Ekg symptoms and conditions

I was recently given Levaquin for a minor chest cold. I took four 500mg tablets and on the fifth day I was standing at my desk and had horrible heart palpitations, numbness, shortness of breath. My blood pressure shot up from 105/66 to 180/96 and I collapsed on the floor. I was rushed to the hospital and admitted for two days due to an allergic reaction to this medicine. My pulsox dropped to 54% and I had another episode causing tremors, heart palpitations and vomiting in front of the doctor and he wouldn't admit that it had anything to do with the levaquin. I had an MRI, EKG and Chest X-RAY. My blood was analyzed and they stated that my cardiac enzymes were fine but that my heart palpitations were a definite concern. I had a return episode yesterday and spent the entire day in the E.R. for the same symptoms. I am a thirty five year old peace officer in the prime of my life. I work out daily, practice karate and eat healthy. My family has no prior history of heart problems and last year I received a reduction in my life insurance premium because I exceeded their health criteria. I was feeling just fine until 45 minutes after taking this medicine. Today I have an event heart monitor on my chest and an appointment to see a cardiologist, endocrinologist etc. The methodist nurse contacted me today and stated that she has personally dealt with hundreds of these cases and has dealt with hundreds of these "reactions" to levaquin. She also stated that I would never get a doctor to admit it and that she would never take it if it was prescribed to her. This medicine is black box labeled and still the FDA allows it on the market. It needs to be stopped. I'm not the lawsuit type but I will make it my lifes mission to annoy the FDA until this poison is off the market. lilwolffy@yahoo.com

I'm 54, started taking lisinopril in jan 09. I took for about 3 months and noticed a decrease in libido. My pressure was pretty much in control, so I stopped taking it. I started again around 1st of Aug 09. Approx 3-4 weeks later, I began to experience severe pain in my left shoulder and arm. It began to move into my neck and back. I went in for an EKG to ensure I wasn't having a stroke. It was normal. I experience dizziness and headaches. I wake in the night and my 2 left fingers on the left hand are completely numb. The pain in my neck is now moving to the right side and some shoulder pain seems to be apparent. I noticed pain in other joints as well. I'm unable to work out at the gym as I usually do due to the pain my my left arm. I highly suspect these symptoms to be caused by lisinopril. I've been taking 20mg and was just switched to 20 mgm Hct. a week ago. X-Rays were taken of my neck and shoulder last week. Haven't' heard from the doctor as of yet. I was on Diovan before I lost my job and health benefits. As a vet, the VA put me on the Lisinopril. The Diovan worked fine for me, too expensive for us vets I guess. I am discontinuing the Lisinopril as of today 10/24/09. I feel like I imagine a ninety year old would feel with these aches and all. I havent' admitted it, but I believe I'm feeling mildly depressed as well. Let's see what a week of purging this from my system does. f. D.

Wow, amazing that I am not the only one with Lisinopril side effects that are life affecting! First off, I am 26 years old, overweight but never had HBP until my son was born 4 months ago and now it won't go down. I average in the 130's/80's. I have only been on Lisinopril for 9 days and I have been having extreme weakness in my limbs, horrific anxiety, and my chest feels like I am about to have a heart attack. Had an echocardiogram 2 months ago and all was normal except trace tricuspid insufficiency, which the cardiologist said was nothing to worry about. I ended up in the ER yesterday thinking I was having a heart attack because I almost passed out and was so weak in my arms and legs. Blood work was all normal and I had two EKG's, which were normal despite a slightly elevated heart rate, because I was freaked out. I decided I am going to stop taking the Lisinopril and see how I do. I will control my own HBP with exercise and weight loss.

Well, I haven't had any side effects with omeprazole, but I just got home from my gastro doctor who prescribed what he called a slightly stronger version of Prilosec, and they filled my prescription with omeprazole, and reading all of these postings I don't think I will be taking it until I call back and have a conversation with him. Last August I was diagnosed with acid reflux/anxiety and was given a prescription of ranitidine wich I tolerated and which is in Zantac anyway, which I also tried....I was also prescribed clonazepam for my anxiety which has helped. My main annoyance when this all started was a slight shortness of breath, went to the ER two days in a row, they did EKG's and found some spikes that they thought were unusual and made me an appointment to have a stress test with a cardiologist....all of which came back normal....
I have been back and forth to my regular GP. He says my heart and chest are fine, breathing is fine. I have taken everything you can think of over-the-counter from Mylanta to Zantac, but Pepcid seems to help the most...anyway, to make a long story short, the last time I went to my GP I explained I was still having the constant belching all day, the spitting up, not a lost of reflux, mostly liquid, and he gave me a coupon for a new drug called Kapidex....
It is similar to this omeprazole I believe as it is a time-release capsule.
With Kapidex, you get the release of the proton pump inhibitor, then 4 or 5 hours later the release of a medicine that is supposed to work toward healing any EE that might have occurred with the reflux...I took 1 capsule and felt so wiped out I decided not to continue it, couldn't take it and work a mid-day shift as well, but there were no other side effects to it, and I checked online and people had mostly positive things to say about it, so I might call him and see if I can get a lower milligram dosage of it as he started me off with 60 mill.
Glad I got on here and found this web site with people posting their experiences with omeprazole before I actually took one. I am going to call my doctor back and inform him or someone of all the horror tales I have come across on this web site.
I had two gastric tests, a barium swallow and x-rays and a stomach ultra sound....what they found was a bit of GERDS in my upper digestive tract, but it is nothing I can't tolerate so far compared to the horrible experiences I have read here....I hate to take any medications, but I think I will stick with my Pepcid and my clonazepam until I talk to my gastroenterologist again...
I hope everyone is well....

I am a 36 year old women that decided to start taking birth control for the 1st time in my life which was on aug. 1st. I decided this after having my last of 3 kids. my ob doctor prescribed me Yasmin, but I filled the ocella a generic of Yasmin. I was at first concerned a little bit about taking birth control due to my age. But my ob told me that if I smoked than there could be risks of the side effects of birth control. I do not smoke, drink, or eat badly.I used to drink coffee everyday, but stopped because of the b.c. effects. I am not overweight with no other health conditions, except now!!! I don't exercise much or sleep much because of taking care of the baby. I do stress and have anxiety at times. I have had a few mild heart palpitations in my lifetime that occurred at work.
I have never experienced so many and strong HEART PALPITATIONS until I was on the pill. I started experiencing them about 2 weeks after starting the pill they occurred about 3 to 6 times a day about 4 to 5 days in a row. I continued for another few days just to make sure, but still had HEART PALPS. I stopped taking the pill. on aug 17th. I was also more moody and felt like I had pressure in my head at times. I than got concerned and decided to take my blood pressure on aug 31st.which was at 133/88. I said to myself that i have elevated blood pressure that i never had before. I started to worry because i never had HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. My BLOOD PRESSURE started to raise every day and reached 182/101. I was was so worried and stressed over this, because i know I did not have HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE before. I called my ob to find out my blood pressure before i started the pill and on july 27th it was 120/64 a great and healthy blood pressure. on Sept. 5th I went to urgent care they gave me a clonidine 0.1 to lower my bp when i reached 182/101. and did an ekg which was fine. my pulse if fine. They gave me lisinopril 10 mg to help if my blood pressure continued to be high. I did start it because if was like 172/96 which was close to this # everyday.It is helping a little. My pressure ranges from 128/80's to 156/90's. usually the 2nd #. It's rare that it hits lower. started meds on sept. 6th. I don't have any heart palps since about 3 days ago, which was 11th. but still have hbp. my primary dr does not think it could be my birth control, especially with being on for only 2 & 1/2 weeks. I'm pending blood tests right now. and my dr. thinks it could be my thyroid causing palps and hbp. my dr does not seem to think bc's can raise hbp. I read the package insert of bc's and read on internet it can. I felt completely healthy 1 month ago. and had excellent blood pressure.

I have been on omprazole 20mg 2x per day for 1 1/2 years. I went off of omeprazole in December of last year because I was tired of taking drugs. In February of this year I went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack (severe chest pain, pain shooting up my left jaw and my left arm was numb). The doctor in the ER gave me Mylanta with lidocaine and told me to go back on the omeprazole. I did and haven't missed a dose since that hospital visit. Until September 9, 2009 I took my regular dose of omeprazole (one in the morning and one in the evening) I was having a lot of discomfort and was uneasy. That day I also took two aspirins. I had continued stomach and chest discomfort and took some Mylanta. My old doctor had advised my to up my dose in severe situations and I took a third 20 mg dosage and within 10 minutes my face and arm went numb. I was rushed back to the hospital , my blood pressure was 144/81 and I was having panic attacks. I felt like I was going crazy. The doctor ordered bloodwork and a cat scan (because of the numbness) all came back normal. No one addressed the chest pain. Maybe because the EKG I had in February was normal (I don''t know). They had no answers and told me to follow-up with my primary care physician. I went home and finally tried to go to bed, I couldn't sleep well, my mind was racing. The next day the numbness and pins/needles went all over my body. Like everything just went to sleep. I tried to relax and stay calm. I finally went to bed that night but had a hard time falling to sleep (my mind was racing and I was scared). I eventually went to sleep and woke up with less numbness but I had a stiff and painful neck with a killer headache. I don't get headaches that often and this was a major concern for me. I called my insurance and they advised me to go in for an immediate care/same day appointment. I did which was also inconclusive but the doctor asked about my omeprazole. I told her I haven't taken any medications since I was seen at the hospital because I was scared it was something I took that caused the numbness. She didn't say that my symptoms were related to the omeprazole but told me to not take it again and only use Mylanta for my stomach problems. She was not a fan of this medication and told me it is over-prescribed. I have not taken the omperazole since September 9, 2009 and the numbness is almost gone but I still have the tingling and pins/needles from time-to-time and neck and chest pain. No headaches. The doctor gave me a mild muscle relaxer (for my neck pain) but with everything that has happened I haven't taken that either.
I have fibromyalgia and I manage my pain without medications and I do have random symptoms from time to time because of the fibromyalgia but these were acute and terrible. I have never experienced anything like this and I am hoping since I have stopped the omperazole I will go back to normal soon..........

I have been on Yasmin for 2 years now. It is the only BC I have ever been on and have LOVED it up until about 3 months ago. All of a sudden I started having heart palpitations, sever chest pains, extreme fatigue, very bloated in my stomach, low sex drive, pain and tingling in my arms and legs,dizziness, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, weight gain and major mood swings! I went to the DR and they did an EKG (which was normal) Tested my blood (I now have a thyroid problem that I have never had before) and they did an ultrasound (Dr that I may have a murmur) on my heart and the results came back fine. So the DR prescribed me Synthroid for the thyroid problem and the DR said that should help me gain my energy back, loose some weight and would take care of the heart palpitations. The other symptoms he contributed to Stress (Panic Attacks) I have been on Synthroid for 5 weeks now and I don't feel any better in fact I feel worse!

This morning I seen a commercial for a lawsuit against Yaz or Yasmin. Well since I am non Yasmin I immediately did a search and came across this site. I have literally been sitting here all night reading all the comments from different women and now know what my problem is. My problem is YASMIN! I am not taking this anymore and have an appt with my Dr tomorrow to have them do whatever they need to do to see if I have any blockage or any other damage from using this pill. My chest pains and the tightness in my chest are so severe that it takes my breath away and I am only 24! I am not ready for children and don't want to deal with bad periods like I had before getting on the pill but I can not take this rise. PLEASE if you are on Yasmin please stop taking it immediately and call your doctor Your life could depend on it!! I am hoping like other people who have commented that after a few weeks of being off the pill that I will feel so much better. I hope I am getting off of it in time before I have done any further damage.

On 8/1/09 I entered the ER with unremitting high fever and was diagnosed with a UTI. My EKG was normal. The doctor wanted to give me Levaquin and said it was a broad-spectrum antibiotic and there "no side-effects." I said I wanted to be informed before I took the med- wanted to know the action and side-effects. The nurse said I could look up the drug on the Internet when I got home - their info was in the computer and they could not print out a fact sheet. The doctor said that I could take the prescription to a pharmacist after discharge, and he would explain everything in detail. I asked if he would substitute a different antibiotic - the answer was "No, this is what you need.This is a crowd-pleaser - you only have to take it once a day. " In desperation to feel better, I took the initial dose. Within 1/2 - 3/4 hour, I experienced an irregular heart beat, ringing in my ears and head "fullness." I was no longer hooked up to the monitor, so asked the nurse if she would reattach me. Her response - "Everyone has irregular beats, your EKG was normal." I would not let her take out my IV until my symptoms had abated (within 3/4 hour).
Having found out by the lab that I did NOT have a UTI, 2 days later I called the ER (to see what they would say),and they said to continue taking the Levaquin - that's what the doctor had wanted me to take Clueless, totally clueless.
Needless to say, I only took one dose and will never take another dose and now have it as an ALLERGY, to make sure I never get it!

I had my Mirena inserted in June 2009 and a few days ago and I started to feel numbness and tingling in my right arm,hand and fingers. Then it spread to my left arm, right side of my face and right leg and both feet. I called the OB/GYN to see if this was a side effect and they told me no. I am otherwise healthy and I even ended up going to the ER 2 days ago because the numbness was so bad. None of the docs said it was from the IUD. They ran all kinds of blood tests and an EKG which all came back normal. I went to the OB/GYN yesterday and had them remove the Mirena!! The OB/GYN thought I was nuts and said that my symptoms had NOTHING to do with the IUD...whatever!! I am so glad it's out and now I hope the numbness and tingling stops soon.

Hi, I am a 47 year old female. Last month (June 2009) I went to the doctor because I had a bad migraine that wouldn't go away. After a week of suffering I went to my Doctor and my BP was high, so she put me on Benicar. I took it for 3 days and then I refused to take it anymore. After taking it I couldn't hardly get off the couch, and I was dizzy, and had a tightness in my chest with chest pains. The doctor changed my prescription to lisinopril and the chest pains got worse along with that deadly cough. I went back to my doctor and told her that I wasn't going to take lisinopril any more because of the chest pains and the caugh. She said that she didn't think it was the medicine and she gave me an EKG and I failed it. I went 2 days later and had a nuclear stress test and failed it too, then I had a heart cath and the cardiologist said that my heart was perfect, it wasn't my heart. Needless to say it was the meds that the doctor had put me on, those nasty side effects. Now I just moniter my BP and I'm to scared to take anything because of the side effects. I wished I could make the doctor pay for all the test I had to take. She should have just listened to me when I told her it was the meds. After failing 2 test, I thought that I may be really having a heart attach, Very scary. Just listen to what we are saying " DON'T TAKE LISINOPRIL" Oh yea after heart cath I called my doctor and told her that I was not taking Lisinopril any more because that was what was causing my problems not my heart and she said just to let all meds get out of my system and come back in a week and we would try something else. yea right. She's not getting any more of my money. I've come to realize that every thing has side effects, so before I take anything else I will look it up first. Be careful what you take!

I have been on lisinopril for a few months now, as of this past Monday I stopped taking it. I am 55 years old, blood pressure was not going down extremely fast just being on Hydrochlorothiazide, but not over the border line either. Doctor suggested Lisinopril to lower my blood pressure lower in addition to the other.

I immediately developed the cough. I have also since been to the doctor for what I thought were symptoms leading up to a heart attack or stroke. Nausea, rapid heart beat, lots of anxiety feelings, even when trying to sleep, light headed, a sudden feeling of just going to fall. They have completed an EKG and a treadmill stress test, nothing showed anything abnormal.

I am convinced it is the Lisinopril. Also, when I questioned my Doctor a while back that my blood pressure was now very low, like 107/71 on some days, he did not seem to concerned, he suggested I take one or the other every other day, so much for follow up on the patient. Did not even bother to check to see if it made a difference.

I agree with the other people, Doctors do not seem to take you serious when trying to describe your symptoms especially if you are a smoker. I know smoking is bad, but if I were not a smoker would I be treated a whole lot different. I just know that I want to see the difference being off of Lisinopril then I will approach my Doctor.

I just got prescribed this med and am now scared to death to even try it. I am taking it because I have High Protein in my Urine and will be getting kidney biopsy in week sor so after a few 24 hour union tests that never improved. Has anyone had anything good come from taking Lisinopril. I don't know what to do now. Help!

This is a good forum and I am thankful I came across it. I had hardly ever taken medicine (other than cold/flu medications) in my life. I am a 36-year old male and in pretty good shape. My wife and I had been under considerable stress in recent years after our baby son passed away. Plus, we are both teachers so the everyday nature of our jobs can be stressful. I had frequently gotten a sensation of chest tightness and it was very uncomfortable. My blood pressure was elevated at times (130/80 or 140/90 range). One time it shot up to 153/93 and that scared me.

The doctor ran an EKG on me. Everything normal. Then, I wore a 24-hour Holter monitor. Again, my results were fine. He then prescribed me 10mg of lisinopril. After I started the drug, the chest tightness seemed to worsen. I always have this squirmy feeling inside, like body parts are moving around in my chest area. It is hard to describe but it kind of feels like parts are pulsating or are inflamed at times. Weird. I would wake up at night and start feeling nervous without thinking about my situation. The tension would just come on quickly. Other symptoms are dizzyiness, anxiousness, headaches and fatigue. One of the other forum writers said he or she felt tired all the time. Same here. All I want to do is lay around when I know I could be doing something constructive. I push myself to get up but it is difficult. Lastly, this drug also definitely affects sexual performance.

Now, I have quit the drug after taking it for 2 weeks. The final tipping point was when I was doing a morning walk/partial jog yesterday. I jogged the second half and when I slowed down to walk, I immediately got dizzy and had blurred vision. I managed to get to the front of my house and fainted. I remember making a grunting sound as I fell flat on my face in the yard. Luckily, I landed on the grass. I got up slowly, walked into the house and laid on the carpet. I felt very fatigued all day. Granted, I had only drank water before I went out and my blood sugar was probably low so that played a role. But I also think the lisinopril has screwed with my system and might have caused this since I have never had that happened before.

In hindsight, I suspect I have a problem with anxiety and that was the culprit for my problems before I took the lisinopril. As far as the chest tightness and anxiety is concerned, I will do my best to manage my anxiety with natural remedies (the herb Valerian works okay) and commit myself to better diet and exercise.

Does anybody know how long it takes for lisinopril to completely exit my system? I drink a lot of water. In my case, I took it for approximately 14 days.

PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS DRUG! IT"S LETHAL> I was on Advair 500/50 for 2years to control my severe asthma, which it did and for about 6months I felt great, but at what a price?....Chronic Bronchitis, Pneumonia, Teeth Breaking, Bone Density Issues, severe hair loss, most awful leg cramps, dizziness, shortness of breath, night sweats, anxiety and chest pains. I suspected that Advair was too blame, came across this site and it all just clicked!. I immediately quit Advair cold turkey in March this year. In May during my annual physical I had an abnormal EKG and a murmur was noticed (for the 1st time in 20years). My primary care physician of 25years was as baffled as I was,.I had a perfect EKG the year before. She referred me to a cardiologist and he did a battery of tests (EKG, echocardiogram and stress test with contrast).The echocardiogram came back as abnormal with mitral valve regurgitation and tricuspid valve regurgitation. Is it coincidental that some of the side effects triggered by Advair such as Chest Pain, dizziness, heart palpitations is also the common symptoms of heart valve issues? I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but my common sense tells me that this drug is the culprit.
Before taking this drug, I was a very healthy 40 year old. I could run 10miles a day, work 10hours a day and take care of 4year old. 3months ago before quitting Advair, I felt like a 83year old with advance heart failure. I'm finding my way back to almost feeling and looking my old self again minus less hair, broken teeth and a not so perfect ticker, courtesy of GSK and Advair.

Has anyone had side effects pop up after 3 years? Yes, you heard me. Three years. Hair falling out. Joint pain. "Foggy headedness." Chest discomfort. Gotta be that. Please share.

Started taking lisinopril April 6th of this year. Have had many of the symptoms listed in these posts. I just thought I was still having symptoms from being sick. I have had a lot of anxiety and depression, as well as chest pain and heart palpitations. My hands were ice cold and had severe stomach pain. My head felt very cloudy and numb. I have had every blood test possible, 2 EKG's, a brain MRI, cervical MRI and brain MRA, and a chest x-ray. So far, everything is normal. I saw this site a few weeks ago and on June 8th, I stopped taking lisinopril. I have started feeling better, not completely, but definitely better. I am supposed to go back to my doctor on the 29th. He did not agree with me that these symptoms could all be caused from this drug. He reluctantly agreed that I get off it for these 3 weeks. I am still taking Hydrochlorot with no symptoms. Not sure what to tell him when I go back. Are any of the other blood pressure drugs safe???

I was on Lisinopril for 6 years, and feel as if I was robbed of those years of my life. I experienced depression, anxiety, racing heart, body heaviness, abnormal EKG's, chronic hives on hands and feet, extreme hives all over my body off and on, swelling of face, lips, eyes, hands and feet, extreme fatigue, and insomnia. I was sent to cardiologists, allergy specialists, psychiatrists, and then pain specialists when, after 2 years of Lisinopril, I developed extreme lower back pain. None of these doctors ever mentioned that any of these symptoms could be side effects of the Lisinopril. After 6 years, I one day ran out of the Lisinopril and did not have the money for a refill, and after only 3 days without the medication, all of the symptoms stopped, except for the low back pain. I felt like a totally new person, and was able to resume my life once again. Though I still suffer from extreme low back pain, I'd take that any day over all the other debilitating symptoms. I'm still not so sure that the Lisinopril did not induce the problems in my back, which continue even after 3 years off the Lisinopril. (As a side-note, my doctor put me back on the Lisinopril 3 months after I quit it, and within 3 days ALL the symptoms came back. Needless to say, I stopped it immediately.)

I have been on this med for about 2 years. Until about 2 months ago, I had zero problems and it was great! About 2 months ago I started having SERIOUS issues. I had never had a palpitation or chest pain in my life and then I started having heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath - sometimes it feels like I'm not going to be able to take the next breath. I was in the ER - they said it was my thyroid and gave me synthroid - that made everything worse so they gave me a beta blocker to cover up those symptoms. I quit taking ALL medication! I am not a pill taker and it doesn't make any sense to take a med and try to cover up those side effects/symptoms with the next med and so on. I can't find a good Dr. who will actually listen. I have been on the heart monitor and it found I was having PVC's all the time. I was then referred to a cardiologist - after a one thousand dollar visit with only an EKG he said my heart is fine - go home. I told every Dr. about Yaz - none of them could connect the dots! I thought I connected them....only by chance. I forgot to take my pill for a couple of days in the middle of all of this and stopped when I finally remembered to take one a couple of days later. I thought to myself.....hey - I've felt a little bit better the last couple of days. I was near the end of the pack so I QUIT taking them!! Best decision I ever made! Within 2 weeks my symptoms had pretty much disappeared! I thought I had it solved. I am 43 years old and in really good health. A few days ago my palpitations are back - but they are different this time. Before I had a "normal" heart rate but it felt like my heart was going to thump out of my chest. Now I have that PLUS a racing pulse! Chest pains are a part of daily life. Mornings and nights are the worst but I think it's going on all day - if I'm moving around I just don't notice it as much. These symptoms reappear a few days before I'm supposed to have my first period after quitting Yaz. I'm wondering if it's hormonal or menopause or if this stuff will just stick around for a while. I'm scared! I've read about people dieing and it's traced back to Yaz! I have a 6 year old precious daughter that I kiss good night and pray like heck that I get the next day with her! It's just not fair - I really wish I could find some answers. Anybody out there got any? Thanks.

Wow I wish I had come across this website sooner. I started taking Femcon FE in September 08, after I stopped breastfeeding my then 1 year old. I had taken trivora before with the only problem being PMS symptoms (fatigue, acne) a week before my period would start. But the period would start like clockwork on the same day every 4 weeks. With Femcon FE I have not had 1 normal period in 9 months. Every month it starts early. I also have had continuous anxiety symptoms of heart palpitations and a twitching lower eyelid, which is embarrassing. I chalked those symptoms up to job related stress as I had a change in work environments in September, and long ago I would have these symptoms during highly stressful times in my life. But I cut back to almost no caffeine when I use to drink 2-3 cups a day of either coffee and soda, and still the heart palpitations and eye twitching continues. I'd rather have plain old PMS then a racing heart and twitching eye. My family doctor recommended I see a cardiologist and ran an EKG which was normal thank goodness. But I'm stopping this pill tonight and hopefully saying goodbye to a twitching eye and erratic racing heart.

I'm 25 and I've been on NuvaRing for almost 4 weeks now. I went in the the emergency room today due to an irregular heart rhythm that has been plaguing me for 2 days. I have headaches as well, but having heart palpitations took the cake. They ran an EKG on me and noticed the palpitations I was having. Tomorrow I get hooked up to a heart monitor for 48 hrs. This irregular heartbeat is very frequent, very uncomfortable and very SCARY! I didn't point the finger toward the NuvaRing until reading everyone else's symptoms and realizing this is serious. I just removed the NuvaRing and am not putting it back in.

I started with Provera in early March 2009 then my doctor prescribed for me to start taking Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo as soon as I'm done with Provera to control my heavy bleeding, both pills were not strong enough so I was prescribed to take Femcon Fe in the same month. I have finished 2 packs and have experienced a major weight gain, my appetite increased and always hungry. I feel nauseated all the time after taking it and I'm always sleepy and fatigue (don't know if this is from Femcon or my anemia). Towards the last week of my 2nd pack, I had a severe migraine attack that caused me to extremely vomit which I have strained or pulled a muscle in my chest and had numbness on my left side of my head and body. Ever since this migraine episode, I have headache everyday and blurr vision on my left side and decided to discontinue taking the pills. My Internal doctor performed an EKG and made me set up an appointment to take an Echo Stress Test which resulted an abnormal unspecified cardiovascular. Now I'm doing a thorough follow up with my Cardiologist and doing a second step of Nuclear Stress Test to identify the abnormality of my heart. In addition, my Neurologist set up an MRI to follow up on my migraine, headache. and numbness on my left side of my body. Before taking this pill, I only had the bleeding problem now I have additional "serious" medical condition that I have to worry about. Taking this pill is not worth it and I would not recommend this to anyone.

After 2 years and 7 months, I had my Mirena removed on 5/4. I had it inserted 3 months after the birth of my first child in 2006. At the time, it seemed like my best option due to problems I’d had with the Pill. I was on the Pill for 6 years, the first year or 2 weren’t too bad, but things gradually got worse. Because it was so gradual, it took me years to realize the cause of my problems. My blood pressure slowly got higher, my heart would often race, and I had anxiety and mini-panic attacks to the point where I never wanted to go anywhere. (My heart rate got up to 160 while waiting for the Dr during an appointment and my blood pressure was up to ~145/99) I also started getting migraines that got more and more frequent. I had an EKG and stress test and everything came back normal. I stopped taking the Pill and within a couple months felt a million times better and my BP went back to normal. I had no idea how much it had affected me and it still makes me sick to think of the years I lost because I felt so awful. I didn’t take anything for 6 months before we started trying to get pregnant and they were the best months in a very long time.

After I got Mirena, I thought it was great. I bled for about 2 months, then never really had periods after that (just some occasionally spotting). Three months after it was inserted, I lost the final 10 pounds of baby weight just by dieting. If I was emotional or moody during the first year, I just thought it was my hormones after having a baby. Slowly over time, I began to get more and more irritable. Everything and anything would enrage me. Rage is the best word for it. It would take a split second for me to fly off the handle. Everything irritated me, particularly anything my husband did. The more it happened, the worse it got and I began to worry if I would eventually lose control completely. Meanwhile, I slowly lost my desire to do anything. I’ve never been a big housekeeper, but our house has become a wreck and I have to force myself to get things down when people are coming over. If it weren’t for family coming to visit frequently, we’d really be living in a mess. I just never feel like doing anything and I’ve lost my passion for everything.

I’ve always had bad skin and have taken everything made for acne, including Accutane. My skin was the best it’s ever been the weeks after my son was born. Over the past 2.5 years, it gotten worse and now it’s as bad as it’s ever been. As my 30th birthday approached, I began to wonder if I’d have zits when I’m 70, then began wondering if the IUD might be causing it.

Also in the past year, I have begun to struggle with my weight. It had slowly started to creep up even though my diet hadn’t really changed. The past 6 months have been the worst. I constantly have a desire to eat and crave anything sugary which I’m sure has contributed to my weight gain. I’ve tried dieting and exercising more than ever before and couldn’t lose anything. Then I gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks. If I diet and workout, my weight stays the same – if I eat normally, I gain weight, just as many others here have mentioned. I’d say 80-90% of my excess weight is on my stomach and I’ve been asked twice in the last 6 months by strangers about being pregnant. I now weigh what I did when I was 7-8 months pregnant (25lbs over my pre-preg weight) and I look 6-7 months preg.

All of these issues have gradually gotten worse over time, but significantly so in the past 6 months. My fits of rage began to scare me and I would feel like my head and/or chest were going to explode when I would yell. I started to realize from my previous experience with the Pill that my blood pressure was going up again. I had also begun to get migraines again which I hadn’t had since the Pill. Then I began to feel like I was living in a depression medicine commercial. I’ve never dealt with depression before even when my husband was gone for months at a time in the Navy. Yet all the sudden I felt like I could check off all the symptoms for depression. I started having irrational and scary thoughts that I had no control over and they would go as quickly as they came. I began to get frightened because I felt like I had no control over myself, my thoughts, or my emotions. For whatever reason, I decided to look up Mirena and depression and couldn’t believe what I found - pages and pages of people describing exactly how I felt with all the same symptoms. I had been contemplating it anyway, but I decided then that I was going to get it removed. I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was higher than I expected. She gave me BP meds and offered me meds for everything else. I got the impression that she probably thought I was blaming too much on the Mirena. I would have agreed if not for my experiences on the Pill. She had never removed one, so she referred me to an OB/GYN. They couldn’t see me for over a month and there was no way I could wait that long because I knew it would take a while for my body to get back to normal. Amazingly, I found someone who got me in 4 days later. I was so excited! As everyone says, it’s a lot easier coming out than going in – just a pinch that lasts a second. So far, I haven’t noticed a huge difference (it’s been about 3 days). I felt less bloated the second day, but it seems to have come back a little yesterday. I have been very thirsty since the evening after I got it removed and have been peeing as much as I did when I was pregnant. I slowly feel like my desire to constantly eat is going away and I am not craving sugar as much.

I also wanted to mention, I started the blood pressure meds the day after I got them. I will say that it has helped my irritability a little and I no longer feel like I’m going to explode when I get angry. Now that the IUD is gone, I’m sure it will go back to normal on its own in month or 2. It’s frustrating because I got Mirena because of my BP problems on the pill. I was under the impression that there wouldn’t be any side effects and now I’m back to where I was when I stopped the Pill. I lost several good years with my husband because of the Pill and now I’ve lost almost 3 more and the first 3 years of my son’s life because of this stupid IUD. If it weren’t for our son, I don’t know that our marriage would have survived the last 3 years. I just pray that I will get back to being me and will be able to be the mother that my son deserves.

A few other side effects I’ve noticed after reading all these posts that may also be related are greasy hair and skin, hair loss, facial hair, memory loss/lack of concentration, and the strange odors and various infections that others have mentioned. I used to not be able to wrap my fingers around my ponytail. Now I can almost wrap them around twice. Like most of the other side effects, I blamed it on aging, stress, etc. I’m interested to see if it starts coming back now.

I know this is a really long post, but I wanted to include as much info as possible in case it might help someone else. I probably would have gotten it out sooner, but I didn’t think there were any side effects. For now, I am not going to take anything. I want to know whether the side effects go away and not have to worry if something is caused by a new birth control. I may try something else in 6 months or so, but we’ll see. My husband doesn’t want me to take anything ever again, but I really don’t want to get pregnant. I don’t think I want any more kids, but I’m only 30 and not ready to do anything permanent yet. My new OB/GYN mentioned Implantation, which uses a different hormone, but I don’t have much faith that it won’t have the same effects. I will probably just try different pills and keep an eye on my blood pressure. I plan to post updates when I can to let you know if things get better. I hope that my story helps someone else.

Gosh, I just got on the internet to see if some of my husband's symptoms (dizziness, muscle cramps, depression, feeling tired and short of breath all the time) could be caused by his medication. Now I'm really worried after reading all the other posts about Lisinopril. We've been trying to get something done about his symptoms for weeks now and not once has a doctor mentioned that it could be the Lisinopril or even checked his potassium levels or done an EKG. We have been told by a doctor who practices in another state that a carotid doppler should have also been done but if we ask for that, we are concerned the doctor will think we're trying to tell him/her how to do their job and then we won't get anything done. I'm afraid to take him off the Lisinopril 20mg suddenly.

ALERT!!!

If you have been having any one of these side effects, then AcipHex may be causing nerve damage.

-- tingling or numb hands or feet
-- confusion / "fuzzy head"
-- ringing in the ears
-- vision changes
-- anxiety
-- depression
-- apathy
-- fatigue

It may be serious. In my case it certainly is. I can barely use my hands. Why it happens:

AcipHex cuts down on stomach acid. Sometimes it cuts down too MUCH acid. In that case, you are unable to break down animal products enough to absorb vitamin B12 from it. Without vitamin B12, your nerve sheathing erodes. My advice would be to stop AcipHex and get a good vitamin B12 supplement (sublingual -- the type that dissolves underneath your tongue, and at least 1000 mcg). I would also advise to get the book -- Could It Be B12? By RN Sally Pacholock. Before starting supplements, insist on a urinary MMA test. It is the only B-12 test that does not give false positives or negatives often.

This book has literally saved my life.

I was prescribed Niaspan ER, and the first night I took the 81 mg aspirin an hour before. So this was 11 pm. I tried to get to sleep, as I do usually have a hard time getting and staying asleep anyway.. BUT, four hours later, I had this severe face flush, I had burning in my ears, my face, my neck and as I was told I might have this, I tried to remain calm.. then the ITCHING started up, I wanted to rip off my skin, I itched so badly! I scratched my wrists, then my upper legs, my stomach area.. even ripped open a little sore there... this itching almost drove me crazy! I admit I got panicky.. and my heart started racing and I felt like my throat was closing up.. this is something I experience with my allergy to contrast dyes... I swore I'd never take another Niaspan! Scared the heck out of me. I don't know what else I will be able to take to lower my triglycerides and total cholesterol. I am 56 and just found out with an EKG that I have had a heart attack already. So this is all scary to me, but the burning and itching and rapid heartbeat don't seem worth it to me! Anyone else have this kind of experience? What did you do? thanks