Drug works symptoms and conditions

I'm a 57-year-old male. I have been on Divovan 160 for about 3 years now. Several months ago I started to have back pain and it has been increasing. The doctor took x-rays and cat scan and the reports said that while I have some disc degeneration in my lower spine, the films are virtually unchanged since they were taken 5 years ago. In other words, I should not have back pain - but I do!
Lately, the pain has gotten worse - so bad that I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. It is located on the left side of my lower back. I also have incredible gas and despite diet and exercise, which is now impossible due to the pain, I could not lose weight no matter how hard I tried.
In the last 6 months I have slowly transformed from feeling pretty good for my age and capable of an hour a day on the treadmill to feeling like a 90-year old man. Today the pain was so bad I had to book off sick from work.
I went to the doctor and told him about all the negative stories on the Internet about Diovan. He looked up in his medical journal and decided to take me off the drug. Instead he prescribed a new drug, Rasilez (aliskiren fumarate).
Last month I tried stopping Diovan for 4 days and experienced a significant reduction in pain. I had to go back on because my pressure shot up again. I hope this new drug works without side effects.
Would appreciate responses from any of you who have had success with drugs alternative to Diovan and also success with natural remedies.
Best wishes to you all.

At 4mg/day, I am experiencing weight gain (finally slowed down though), I went from a size 3 to a size 9 in less than a year, my breasts grew (yay for that!), and they constantly discharge. I am also tired most of the time, and its real difficult to wake up. My motivation is just not anywhere to be found. And my sex drive? I haven't felt any desire since I've been on this drug, its gone totally. I don't like that part much because even though my sex drive was never really strong, at least I had one. But other than that, I guess the drug works.

I have been recently been taking guaifen and the past few nights i have experienced weird dreams and i have not been able to sleep very well. this drug speeds up my heart rate and makes me very hyper. i also have difficulty speaking. i have been very silent over the past few days. the drug works though i don't have a cough anymore.

My side effects were short-term.....just a few weeks. They included slight nausea, headache and loss of appetite. I occassionally have violent dreams and night sweats, but this drug is a miracle to me. I was suicidal with very severe depression and now I am my old self again. Happy and productive. I've tried others like Prozac ( I refer to that med as the demon med) and had AWFUL side effects.....severe weight gain and a feeling of anxiety at all times, not to mention the zombie it turned me into. I was informed by my doctor that Wellbutrin may cause seizures so he's got me on an anti seizure med also. It's called clonazepam......no bad side effects at all. In fact, it gives me a feeling of calm. I think the reason I've gotten such positive effects from this drug is because it actually works on the Dopamine part of your brain, releasing "feel-good" enzymes into your bloodstream. No other antidepressant drug works that way. That's what my doctor told me when I asked what makes Wellbutrin so different from the others. I take 300 mg/day and I weigh 120 pounds (lost 18 pounds with no effort after coming off Prozac). Good luck to all who try Wellbutrin. Hope you have the positive experience I have.

I've been on Levoxyl (.05) for 7 months now. I feel very anxious on the inside - sometimes like i'm going to explode. Since I've been on this drug, i've also experienced a full-head feeling (sometimes turning to bad headaches) - i worry & stress more - weight gain - achy joints etc. I'm afraid to stop taking it because of my thyroid. Sometimes i just feel "flat" - not interested in doing anything. I've never experienced this "down" feeling in my life - never had a problem with it (until on this drug). Recently my doctor has put me on an anti-depressant (5 mg) - i am trying it - so far, i feel the same, only more anxious and eating less - i know this isn't an aide to my problem.

Maybe this drug works for others (as everyone's different), but i feel stuck between a rock & a hard place in my case. I relate to alot of the other emails. Hope there is a solution.