September 29th
2008
10:29 AM
I'm 39 and have been on Coumadin for about a month. Was diagnosed with DVT in right calf after taking Yaz birth control for only about 4-5 months (no other pre-conditions - I'm a non-smoker, fairly active, not overweight, no recent airplane trips or long car rides.) I was on Yaz to treat severe problems with my period which has been the case since I was a teenager, but I was tired of having to call in sick to work every month, and had hoped Yaz would eliminate that problem. I had been on other BCPs when I was in my 20's, and never had any symptoms of clotting, so didn't think that it would be all that risky to try again, despite me being slightly older than the typical woman on BCP. Obviously, I am not taking Yaz anymore, and will not be able to take any other hormonal therapies for the rest of my life. But I guess that's minor compared to the risk of developing PE from an undiagnosed blood clot.
Anyway, I've been noticing I've been getting sudden, severe headaches since starting the Coumadin. I have a history of migraines but I usually only get one or two per year at most. Now I've had what feels a lot like a migraine twice in a matter of a couple weeks. My husband has also commented that I've been irritable and acting "spacy".
My INR has also been all over the place. They've been alternating me between 5 mg and 7.5 mg per day. For the first few weeks I was right where they wanted me - between 2 and 3, but then last Friday my results were 4.6!! Way too high. I go back this afternoon to see if anything's changed over the weekend, after skipping a dose and then doing 5 mg Sat. and Sun. I do hope they can find the right balance and don't have to keep tinkering with the dosage. I'm wondering if that's what's contributing to the headaches. Maybe if they can stabilize how much I'm taking from day to day, my body will adjust.
I wonder if anyone "official" is tracking the number of DVT/PE patients that can trace their onset of symptoms to Yaz. My sense is that this is a much more serious and prevalent side effect than their marketing dept. would like to admit.....
-- By sallyjane | Reply | (8) replies | Private Message me
August 18th
2008
3:20 PM
Honestly thank you for this website! I mentally feel better if not physically yet. I was prescribed 3 day/2 dose Bactrim for a UTI. I have NEVER had a reaction to antibiotics or any type of medicine. I can no longer say that.
That said...thought I was dying. My temperature was 102 for days, every muscle in my body felt so sore I felt like a car had hit me and then hit me again, ridiculous size headache, massive stomach pain, insomnia, thought I would faint every time I stood up, could barely walk, no appetite, etc. It was ridiculous and I thought I was going crazy because how can one medicine do all that?? I now have a whole new respect for antibiotics.
Since I was feeling so horrible by the 2nd day on it I went ahead and finished the last day. (hindsight probably stupid)
This is my first day off and all my muscles are still killing me, especially my neck, chest, stomach, back. Still feel weak and my temp. this morning was 101 and went down to 100 now.
And I don't know if it was the medicine or just being sick but I've been so 'out of it' today and just depressed. I can not WAIT for this medicine to be out of my system! And I will never use it again.
To add insult to injury I'm not sure if it cured the UTI all the way. Not running to the restroom but still have slight (non-painful) tingle down there.
-- By appleleena | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
August 13th
2008
9:14 AM
I was prescribed this Levaquin antibiotic for 7 days duration. Day one I started feeling nausea, fagtige, my brain just thinking weird stuff. I thought it was my sickness. Day two my condition was took a deeper turn: I couldn't sleep, I was so hot (inside my body) took off my cloth ran around the house like a crazy person, even thought it was cold in the winter. I started thinking of suicidal, depression. my heart beat was pumping so fast, I tried to calm my self down by listen classical music, that didn't help either....I went to emergency room, doctor prescribed me a different antibiotic...that medication still affect me today...I still keep the bottle to remind myself of that medication...long story short..
My wife has sinus infection. Her doctor prescribed Levaquin. She took one last night (08/12/08), she couldn't sleep, headache, nausea...etc. I warned her many times before about this medication, but I didn't realized she taken the medication or bought this medication...
THIS IS A SERIOUS. LEVAQUIN IS A BAD MEDICATION. STOP USING THIS LEVAQUIN NOW. we need to organize a group for FDA to prohibit this medication for good. Even class action sUit to stop the company from manufacturing this medication. If anyone knows how and where to go about these, please let me know. This is for real, our health is more important. Thank you !!
-- By seabreeze | Reply | Private Message me
June 11th
2008
12:33 AM
I've been on Lamictal for 3 years, and it's started to fail. I was on a generally small dose for epilepsy, 100mg twice a day. Well, I started having these twitches that caused a car incident, so I had to go to the doctor to get the dosage increased. Well, I did that, slowly, and I was twitch free. I thought that this was great, I can finally rest easy. Also, for some reason after I increased the dose I was oversleeping. No severe side effects though. But then, just yesterday, I had what we believe to be a full fledged seizure during a shower. I missed my dose by 2 hours the night before, and luckily I was having trouble falling asleep (or perhaps unlucky), and I probably got 5-6 hours that night, which lack of sleep is always a bad thing with epilepsy. So, during my shower I started twitching, bad. I turn the shower off. Then the next thing I'm on the shower floor, and I see blood on the wall, though too dazed to make anything of it. My family hears the bang and comes down and tells me to open the door, but I yell out to wait until I'm dressed. Then I felt horrible. So obviously the dose increase didn't help, and the Emergency room doctor put me on Depakote plus the lamictal until I see a neurologist next week.
-- By chris_s | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
October 3th
2007
9:07 AM
Started out with face tingling about a week taking it primiraly on the right side of my face. About 3 weeks into taking the medication I experienced Experience weakness on left side of body which included unable to lift left arm and left leg, unable to stand by self, involuntary tremors to the hands, fingers, legs and mouth, difficulty speaking, very emotional, very tired. Was hospitalized because emergency room doctor felt that the effects were due to reaction to an MRI dye 6 hours before. Was released next morning with slight improvements in left side of body strength, speech slowness cycled from normal to extremely slow, additionally the involuntary tremors with the hands, fingers, legs and mouth continued as well as the emotions, actions like eating and bathing required a lot concentration and caused extreme tiredness.
-- By cuini | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
June 12th
2004
6:51 PM
This medication will make you "Crazy". I was hauled off in an Ambulance and lucky enough to be released from the Hospital "because he Emergency Room Doctor had seen these same side effects in other patients before. I was just this side of being locked up in the Psych Ward for "days". The reason I was put on this medication was for pain after 9 spine surgeries. Zanaflex and Narco nailed me.
AM I CALLING MY DOCTOR ON MONDAY ??? YOU BET YOUR a##. I AM SO MAD BECAUSE HE KNOWS HOW SENSITIVE I AM TO ALMOST ALL PAIN MEDICATIONS. I PAID THE PRICE FOR HIS BEING SO STUPID, AND FOR ACTIONS HE DECIDED WOULD BE A GOOD "MEDICATION FOR ME"! I AM VERY ANGRY.
-- By donna-fuller | Reply | Private Message me
July 20th
2003
3:54 PM
After being prescribed Cipro by an emergency room doctor while we were on vacation, my husband reacted with dizzyness and anxiety. He quit taking it on the third day. We came home and he saw his usual physician who prescribed a sulfa drug (Roy's problem was a feeling of rawness in his urinary tract, though no urine test EVER confirmed any bladder or unrinary tract infection). Roy had side effects from the sulfa drug.
Then he saw a third doctor, a urologist, who perscribed levaquin. (The doctor told him his symptoms were caused by "Prostatitus" - a psa test was normal.) Roy reminded the doctor that he had dizzyness with Cipro, and levaquin is a "relative" of Cipro. Roy took one tablet and felt the dizzyness come back. He phoned his doctor who encouraged him to "put up with the side effects" because levaquin would help his condition - whatever that was. It is now the third day of levaquin and Roy's dizzyness is unabated, his blood pressure is 156/97 and sometimes higher, (very unusual for him as his bp is usually low) and he had diarrea. He had vowed to take no more levaquin.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE Doctor's oath "First DO NO HARM. In reading these letters on the internet it seems 5 out of 6 people have adverse reactions to this drug. Certainly the people in the studies the drug company (hopefully) did before releasing this drug to the general public had adverse reactions in the same number. SO WHY DID THE FDA approve it? It is really scarry when you cannot trust your doctor, the pharmacists, or the FDA. Merilly
Levaquin (2) Atenolol (1) Lamictal (1) Amoxicillin (1) Warfarin Sodium (1) Zanaflex (1) Topamax (1) Bactrim (1)
April 14th
2009
1:22 PM
I started to take Atenolol after my kidney disease caused my bp to be extremely high. I'm on Avapro 150 mgs a day but at my last doctor's visit my doctor decided to put me on Atenolol for a rapid heartbeat. After about a week I began to feel extreme fatigue consulted doctor and he said it's not the Atenolol so I continued taking until my I started to feel pins and needles in my hands and feet. One morning I got out of bed and my left foot was swollen and curled up into a ball, the pain was excruciating. I was rushed to the emergency room where they said I pulled a muscle, I didn't. I asked the emergency room doctor could this be the Atenolol since I only started taking the drug for a few weeks when these symptoms began. He stated no that's not one of the side affects. After looking online I found that it is one of the side affects. So I stopped the Atenolol and after a few days was able to regain feeling back into my toes and slowly my foot. I still have pain and have trouble walking but hopefully I will recover. DO NOT TAKE THIS AWFUL DRUG. Either the Doctors know the side affects and are allowing us to be used as quinny pigs or their receiving some type of kickback from the pharmaceutical companies for prescribing this drug. If you know anyone taking this drug who is experiencing the above side affects stop the drug immediately before it's too late. If I had continued the drug I would have become paralyzed or worse stopped breathing. Another thing they are telling people that they have MS Multiple Sclerosis so they can treat you for yet another disease you don't have.
-- By charmedy | Reply | Private Message me