Coordination symptoms and conditions

I take lithium, 1350mg/day, for 5 years now, and about 2 years ago I started getting tremors but worse in my left hand, so it was actually painful and for a while the doctor thought it was carpal tunnel but it turned out not to be and he didnt know what caused it-now ever since then my left hand has gotten worse & typing with it is a little problematic, its like the nerves are messed up in that hand, it won't always hit the right numbers. Its starting to freak me out a little, but in the last year I've started having episodes where my entire left side goes tingly like its asleep, my vision blurs, I get shaky all over and have such rapid heart palpitations it feels like my entire body is in shock. This lasts for about half an hour usually, has landed me in the ER twice, & they claimed each time not to know what caused it and looked at me like I was making it up, and didn't give me anything for it. I also get the typical symptoms- mild hair loss, memory loss, speech impairment, weight gain (I was 120 now I'm 160- luckily it distributed so its not too obvious), & it does not stop depressive episodes, just shortens them, and I still get anger episodes fairly often, usually as a split second reaction to something very small. I'm definitely looking into getting off of this as it is worrying me, more about the episodes and my left arm/hand issues than anything else, especially that now I have trouble with coordination in my left hand,which sucks because my desk jobs always involve a LOT of typing.

I have been on Topamax for 2 1/2 months. My dosages have been varied due to side effects that scared the daylights out of me. Never more than 100 mg a day, at which point I was a vegetable. After such terrible side effects - pressure in the eye, blurriness, loss of speech, coordination, complete exhaustion, inability to work, stopping mid sentence with inability to complete sentence - I finally had it. I talked to the doctors all along that I was terrified what was happening to my mind and body but they just said it was too soon to tell if the meds were working or not.
Out of pure frustration and concern for my own well being, I decided to try to taper off Topamax and then stop completely. I lost feeling in feet and hands, pins and needles, weakness in feet and hands as well as spasms- lovely. Frightened me so much I wound up in emergency thinking something else must really be wrong with me. MRI said all was fine as regards to MS or stroke, etc. Whew!
Continuing to withdrawal and mad as @#*! that the Dr.s don't know what they are prescribing to poor patients, Topamax is a dangerous crap shoot. Funny to me how something as horrible as this drug can be prescribed in our government, yet medical cannabis prescribed properly with little to no side effects is a crime in most states.
What have I learned from this experience?...be your own advocate. Don't let anyone ever push you into saying something is black when you clearly see it is white. Get angry, state your feelings if you feel you are being harmed and brushed off and not helped. You still have the brain cells in you to make good decisions though Topamax and pressure from others about "not taking your meds" may knock you confidence for a loop.
I'm thankful I live in CA where I can make legal choices that are not available to others in the USA. Shame on the drug companies, shame on the Dr.s that need to do their homework, shame on our FDA for letting this horrible drug on the market whilst holding back natural herbal relief that grows right out of the ground for all to use legally. Shame on me for not doing my homework earlier and doubting myself and letting other decide for me for so long now.
Good luck, hope you all find some comfort and fire in this message. We are our own best advocates. No one knows us better than ourselves. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing - so thank you makers of Topamax, for helping me to find the strength inside to tell you....JUST SAY NO! to drugs - your drug in particular. May you be recalled and not harm any others, and may your profits plummet as you have make you $ on the suffering of so many others.

I am on Topomac for the last 10 days. I have been suffering from stress migraine for the past 6 months and I took professional help only a month os so back. The doctor started off with Sibelium, but this managed to reduce the occurrence. So instead of 4 headaches I now had 2 headaches per week. After a month of Sibelium, he started me on a 25 mg course of Topomac. I did not realize that this drug would be one which I would end reading so much about. Starting on this drug I immediately started feeling lethargic, sleepy and general tingling in the arms. From the 8th day onwards the dosage was increased to 50 mg per day with a review to be done on the 30th day. However other than the general lethargy, sleepiness, and slight lack of coordination, I feel that the drug has helped me get rid of the pain of migraine. I hope I am not speaking too soon, but I will keep all posted of the progress of my treatment with this drug.

I had my kenalog injection over a week ago. The winds here in the desert have been horrible this year and i was experiencing a daily sinus headache and my allergies were beyond what a claritin, allegra and a sudafed combined could combat. Within a day of getting an injection in right butt cheek area all of my sinus problems have ceased. Day three i stopped taking all of my medications for my allergies. I was also able to stop taking an anti inflammatory for my knee and the arches of my feet. They have never felt so good. My excema and asthma symptoms although mild have also cleared up. On the down side. I seem to be eating like a horse, insomnia and wild dreams seem to be plaguing me. But this is also the case when i take prednisone. I had this shot a few years back for the knee and foot arch pain and back then before my hysterectomy i did experience break through bleeding on my birth control pills a week early and very heavy. i decided that was the worse of my side effects back then. now that i wasn't able to have that problem i figured lets go for it again since i recall my sinuses clearing last time too, which was a bonus side effect for me then. overall i have found the positive effects definitely outweigh the negative effects for me.

Prescribed Avelox after previous antibiotic could not clear up sinusitis. Avelox cleared it up within three days, but I feel worse now. Extreme agitation/anxiety, tremors, twitches, no appetite, boughts of depression, dizzy, lack of coordination, accelerated heart rate, leg shake, cold extremities, very strange, vivid dreams. Doctor told me to stop taking and side effects should clear up in a few days ( I hope). This is nuts. I feel like I am going insane. I could not go to work for three days due to side effects.

Oh my goodness.....my daughter, age 17, had her first injection in June 2008, started losing her hair w/in a month. We thought it was form straightening, some high lightening etc. She had blood work done which showed she was anemic...strange, as 2yrs prior her blood work was stellar, and she had not changed her diet, or physical activity. She increased her iron and protein intake (along w/ supplements).....three months later, and after her second injection, iron was still anemic....worse actually, and her hair loss significant.I found this website last night....and I am floored......I called MERCK today and spoke to a representative wh o was not aware of the hair loss issue, but said that in their case studies, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia was a side effect.....which leads to hair loss itself.....so I am researching now what to do next.....anyone else have this issue??????

My healthy sixteen year old daughter was prescribed Bactrim twice daily for acne on the 7th and began a full course on the 8th of April. Agressively preparing for a solo competition on clarinet, we did not get too concerned when she complained of some shortness of breath and neck stiffness and tightness at the base of her skull on the 13th. On the 14th she had some difficulty with hand and finger coordination. By late evening of the 16th she had developed an oral temp. of 101.3 F, was complaing of severe fatigue, had swollen and painful lymph glands at the base of her skull and under her jaw. When she awoke on the 17th after a fitful night, she had a red, raised, itchy rash from head to toe, swelling of the face, neck, and hands and a sensation of burning everywhere her clothing touched her skin. Her eyes were glazed and red. The Bactrim was discontinued. While some of the symptoms now are very slowly dissapating, she continues to complain or lethargy and dizziness, sleeping more than awake. Perhaps, needless to say, she bombed at her competition on the 15th. Sad, since she had been preparing for months. Thanks so much, Bactrim. We pray there are no lasting side effects that others have experienced.

I was doing just fine taking 50 mg of Topamax but I was still having minor headaches. My doctor said to go to a neurologist because there may be a tumor to worry about. He doubled my morning dosage and added an evening dosage so now I am taking 200 mg. a day. I started the insanity on Friday. By Monday i went grocery shopping and couldn't remember what I was shopping for. Thank God i brought my husband with me...when I could remember that he was with me. And then when I remembered to ask him what we came for I needed to remember where it was. Upon returning home I offered to help my 7 year old grand daughter with her spelling homework. Do you how embarrassing it is to not remember how to spell first grade spelling words? Tuesday was Mardi Gras and we went to the movies so I was saved any further mind questions. Then along comes Wednesday and I returned to work. Well, I tried to get to work. I got lost. Here I was at Walgreen's trying to figure out what I was doing out at 6:00 in the morning. What day was it? The looks on other's faces when you ask them these question is not something funny. So, I get back in my car and aim in the direction I hope is work. Luckily, I remember where I habitually stop for breakfast. My memory comes back again and I make it to work. I am on time and all is well. Now, the day begins.

I haven't had a period since December. Here it is February. And no, I am NOT pregnant. I can't concentrate. I ate 2 chicken nuggets for lunch and am full (now that is a healthy lunch, huh?). I was addicted to Dr. Pepper and now can't even stand the smell of it. I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I found a note that I wrote sometime yesterday that really scares me because I don't remember writing it. It says, " Headache @ 1:55 no known trigger jut sudden movement to pick up papers from bin over desk. Nausea as well. Need to go to sleep forever." Good feeling to have? Depression is kicking in.

I just called my doctor and he says decrease the medication down to 100 mg. Ummmm...How about I decrease it down to 0 mg and I take a Imitrex or 2 and a hot bath with a nap when I get home and live to see my grandchildren grow old! I think living with a migraine or 50 is far better than what I have been feeling this past week.

If anyone can tell me that it gets better in less than 2 weeks I will stay with it but 1 more week of this and I will be a patient in a mental hospital. I can't even play Nintendo with my grandson...NOW THAT IS DEPRESSING!

My daughter was on NuvaRing for four years. she has been very very sick...she has extreme fatigue...wanting to sleep up to 18 hours per day. Very irritable...lost her friends, boy friend and we had to move her back home. She had to drop out of school. Severe back aches...hand tremors, memory loss, lack of coordination. This drug is TERRIBLE and should be taken off the market. She went to four obgyns and ask if her problems could be from the NuvaRing...they said no. So I know the company is keeping this info from the doctors. now...after being off of it for three months, she said she feels like she just got out of a coma. She is back living on her own, getting ready to go back to grad school. we feel lucky that she did not get a blood clot or a stroke which is also a common side effect.

I have been taking Neurontin for 2 months. I didn't think it was really helping because I still couldn't function normally. I have had 3 disk surgeries on L4/5, and still have severe pain in my right hip and down my right leg all the way to my foot. I am told there is scar tissue build-up in the area causing the nerve pain. I started taking Neurontin in small doses and have built up to 1200mg 3 times a day. I still couldn't walk more than 20 feet without leaning on something, but the pain was noticably less severe. My doctor put me on Trileptal instead, and the first day off the Neurontin was a nightmare...the pain was worse than ever. I went back to the Neurontin immediately. I have experienced some weight gain, but have attibuted that to no exercise. It does seem to make me forgetful, tired and somewhat depressed, but without it, the pain is completely debilitating. I want my life back, but I don't know what to do from here. Neurontin has helped the pain to a more tolerable level, but if I still can't even walk, I'm not even close to functioning normally. If anyone has a suggestion, I would love to hear it...thanks.

I have been taking Lamictal for just over a year. Some of the side effects have been noticable for a few months, but others seem to just be appearing and getting worse. I have loss of balance and coordination, my vision is gettng worse, I have a hard time concentrating and finding the right words, I forget how to spell common words, I have short-term memory loss and feel spacey. I can always figure it out, but it takes longer. I began doing Pilates every day about 3 months ago and still cannot get the routine down and it is just as hard for my muscles as it was in the beginning. I can't seem to lose weight and have horrible acne on my face. I had 2 seizures before beginning Lamictal and am suppose to be on it for 2 years before trying to go off. Without insurance though, I am unable to do follow-ups w/ my neurologist and she seems unconcerned and unsypathetic to my situation, not giving me the time of day. She never even told me all of these side effects could develop, much less that they might begin long after I started taking Lamictal. Has anyone had these side effects after having taken the Lamictal for so long then stopped taking the Lamictal? Will these side effects go away after I stop taking it??

I took 20mg of lisinopril for 30 + days along with 5mg of norvasc which I have been taking over a year now. Upon starting lisinopril I noticed a weakness in my legs which was most bothersome. It felt like I was using someone elses legs.
I experienced a lack of coordination in my legs, cramps and a lack of muscle control. After 30 days I stopped taking the drug. Along with the above symptoms my urine became a dark rust color, I felt nauseaus, lightheaded and very tired.
Most of these symptoms ended after I stopped taking lisinopril
however to my dismay my leg function has not gotten any better and its been over three monts now that I stopped using Lisinopril.

Hi, My name is Scott and I am 58 years old. I had a severe case of Bronchitis four years ago. I was so sick my Doc. sent me to have a chest x-ray thinking I might have pneumonia. He prescribed Levaquin...one tablet a day for 30 days. I immediately started taking the antibiotic. I was so sick I did not realize any reaction immediately. I just felt horrible, but attributed it to the bronchitis. The infection started to come under control, but I was starting to feel worst physically. I got so bad my wife took me to the emergency room. I was slurring my speech, my muscles ached, I had night sweats and I lost my coordination. It had also affected my memory...both short term and long term. The physician who saw me at the hospital was 99% sure that I had suffered a stroke. I was admitted to the hospital and spent 3 days undergoing blood-work and testing to see if they could determine what was happening to me. Upon release I was sent to a neurologist and had MRI's of my brain. All came back negative.

I took the medicine for 26 days before it dawned on me that it could be a reaction to the Levaquin. I went home and researched Levaquin and was blown away by what I read. All of the weird symptoms I had been experiencing were right there in front of me. I immediately stopped taking the antibiotic and within days started to feel better. I continued to get better until I was feeling almost normal. This took about three weeks. I still experienced problems with my memory and had residual effects with my coordination, but otherwise felt 100% better.

Approximately three months later I had a severe relapse. It came out of the blue. I was not taking any medicine, but was taken to the hospital and admitted with the same symptoms I had experienced before. Again the Doc's had no idea what the problem was. I did explain about my reaction to the prior use of levaquin, but that was dismissed as not probable and they released me after three days with no idea what was wrong.

I continued to have relapses for the next 2 1/2 years, every three or four months. Each time was not as bad as the last. Finally I traveled to Boston and saw a very well known neurologist who explained that he had seen this before. He called it a post infection syndrome. He was the first person who agreed that it was a reaction to my long-term use of levaquin. I finally felt vindicated!

If you check the manufacturer warnings online, you will see that they do know about these reactions. It a small percentage so they think the benefits out way the adverse reactions of some patients. As a person who has suffered with these reactions, no percentage is worth the risk!

For those of you that are experiencing adverse effects, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. It does take time, but it does get better. I can live with my memory problems and although I have some residual muscle and tendon problems in my legs, my life is almost back to normal. I have not had a relapse in the past year.

Good luck to everyone and keep the faith!

Scott

Severe nerve twotching and lack of coordination, although it helped with back pain following lumbar fusion surgery. Can't quite as I have the severe pain...does anyone have a solution for the twitching?

I am almost 50 and have had high cholesterol for at least 19 years. I have taken various statins as prescribed by my doctors, including Zocor, Lipitor, and Crestor with mixed results. Although my numbers came down, my left arm muscles withered, coordination through out my body deteriorated, pain and numbness in hands and feet became constant, my liver began to fail, and I became aphasic. The entire time I was on statins of any kind I felt like I was poisoned. I have refused statins for 2 years and have made remarkable progress back to good health. I find it interesting that the man who invented the artificial heart peddles Lipitor so vigorously, especially since Lipitor is so effective at damaging muscle tissue.

muscle ache,tiredness,loss of balance and coordination,but otherwise my deprssive state has lifted.

Confusion, loss of coordination (knock stuff over with my hands ALL the time), speech comes out with phrases backwards or no sense at all. Anxiety, anger, depression, increased heart rate.

This was a curse for me.

I'm a sharp person with perfect coordination and a quick mind, and this medication reduced me to a slow, clumbsy, stumbling, muttering moron. I've walked right into walls, given up on talking because my words always came out slurred, and I never made too much sense because I didn't use the words in their context.

I ALSO had a sore throat, runny nose, rashes to no end, fever, chills, I wouls sweat like I've never seen before... I'd wake up in a literal pool of my own sweat... dizzy, MIGRANES... oh the headahces I had...

And, I'm not sure if it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear my tourettes became about 10 times worst on this stuff.

RE: 14875, 12/31/05
I have exactly the same side effects ... dizziness, light headedness, ataxia, weakness, migraine headaches and nausea. I walk into walls, lose my balance and stagger. I take 150mg all at one, at night. I've been taking it for over a year but just recently have started experiencing all the effects I just listed

i was prescribed meprozine after having a wisdom tooth pulled the day before yesterday ,and hardly can remember any thing afterwards just a hellish blur.it did little to kill the pain but was very succesful at making me too dizzy to walk. i was too disoriented and confused to carry on a conversation with any one and whenever i went into the next room i forgot why i was there. it was all quite embaressing . i took one somwhere between 6 and 7 this morning but didnt take any more .its now 3:15 pm. i'v ben suffering accute feelings of paranioa, insecurity depression rejection and aggravation ,with some hallutionations for the last three days. my coordination is still bad. i had some trouble typing this . i'm angry that they can sell this crap as "pain killer".

You should not drive while taking this Medication, I ran my car off the roaad twice in one day due to a lack of coordination. Had to purchase a new tire. If you have heart problems I don't recommend that you take this medication,the side effect are very close to having a heart attack. I just returned from the emergency room due to white bumps on the roof of my mouth & tongue & difficulty breathing. The doctors pescrived Nystatin oral supension. for the white bumps. also I had to take an iupb due to a loss of electrolites. Weight loss of 10lbs within 10 days.

I am on my 10th day on Neurontin at 300mg OD for a severe cervical muscle pain, the pain did go away but... at first the only noticeable side effects were drowsiness especially in the AM, loss of coordination. But a few days later, the numbness on my lower extremities was noticed as well as moderate to severe headache more on the frontal area and arthralgia (joint pains). I also had episodes of irregular heart beats so I had to be put on Betablocker. The dosage was not that big, but anyway, patient's response varies individually. This will be my last day of Neurontin. I hope my body will eliminate all the traces of this drug.

I have horrible nerve pain in my right leg from the knee down into my foot after laminectomy and diskectomy 8 months previously. I began taking Neurontin, and experienced dizziness, lack of coordination the first week or two, but a dramatic decrease in the numbness, tingling and pain in my leg and foot. I have stopped taking Neurontin because of stomach pain, bloating, dyspepsia, really miserable, this was while I was on 40mg of Prilosec. I am now on Amytriptyline. It helps somewhat, but not nearly as much as the Neurontin. I am frustrated, because I don't know how to live with this constant distracting and painful condition. It's difficult to walk because of the severe pain in the ball of my right foot. I would really like to take the Neurontin, because I saw such improvement with it, but there always seems to be a side effect that makes it impossible to take a drug that helps. Same with anti-inflammatories, that also rip my stomach apart. Please help with any suggestions.

Dukes

My neurologist prescribed Neurontin for post-herpatic neuralgia (the pain after shingles). I'm supposed to be taking 2400mg a day, but am only taking 1800mg because the side effects are so bad. I have very bad coordination, dizziness to the point of falling over, spaciness, slurred speech, weird vision problems - its like my eyes forget to focus, my husband says I'm staring off into space alot too. I am a professor, and find that I can't remember words or key concepts while I'm teaching. I can't drive, so my husband has to drive me everywhere. In addition, I've been having very strange thoughts, such as that I am going to purposely crash the car, or that my cat is going to attack me. It is very frightening and I'd like to go off the medicine, but I know it can induce seizures if you go cold turkey. Is this really our only alternative? Either live in unendurable pain, or suffer from Neurontin?

Causes nausea and extreme fatigue unless taken with substantial serving of food. Also causes swelling of legs and feet. It definitely helps with coordination. I started taking requip in December 2004 and can now write legibly again.