October 17th
2008
8:30 PM
I've been on Welbutrin for about six months, along with Zoloft. I had tried it because of the lack of motivation and the lithergy I was feeling (I suspect) as a result of the Zoloft. I came across this site after a search for memory loss connected with Welbutrin. I believe I'm having that problem. I don't seem to have the quick grasp of words I did. In a phone conversation today, I could not remember a certain medical term that I have been using rather frequently over the past six months. There are some other cases, but that incident put me on the trail of memory loss research. I actually suspected that it was the Ambien I had been taking for sleep (I have not completely ruled that drug out). But all the posts here seem to indicate that the welbutrin could be at fault.
I'm on 150mg, twice daily. However, in the morning, I will actually take one and a half pills (225mg) to get me going. I have noticed CONSIDERABLE jitters, hand tremors, enough that if I'm doing delicate work of some type, I have difficulty continuing ti complete the task. At the 225mg, I do seem to become over amped a bit, but it improves my motivation. A St. Johns Wart capsule will usually calm that, but you see the problem of one drug, helping one problem, but causing another, so you take a third! I have tried numerous other antidepressants and they all caused more side effects than they were worth.
Celexa cause an eventual complete lack of ANY motivation! Plus SERIOUS sexual side effects. Zoloft has been the best with the least side effects and I have always returned to it. But the sleepiness can just be extreme with me.
I have run out of Welbutrin and the result is return of the lithergy. I also believe that the Welbutrin may be causing my occasional up tick in anger. Possibly spreading the dosage will help. Not mixing it with caffiene may also help because caffiene can make me explosive if I don't limit my intake to about a cup of coffee. Most of you know that Zoloft, Prozac and the like increase the available seritonin in your brain, a calming neurotransmitter. Welbutrin increases the available norepinephrine, a stimulating neurotransmitter, akin to adrenalin. (Research for yourselves those facts, remember, I posting this because of a problem with MEMORY! :) So it makes perfect sense that people can become overstimulated with Welbutrin. The memory aspects of it, I don't yet understand. I'm going to experiment with dosage reduction and possibly replacing the Welbutrin with the amino acid L-phenylalanine. I hope this little post can help some of you as much as the other posts here have helped me!
Burt
-- By burtbrown_100 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
September 17th
2008
4:31 PM
I am a 52Yr old male and was diagnosed with T2 Diabetes 2 1/2 yrs ago ....The doctor prescribed me simvastin a few month later 20mg once a day all had been fine till about 6 months ago when I developed tinnitus and started feeling very tired...My concentration started to lapse especially when driving as i found i couldn't remember driving down a stretches of the road etc ie passing speed cameras etc ...my memory also seems to have slowed down and i have problems recalling recent conversations or things i have done etc...just recently i have been getting severe itching on the soles of my feet almost becoming painful i have pains /aches all over and now especially have pain in my left arm right knee and fingers...when i get up in the mornings i feel like i have run a marathon the day before as i ache especially my neck and shoulders...needless to say i have now stopped taking the tablets after reading this forum and i am seeing my doctor next week initially i put all this down to getting older ...
Steve
September 17th
2008
2:08 PM
I've taken Ambien only once or twice with no side effects. My boyfriend however, takes it every night. He goes on ALL night eating binges, consuming almost everything in the kitchen. In the morning, the kitchen is littered with empty peanut butter jars, cracker boxes, cold cut wrappers, ice cream containers, jelly jars, left over take out boxes, etc. etc. This is what he consumers in just one night. This also happens night after night. I've asked him about it, and have had conversations with him while this is all going on. He seems lucid, but has absolutely no memory of his eating in the morning..But this new problem happened just the other night. We had what I thought was really terrific sex..You could have knocked me over when he said he did not have any memory of it what so ever This really scared me, and really got me thinking. He seems very sluggish during the day, without much energy. He has basically stopped going to the gym every morning, and I can see that he's putting much less effort into his very lucrative business. I've mentioned Ambien as a possible cause of these behaviors, but he doesn't seem totally convinced...What else could it be?
-- By wiskers | Reply | Private Message me
August 6th
2008
11:17 PM
I have many of these symptoms and have had them for several months but was waiting for a stress test, which came out fine. Finally called the doctor last week and he changed me to Novasc. Coughing at night, coughing on the phone, in short conversations, cough! cough! cough! They say it can take about two weeks for it to stop and I am on now five days and look forward to the day it ends! Cough, gag, sneeze, eyes start watering! Why wait til August? Call the doctor now!
-- By jlipsoccer | Reply | Private Message me
July 29th
2008
11:29 PM
I started taking this med on 6/1/08 after taking Atacand for 4 years (had to switch for ins). Anyway, I feel for anybody that takes this stuff. I started coughing the very next day. I have no appetite because I cough to the point of getting sick to my stomach and aching in my gut. Nothing tastes good. I am totally exhausted. I wake myself up coughing at night and am totally worthless during the day ( I have always been an active person). Can't talk on the phone because of the coughing spells. Go out in public and start coughing out of nowhere. Get stares because people think you have some disease. I CANNOT wait to go to my Dr. in August and tell her she has got to find something else for me! I can't believe this stuff is still being prescribed since I have read some really bad reviews about it.
-- By badstuff | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
July 14th
2008
4:04 PM
This site has made me realize that I am not crazy. Well, now I am... But not for long, I have had my Mirena since 2/2005 after the birth of my daughter. Yes, there was a lot of cramping at first and the insertion was awful. The Dr. reassured me that I would begin to feel better and gave me time frames as to when cramping and bleeding should stop and may even stop completely. Wow, this is great! I thought... I nursed my first year and at the 6 month mark my production slowed. I've heard this was normal. I was proud that I had gotten down to the pre-baby weight. No credit to Mirena. This was strictly due to nursing and some exercise. At the year mark I became more and more irritable, per my husband. I was Forgetful or should I say had difficulty holding conversations due to forgetting simple words... I was depressed and just plain mean... He was right. I didn't notice until he said it, I was angry all of the time. I was reluctant to go on any pills; I feared I would be labeled as crazy. So, instead of meds we ended up needing to see a marriage counselor. Yep, after 5 months of babbling about my childhood and bringing about a normal conversation with my husband again, I end up taking medication. I had been convinced this was simply a little postpartum and everybody is depressed after a baby so I was put on some generic version of Prozac (temporarily). Had some dizzy spells at work (very embarrassing). In the summer of 2006 I started have pain during sex. I could tell it was coming from the ovary. It was on my left side. Of course, my husband had to deal to with the constant feeling of rejection. I was thinking I'm just constipated and the added pressure is well... you get the idea... Hurting everything else. After a few months of this I made an appointment with my OB doctor. I had a 5 cm cyst! I was told this could burst or possibly twist. Then I am restricted to no sex and light exercise. Within 3 months that cyst burst it sent a burning sensation through my abdomen to my upper thighs. I have a lot of abdominal pain and bloating. I went in several times later but was never diagnosed with having anything wrong. Suggested to see an Oncologist (never went). Now to the current year of the Mirena... I mentioned earlier that I had lost all of my weight back to 114 pounds (I'm petite). Within the last 4 months I have put on 17pound and still climbing. I am having some horrible pains on the right side now which I know is the return of another one of those cysts. It must be a dozy, this one really hurts. And having acne breakouts of a teenager. So let’s review... From this post I have experienced the depression, cyst, weight gain, acne, forgetfulness, dizziness, stomach pains, bloating. I want it out I had scheduled to get it done on 7/17. My husband freaked and now has scheduled to get a vasectomy. He has asked me to wait until his procedure has been done before I go through with it. So, I am waiting but am interested to hear how soon we become normal again when all foreign objects and medications has been removed.
-- By jandringa | Reply | (5) replies | Private Message me
June 27th
2008
4:58 PM
I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have found this site! I have been taking YAZ for just over 4 months. I started it to try to lessen menstrual flow, not for birth control as I already have my tubes tied. I am a former professional athlete and very in-tune with my body. I am currently 43 and had my tubal at 29.
I started having issues fairly early on, but they were gradual, yet intense. Two things showed up - memory loss and extreme mood swings. I started having difficulty remembering the simplest things and would forget parts of conversations had only minutes earlier. Then the mood swings started. I am a very stable person, even around my period. I began having suicidal thoughts for no reason at all. One day fine, the next day wanting to end it all.
I have put on 14# in the 4-month period, visible cellulite now on my thighs. Vaginal dryness, brown gunky, pasty residue after my period (which never actually stopped) and decreased sex drive.
I called the doctor and stopped taking them as of today after finding this site!
-- By repo1123 | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
June 27th
2008
3:54 PM
I would like to let people who are new to the Lamictal "experience" that it was VERY uncomfortable for me during the first few months also. In fact even at the very low introductory doses, I did not think that I could ever function in society.
The extreme confusion, the memory problems, the spaceyness, the feeling of detachment from everything that surrounded me... at the time I felt that I would never be able to function as a worker, a friend, or as a social being.
As time went on though, things did clear up for me. It took a few months, but I'm guessing that my brain function/chemistry finally somehow regulated itself, and my side effects did clear up. I am at a dosage of 600mg per day now, and yes, I do sometimes feel detached, but I certainly can function. My memory has also improved. It sometimes takes me a second or two to find the "right word" during my conversations, but a simple, light hearted mention of the problem resolves the issue for the person that I am speaking to.
If you are just getting on Lamictal, try to be patient. I have found that in time, it has helped me much more than the side effects hurt me. It did take a few months to get used to, and I did have to explain to others at work that I may be acting strangely for a couple weeks because of it... but the overall effect is quite nice now.
Lamictal now helps control my seizure problems almost completely, and has the added benefit of making me feel much more confident, and balanced.
-- By smiffboove99 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
April 15th
2008
12:27 PM
My husband and I have been increasingly worried about our 11 year old son lately. He had been becoming increasingly unhappy and difficult. He was in the school play, one of the things he loves most, but had no enthusiasm or energy for it. He seemed apathetic about many activities he had always been eager to participate in. I kept thinking maybe he was just tired and too stressed out. It seemed like almost nightly he was sinking into anger and depression. We were walking around on eggshells trying to prevent him from spiraling into one of his angry moods where he would just shut down and say he didn't care about anything. The happy, cooperative, well-adjusted kid we had always known was gone.
Three weeks ago we began to talk about the fact that maybe there was more going on than just adolescent angst. We were beginning to believe some kind of professional intervention might be required.
Two and a half weeks ago our local paper ran the story about the Miller family whose son committed suicide while on Singulair. My son had been taking Singulair for three months.
The same day the newspaper story ran, my son had another tough morning When I went to bed that same night, I found two “suicide” notes from my 11 year old on my pillow. (He had not seen the article.) In one he asked for a gun or knife for his birthday so he could kill himself. In the other, he told me he had been thinking about killing himself since February.
My life for the past month has been filled with conversations and appointments with the suicide hotline, the pediatrician, a psychotherapist, the school social worker, the mother of the boy who committed suicide, the FDA, etc. etc., filling out forms and writing notes and observations.
My son had just recently finished his last bottle of Singulair. I had not yet refilled the prescription, and we have no intention of doing that. The turn around in my son has been extraordinary. My incredibly exuberant and joyful son is back. I did not realize until the past few days how much light he brings to this house and how far away he had faded. But everyday, as the drug leaves his body, his beautiful, loving, affectionate, helpful happy self returns. We just kept thinking for so long… I guess this is normal for a 6th grader. It must be adolescence. It is an incredible gift to see the cloud lifting.
I worry a great deal about the children who are not as severly affected - whose parents are thinking, as we did, maybe this is just typical for kids this age. I am incredibly grateful that my son was finally able to articulate some of the horrible feelings he had inside, and that the article appeared when it did to give us some clue as to what we were really dealing with.
-- By skye1289 | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
April 10th
2008
5:40 PM
Follow up to my post earlier today...
I took the my son to the doctor this morning and he was somewhat dismissive of the recent reports on Singulair...says he's had a lot of kids on the drug and never heard a peep about side effects until last week when the report on suicidal tendencies showed up. He did advise that when these kinds of behavior changes happen after a new drug is started he would recommend that we stop taking the drug no matter what it was, but I still felt uncomfortable with his response to us.
I felt like he was accusing me of making it up or only coming up with it because of recent news and message board posts. In fact, I made the appointment BEFORE I saw the posts. I was worried about his behavior BEFORE I saw the posts. It's just that seeing the stories from everyone else basically confirmed my suspicions that it might be the drug causing the problems.
I feel like I definitely wasted OVER AN HOUR waiting for a doctor to spend five minutes making me feel small.
Last night was the last time my son will take the drug, and I don't care what the doctors think of me.
-- By adschimek | Reply | (10) replies | Private Message me
March 31th
2008
1:16 AM
I am a 29 year old female. I have been taking Singulair for approximately 5 years. I have indoor/outdoor/food allergies with allergy induced asthma. In addition to Singulair I take Zyrtec, Advair, Diflucan, Albuterol, and allergy shots (all of these are for my allergies). Due to the nature of my job - I do a lot of research on various drugs. I would be the first to tell everyone that when they're prescribed a new drug - it is worth it to go to the website and look at the potential side effects. I also tell everyone that when they do see a side effect, to consider how many (or few in most cases) people actually experienced these side effects. That said - I do these things regularly - for myself and for my family. I am also well aware that much of the time - I/my family, will never experience these side effects. That said, there is a pediatrician on here who has commented that other drugs are worse and has quoted, "once a stone is thrown into a well, thousands of smart people won't find it" - this may be fact - but it is not very helpful to people who have truly experienced problems. While I might tend to agree with his/her view to some extent, there is also the side of me that knows my own body. What I have to say about my experience with Singulair is this: In 5 years, I have several times felt not only depressed but many times severely depressed and very anxious. These symptoms have increased over the years. The last 3-4 months of my life have been terrible. Happiness comes infrequently and sadness and anger have become my prevailing emotions. I have been a very happy and optimistic person the majority of my life. This has been a huge struggle for me - so much so that I actually have conversations with myself when it comes on strong - I have to remind myself during these times that I am a normal, happy person, and that nothing is as bad as it seems. After 28 years - I know my body - and THIS person, is NOT me. I am not a follower - nor am I a whiner/complainer. I can say though that until there are more clinical trials done - I can't know all of the science behind it and whether or not it is the Singulair is causing these side effects. My thought is that there may be a possibility that my side effects are caused by the combination of drugs that I take - not strictly from the Singulair. In my case - and because of the other drugs that I take - I can probably, safely stop taking Singulair and judge for myself. The good thing about Singulair? It works for my allergies; it works very well as a matter of fact. Other side-effects though - I had an ongoing sinus infection for about the fisr 5 months I was taking it - and I have amazingly vivid dreams - some very scary and some very real. Additionally - I would never want to discount a pediatrician's opinion - nor would I want you to distrust your/your child's physicians - however, the sad truth of the pharmaceutical industry is that in order to sell their pharmaceuticals - they must convince physicians that they are effective and/or more effective than other drugs that treat the same disease state. Many of these physicians are paid to give lectures on new drugs or new drug indications. And some of them (not all) will always prescribe a certain drug because that's what they've 'promised' to do. The main thing I want to say here is this: if you are taking Singulair, and you have truly been experiencing these side effects - do the research; be objective; consider other medications you may be taking; express your concerns to your physician; if you are an adult and you take other medications that control your asthma/allergy symptoms then stop taking it and see if you notice a difference. If you have children that are taking it or you have severe symptoms that would be detrimental without taking the Singulair - talk with your/your child's physician about the possibility of changing the drug to something else and explain your concern. If you physician is unresponsive - get a second opinion. Many people who are on Singulair have both an allergist and a family doctor - talk to both. I have read that many of you have taken your child off of Singulair - let me just stress the importance of talking to your physician before removing your child from a drug. Not to scare anyone but perhaps the suicide side effect was caused by someone taking it then stopping it - or some similar cycle. Personally - I believe that I have a large benefit from taking Singulair - but because of the depressive/anxious feelings I've had the last few months - I am going to stop taking it and see if I feel any better. I would like to say that the benefits of taking this drug out weigh the risks - but for me - if my quality of life has become miserable (which it has) - I will try this option of taking myself off the drug before talking to my physician about taking an antidepressant or something similar. The side effects of those can be much worse. Hope I was helpful.
-- By eward | Reply | Private Message me
Singulair (3) Lisinopril (3) Mirena (1) Wellbutrin (1) Lamictal (1) Ambien CR (1) Simvastatin (1) Yaz (1)
October 26th
2008
5:18 PM
Hi there. Im a 25 yr old fem im type 1 diabetic I have been on this medication for 4 days and i could tell its causing problems
My side effects include a lot of mental issues
anxiety and depression
the second day i took this i went to work and thought everyone was mad at me because they were on the phone when i said hi or because they were looking at a paper when i was talking to them
the next day when i went to pick up my kids i felt like my mom and my sister were ploting against me
while my husbands at work im feeling more needy and i call him wanting him to stay on the phone with me when i know he cant
im also experiencing memory loss i cant remember getting off of work i remember going down stairs but like it was something i dreamed and it was foggy and details went clear
also conversations with my husband are like dreams and foggy
im usually a detail freak and can tell u exactly what u said if u mis quote your self
im calling my doctor i thought it was jst me but im sure it has something to do with Lisinopril
Thanks Guys!!
-- By mlesly | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me