mental issues, other than a "blue" day from time to time, and within six days I was entertaining thoughts of suicide. The psychological side effects of this drug NEED to be addressed. This is very serious stuff!!!!!!! Though it may be a small percentage of people that are susceptible, for those who are, it is a deep dark hole.

I had an agonizing migraine this Saturday, with all the usual delightful symptoms: pain, violent vomiting,... Went to the ER. After many hours I was hooked up to an IV with Tegretol (an anti-seizure med that's effective with migraine) and Reglan (for the nausea). Within a couple of minutes after the IV drip started I realized something was wrong. My migraine pain was actually increasing. I felt a desperate sense of being connected to this IV that was feeding me drugs whose effects were suddenly unexpected. Then things spiraled from there. I went into a panic. This sense of panic was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life (and I've had my share of hospital horrors). I thought my heart was going to explode. Luckily my friend was next to me. I told him to get a nurse. I told the nurse frantically that I didn't know what was happening to me, I was freaking out, but I begged him to do something. He said I was probably having an "anxiety attack", which can happen with Reglan ("anxiety" sounds like a euphemism for what I was living through, but whatever...). He moved quickly, and hooked up some Benadryl to the IV. I also asked him to get me out of the dark, airless room I was in, as I felt like I was going to choke from the claustrophobia. Between the Benadryl (which apparently counters the panic effects of a Reglan reaction) and standing out in a spacious, well-lit hallway, I felt a couple of degrees removed from hell. Anyhow, there's my Reglan tale. R.M., Newton, MA

I am looking into filing a class action against Merck.
Please contact me if you are interested
jmc-lampwork at charter dot net.

Together we can make a difference to make sure no one else suffers silently without knowing the reason...

Severe leg pain, in calf and upper thigh. Unable to sleep, and then, into depression, as well as nightmares, and having physic delussions, as well as claustrophobia and fear of the dark.