Conclusions symptoms and conditions

I have been taking Yaz for 3 months (my first round of birth control in my life) and I thought it was great. It was originally intended to help my skin and regulate my period a little more. After not having any improvement skin-wise, my Dr. decided to switch me to Aviane last week. I've never heard of this b.c. before and being a naive person, just filled the prescription without looking at any side effects. I'm only on my second day, but I cannot believe how irritable and moody I am. Everyone told me I looked depressed or out of it all day. On top of this, I currently take meds for anxiety/depression but I noticed how anxious, shaky, and sad I felt today. I don't want to jump to conclusions and think it's the pill, but this all just seems to coincidental. I think I will be making a call to the doctor tomorrow.

I started taking REGLAN for gastropoesis 5 months ago. Since I have been tested for MS due to my side effects from REGLAN. Thousands of dollars in medical bills. Symptoms included, numbness and tingling in the extremities and face, forgetfulness, muscle weakness, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, loss of fine motor skills, confusion, muscle rigidity, etc. I quit taking REGLAN last night hoping that there is no permanent damage. Anyone have any hopeful conclusions?

Hi Ladies- I promised I would post to let you know how I am doing WITHOUT Aviene. I posted the Sept. 10 comment entitled Thanks ladies because I felt your posts have helped me.

I stopped taking the Aviene on a Thursday and all side effects stopped and no new ones occurred. All is well, I enjoy life without being a freak show.

In a DAY AND A HALF WITHOUT AVIANE MY HEALTH RESTORED.

I mentioned the 20 pound weight gain within a few weeks, by the following Tuesday I lost 9 pounds and today is the 26th and I lost 15 pounds. No anxiety, no irritation, no face issues (in a week it cleared up), no mood or energy issues, no excessive thirst, burning of eyes, chills, fever, rashes, itchy -nothing. I was allergic to it and my body wasn't breaking down the coloring agents etc whatever the hell is in there b/c it's not like you get a box or product descriptions. This isn't personal comments, I spoke with pharmacists, doctors, doctor friends, nurses etc. I work at a hospital I have great resources to share with you.

Whatever your side effects are, let's do this. Let's listen to our bodies, listen to experiences and draw your own conclusions.

I know my body, I know myself, and I know my life changes, mood changes, physical changes were due to this pill.

Please consider when being worried about what will happen if you quickly go off it that the consequences of staying on it are more severe. For me, and for many of us, the side effects didn't stop but kept adding and if you are reading this and are just curious or feel something is off with you do not take it any further. I am sharing that I am not a sensitive person and do not experience side effects... and I completely broke down physically and mentally from the amount of side effects and had to self defend.

Many of your comments helped and let's face it if you read that some ladies lost their hair... come on... obviously something is wrong with this pill.

Take care ladies, my sincere hope is that my post will help you, as you have helped me.

So you know, I went back on Alesse and all is well. My drug company didn't cover Alesse but ALESSE HAS A PATIENT CARD FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE AND FOR THOSE WHO DO BUT THE COMPANY DOESN'T COVER ALESSE RATHER THE GENERIC AVIANE. Your patient Alesse card you get will cover the difference that your insurance company may not. I paid $ 2.89 for my monthly prescription which is less than if the insurance company covered it. Check with your pharmacy location site if they participate in the program and it is not hard to find one that does.

You may not like Alesse, I can only share my experience with Aviane that did make my life a living hell. Happy to be OFF it!

Please take care and self defend your situation and reach out to those around you.

My husband was having gastrointestinal problems for about a week. The PA at his primary care physician's office prescribed Levaquin for 7 days. Blood taken ½ hr after Levaquin started showed liver levels to be a little high. By the 3rd or 4th day my husband was jaundiced. Blood taken on the 6th day revealed liver levels dramatically higher. He is still jaundiced and liver levels are still at the higher level. Had ERCP procedure, CT scan of abdomen and MRCP, but no conclusions other than stricture of bile duct and possibly pancreatic cancer, although a mass has not been seen on any film. Has this happened to anyone else on Levaquin? Doctors want to try ERCP again and if that does not work then the Whipple Procedure which is major surgery to remove a possible pancreatic cancer that they have not seen.

Results: DNA was collected from 252 participants: 69% were white, 26% were African American. Twenty-eight SNPs in the ALOX5, LTA4H, LTC4S, MRP1, and cysLT1R genes, and an ALOX5 repeat polymorphism were successfully typed. There were racial disparities in allele frequencies in 17 SNPs and in the repeat polymorphism. Association analyses were performed in 61 whites. Associations were found between genotypes of SNPs in the ALOX5 (rs2115819) and MRP1 (rs119774) genes and changes in FEV1 (p < 0.05), and between two SNPs in LTC4S (rs730012) and in LTA4H (rs2660845) genes for exacerbation rates. Mutant ALOX5 repeat polymorphism was associated with decreased exacerbation rates. There was strong linkage disequilibrium between ALOX5 SNPs. Associations between ALOX5 haplotypes and risk of exacerbations were found.

Conclusions: Genetic variation in leukotriene pathway candidate genes contributes to variability in montelukast response.

http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/full/173/4/379

I am posting the metabolism profile for montelukast. Maybe someone here has chemist friends who might know if it is possible that the dicarboxylic acid major metabolite could also have been derived from quinolinic acid under metabolic circumstances less than ideal. The quinoline ring, is a benzene-pyridine. Quinolinic acid, a dicarboxylic acid with a pyridine is produced by the oxidation of quinoline possibly by acid hydrogen peroxide. So the only structural difference between the dicarboxylic acid mentioned in the study as the major metabolite and quinolinic acid is nitrogen. Fascinating drug Singulair. Macrophages (immune cells) make quinolinic acid and release nitric oxide in order to kill micro-organisms. Quinolinic acid a neurotoxin.

Unless you are someone who plans to get help from experts, I would ignore this post. In my opinion, the only way that real answers will come from the investigation is that there is a provable chemical reason that the brain is affected by Singulair. I just post what I find and hope that eventually there will be experts who can explain why people are having such problems. I am unable to draw any conclusions from the report below.

dmd.aspetjournals.org/.../1/1996&journalcode=dmd

FYI: Go to

http://www.drugs.com/fda/singulair-montelukast-12368.html

Singulair (montelukast)
March 27, 2008
Audience: Pulmonologists, respiratory therapists, other healthcare professionals, patients
FDA informed healthcare professionals and patients of the Agency's investigation of the possible association between the use of Singulair and behavior/mood changes, suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior) and suicide. Singulair is a leukotriene receptor antagonist used to treat asthma and the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, and to prevent exercise-induced asthma. Patients should not stop taking Singulair before talking to their doctor if they have questions about the new information. Healthcare professionals and caregivers should monitor patients taking Singulair for suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior) and changes in behavior and mood.

This early communication is in keeping with FDA’s commitment to inform the public about its ongoing safety reviews of drugs. Due to the complexity of the analyzes, FDA anticipates that it may take up to 9 months to complete the ongoing evaluations. As soon as this review is complete, FDA will communicate the conclusions and recommendations to the public.

Latest FDA MedWatch Alerts...

I just saw this post and it makes me feel ashamed of our medical system which includes everybody.

about 12 hours ago on Apr 14, 2008 by jerseymomma, #7220
My boss has been in contact with all of the top law firms in the NJ & PA area. We want to make sure that we give you info thats actually going to help and not send you to some bloodsucker. When you file an injury suit, there is no money out of pocket. The lawyers only get paid if you win your trial or the case settles (so if you loose-- u dont loose anything either). And as a heads up, if this is something that can be proven to a jury, the suits take fooorrrrever. I think that is the worst part for the families that I personally have dealt with regarding liability suits-- u want closure and you want answers but it takes so long to get them!

Let talks about the "everybody knows category" of the pharmaceutical industry.

1. Everybody knows that: There are many compounds that never go to market for various reasons. Even back then, no pharmaceutical company wanted to spend money on a drug that was not as chemically "reliable" (I chose that word to encompass many things) as possible in all of the known interactions that could be expected in clinical use. The categories are also "everybody knows."
2. Everybody knows that: Merck did a lot of testing for "reliability" on Singulair. But Merck also did a lot of testing on Vioxx. No conclusions can be drawn from this per se.
3. Everybody knows that: Even back then, important decisions were being made as to whether to market a drug that related to how body enzymes metabolized that drug (meaning utilize the drug and then break it down so that the body could eliminate the waste products.) Genetics differences between different people were a factor that were also put into the decision making process.
4. Everybody knows that: clinical variations in efficacy and side effects can be a result of different factors. Some might include 1. genetic differences 2. drug-drug interactions 3. improper use 4. diet - take the grapefruit juice example. Those are just some.

What we don't seem to do in this country is adequately monitor post marketing complaints? Why did it take five years to find out about Vioxx? If we did monitor more carefully, could we identify some thing that was overlooked or the technology has changed so that it is easier to identify what is wrong?

When there is a problem, there is no way that we should go back to the same company for an explanation of the problem. Everybody knows that many companies work on the same category of drugs. Sometimes those companies encountered some road blocks and they abandoned the drug category. The FDA ought to require everything from everybody to get to the bottom of the problem. And also hire independent evaluators.

The next part of what I have to say is just a hypothetical - a FICTION like a WHAT IF. This is just to make a point. What if another group got different results for the metabolism studies? What if another group decided that the drug was not reliable because a hydrogen bond at a certain location could be influenced by too many different factors to be able to accurately predict what would happen?

So why do people have to hire lawyers, when the FDA should be doing it's job? There are many specialities of law just like the doctors. Does getting to the bottom of this problem require the lawyer-chemists? Why is it their job?

I am very skeptical of all of the claims I have read here. I am no advocate of GSK or any other drug company for that matter, but I think people are getting carried away with attributing their symptoms to Advair. The known side-effects are readily available, anything else is purely based on assumption. I agree that Advair may in fact have many more possible adverse effects than they let the public know, but let us be careful about making ourselves little scientific researchers and concluding a causal relationship based upon a single case study (and an informal one at that). Talk to your doctor about trying something with less risk, such as Singulair, Azmacort, Intall, Fluticasone Propionate, etc. Please though, be careful not to be so quick to claim generalizable findings based on your specific case. I myself am going to work with my physician to attempt a gluten-free diet and a less invasive medication therapy. Advair is not habit-forming or addictive, so withdrawals are doubtful at best. Read up on the pharmacology of Advair (salmeterol in particular), and you can come to your own conclusions. Best wishes to all of you fellow asthmatics!

My 68 year old father has been taking Singulair for quite some time and in July 2006 committed suicide. We had no reason to suspect the Singulair until just the other day. How does someone go about finding out for sure if Singulair was the reason he killed himself. This would answer questions that have caused my life to be in a constant stated of depression for 20 months now. I don't think this will be my ticket to freedom but it would help to know if it was caused by medicine.

So after reading enough of these replies I've come to a few conclusions:

1) Apparently Singulair should not be prescribed to children.

2) We have some extremely over-reactive parents.

3) It sounds like many of you describing side-effects from your young children also mention that they are on other medication(s). Don't be so quick to blame Singulair for everything. Many medications share the same possible side effects. Unless Singulair is the only medication your child takes, hold your tongue until more definitive studies and investigations are done.

About me -- I'm a 30 year old man who developed asthma when I was 11, and has fairly nasty seasonal allergies (I live in Austin, TX). I started taking Singulair several years ago as I had literally tried every other prescription allergy medicine on the market available for my seasonal allergies. OH MY GOD! I CAN BREATHE AGAIN!

Not only could I breathe through my nose, but the Singulair helped me fight off seasonal allergens (namely mountain cedar tree pollen and Texas oak tree pollen) so much that I was no longer waking up having asthma attacks from my sinuses draining. No longer was I missing days and days of work from "cedar fever" and "oak fever." At long last I finally found an allergy/asthma medicine that works for me.

Now, I also take use Advair (250/50) every day as well. Without a doubt, my life is 100 fold better now than it was before I used the combination of Singulair and Advair on a daily basis. If I miss a day or two of my Singulair, which I have done before, my allergies are noticeably worse and magically get better when I get back on Singulair.

I can honestly say that I have never experienced any depression or suicidal thoughts/tendencies since I have been on Singulair. Undoubtedly there are many others like myself who thank God every day for this medicine. I honestly feel very bad for those of you who have issues with Singulair because it has been a life-saver for me.

I just started Lisinopril yesterday. I have stage 1 hypertension. I run maybe a mile or so a day.Use weights maybe 40 minutes after run. I noticed that my run today took a lil longer to get up kinda. Like I was a lil drowsy or something. Well its kinda early yet for me to have conclusions. Doc wont give me viagra til BP is under control. I appreciate info given in forum for a newbie thanks to all.

Harry

Hi,i've used for a period of 8 weeks a very high dosis of Yutopar and when I delivered ours on on time he was the first weeks very alert with wide open eyes...his development was ver y different from his sister but we just thought:girls and boys are different but now he is 7 years old and we expect i the next couple of weeks the final results of his testing and the conclusions allready are:pdd _nos or anothre PDD...
and a voice is still saying to me:there must be al link to the Yutopar because it is so unhealthy....When there are more people with autistic children after using Yutopar please send me a mail...

Back from the RE:

We discussed many forms of birth control (none of which appeal to me) and he agreed bcps are not for me do to my reactions to them. He did question my correlating the YAsmin to my anxiety and said if that were the case I should've been like that from the first month on them. I quickly informed him of many of you here and asked that he not jump to conclusions just because the FDA; the warnings in the Yasmin pill pack and his Medical Journals all say that it DOESN'T cause us to be this way. He quickly let that go!

I was FINE before Yasmin. I was energetic, happy, and went with the flow of my hectic life with kids and an at home business. Then BAM I turn into a whole other person with serious issues mentally and emotionally and NOTHING in my personal life changed to cause this. How can anyone not conclude it a pill full of hormones?!!!!

He reluctantly prescribed me Xanax to get me through the next couple of weeks but said he would NOT prescribe me a refill. Which I said was fine because I really dont want to take anything but I can't just keep trying to make it through the day with my kids and me feeling so horrific.

Each day I feel a TAD better; what I wouldn't give for that magic wand to make it all better in a poof. I signed up for a 'Mind, Body & Spirit" (some sort of Yoga) class on Saturday and Wednesday so I am hoping that helps as well.

Enough of my lengthy reply! Hope everyone here continues to improve; all be it slowly. Everyday that passes is a another day we can all be 'us' again.

Denise