Concentrate symptoms and conditions

I was diagnosed with ILC August 2007. I had bilateral mastectomy w/ reconstruction, chemo and started Tamoxifen. Then I had a hysterectomy and I started Aromasin about six months ago. Prior to starting Aromasin I had some muscle and joint pain from Tamoxifen but I could tolerate most days. Three months into Aromasin, I couldn't get out of my car. It literally took me 15 minutes one day and I had to trade cars with my daughter. Naproxen gave me upset stomach, ibuprofen wasn't enough, Tylenol wasn't enough, Hydrocodone kinda helped but makes you feel weird. My doctor decided to take me off of it and i haven't taken anything since. My side effects were: extreme stiffness, better with motion but joint pain was so bad i didn't want to move. I have been documented as having overall generalized weakness as a result. My doctor said Aromasin shouldn't make me feel this way but why is it doing this to everyone else (mostly) too? I am now being evaluated by a rheumatologist for arthritis. My joints still hurt so bad. I gained weight, cant concentrate, can't sleep, can't wear my shoes. my ankles hurt the worst after being on my feet. My ankles, knee joints, hip joints, neck, elbows, wrists, fingers, toes and jaw are all very painful now.
If i would have known all of this, i never would have had my hysterectomy and stayed on Tamoxifen. I can only hope at some point this will get better. I just pray the cancer doesn't come back in the meantime.

I was prescribed this about two weeks ago. I knew I had high blood pressure and decided to work on getting it lowered. I started taking this and immediately had headaches in my temple...then numbness up by my cheeks and something that felt like hot flashes. I would get dizzy, was extremely tired, couldn't concentrate and had one of the worst cases of diarrhea I had ever experienced. My distant vision became very blurred. However, I thankfully never got the cough.

I spoke with the doctor about this and she said that there was no way this drug was causing my headaches. I'm scheduled for an MRI tomorrow and she wanted me to have a temporal biopsy, which I think is drastic.

I read an article from a medical journal that low blood pressure can cause headaches. This was just published last spring of 2008. I started getting the 24/7 headaches 3 days after I took Lisinopril. Aspirin or pain relievers never helped.

I took myself off of it two days ago. Yesterday I was so weak and tired with headaches all day long ...however today, I'm beginning to feel much better with much more energy. The numbness is disappearing in my cheeks and the headaches have greatly reduced.

I am thinking about a natural alternative to this ...losing weight...exercising and going on the dash diet. Unless of course the MRI shows something. I also thought about cutting the dosage of the pills in half or to one quarter.

Hello I'm a 41 year old female, and I took Lipitor 20 mgs for 6 months about two years ago. When I called my doctor's office to complain about side effects they told me it couldn't be the Lipitor because I had been taking it for a month already, and would have had problems before that. I eventually took myself off of the drug 5 months later. Here are some of the side effects I experienced:
Itchy fingertips, increased blood pressure, 30lb weight gain, shaky hand writing, acne, poor driving skills, poor memory, hair loss, "frozen joints", IBS, incontinence, low grade fever, itchy feet, numb toes, numb hands, foggy brain, joint pain, muscle pain, foot pain, plantar pain, dizzy, jaw pain, back and neck pain, week ankles and wrists, nasal allergies, skin rashes, migraines, heartburn, Increase in Astham, heart palpitations, knee pain, difficulty standing up from sitting position, difficulty climbing stairs, water retention alternating in feet, hands, arms and legs, almost constant taste of bile in my mouth.
These are only the ones I can remember. Two years down the road everything but the muscle and joint pain and weakness is gone. even those have improved a lot. I stopped taking the Lipitor and lost all 30lbs I had gained on it, without dieting, in a months time. I still have two toes on each foot that are partially numb. I have trouble climbing stairs, and getting up from a sitting position. I can do both, but I move slowly while doing them. The pain in my muscles and joints drives me crazy, but I'm grateful that the rest of the symptoms have cleared up. My doctor never believed me about my symptoms, and neither does my new doctor really. Went to the emergency room for asthma that was not responding to my inhaler, and they were about to let me go home when I mentioned to the doctor that I had been on Lipitor. Suddenly a huge battery of tests were ordered including a CT scan and a stress test. When I asked the doctor why he said that they just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something other than asthma. Why did they do that after hearing about the Lipitor? Do they know something? Are there doctors who believe that statins are killing and seriously injuring people? I'm so angry. Even as I sit here typing I know when I stand up I will have massive amounts of pain that I will have to "walk off". My quadriceps have not recovered, and remain ridiculously weak.
If I can stop one other person from going through this I will be happy. Thanks everyone for taking the time to list your symptoms. It makes me feel better to know that someone believes me, and knows what I am going through.

I am 20 years old and I just started taking Yasmin 2 weeks ago, my first time ever being on the pill. The past 2 weeks have felt like 2 of the worst weeks of my life. I feel nauseous and have abdominal pains frequently, especially in the mornings. I am tired all the time. I find that I am extremely sensitive and have been feeling so depressed that sometimes all I want to do is lay in bed and escape from the rest of the world. I cry all the time for no reason, and can't help snapping at people. I feel anxious and stressed out and I felt like I was losing my mind until it clued in that this all started when I started taking Yasmin. I have a little over a week left in my pack, but after reading this website especially, and dealing with these side effects, I don't even want to finish this pack; but I am afraid that not finishing the pack could cause worse effects too? I am really unsure of what to do. I definitely am switching to a different kind of birth control next month but I don't know if I should keep using the Yasmin up until this pack is done and just hope that the side effects do not worsen, or cease use and hope for the best.
My sympathies go out to all of you who are experiencing such horrible side effects just from trying to practice safe sex.
Men have it so easy it seems...

I have experienced many of the same side effects as you. Late 20's male..blood pressure has been mildly high for many years, was put on 10mg of lisinopril about a month ago- as many have mentioned the first 2 days my BP dropped considerably and I could hardly stand up without feeling like I would fall over due to the drop in BP. However, after 2-3 days this was gone and my BP stabilized in the 120-80 range. For 2 weeks I was great, no side effects. Then for the past week I have been very tired, very nauseas and noticed my arms/legs would fall asleep much more easily than before. All of these seem to be common side effects as you have all mentioned, however:
1) Not many of you mention nausea - I feel it 60% of the day, is this common also?
2) What do the doctor's then prescribe to make it go away - I cant live like this - cant concentrate at work due to tiredness and nausea
3) I go to doctor in a few days for my check-up, any suggestions on what to say?

I took Toprol for 4 years. I gained 50+ pounds, had the worst dreams ever. They were so real, I would get out of the bed and put on my glasses to make sure I was seeing what I thought. Sometimes I would see actual performances. If I wake up and see a light, any light, even on the alarm clock, some figure would appear. I and my family thought I had lost my mind. I sweated like a maniac for no reason, you would think that I had just ran a marathon. My body ached, legs would be so heavy, especially upon waking. Sometimes I had to lay in bed longer because my legs were achy and too heavy to get up. I had brain fog, couldn't concentrate and my night vision was almost zero. I never felt like doing anything, the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. I never got a good night sleep, sometime I didnt sleep at all.
Being on Toprol was HELL!!!!!!!!! I am off now and I feel like a different person.

My son was taking this medication for about a month and had horrible headaches after taking it. Felt like he was in a fog and vision problems, couldn't concentrate, had to quit driving and going to work. After many visits to the emergency room and many doctors. we found it had burned his stomach. Now he is on Nexium and it is amazing the difference. His headaches are maybe 80% gone. It seems that this medication is bad on the GI track. He took it with food but it just is hard on the body. If your symptoms stay have an endoscopy to see if it has done any harm to your GI track.

I took Reglan for a month. I gradually begin to lose interest in things, couldn't concentrate, and at the very end of the month became suicidal. It has now been a month since I have stopped taking Reglan, and every day is miserable and joyless. Every day I cry and think about suicide. The side effects of this medication did not end when I stopped taking it. My life is unbearable because of Reglan, and if the side effects don't end soon I am afraid that I will eventually kill myself. DO NOT TAKE REGLAN EVER.

From the first AVELOX capsule, I was sweating, dizzy, weak and could not concentrate. This continued till the 4th day, when I started having severe pain in the neck, a feeling of about 50 pins and needles being pushed all over the back of the neck and down to both shoulders and arms. I hope I'll be able to regain a full range of motion in my neck and shoulders, as this is a terrible pain. As I stopped AVELOX over the weekend, I am still getting worse, and pain medications don't help. I wonder how the FDA allows the use of a drug that can cause syncope and death, are they trying to make statistics with our lives?? I am going to E. R. right now, although I won't be able to sit up.

I am 36 years old and have been on Lipitor 40 for about 5 years. Over time, I have noticed it very difficult to concentrate and focus. I am always dragging, and my shoulders, neck and legs always ache. I guess I chalked most of it up to getting old. But recently, I started to get burining, shooting pains in my left elbow area (doctor says tennis elbow). After doing a little research - I was shocked to find that almost every symptom that I have- can be related back to Lipitor. I stopped taking it for a few weeks, and I started to feel a little better. I stopped because I couldn't afford it. Once I was able to refill my prescription- the same issues started again. I think that I am going to stop it for good, and document changes in my body. Hopefully for the better

I have many of the same reactions to this med that I have read on this site. My sister is on this med and we began comparing symptoms, which were many of those listed here..total energy drain, dizzy, unable to concentrate or even focus, depressed. I feel like I can't get a full breath in my lungs and I find myself sighing a lot, which does get more air into my lungs. It is hard to describe but it is a very bad feeling that I am slightly dizzy, slightly nauseous all the time. No ambition, staying in bed more and more because I just feel bad most of the time.

I stayed on this med for four months trying to see if I would eventually get over these feelings. Didn't happen. This week my Dr. try changing me to Cozaar for my HBP so I am in the process of weaning myself off Metroprolol. I was only taking 25 mg 2Xday so I cut them in half and take twice a day. I can already tell a difference in my energy and general feeling of well being. Dr said after one week of half dose, to stop completely and take only the Cozaar. I hope this works. I appreciate all the input on this topic here.

I have been taking Topomax for quite some time.Tried it several years ago, the mgs were not high enough (only 25mg/day).My doctor didn't really know the prpoer dosage.It didn't help the migraines.My new doctor has me on it again.50 mgs/day.Here's the good - NO MIGRAINES! Here's the bad: Acne at 45 years old, tingling doesn't even describe my legs or face, ringing in the ears, remembering names and places just doesn't happen, I'm eating less but gaining weight quickly,& one last thing- Itchy spots that I would describe as "hot spots" if I were speaking of my dog. Still sticking with it because I don't have the migraines.I tried to slowly take myself off and the headaches came back.What choice is there?

hello everyone
i am a full time college student and I believe that i have some side effects from synthroid. As i was reading everyones blog i notice that some people feel the same way that i do. At times i feel that i'm normal but if something upsetting happens i get really tired, depress, and I have a never time concentrating at school and home. My body hurts all the time. especially my joints and i feel that i don't want to do anything. I have about a year left until i graduate and its the going to be hard. I cry sometimes for no reason. help! i'm going to talk to my doctor but if any body else feels the same way please reply.

I was on Yasmin for about 7 weeks. The first couple weeks seemed fine, just queezy stomach and some headaches. Then, when I was supposed to be PMSing, I became so lethargic and depressed I could barely function. I laid in bed for 2 days not eating, thinking my world was going to fall apart. I only had energy enough to do a small chore at home (like bathe or brush my teeth) then crawl back into bed. The worst is that, normally if I get down I know deep down it will pass and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. But with Yasmin, my brain is foggy and I feel like there's no hope, w the lack of energy is even more depressing because I can't motivate to do anything and get my mind off my worries. Now I can understand why people get suicidal on Yasmin. There's no reason for me to be so tired, I lift weights 3 times a week and w a trainer (luckily or I would never be motivated to get there), I'm lean and muscular and healthy. Well, after the PMS I never got my period either.
Then after freaking out for a few days (and at my poor boyfriend) I was more mellow for the next couple weeks but still nausea and headaches. Then 2nd month PMS started... same thing, just overwhelmingly depressed and unable to reason it away or snap out of it. I've lost my temper a few times. My energy level is so low I just want to lay in bed all day. Now I just figured out that it was because of Yasmin. I was beginning to worry that I was loosing my mind. I really wanted to stick it out another month to see if they would go away but at this rate I'm going to be in a mental ward by that time.

I admit that I may be prone to get depressed, however, I don't take anti-depressents (I tried Wellbutrin a few yrs. ago and it made me very high strung and irritable). I've figured out lifestyle changes to manage when i get down. I just do things that I enjoy when I get down. But Yasmin has made it so that I don't enjoy life, and I don't even have the energy to work out, go out with people so I can get my mind off of my gloom and doom. It's horrible what Yasmin has done, I have never experienced depression like this and I've been down some tough roads in my life. I always have an inner hope and light in me that keeps me going, and what I'm experiencing with Yasmin is that it kills any voice of hope or optimism leaving one disoriented and afraid. I have been off of it for the 2nd day now and hope things start to clear up soon. Good luck with your experience and I hope this helps... even now, I'm not sure if it really IS Yasmin or me, but I believe the posts people have written so I want to X Yasmin out of my life so I KNOW that no drug is making me this way.

hey my name is kaylen and i have been taking remeron for about 5 months now. i liked it at first as it definetly helped me sleep soundly and not wake up to a throbbing head. i especially liked that it helped me to concentrate about 50% better than i had been after a sudden and unexplainable extremely deep depression. i have been diagnosed with bipolar and OCD and have been on a host of other medications but am now on lithium, klonopin, seroquel, and remeron. the thing that irritates me about remeron is how HUNGRY i have been. and its not even that...i eat when i am not hungry at all, i just cant stop it. i have gained 50+ pounds in 5 months and i cannot understand why this medicine has to have this effect. can anyone relate?

i had to take Deoxycycline 100mg once a day for a month to treat a skin infection which improved but OMG for the first time in my life I started to feel really WORTHLESS and DEPRESSED I was SAD most of the time and i lost my intrest in the things that i ENJOYED the most , I couldn't concentrate or study and the funny thing is that i did not SUSPECT the medication at all I thouught it was just me you know but when i read what happned to you guys i knew that there must be something because Depression was not listed on Deoxycycline side effects on the FDA site

Headaches, extreme nausea, virtigo, flashes of loss of vision.

Age: 47
Male-176lbs- 5' 9", overall excellent health.
Lipitor used over 2 years. Started with 10mg ended at 40mg to get desired results. 6 month blood work.
Side effects: Started at around 18-24 months. Felt like I had aged 10 years.
1.Felt like I has sand in my shoulder joints, could not throw a ball or raise arms above head.
2. Knee joints ache, could not squat down and get back up.
3. Extreme touch sensitivity to shin area above ankle. Difficulty sleeping.
4. Increased lack of ability to concentrate.
Stopped all Lipitor- Took around 6 weeks for joint pain to ease. 3 months back to normal.
Doctor tried Prevastatin- Same side effects as Lipitor.
Nice to have my life back.
Hope this helps- Brent

I forgot to add this... Since taking the drug I'm so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open and most of the time if I'm home I do fall asleep. I can help it. I have no control over this. I even have a full nights sleep and have this problem and it seems the better I sleep at night the worse it is during the day. I asked my doctor about this and she had nothing to say in regards to this problem. I'm so tired at work that I can't concentrate.

I have not had blurred vision, but I do get extreme sleepiness and unable to concentrate enough to work. I also find a loss of appetite except for sweets. If I eat enough, I don't projectile vomit, but it inhibits me from eating much. Never been able to tolerate it long enough to get past the side effects...if they ever stop.

I am a 24 yr old male that got diagnosed with HBP on my 20th birthday. I frequently felt jittered, on edge, flused easily, extreme pressure in my head, headaches, not being able to concentrate, felt run down, among a lot of other symptoms, decreased libido. My BP still ran in the 130 range. I decided to do a trial of not taking it and monitoring my BP closely. I have found my BP to be the same if not lower so far and it has been 5 days. It may be too soon to tell, but i'm going to keep monitoring. I feel great so far. I can concentrate, got my drive back, I feel good.

Went to the ER with extremely high BP, was given potasium, nitroglycerin, BP med. Today is first day on Lisinopril, and its the first in months that I have NOT had a headache! I feel great, although as I am typing this I feel I have to concentrate a little harder. But my energy is up and NO headache. So far so good, I will keep you posted on latter effects....if any.

I took Topamax for a week about four months ago for migraine. I stopped because I felt so dopey. It did help with the migraines and I noticed it mellowed me and evened out my mood. Despite that I don't suffer from any mood disorder.

Three days ago I started again because I had been experiencing frequent migraines. I am only in the 25mg at night phase and have already decided to quit again. The side effects are just too much. I awoke this morning and my extremities were completely numb.

After I showered, I caught myself just standing in the closet spacing out. I find it difficult to concentrate and focus (I was just staring out the window a moment ago!). I sound like an idiot when I talk to people and try to explain things. I left work early today because I was feeling so uneasy and depressed that I thought I was going to shake apart. That is totally unlike me. (I'm a cop) And this is after only three days back on at a minimal dose. So, I'm glad it works for some, but it's definitely not for me. The migraines are actually preferable.

I'm going on my 5th month of Femcon and I'm going to change to another brand. Ever since I started I've completely lost my sex drive, moodines galore, fatigue, and I can't concentrate. boo hoo

I took Prednisone for an allergic reaction to a Bee bite that turned into cellulites after a few days. My arm and leg swelled up to the point where I had to go into the emergency room. They put me on a prednisone drip and then prescribed prednisone for 10 days tapering down from 60 mg a day to 10 mg a day.
I felt horrible on it! Could not think straight, massive headaches everyday to the point where I could not go to work! Then once I went down from 30mg to 20mg a day, the with drawl that your body gets is the worst!
Nassau, more headaches and forget about thinking straight! and yes your face does look like a moon after a few days... Try drinking a lot of water
Now I am on my 2nd day with out it and I still feel the side affects but I hope they will go away soon :(
This drug works but I hope I never take it again.