Drug of choice symptoms and conditions

I was prescribed Cipro for 2 surgeries I had last week. When I picked it up from the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me to drink a lot of water as much as possible because it has a dehydrating effect and he told me it makes you more sensitive to the sun so if I have to be outdoors, to limit my time and apply sunscreen with a high spf as often as possible. I didn't go outdoors because of that, but Cipro made me very thirsty, but I expected it and drank plenty of fluids. Other than than, I did not have any problems. I never got constipated, it didn't bother my stomach but I always eat something when taking medications because I can't take them on an empty stomach. I didn't have any allergy problems, diarrhea, breathing problems or anything else. In fact, I liked this antibiotic much better than any other one I've ever been on.

I too have been injected previously with Kenalog shots for allergies. I never had the site indentation that most of you are commenting on. But I can tell you that the menstrual cycles did change considerably. Kenalog is a steroid, and like oral prednisone it is hormonal. It is just like taking birth control pills, you have the irregular or heavy periods, the excessive hunger, hair growth where you don't want it and weight gain. And as far as my allergies are concerned it never worked. I have excessive sinus disease that has been aggravated by living in a dry windy desert climate. After my second sinus surgery in 2 months the holes in my sinus cavity are starting to close up again. So yesterday my doctor tried a new therapy of injecting kenalog right into my sinus cavity. However it was not injected directly. A small piece of spongy foam was placed into my sinus cavity and the medicine was injected into the foam so my nose would absorb it naturally without the tissue being directly injected. I don't know if it will work or not. I have experienced some unpleasant side effects already, higher blood pressure and increased heart rate. Although the heart rate did come down after a few hours. Any kind of steroid causes this problem. I was hospitalized in January with a severe asthma attack and was given steroids thru a I.V. It was the only drug that opened up my lungs, however by the second day my heart temporarily went into v-tach because I was getting too much too often. As soon as it decreased I was fine. So dosage is a major concern. I can tell you from experience that Kenalog last realistically for about a month even though docs tell you it's good for 3. I would not have multiple injections for any reason. But when you are in pain and hurting and you have inflammation in your body, unfortunately steroids of some kind will always be the drug of choice. I have recently started acupuncture and will see if that helps my sinus problems. I have taken up yoga too to help my breathing. I highly recommend these alternatives to drug therapy. I have been on every kind of asthma and allergy drug out there and I do not trust any of them anymore. But ask the doctor lots of questions and refuse the meds if you are not comfortable. if your doctor is herding you in and out of his office or not willing to explain the meds completely then refuse it and go to someone else.

Earlier this summer, I developed a case of shingles. It went away, but about a week ago a similar rash broke out. I thought that it was a second bout of shingles, but my doctor assured me that it would be impossible to contract the disease on different parts of my body. Because I am not home with my ordinary doctor, I had to see another doctor, who was unsure of what the rash could be, but nevertheless prescribed with with 50mg of Prednisone daily. I took my first dose today, and am reluctant to continue. I don't want to be a victim of any of the side effects, but am unsure as to whether there is another way to go about getting rid of the rash. Any advice that could be given so as to not have to continue with the Prednisone would be great. I don't want the rapid weight gain, depression, mood swings, etc.

This post is in regard to a form of albuterol known as "Xopenex" or levalalbuterol. From what I've read, many pediatricians are using this instead of Albuterol for infants and young children. It's the drug of choice because it supposedly has no side effects. This may be the case for most children BUT not my three year old daughter. Her pediatrician prescribed nebulizer treatments of xopenex and pulmicort, twice a day for six weeks. We managed to stick with it for four-five days- It was a nightmare! My daughter wouldn't eat (and this is a child who isn't a picky eater at all) or drink much at all and went for 12 hours one day without urinating. She was so horribly moody that you couldn't stand to be around her. She cried and screamed about everything and she is normally a very cooperative and happy-go-lucky kid. She also became aggressive towards me and others which was also very unlike her. The worst part was at night. She would have horrible screaming fits when it was time to go to bed. When she finally fell asleep, she would jerk and twitch most of the night. Several times she woke up after sleeping for about three hours, screaming at the top of her lungs. I would try to console her and she would yell louder and pull away from me. If I tried to touch her, she would swing at me as hard as she could. She seemed terrified of me and my husband. It would take me forever to get her calmed down enough to go back to sleep. If someone had videotaped these episodes, blocking out her face, NO ONE could ever have convinced me that this was my little girl. Her personality was so changed that I wanted to cry. I knew what it was doing to me to watch her and I couldn't imagine what was going on in her little head. I called my pediatrician and she brushed off my concerns. She said "Three year olds have temper tantrums." I told her that I understand that but not usually at three thirty in the morning. I took my daughter to MY doctor and he said he thought it could most certainly be the drugs. He suggested that we use the pulmicort alone one night and the xopenex alone the next night. We were surprised to see that she had reactions to both the drugs. One night she tossed, turned and twitched and the next she woke up in a terror. We stopped both medicines and ALL the symptoms ended. She will NEVER use these medicines again unless there are no other options! And we will not be back to our pediatrician!

If people would stop referring to this poison as just another antibiotic, we would be much further ahead. This is not just another z-pak or even a penecillian or sulfa based antibiotic. It is poison. The side effects are MUCH greater than people want to admit (especially those making a buck on it). That is why there are lawsuits and sooo many complaints. Look people, let's stop with the "you can have side effects from Tylenol" crap and get to the heart of the matter. I believe this drug serves a purpose.... for those that are not responding to anything else, for those that need to take tremendous risks to save their life, for those that might die otherwise. I DO NOT believe it should be a "Drug of choice" or a larger market share for some drug rep. My bicep meant much more to me than that. Yes I'm angry. Not just for the lack of information I was provided but for the denial that I was fed while it was going on. Perhaps I could be just as cold as some of these remarks if I said.... "go ahead, if you feel that way take it I hope you suffer too." Is that what you want? We need to stop this before others keep getting hurt. Please.