Emergency physician symptoms and conditions

I have been taking Bupropion XL 150mg ("generic" Wellbutrin) once a day as a mood stabilizer everyday for exactly 2 weeks. I suddenly developed severe itching in random different areas on my body. My lower scalp, palms of my hands, and ankles were the first areas that itched but did not have any obvious marks on the skin as to what was causing it. About 3 hours later it became progressively worse and started showing tiny red raised areas in the previously stated places on my body and started to spread to my neck, wrists, mid-chest below my breasts, behind my knees, and upper thighs near the front panty lines, but even worse on my lower back.

I was becoming a bit scared and annoyed by the constant itching and the hives that were forming in those areas. I had never in my life had hives before. The bottoms of my feet were so itchy but they did not have any hives on them, they just itched! I took 2 benadryl and tried to sleep but woke up quite a bit during the night because of itching.

By morning, the hives were worse and especially on the back of my neck where it was swollen and red and I could not even bend my head back. My face was slightly swollen and my eyes were puffy as well. My right palm was so swollen and painful and I could not make a fist.

I called my doctor but he was on vacation, so I had to talk to a message service he had set up in his absence!
I went to the emergency walk-in care center near my home and was evaluated by a physician who concluded that all this was actually due to the Wellbutrin which I myself found hard to believe and wanted to deny it in my mind. He ordered me to stop taking it and prescribed all sorts of drugs to counteract the hives and itching.

I am writing this only about 9 hours after seeing the emergency physician and have had some rest and taken my prescribed medicines, Medrol ( a steroid-type drug) to treat the swelling, Hydroxyz hcl for the itching, Allegra for allergy, and Zantac for the side effects (stomach pain) of all these drugs I now have to take for a while!
The swelling has gone down a bit and itching has subsided somewhat. In conclusion I must note, that it was the pharmacy's decision to substitute the Wellbutrin my doctor had prescribed with a "generic" version (bupropion) that is still so new to the market and is still undergoing studies on human subjects. We are the guinea pigs and did not even know it.

I am a 34 year old and have been taking Yaz for almost a year.

I had some minor side effects until this past month when everything came apart at the seams. I do not know if yaz is the culprit - but the number of women with the EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS as me listed here SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME.

My "minor" sude effects were the following:

* No period for 5 months
* No sex drive (was not the case before taking Yaz)
* Panic attacks / anxiety (no history fo this. My doc has now put me on Zoloft.)
* Bloating / weight gain
* Brown blotches (like age spots) on one side of my face

This is NOTHING compared to the last month of my life. Basically my life has sucked for the last month. Roughly a month ago my symptoms started with a red rash on the left side of my face and pain in my left ear that led to a migraine that has not gone away at all. (The pain level goes between a 5 and 10, but never lower than a 5.) The rash went away in 2 days, but my ear still hurts today (a month later).

My vertigo began roughly 5 days after the onset of my rash and ear pain and has been non-stop since. I've taken phenergan, valium, etc. - but they are not working. I get spinning/dizzy every time my head moves (up, down, left, right) and with up and down eye movement. It seems like my migraine pain intensifies when my vertigo hits me. If I lie completely still - I have no vertigo - but my migraine is still there. To make matters worse, I have become very disoriented, like I am in a fog all of the time. I am only 34 years old and feel like I am losing my mind. I cannot remember simple words at times and have a tough time completing sentences.

All of these symptoms coincide exactly to the day I began a new packet of the birth control pill called YAZ (Yasmin). I had taken this brand of pill for a year, and though it has worked (not pregnant) I have had some minor side effects up until the last month. The biggest side effect is that I have not had any period at all for the last 5 months. I have also had anxiety (no past history) and have no sex drive (not my normal self.) I stopped taking the pill about a week ago - after reading literally thousands of people with the same side effects I am experiencing on a website called medications.com (My neurologist also told me to stop taking it.)

I am NOT having ringing in my ears or loss of hearing. I mention this because I know other ailments have these as symptoms.

I have already been seen by my dentist, physical therapist, ENT, 2 neurologists and a gyn. So far - they are not helping. I have even been hospitalized for 5 days and all they really did was try and dope me up to sleep and had me take a very potent anti-migraine drug called DHE that must be administered over a 36 hour period via IV. Guess what? It did not work.

The most scary thing is that even though I get severe vertigo any time I move my head (even to the point of waking me up while I sleep) - NOT A SINGLE DOCTOR EVEN MENTIONED I MIGHT HAVE BPPV ( BENIGN PAROXYSMAL POSITIONAL VERTIGO) and they did not test for it at all. They were all interested in treating my month-long migraine with anti-migraine drugs. They all swore up and down that my vertigo was related to my migraine. They also said my fogginess was because I was "tired and sick" and many migraine sufferers are that way.

After my husband and I searched the internet and found dozens of websites, we are pretty much convinced that I have BPPV. We are going to get in front of a vestibular specialist ASAP.

So you know, I have been through a CT scan, two different MRIs, basic blood work on my white cell counts, thyroid levels, potassium, etc.

They have ruled out a sinus infection, brain tumor, pituitary tumor, stroke, blood clots, etc. They have simply treated me with anti-migraine medication - and it has been worthless. I have taken Topomax, Frova and DHE (the drug mentioned above) and my migraine is still there. These drugs have not helped one bit. My neurologist swore that the DHE would do the trick. Guess what? He was wrong.

I discharged myself from the hospital yesterday and am now at home.

I just want my normal life back. I cannot drive, work, take care of my family, etc.

My two biggest questions are:

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF BPPV CAN CAUSE MY MIGRAINE? The reason I ask is that the doctors all think that the migraine is causing my vertigo. All along they have been treating my migraine (with zero success) and have been giving me valium and antivert to simply mask my vertigo (no success there either.) No one has tried to really diagnose and treat my vertigo. Is it possible if I get my vertigo fixed my migraines will disappear?

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL PILLLS CAUSING BPPV? I saw woman after woman on medications.com have the same symptoms of vertigo, migraines and brain fog while taking the birth control pill Yasmin. I also know that my avalanche of symptoms eerily coincided with my first pill from a new pack. If they are related, I am most interested in what to do to get my hormones back on track in an effort to stop my vertigo.

This is all driving me crazy. A month ago I was absolutely normal. Now I am 100% disabled. I just want my life back.

Please help!