Corruption symptoms and conditions

Wow! I must be the latest in a long line of Lipitor users and apparently pain sufferers. I have been on Lipitor for over a year. I am 56 years old, active and healthy (thank God). Around November 2008, I noticed a "twinge" in my left hip while sleeping. This has gotten progressively worse over the months and I thought it was due to arthritis (which runs in my family). But after reading these blogs, I am not so sure. If anyone has anything definitive regarding this, ie: tests, studies, etc., I would really appreciate a point in the right direction for more information. I was thinking (until today) that I was headed for hip surgery or something equally drastic. Now that I have a clue that it may be the Lipitor, I want to investigate further and then, if necessary, change to another medication that won't break me down like this. My heart goes out to anyone that has suffered through hip pain. It is a miserable, painful condition that saps your energy and your desire to even move sometimes. I appreciate any help you can offer. God bless all of you. - L. B. ******

I am 34 years old. I am a pharmacy tech. I have asthma and allergies. I have taken singulair pretty much every day since it came out on the market. I've had asthma since i was about 10 years old. I took theophylline as a kid. Steriods on and off especially during times when my allergies are bad. I still use Advair during the fall and spring. Every drug has a side effect. However breathing is pretty good damn thing. Do I have days when I feel low? Yeah. Do I sometimes have nightmares? Yup. Are "natural" products the answer. Not always. The fish oil that some of the posters are touting can also cause GI problems. Some of the natural products contain herbs and other plant derivatives that can be harmful for a child that suffers from allergies. Not proactively treating asthma can be deadly. Some of the parents are suggesting steriods as the answer - those can cause weight gain, growth suppression and can lead to a worsening of asthma.

Singulair has never made me feel like I've wanted to kill myself. I was more depressed and angry as kid when my asthma did not allow me to partipate in normal childhood things. I was sad and hated life when I couldn't keep up with friends at recces because I was having trouble breathing. You have to outweigh the costs with the benefits. I am more irritable when I have asthma flareup then I am on a normal day. For me, I choose to breathe. And singulair has been helping me for almost a decade.

I'm not saying the medication isn't causing these symptoms but maybe there is an underlying cause to your child's depression.

Any drug has a side effect. But without medical research and the medications that come with them - people would still be dying of simple diseases and we wouldn't have vaccinations. As a society, as a whole, we are a culture that looks to someone else to fix things and then blames the people who try to fix it. We need to stop being the "hot McDonald's coffee'" society.

WOW! I have been taking wellbutrin for two years now. The first three weeks were spent with nausea, vivid dreams, some jitters and being very tired. By the end of the first month that had all pretty much gone away and I was feeling more energetic, less anxiety and no depression. When I started exhibiting memory loss at first I really didn't notice it since was just articulation & range of descriptive words. Eventually it progressed to common words and sentence endings. Then I began to notice I could no longer do ANYTHING and listen to someone else at the same time, that progressed to not paying attention to what someone was saying period and the lack of ability to remember the plot of books I had read or some movies I had watched. I also began to notice moderate hair loss. Last but not least I was very slowly gaining weight, it was beginning to add up and I didn't seem to be getting the energy boost or feel that great anymore. So I decided I would quit. After a quick taper off I got to experience all the joys of withdrawal, nausea, sleeping fourteen hours and taking a nap in the afternoon, appetite swings, mood swings, diarrhea , sweetooth and the inability to get up and do anything or go anywhere. It was paralyzing. That went on for almost a month. Its been three months now and the improvement in my cognitive function and physical energy was so profound that it made me wonder if my problems over the past two years could be related to the wellbutrin, so I typed in memory loss and wellbutrin and here we are. I really didn't realize it was affecting me (or others)so seriously and I had zero initiative to investigate my condition until after I quit taking it. Dont get me wrong when I started taking wellbuterin I was at the mercy of my emotions and I needed something, but I feel the corruption of my facualtys was very insidious with this drug and by the time I realized I was having problems I didn't readily recognize it and and had no desire to do any thing about it anyway. My husband had even pointed these symptoms out to me and still I didn't/wasn't able to put it together until now. I don't know what the solution for others will be but I have found mine. I guess what bothers me most is that none of the symptoms caused by this drug was expounded upon by my doctor, the focus was all about how much better I would feel, He never once mentioned memory loss or concentration. And in the last two years he has never once mentioned the idea that I would ever be off antidepressants. For most of us it doesn't have to bee forever. I don't know if I had it all to do again if I would take wellbutrin again or ask for something else, but what I do know is that I would be more aware of what I was taking and not take it for nearly the length of time I did. The drug itself kept me from reacting to its effects and I was unable to gage when I was starting to do better emotionally. The process of getting off it made me wonder if I could do it and if I really was better, believe me I thought about reaching for that bottle every day for a month. Ask yourself where you are mentally, talk to your doctor, MAKE HIM TALK TO YOU, and taper off a lot slower than I did so your able to clearly differentiate between recurring depression and withdrawal. I am no longer in the same frame of mind that I was when I started taking wellbutrin and now that I am completely off of it I feel fine. Good Luck and be careful

Today is 4years exactly that Matt had his one and only asthma episode,that sent us done the road of singulair disaster,7 months of the drug now thanks to Kate who went public with her story.Each new day brings more hope for a full recovery,although the road is long and strewn with guilt and anger.First i was angry with my doctor,then Merck now the FDA,but the guilt always stayed with me.Ive spent hours on wouldas couldas and shouldas but none the less it is what it is.I have had an education in things i really didn't want to know,the medical system,the justice system,and our government.I have written hundreds of letters reported 3 times to the FDA,never a response other than your email was received,called and reported to Merck twice,they were always ready and willing to take my info,so today i wrote to the FBI asking if they could investigate corruption at the FDA,proberly they will laugh and trow it out,or maybe even put me on a list of some kind,but i will leave no stone unturned until some one explains to me how this happened in America