Ct scans symptoms and conditions

My experience was a seven day short-lived trip through hell on Topamax.

I began experiencing a constant headache for several months in February 2009 (no prior history of headaches). I am healthy 32 y/o male. After multiple MRI's and CT scans came back negative I had a very severe headache that sent me to the ER. The ER helped arrange for me to see a Neurologist, who after patient listening to my laundry list of symptoms concluded I was having migraines (even though I had no sensitivity to light, sound, or nausea). I had been doing a decent amount of research on headaches and didn’t agree that they were migraines but decided, he’s the neurologist, I should trust him. Let me also say at this point, I am not a person looking for a pill to cure my problems, but I was getting desperate as my headaches were ruining my life. I was prescribed Topamax.

I was suppose to start with three days at 25mg, then go to three days at 50mg, and finally up to 100mg per day. The first three days were uneventful when I hit 50mg and then 75mg…I was out of my mind. I read these messages and see people at 400mg with no problems…it makes me cringe to think of dosing that high. I stopped at 75mg…here were my side-effects. Tingling in my face, lips, hands, arms, and fingertips, chest pains (I do have GERD and it jacked up my GERD bad!!!), pain in the back of head, taste confusion (soda tasting flat), and pressure in my eyes and temples…But those are NOTHING compared to the complete feeling of anxiety that over took my body. I had a mild nervous breakdown at work, became paranoid to the point where I was afraid to do routine tasks. And the MUSCLE SPASMS…those are the worst part. I have muscle spasms all over my body, just random fluttering of muscles in my chest, arms, back, neck, head, and face! I became suicidal and had the worst night terrors ever, of things, that I wasn’t even afraid of.

I have been off Topamax cold turkey for four days now and the anxiety has significantly subsided. I have worked through a lot of the anxiety with my wife and I now believe that stress is the cause of my headaches, not migraines like I tried to tell the doctor…but the muscle spasms have not stopped (they have decreased) yet…but I can’t wait for the Topamax to leave my body.

I used to think these messages boards were part of the problem, but they are very helpful. Do your research before you put anything into your body…trust yourself and if you disagree with your doctor, get a second opinion. This has been a life changing event for me.

Health and Happiness to all

Like many of the stories here, I had developed a bad cough. I would start hacking and gagging. Sometimes I would be dizzy after the episode. I stumbled across this site when looking for answers to my coughing and gagging. I have been on Lisinopril for about 6 months now, and it seems to correlate with the the coughing episodes. I have had sinus CT scans, many drugs, and no answer nor relief.

My then 11 year old daughter received her first vaccine in June 2007, and third in December 2007. In January 2008, she began complaining of backaches and headaches. During the spring/summer 2008, she began having tremors, tingling and numbness in her legs and arms. She is always tired and never feels good. We have seen a neurologist and 2 neurosurgeons, had CT scans and MRIs. But no answers. She is on medication that has helped slightly, but she still suffers from a constant headache that she never ranks less that 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Typically she rates it as a 7 or 8, and we have had a couple of 12s.

I was put on birth control when I was 21 years old and I started with Estrostep FE for irregular and very painful periods. 9 years later, after complaining of unusually light periods and horrible hot flashes I was switched to Yasmin to see if that would make a difference. I was fine with the Yasmin for about 6 months but then I came down with what I thought might have been a stomach virus. I was fine until June of that year when I came down with what seemed to be another stomach virus. I found this odd as I had not had a stomach virus since I was eight years old, but I seemed to have contracted two within six months of each other 22 years later. By the time July hit, I was experiencing these "stomach viruses" just about every other day. I would have horrible acid indigestion and the sensation of needing to vomit (but I never would) which would send me running for the bathroom for hours at a time just in case I did. For over a year I sought the advice of doctors and had been theoretically diagnosed with the following: stress (always the first one), acid reflux disease, IBS, and gastroparesis. I have gone through an endoscopy, gastric emptying scan, colonoscopy, two ultrasounds, two CT scans and an MRI. Drug wise I have been put on Prevacid, Compazine, Zofran, Zegerid, Imipramine, Reglan, Levsid, and Erythromycin. I now am buried in medical bills and the whole thing has caused me to miss a month of work without pay. I also was struggling to eat and, at one point, had dropped 25 pounds which is very frightening for someone with my tiny frame. The mental anguish was unbearable and I was actually at the point of welcoming a diagnosis of cancer just because it would have been answer. The idea to stop taking the Yasmin actually came from a fifteen minute conversation during a birthday party with an obstetrician. Within two weeks of stopping I was absolutely fine. I gained all of the weight back in record time and am once again a person who rarely ever needs stomach aids (in three months I've only taken two tums). Stopping the Yasmin made absolute sense because the nausea episodes would only occur between 9am and 2pm (weird, just like morning sickness) and my thyroid levels were all over the place. One blood test would show them as normal and another would show them as sky-high. I questioned my ob-gyn why she said my blood tests were normal when my thyroid levels were actually twice the normal level. She merely shrugged it off as being "normal because of the Yasmin". No wonder I never felt well! I've been off Yasmin for three months now. I've only gotten one light period that lasted for three days. It was over a month ago and it took almost two months to happen after stopping the Yasmin. I don't know if I'm sterile because I have heard cases of girls becoming infertile after long-term use of the pill (any kind). I am definitely interested in joining a class action lawsuit because I don't feel I should be the one stuck with all of these bills. Has anything been officially started yet?

I was put on Levoquin after 4 days of Bronchitis. My body was not responding to the antibiotic so they added Prednisone. I continued on both medications IV for 8 days. After the second day, I developed a severe pain in my groin. I mentioned it to the NP treating me and she said, "we will worry about that once we get the Bronchitis under control". The pain continued as the medication continued. After the Bronchitis was resolved, the pain in my groin was terrible. My doctor sent me for CT scans and and MRI. The next thing I knew I was in the Orthopedic Surgeon's Office talking to him about a total hip replacement. He said the test showed very mild degeneration and he was not sure a total hip replacement for me was the answer. I opted not to have the hip replacement. Diagnostic Testing continued. Finally, my doctor told me that the combination of Levoquin and Prednisone caused a tendon rupture in my groin. He said it would heal but would take a long time. It is now 8 months since I took those medications and my hip is more painful now than ever. I am on pain medication and it does not help. I see my doctor today and we will discuss other options to relieve this awful pain. I walk with a cane and I feel like I will never walk normally again. It has totally disrupted the activities of my life. My doctor tells me to stay off my feet as much as possible to rest the tendon, this is impossible as I am a registered nurse and I am on my feet constantly. This has destroyed my life!

My wife is experiencing severe muscle pain in the back and rib area after taking this drug. Has anyone gotten better after they stopped taking the medication or is everyone still suffering?

I am 20 years old and had basically tried every form of birth control before Mirena (the pill {multiple kinds}, the NuvaRing, and the shot). My OBGYN talked to me about the possibility of Mirena. Normally they do not do it for people who haven't had children but with my track record with other forms of birth control we decided to go ahead with it. I got it put in place in October 2007 and passed out on the table. It was the worst pain I have had in my entire life and had to lay down in the hospital bathroom for 45 minutes after insertion because I couldn't even stand up. I cried the whole hour ride home after and my boyfriend had to carry me up three flights of stairs into my apartment. I bled for a month and a half after insertion and then didn't see any blood until a month ago. I started getting very bad cramps (have had them all along but not bad, they said my body had to get used to it so I could have some cramping for a few months), after one day of the horrible cramping I finally had to go to the ER. The Dr's told me I had a 3inch ovarian cyst that had ruptured. After CT scans, and multiple internal and external Ultrasounds they found it was still 1 inch long and put me back on the pill to shrink it. They claim Mirena couldn't be the cause but I am doubtful, I have never had a cyst until Mirena and I think it is the cause. Ovarian cysts are on the side effects chart for Mirena so it is interesting that they told me that can't be the cause. Anyway, after weeks on 3 Vicodin a day and constant pain I started feeling better but occasionally still have pain. The doctors also thought they might have to surgically remove it which could put at risk my possibility of having children (SCARY!) If another cyst comes I will get it removed, I have had it for 6 months and can't deal with anymore. I'm about ready to be celebit until I'm ready to have kids because going through all of this is not worth it. If anyone has had the same problems and got it removed can you email me and tell me how bad it hurt? I am going to be really upset to have gone through all of this to have more awful pain to have it removed. Thanks- my email is ******

I also just heard about the Singulair side effects. I am a 58-year-old female with recurrent sinus infection and general allergic reactions. I had testing at my ENT's last spring--I was allergic to nothing specific. It was thought that I am generally sensitive to lots of different things. Well, the ENT put me on Singulair and I never put two and two together until now--- I became extremely anxious and depressed, couldn't sleep, my legs were so restless at night that it was unreal. I also had frequent urination and bladder spasms, low pelvic pain, etc. Over the winter, I stopped taking the Singulair and gradually was able to get off Lunesta and an anti-depressant. These were the worst months of my life---I went through all kinds of urinary and gyne testing to no avail. The urologist couldn't give me any answer---just that he though it might be a neurological issue so I also spent a lot of time and $ getting CT scans and MRI's to no avail. I really thought I was losing my mind---it was half a year during which I was definitely not my usual healthy, upbeat self. I will never touch Singular again!

I am 41 yrs old and have been suffering with very heavy, clotting periods for the past 5 years. During those 5 years, I tried several different hormone therapies to control the bleeding, but every one of them caused extended periods lasting 10-12 days with only a week or two of no bleeding in between. I went to the GYN and her recommendation was to try the IUD as a way to lessen the bleeding and help treat migraines I also have during my cycle. I had the IUD inserted on Feb 12, 2008 and have experienced the following ever since: very sharp pains in my abdomen, constant minor cramps, extreme bloating so that my clothes do not fit, nausea just enough to not want to eat, constant light bleeding forcing me to go through several pantyliners a day, and very sore and full-feeling breasts that remind me of the days of nursing my baby, night sweats which I've NEVER experienced before. I do not have any desire for sex, but that is partly due to the constant bleeding. I went to the ER for the sharp pains in the abdomen to check for IUD perforation, but all their x-rays and CT scans showed it was in place. The CT scan showed a small spot near one of my ovaries that was 'explained away' as probably a result of ovulation. In all my years, I've never felt ovulation to that degree, this pain was a stabbing feeling from the inside. I decided to follow the GYN's recommendation to keep the IUD in at the time, but I now have an appt in two weeks to have it removed. I thought I had researched all there was to find about this hormonal IUD before my decision to have it placed--if I had come across this forum at that time, I would have said no. I was a little hesitant to go this route, putting a foreign object inside my body, but didn't listen to my own instinct at the time. I wish I had now, and I will definitely share my story with others so that they will be well informed before making this decision. My next options (as I am finished with having babies) are either thermal ablation or hysterectomy--at this point, I would welcome the hysterectomy because it would make all this bleeding/cramping STOP!

My doctor just prescribed Loestrin24Fe because I've been having mysterious pain in my pelvic area for almost a year now. Abdominal and pelvic sonograms and CT scans have not found anything but my gyn felt that taking birth control pills might help. I've always considered myself fortunate because I've always had normal periods, very regular cycle, little to no cramps, and mild headaches during 1st day of my period. After reading your postings, I'm deathly afraid of taking these pills and think that they, like some other drugs I've tried, will do more harm than good to my body. Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think I will explore some holistic doctors and see if I have better luck. Thank you and stay healthy everyone!

I wish I would have found this sight two years ago!! I started taking Yasmin, seen the commercials saying reduces pms, so I thought I would try it. The week before I went on it I had a pinched nerve in my back. I mention the back because I thought at first it was my problem. So I had a shooting pain going down the back of my leg and then all of a sudden my foot started tingling. I went back to the doctor, he gave me predisone, gained 20 pounds in a month. I was miserable, I was going to the doctor every two weeks, with pain. I went through serveral MRIs, CT scans, blood work for everything you could imagine (metal poisoning, vitamin deficiency, etc..) I had four epidurals trying to figure out where the pain and tingling was coming from. I was on percocet, taking it every 4 hours. I went to two different neurologist, three orthopedic doctors, Chiropractors, acupuncture. Nothing helped. I took Lyrica, for the tingling, nothing, I started taking Cymbalta, because I thought I would be miserable forever. I felt like I had restless leg syndrome.(RLS). Finally after 7 miserable months, not thinking it could possibly be the Yasmin, I have been on the pill before (Ortho-Tri Cyclen) I went off the pill in June. I almost immediately started feeling better. By the end of August I was feeling GREAT!! My Husband and I decided to have another baby (#3) I had a great pregnancy, and other than needing to loose a little weight couldn't be happier.

My Saga began years ago when I had high cholesterol at 25 years old.
At 39 my doctor started me on Lipitor and I didn't stay on it.(no reason)
Now at 45(200 LDL) and at the urging of my father I have been on Lipitor for 24 days. He is on crestor. My father had open heart surgery at 41 and a second bypass at 55. He takes about 30 nitros a day at age 74. His brother died at 55 and father at 56, both heart attacks. So you see his concern for me, though being a female does help me.
Anyway at the time of my physical a swollen lymph node was found
on my neck. It has been there for over a month now and we have done
CT scans, mammograms & blood work . I will have a biopsy in 2 weeks on my neck. Everything has come back normal, however the pain in my
stomach started two weeks into the Lipitor. Also difficulty swallowing
like a chest infection. I lost five pounds not being able to eat much and constantly would get so bloated eating just soup. I went back to my doctor she sent me for a CT scan because lymph node issue too. Scary.
I had a biopsy on one breast as well because we are doing all these test for the lymph node swelling.
Well I have been popping Ibuprofen 600mg at a time to stop what feels like liver pain. I had hepatitis A so I know what that feels like. The pain was all over my top abdomen. I am starting to worry even more thinking I may have lymphoma. I start getting pain running down the inside of my right leg and the calf also. I spent 10 years in the Army reserve and was always fairly in shape so this was so out of the blue. I decided to go to and internal doctor because I was getting nothing from the family doctor and we still have the lymph node issue (swollen) He immediately said
stop taking the Lipitor after hearing my symptons. I still have to have a
biopsy on my neck but I am convinced Lipitor caused all the pain in my
stomach and fatigue. My doctor seems to think so too. Don't stay with a doctor that isn't aware of a drugs side effects. Definitely shop around. I hope to post again when my symptons disappear and my lymph node comes back negative.!

53 y old male,took lipitor in april 2007 20mg i have had problem in past with disc in neck and tendinitis in elbow but nothing for 10 years by aug i had very bad wrist and thunp pain even holding a pizza box so off to Dr said tendinitis use a thumb brace and phy therapy nothing after 2 months so i am going to different orthopaedic dr.Than 4 weeks ago woke op oct 3 pain in lower back i said ok use some ice went to work and it would be gone in 3 days by oct20 could not take pain in back and siatic nerve server pain down to foot gave pain pills and nothing went to spine specialist said hernaited disk L-4 L-5 and spinal stenosis from disc touching nerves in channel so he wants to operate i ask can lipitor cause this he said nojust look at the MRI but what causes the iflamantion to cause problems in wrist and servere pain in lower back and leg was it lipitor.The pain was so servere the best pain meds could not take the pain awayseep fir 2 hrs than walk around house for 1hrs at o330 in morning caused it hurt so much.@ weeks wastes so i went to chiro dr and after 2weeks i am more liveable and can sleep better .I will go to pain mangerment ti get a shot or operate,its called Discectomy,hope all theres dr know they might be fighting affects of lipitor.We all must get educated and give this info out to ithers

I am a physician and have prescribed levaquin to many people. I have had some of them complain of what they thought were serious and variable side effects but mostly I attributed their problems to anxiety and hypochondiasis. I now know differently. I took levaquin, and for over a year I have had serious CNS anxiety, insomnia, joint and tendon pain, and widespread peripheral neuropathy. It has been an awful time and since realizing that the effects are often long term I have been able to identify many other patients who have developed serious long term problems with anxiety, depression, arthropathy and tendonopathy, neuropathy and possibly endocrine effects like gonadal failure and worsening of diabetes. There are no long term studies done post marketing to identify these effects and to unify all of these problems into one syndrom of fluoroquinolone toxicity. This is a big problem and I believe thousands of patients have been adversely affected by the use and misuse of levaquin and probably the other fluoroquinolone antibiotics. I have other colleagues who are beginning to recognize the long term consequences of levaquin and the fluoroquinolones. More research and study needs to be done. In the mean time I am sure that Johnson and Johnson, Ortho- Mcneil, will continue to refute that the incidence of serious adverse reactions is much higher than they report.

I have been on Nuva Ring for about 7 months now and at first I loved it. It was great not having to worry about taking the pill everyday and with 2 small children who has time to think much less take pills. I started having problems about 3 months after taking it...bloating so bad I looked 4/5 months pregnant, gas pains that would wake me up at night, heartburn/acid reflux. I have been through numerous tests to try and find out what is causing my stomach pains (ct scans, ultra sounds, blood work) now the Dr. wants to put me on Paxil after putting me on Prilosec and Gas Relief Chewables. Nothing is working, I can't stop the bloating for nothing...its interfering with my everyday activities. Not only is my stomach an issue but my moodiness is TERRIBLE. I hate EVERYTHING, I dont want to be bothered...leave me alone is my new attitude. I have always been a moody person but this is severe. Everyone around me says I need to be on "be nice pills" and that makes me even angrier when I hear that. I cry/laugh/get mad feel like Im screaming inside...I am still taking this stupid thing listening to the Dr. saying the Nuva Ring doesn't cause these side effects, but after reading all this I think I'm going to take it out for a couple of months to see if anything changes.

Two weeks after taking Levaquin for a urinary tract infection, I developed a rash/hives that covered my entire body. I had frequent violent itching attacks and wanted to scratch my skin off. After two days of the hives, I went to Urgent Care and was given a steroid shot and Prednisone. The next day I had severe chest pains and shortness of breath. I went to the emergency room and and EKG came back abnormal. My white cell count had shot off the charts to 35.0 I was admitted to the cardiac unit and was put through a battery of heart tests. All came back unremarkable. After three days of blood tests, CT scans and nitro tablets, I was released with no conclusion as to what I was experiencing. The rash continued, just not as bad and I've experienced joint pain. One week after the intial symptoms, I began experiencing dizziness and loss of vision. It has now been two weeks. I've had a MRI on my head to determine the cause of the dizziness and the vision loss and results from the MRI are pending. I was a healthy 46 year old before taking Levaquin. Currently, I cannot work a full day without vision loss or dizziness. I've been so perplexed as have the five doctors I've seen as to what the cause of my symptoms could be. After reading many comments from Levaquin patients, I now believe that I've found the cause.

I was taking Lipitor (can't remember how long and what mg) and started feeling like I was continously in a fog and having memory problems. These were so bad that my GP sent me to a Neurologist for MRI and CT scans with results showing nothing wrong. I decided that this started after I went on the Lipitor and took myself off of it. The "fog has lifted" but I still have some memory problems. I am now taking Zetia and have started having muscle pains and cramps. I'm going to give up on cholesterol lowering medications. If I can't lower it with diet and exercise I'll just take my chances with the high cholesterol!

Hi, I started taking Yaz in November 06. The first few months were fine. Then, I started having to urinate ALL the time. I also developed very bad pain in my right lower abdomen. In addition, I lost my appetite and became increasingly depressed and anxious. I went to the hospital three times for the pain. After 2 CT scans, an x-ray, any many urine and blood tests, everything came back normal, but my symptoms remained. The thing the doctors found was multiple, small bilateral cysts on my ovaries, which they told me is perfectly normal. Is it?

Last week, my period came a week and half early which is VERY unusual for me. After looking up information about YAZ, I realized that my symptoms were likely caused by this pill. Anyways, I stopped taking it three days ago. How long do you think it will take for my symptoms to go away?

In April 2006, I began urinating blood every time I did something strenuous. After seeing many specialists and receiving CT scans and Ultrasounds on abdominal area and testicals my Dr. wrote the symptoms off as a urinary tract infection. He prescribed Cipro, I took the drug for 2.5 days and have not been the same since(was supposed to take the drug for ten days). Now December, I have had severe gut-wrenching pain in my left side, stomach and back. This pain is that of passing kidney stones every day, still peeing blood and waking up with so much pain that I can barely move. I was very much into weightlifting, now I can barely lift my kids, (55, 40 and 35 lbs.) I have had every test known to man and the Dr.'s have no idea what is wrong with me. Just coincidence that this all started after taking Cipro? I have no choice after reading the testimonies on this drug, that this has added to the health problems in my own life. I too will tell all my Dr.'s from this point on that I'm allergic to Cipro and Levaquin. Do yourself a favor and stop taking this drug before you have similar or worse health issues.

I took topamax for about 18 days for migraines. During that time I had tingling in my face. I woke up one morning talking on the right side of my mouth. I have had MRIs, CT scans, EEGs, etc. Nothing shows up. The doctor's do not want to say it was the medication that caused this, but I did not have this problem until after I took the Topamax. I think the medication messed up something. It has been about 5 months and I still talk on one side of my mouth (it comes and goes).

i posted last oct/nov of 2005 and have quite a progression with my 7 year old daughter. in october we decided to take her off of singular due to anger, hyperactivity, chronic illness. she was on at the time singulair 5mg, zyrtec, nasonex, advair 250/500, constant antibiotics and orapred.... and still not well. she was tested for chrones disease due to chronic stomach upset, several ct scans due to recurring sinus infections. we removed her adenoids in december....still sick. i finally took her off all her medication except nasonex, and advair 100 1x a day and had a blood test done called elisa. docs thought i was crazy and said it was worthless. turns out she is allergic to several foods. wierd ones like garlic, onion, melon, bananas, beans etc.....anyway, she is no longer on any of these foods and no longer needs ANY medication....it has been 2 months...we'll see, but there really seems to be something to it. ****** feel free to email me to discuss. we have been through it all!!! hope it helps someone a little. apparently, all those years on antibiotics only made things worse and weakened her immune system which created this horrible cycle.

My mother's symptoms were similiar to ada's. My mother who has been on Lipitor for a number of years has just been hospitalized twice, to the doctor 8-10 times within a two week period and has been to the emergency room three times for severe back pain. All within a two week time period! After doing every test known to man, CT Scans, MRI, x-rays, bone scans, they were able to find absolutely nothing wrong. Yet her pain is so bad at times that she requires injections of morphine as well as percocet by mouth! The doctors have finally come to the conclusion that she's experiencing muscle spasms/pain which could be caused by taking lipitor! I am hoping that by stopping this horrid medication she will begin to recover from this awful experience. How can such a drug continue to be prescribed to people when side effects such as this occur? I am shocked to read all of the posts here about this drug. Does anyone know if the muscle pain ever goes away once the person stops taking lipitor?

I am on the levo meds a .175mcg which was reduced from.200 when on the .200 I experience the buning dry eyes also but never considered it to be the med. I also suffer from a fair number of headaches. However the depression i was experiencing for many years has discontinued. Recently and am still going through some sever gastranoial intestaial problems have had ct scans exrays etc they show svere constipation however it is usually the other way i have never been costipated before. Also the sleep disorder, the exact same thing started happening to me about 2 months ago. i have been on this med for 3 years now. It has helped me with the depression but now am considering all these phisycal things to be a result of the med no other explantion.

THETOOLMAN

My wife began taking Singulair April 2005 because of allergies (couging with some spitting) and by June when we returned to see the Dr. she was fine but her Dr. wanted to keep her on Singulair. The first of August she began having serious coughing and spitting (mostly at night) and it continues. The x-rays and ct scans show her lungs are okay. My question/concern is the Singulair ad on TV mentions a side effect of upper respitory infection and when I brought this up to the Dr. it was ignored. My wife does pretty well during the day but takes her Singulair at bedtime and either the laying down or the Singulair is causing her to wake up every 2 -3 hours coughing and spitting.

I have been on Omerprazole since 2/1/05 and have not felt normal since. I get chest pains, and a anxious or nervousness feeling. I have had CT scans, ultrasounds, EKG, all normal. I haven't experienced these symptoms prior to taking the medication. I have noticed on this site that a lot of people have had better experiences with Prilosec, I am calling my Dr. ASAP to make the change, hope it helps, I am eager to feel like myself again.