Electrolyte symptoms and conditions

Hi All,

In addition to what I wrote earlier if you do have a history of hypokalemia (low K+ or potassium) that is very serious for that electrolyte controls cardiac and renal function. However, it is quite simple while you are on this antibiotic to increase K+ rich foods such as bananas, baked potato, OJ, whole milk, avocado (which has more K+ than 5 bananas) and do so judiciously during your therapy for infection.

It is also significant to alert anyone that infection (bacterial) causes some fairly significant physiologic issues from fever, to myalgia, vomiting and loss of fluids, and organ impairment. This antibiotic like Ciprofloxacin has a huge ability to permeate bone infection and non circulatory areas that most antibiotics never reach. It is important to understand that if you are feeling that ill to require that antibiotic you may not be getting around to feeling "normal" until you are past taking the medication, follow up with your provider and rid yourself of the infection.

When you end an antibiotic early or play games with such a drug you can rebound to a super infection that is not treatable by the same antibiotic or even anything more powerful and after this drug you are talking IV antibiotics in a hospital setting.

I would strongly suggest if you are handling secondary side effects then continue onward for the result of an infection out of control is anything but desirable.

I do run low on K+ either and find that Cipro is more K+ wasting then Levaquin. I also am on the smallest dosage (250 mg. QD) and having a positive result but yes, the lovely side effects. In another few days though when done those will be gone and I might feel 100% human again.

K. BS,RN,UM,QC,DON

I am a professional nurse with extreme allergies; however, please for you own benefit consult your physician but do not stop taking it unless he or she states adverse or of course, you have some reaction requiring emergency medical assistance (911).

Yes I am dizzy, weak, very nauseated (and with my emaciated body frame due to other health issues cannot afford to not eat), and the first 2 days of therapy got a whopper headache. However, I had a UTI that likely moved into the kidneys and also look to have stones and after 8 days am passing urine properly and not up every hour not passing urine; hence it is killing an infection that might kill me.

Early on with this drug we did prescribe higher dosages then perhaps necessary they have now cut back quantity and instead of doing BID dosing do QD dosing. You might require a lower dosage at my body weight they prescribed only 250 mg. a day and this has given me some side effects but is treating an infection that could be fatal...

K. BS,RN,UM,QC,DON

I have muscle pain, weakness, and chronic lower back pain. Started statin drug, Simvastatin, on 11/21/07. I take no other drugs. Within two weeks, I could not sit without severe lower back pain. Reported problem to family medical doctor on 1/11/08. M.D. sent me to physical therapy for 8 sessions. No relief from physical therapy so I requested an X-ray on 3/20/08. X-ray shows very mild degeneration at one lower vertebrae. M.D. sent me to an orthopaedics doctor who recommended continued physical therapy. Went to a Chiropractor instead. After six chiropractic sessions with little relief, I made an appointment with an Osteopathic doctor. My M.D. sent me to a rheumatologist who prescribed high dose naproxen for two weeks. The rheumatologist ordered and X-ray of my lower back area. The lower back X-ray produced no negatives. The rheumatologist's next step will be to order and MRI of my lower back area. The D.O. suspects statin induced myopathy and because of hyper reflexes he ordered an MRI of my brain and cervical spine. I am now recommended to a neurologist who specializes in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Am I getting the run around? Only one doctor said I might have statin induced myopathy. The rest will not even mention the statin drug theory. I just pray for ache and pain relief. I have some improvement after four months off of the statin which I believe is quite a strong point that it was the statin drug and not some unknown condition. I don't think arthritis or MS conditions improve. All I know is that I had no health issues before taking the simvastatin. Good luck to everyone who has or is taking a statin drug. BEWARE!!!

Flindy is correct. It is easily possible to be just plain allergic to montelukast- Singulair. Where were the other "allergens" that her child was exposed to? It was, at least hopefully, a sterile environment.

Montelukast is a quinoline. Drugs often are built around a core molecular called a pharmacophore, the molecule responsible for the drug's important characteristics. There is an enormous amount of literature regarding adverse side effects for other drugs in that category.

At the time when Merck was pursuing quinoline as the pharmacophore, other companies were pursing other core molecules. So a quinoline core is not the only choice of drugs. The huge problem is that doctors are not aware that Singulair is not an anti-histamine. They are not warned that the core molecule is a quinoline so they don't know to watch out for allergic reactions especially serious ones.

It would be common knowledge that a quinoline radical (in an acid pH) could react with hydrogen peroxide to produce quinilinic acid, a nasty neurotoxin. When I hear of neuro-psychiatric side effects that appear to coincide with times when hypoglycemia could be happening, then maybe there are some genetically pre-disposed people that actually are experiencing times of ketoacidosis. Scientist have known about quinolinic acid since the 1940's. Malaria drugs containing quinoline come with a warning about hypoglycemia and electrolyte imbalance. Which comes first - the chicken or the egg- the reaction to the drug then the hypoglycemia or the hypoglycemia then the reaction? It would be amazingly easy to prove whether quinolinic acid is responsible for these neurological side effects.

I am appalled by two things. One is that Merck has such power over the FDA that the FDA fails to even recognize basic pharmacophore characteristics. Merck manages to snow them somehow with just words - leukotriene receptor antagonist. So what is the FDA reaction? Merck should review their clinical data. How about find some people who are suffering from Singulair side effects and do some tests? Then you might actually find out why.

If it turns out that anyone at Merck or FDA knew that montelukast carried significant risk of allergic reactions due to it's pharmacophore and they chose not to reveal that in the literature for marketing reasons, those people should be prosecuted. It should not be the job of doctors who prescribe medications to do their own research.

OH and to those of you have taken the time to read these posts and have posted your own accounts and have not been offensive. Thank you! I appreciate you increasing awareness. Concerned citizen I am very thankful that you have done so much research. It has been very useful to me!

I am a 66 year old female with mild hypertension successfully treated with 25 mg HCTZ for over 10 years. In January 2008 I developed sinusitis and ended up in the hospital for a week exceedingly high BP and an electrolyte imbalance. Initially the MD wanted to give me Lisinopril, but I told him that there is a hx of family sensitivity to the drug. Both my mother and brother had developed a severe cough and had to stop Lisinopril. He prescribed something else. It's now 2 months since my acute illness and they can't get my BP under control. I told my MD that I would be willing to try Lisinopril since the cough from my sinus infection is now gone. I didn't want to rule out using it just because of a family hx. Maybe I would react differently? I am already on 2 BP meds and Lisinopril made it #3. I took 2.5 mg Lisinopril and for 3 days felt wonderful. My BP was terrific. I suddenly developed severe acid indigestion which kept me awake all night. The next day I had a dry cough which would make me me gag. Then I developed non-stop belching, nonspecific stomach discomfort, and loose stools. I felt "not quite all there". My BP has been terrific. I just called my MD and she will prescribe something else. I asked her, taking only 2.5 mg, if it's possible to develop side effects in only 3 days and she said yes. Wish me luck as I try my new 3rd BP medicine.

My mother was put on Prednisone 3 weeks ago because of severe muscle pain (15 mg at first and increased to 60 mg). After she starting taking it she began to have weakness in her muscles/joints and was unable to walk by the end of the week. She also had severe water retention and could not catch her breath. Most of all she was very weak all the time and could not seem to sleep at all. She wound up in the hospital and was classified with a type of Congestive Heart Failure due to the excessive dosage given by a pain doctor. She had to be admitted to a Rehabilitation Center where they have now cut her down to 10 mg a day and she is trying to take Physical Therapy to walk again. She is fighting with depression and overwhelming feelings of anxiety. She still cannot sleep and wonders if she will ever by back to normal again. Just a month ago she was living a normal life and because of the pain, was given this medication. I wonder if the benefits outweigh the horrible side effects she has experienced. After reading some of the responses above I see others are having similar side effects.
Any encouragement from someone with a positive long term outcome would be beneficial at this time to her. She feels very helpless in her situation.

I just started 80 mg of Prednisone for Vasculitis in my kidney’s. I also have RA. This treatment is being augmented with low dose chemotherapy. The Chemo is nothing compared with the side effects of the Prednisone. It is Horrible. It has so messed with my brain I never knew what an awful existence obsessive compulsives live. I can’t sit still and stop doing things if there is anything left undone! I have trouble with controlling my emotions, responses etc. Thinking isn’t easy either. And I’m awake most of the night. (Not a bad thing since we just were blessed with twins however). But it is really straining my relationship with my 6 year old son who can’t understand why his Dad goes from nice dad to mad dad in a second. I’ve also have horrid muscle fatigue in my legs. For me this is the worst because getting up and moving and walking up stairs is almost impossible. And I was hiking up to 5 miles in rough terrain just a few weeks ago. I’ve actually LOST 10 lbs.

So I am wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks or ideas they have found to combat the muscle fatigue? It would be greatly appreciated if you could share any ideas you have. I’ve been drinking water and electrolyte replacements, (G-2, the new Gatorade) but that has not solved the problem.

Thanks.

I was on prednisone for 3 days. Took my first pill in the evening and another the next day. Took another that night. I was up all night discussing thing with my wife. I WAS WIRED. I crashed the next day, almost quit my job (I was heavily under stress at work). I went home, STILL WIRED, and shuttled my kids around all day. I started to think about my experiences as a kid. I was under severe stress. That night, I collapsed on my laundry room floor. I hallucinated all night. My wife and children were extremely frightened. They called the paramedics. I went to the emergency room. I litterly thought I had died. At the emergency room, I was disruptive and they admitted me. I spent 4 nights in a psychiatric ward, sedated with drugs but unable to differentiated my flashbacks from the past from the prednisone. It has taken nearly a week, to finally come to grips with the fact that I am not crazy. It was this drug and some stress (albeit, more than usual) that sent me into a life-changing experience. BE VERY CAREFUL if you are taking Prednisone, can't sleep, and are under stress. Your life may change forever. Mine did.

Hi,

I wanted to give you an update on my mom.

I posted on July 17th, 2004 as I was so angry with my mom's Dr. and the drug Lisinopril.

He finally took her off the Lisinopril, and kept her on Hydrochlorothiazide. However after he did some more blood work (at my insistence, as I suspected that she was dehydrated) he ordered an electrolyte blood test. He told her he doubted that she was dehydrated due to the combination of the drugs, as she had been on the Hydrochlorothiazide for years without problems. However, he told us he was ordering the blood tests STAT. If the test revealed any of her electrolytes were low, then he would immediately take her off the hydro....... pill too.

Well, he called us that evening and told Mom to IMMEDIATELY stop taking the hydro........pill too! Mom WAS dehydrated as a result of the combination of the two drugs. The Lisinopril was the main cause of her problems and when he added it to her other BP pill, it caused her body to become totally off balance.

I just want to tell you that since she is now off BOTH pills (she still takes Cardizem for BP and Angina), she is finally back to her normal self. We just returned from a 2 week European Cruise which was wonderful but VERY busy and active, as we visited a new country practically every day. Mom was able to do every tour (with lots of walking) and was able return to the ship, get "dolled up" and was one of the first ones at our dinner table. :)

I know that every one is different and that Lisinopril may be just the right drug for some of you. However, if you are a tiny person (my mom is 4'9" and weighs only 90 lbs), then be very careful of the dosage.

Also be aware of any new symptoms once you take ANY new drug, and write the symptoms down. If they last more than one week then call your Dr. and ask him/her to change your meds.

My mom's cough has completely stopped, her eyes no longer water, her exhaustion is gone :) and she no longer feels like a "Mack Truck" hit her, making her body ache all over.

I thank God that I live right around the corner from Mom. She was convinced that it was just allergies as her Dr. had suggested, and thought it was "silly" that I insisted we go back to the Dr. for more blood tests. If I had not lived close by and had not seen her every day, I would not have known how serious her condition had become.

Even though we went to her Dr. several times with complaints of the cough, the watery eyes, the aches etc., the Dr. insisted it was allergies, and referred her to an ophthalmologist for some eye drops (which did absolutely nothing for her watery eyes).

So, a happy ending here - but only because she stopped taking the drug, which caused an enhancement of the hydro......water pill, causing the dehydration.

So just be aware of your body.