Exacerbated symptoms and conditions

I took this yesterday after suffering with asthma problems off and on the past couple of months. After two trips to the doctor, the final consensus was that I had a sinus infection, and that the continuous dripping into my chest was causing the chest congestion.
Anyway, within one hour of taking avelox, I had a full-blown anxiety attack ....I was dizzy, lightheaded, my head felt like it would explode, had diarrhea, couldn't breathe, and thought I was dying. I almost called 911. After about 4 hours of this I took half of a 1 mg lorazepam pill to calm down. I continue to feel completely unwell all evening, shaking and anxious. I finally took a hot bath, and a full lorazepam, which allowed me to sleep. I am telling you that the whole afternoon and evening was a harrowing experience. I am also wondering if the side effects were exacerbated by the Astiliin (nasal spray) I took, since this morning that drug made me feel extremely groggy and tight in the chest.
I will NEVER take this drug again,and now I am so afraid that I am scared to take the zithromax the doctor prescribed in place of Avonex, even though I have used zithromax in the past with no side effects.
At this point, I am ready to consult a naturopath or acupuncturist to help with my condition - most of these new-fangled drugs seem to cause more problems than they "cure".

I had been on Yasmine for about two years with no complications until last week. Last week my heart began beating extremely fast just while sitting at my desk typing. Later on in the day my chest began feelign tight and I had an "anxious" feeling in my upper body. At the same time my lower body felt completely weak- as if my legs could not support my body weight if I were to stand. Evenso, I thought nothing of it and just assumed my normal one cup of coffee just so happened to have a strong effect on me that day. The next day the anxious feeling and weakness had subsided but my left arm and hand were tingling. It felt as if they had fallen asleep and now had that "cotton" feeling. The next morning I lost all feeling in my left hand except for my first three fingers. This is when I began trying to figure out what on earth I may have eaten, where I had been, had i drank too much coffee, etc.

I rarely drink alcahol, don't smoke, have no family history of heart problems, etc. I don't take any other medications, I don't take vitamins, I dont eat strange foods, and exercise regularly. The only thing I could possibly change is my birth control. I immediately quit taking Yasmine and all problems disappeared in two days.

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I've only been on singulair for 6 days and it is now 4:23am. I just couldn't sleep tonight. I've been having the strangest dreams and I commented to my wife about them. We just laughed it off. Anyway, at this time of the morning, my EARS are "Hissing" so loudly, not ringing, however I do detect a slight pulsating tonal sound in my left ear, that I just couldn't sleep anymore. I've a history of Tinnitus but something has exacerbated my tinnitus dramatically, so much so it is keeping me awake. I think I'll be needing something to help me sleep now. Perhaps I will stay off the Singulair for now just to see if life returns to some kind of normalcy. Could it be a side effect of Singulair. I don't know but I felt like driving something through my head to stop all the loud noise. Has anyone else experienced elevated levels, or a new development of "Ringing in the Ears", commonly known as Tinnitus?

I can't believe what I'm reading tonight on this page, I decided that today was the day I needed to check up on side effects of singulair, since my 5yro, needs his 3rd refill. Three weeks ago I took my boy to the doctor, because of severe weeknes,fatigue. irritability,lose of interest in studying, in sports, in home works, and lose of appetite one of my main concern, I ask his ped if maybe these could be side effects from his singulair, She said no way she hasn't heard of such effects from this drug, and that the side effects form singulair was realy mild, I took her word on it and continue my poor lillte boy in the hell he is living in, oh. she send him to the lab and draw blod for a series of exams, but find nothing so I continue my days wondering and suffering for my child, My mother-in-law even recomended counseling for my boy since we have a new baby at home, tonight I decided before getting his reffill why not do some research and find out what other people are saying? this is the first page i ran in to and I know that I dont need to read much more to take my boy off of this singulair.
ps. we can not rely on our doctors to talk bad of any drug.

UPDATE: Today is the second day that I haven't taken Singulair and I feel 100% better. I am no longer experiencing the panic attacks, hallucinations, shortness of breath, ear ringing, leg cramps, etc. I went to the doctor on the 23rd and he was reluctant to think that any of this was caused by taking Singulair. I am now convinced that it was, since I haven't felt any of the symptoms I was having for the last few months. I am going to a cardiologist on Aug 1st and will have to wear a heart monitor to "rule out" a heart condition. I also have to get my ears checked because my doctor thinks this could be an inner ear problem. I will go through with all of these check-ups just to make sure that I don't have any underlying medical issues. Seeing how quickly my symptoms have stopped after going off of Singulair makes me totally convinced that this is what was causing this in the first place. I am greatful that I found this site and read all of the comments from people having similar symptoms!

I have just called my dr. for an appt. I was not researching Lisinopril I was looking for info to email someone - happened to spot the first post...I nearly fell over! I now know I am not losing my mind, because that's how I've been feeling - the cough, the weary feeling, palps, my anxiety increase, etc. etc. Low readings that I'm wondering if I'm still alive, and this head detached from my body,, feeling, sort of walking like a well in control drunk, if that makes sense to anyone, a feeling like "iI'm gonna have a stroke" feeling in my head...it feels "tights". I started this med. last year, and feel this has been a gradual on-coming train! I have anxiety, and try to keep it under control myself, since I took prosac for about a week, talk about looney - look up another charming side affect - akethesia - nasty. For one poster who said we're all overweight nuts, I am 103lbs, I do a mile every evening, and eat very healthy, thank you.

I am 48 years old and I have been taking Tricor for about 4 years. About 2 years ago my doctor added 10 mg of Lipitor. My cholesterol went from 235 to 145, however during the past 2 months I have started to develop joint and muscle pain in both my arms. I went to the doctor and he told me it was tendonitis. I felt that having it in both arms at the same time was weird. I have always been very physically active and have not changed my routine. Last weekend I stopped taking the Lipitor and I felt a little better. I took it again this week and the pain is back. My doctor told me it is not the Lipitor. I am going to stop it for a week a see what happens.

I was prescribed Levaquin for a persistent cough and sinus condition I have had for six weeks. I am on day two and I can tell you if I have the same side effects tonight as I had this past night I am calling my Doctor. After taking Levaquin my symptons became worse, I could not stop coughing (it seems to have exacerbated the cough) all night and when I did fall asleep the nightmares I had were, to say the least, horrible. I would urge caution on taking this drug.

I've been taking Triamtrn/HCTZ Tab 75-50 for HBP, approx 4 years. During that time I have had three occasions when my left ankle became so inflamed, swollen, and painful to touch that I could not walk. On the first two occasions this problem was diagnosis as Tendinitis. On the third occasions I have been told that the problem may be a form of gout that can be brought on by my medication. Is it true that Maxide and its generic will produce uric acid which could ultimately lead to developing gout.

I'm glad I wandered across this page. I have been on Yasmin for almost two weeks and I finally decided that I couldn't take it any more. I have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and the pill exacerbated the effects. I was barely able to get out of bed and missed several days of class. Yesterday, I experienced some slight vertigo and when I lay down on the bed I experienced a spinning sensation. At times my heart beats fast and at others I get chest pains and it feels like my lungs are burning. My complexion has gone to hell. I have a lot more acne than usual. Also, hot and cold flashes. Yesterday I felt feverish and thought maybe I was getting sick. Sometimes the nausea gets to the point where I think I might vomit.
These symptoms are in no way bad compared the Ortho Evra patch that I tried a couple years ago. It made me paranoid and lethargic. I threw up a lot. I locked myself in my room and had horribly violent dreams. I also developed a severe rage problem that came out of absolutely nowhere! There were times when I thought that I was loosing my mind. I think maybe I was a bit. The paranoia was awful and it fundamentally changed me as a person. I think birth control is sceary. I think I'm going to stick to condoms and spermacide from now on.

I'm 45 (male) and never had asthma until a year ago-- it came on after a severe bout with bronchitis. The doc gave me Prednisone for a week, I also took Advair, Flonase, Aciphex (a stomach pill), and Singulair. After a few months, the asthma seemed to be gone, but the doc had me stay on Singulair (one per day, at night before bedtime) to be sure it didn't return.

Before the asthma and Singulair, I had stomach problems (diagnosed as gastritis) and some stiffness in my lower back. But for the past year, my stomach has been AWFUL-- even the meds don't help. And the stiffness has been really bad: I would have to stretch my hips, legs and feet, and stay in the hot shower as long as possible. I even had frequent bouts of diarrhea, which I attributed to the Aciphex-- but now I'm thinking it might have been the Singulair.

I discovered this site a few days ago and stopped the Singulair. I THINK my stomach is getting a little better, and some flexibility has returned. Of course, my nose has started running and my breathing isn't the greatest--but I'd be willing to deal with it if my stomach and muscles feel better.

IS IT POSSIBLE MY STOMACH PROBLEMS AND STIFF MUSCLES/JOINTS HAVE BEEN EXACERBATED BY SINGULAIR? If you've had this problem, please post a reply. How long will it take for the side effects to disappear?

I was on Advair for almost three weeks. Within the first few days, I thought it was helping. Then I started having really bad problems with acid reflux, throat irritation/hoarseness, a dry cough, need for nearly constant throat clearing, and tightness in the throat. It also seemed like the Advair was getting less effective in helping my breathing. I ended up going to a asthma specialist. In addition to asthma, I found out I may also have this other condition called Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD). VCD is commonly mistaken for asthma as the symptoms and triggers are very similar. Also, there is a fairly high rate of co-occurance with asthma and some literature even suggests having asthma predisposes one for developing VCD (having GERD and allergic rhinitis also appear to be triggers). In one study, 56% of individuals with "severe" asthma were found to also have this condition. Another 10% were found to not even have asthma. The point in talking about all this is that I think in my case taking Advair significantly exacerbated my symptoms of VCD. M y doctor's response was to put me on prednisone when the Advair didn't work. It seems like lots of people posted concerns about similar side effects to mine and some even noted they were having more trouble breathing. They might want to look into this condition. Here's a link: www.cantbreathesuspectvcd.com

I cannot take metoprolol (Toprol) because of its devastating side effect of sleepiness. It's greatly exacerbated my lifelong neurological condition called narcolepsy, which brings sleep attacks at unpredicted times. I'm unable to make doctors' appts or do very much at all because of the sleepiness. I explained this to the doctor, but I believe he does not understand CNS disorders.Willpower does not work for the attacks are sudden and uncontrollable- - it is not ordinary sleep, which I believe he's confused it with. I've had similar responses to drugs with CNS side effects, so I've had to avoid them.

The doc has added three more drugs that can potentially cause added sleepiness. Since I'm unable to communicate how nonfunctional my life is since hypertension control, until I can find another doctor less rigid than mine (a long process due to doctor shortage here), my only option is to substitute atenolol, the previous beta blocker I was on, at therapeutic equivalence. I'm a week completely exchanged, and so far so good, but nolocal replacement doctor is yet available, but I may be sufficiently awake to be capable of driving to the medical school far away where the doctors are.

I believe my doctor is highly technically capable at treating hypertension, but my rare narcolepsy and the impact of Toprol, are not taken seriously.

The standard treatment has been a central stimulant such as amphetamine. More recently, I've switched to a new drug Provigil (modafinil), and I'm maxed out on thatl

I developed high blood pressure last summer after 71 yrs of normal pressure. I do not have heart disease other than chronic atrial fibrillation that's been with me for 50 yrs. To date, no structural heart problems, no artery disease other than pulmonary hypertension that accompanies my rare lung disease IPF.

I've been on the drug approximately a month, and in addition to increased fatigue and a mild intermittant cough, it seems to have exacerbated perimenopause symptoms, particularly ones connected to mental acuity. Has anyone else experienced this? Any recommendations for an alternative hbp medication that is still available in generic form?

I was on Yasmin for 5 years. Ages 20-25. During that time, i had bed-soaking night sweats and hot flashes. I also had ulcerative colitis- a pre-existing condition which was exacerbated by this poison.
In June, after nearly 5 years, my hair started to fall out. That was it for me. I went into an extreme downward spiral of depression. Not to be vain, but I was devastated. In August 2005, exactly 5 years to the month, I stopped taking it.
I completely lost my appetite and cried for a week. Since then I have felt MUCH better but am SOOOOO hungry and have gained about 6-10 pounds. My hair is finally starting to grow back!! And i'm just generally calmer. No more sweating either. HOWEVER, i never had a zit in my entire LIFE until going off of Yasmin. I dont even know what to do with them.
I've only gotten my period twice in the 6 months since going off of Yasmin and both times, my cramps were not as bad as when I was on it. How ironic.
I plan to have bloodwork done soon just to make sure everything is ok but was told by my doctor that it can take a year for the pill to be completely out of your system.
Please let me know if anyone is having similar experiences. Anyone been off for longer than 6 months?
And why do women have to be the guinea pigs for drug companies to experiment on? I'm sure they did a lot more tests for the side effects of viagra before they would allow a man to take it.

Dear Friends:

I have been off and on prednisone for thirty years. I am a chronic asthmatic, and things flare up easily. This past six months have been difficult, as my symptoms have exacerbated about every month.

Prednisone has taken its toll. My weight has been a problem even though I am careful what I eat. My muscle mass seems to have decreased, and I find that I do not have the strength I used to have. I am 67 years of age and otherwise in good health. I do have peripheral neuropathy in both feet and legs, and polycythemia vera. The Polycythemia is been under control for 7 months, with no phlebotomies required.

The worst side-effect of all is on my libido. I have always been sexually active, but the prednisone has made me dysfunctional. When I ask my doctor(s), the inevitible reply is, "Well, as we age, things are never what they used to be." They avoid the subject like the plague.

I need some information. Is it the prednisone which has caused erectile dysfunction and loss of libido? If so, what can be done about it?

Dave

I have been taking yasmin for about 8 months now and have developed a lot of the symptoms that you girls have posted. I was wondering if anyone else has developed Acid Reflux while on this pill. I never had trouble with heartburn or acid reflux at all in the past and suddenly I have full blown symptoms and on daily medication for it. Of course reflux disease can be exacerbated by stress/anxiety. Great. I have 2 pills left in the pack and then i'm going off. I'm glad to have read these posts before attempting to go off it should I develop more side effects. Here goes nothing!!!!!

I started taking Lisinopril 20mg in early April. The week after I started, I began craving salty, vinegary foods (banana peppers in vinegar, pickles.) I also couldn't get enough V8/tomato juice. These are all foods I liked before, but I felt the need to consume them every day in huge quantities. I even drank the pickle juice sometimes! It took me a while to figure out the connection between starting the med and these cravings. I told my doc about it, but he didn't seem to think there was a connection. Well, I stopped Lisinopril a week ago and I haven't had any more cravings since then.

Also, I suffer from depression and I am almost positive that this medication exacerbated that condition. Certainly the fatigue that comes with taking Lisinopril didn't help things anyway. I also found the lightheadedness annoying, though it was livable.

Before Lisinopril, I was on Norvasc for five years and didn't experience any notable side effects. My blood pressure was always normal on Norvasc, whereas the Lisinopril lowered it to low normal (enough that I felt lightheaded.) Interestingly enough, my BP has been normal since I stopped Lisinopril last week. Go figure.

This medication and my body DID NOT get along. I won't be taking it again and I can't wait until the poison is completely out of my body!

Have been taking Lisinopril, Atenolol and hydrochlorthiazide for about two years with disastrous side effects, including chest tightness, dry cough, dry hair, alopecia areata, depression, for which I was prescribed Paxil and then Zoloft, which only exacerbated my alopecia! There has got to be a safe alternative for controlling blood pressure other than this horrid Beta Blocker and ACE Inhibitor.

Oops! Excuse the entry below. I goofed & hit the wrong key.
Anyhoo, here is my Levaquin story. I am 51 & was diagnosed with cellulitis on Jan. 19th of this year. I was given an IV drug, (Daptomyacin) & 500 mg of Levaquin for 16 days. Towards the end of the treatment, my joints became very achy. (mostly in my knees) I was having burning, tingling sesations throughout my body & my calves were cramping. One week after treatment, I could barely walk through our house. I normally am active, with daily walks & short jogs. Within days, I had to have knee surgery. It is now almost 5 weeks past my surgery. The achy joints, burning, cramping & tingling are still present off & on throughout my body. Although the orthopaedic surgeon did find trauma in my knee, (past fractures, etc.) I am convinced the Levaquin sped up & exacerbated the damage. Now my other knee is hurting so bad, I am starting to think that one will need surgery as well. Both my orthopaedic surgeon the infectious disease Dr. that prescribed the Levaquin dismiss the notion that Levaquin had anything to do with it or that my joints are aching because of the drug. I am thrilled I find this site, because I realize that I haven't imagined these symptoms. But the reality of these reactions is quite sobering. I have never had a bad reaction to a drug in my lifetime. This one was so sudden & severe, I had to add my account to this list. I've just started trying the Milk of Magnesia & hope it works. I too have been drinking lots of water. God bless each of you out there suffering with this & may we find some solutions soon.

I was switched to omeprazole 4 weeks ago. I take the medicine every evening. Since switching i have had a daily headache that begins in the late afternoon. It is throbbing and exacerbated by bending over or performing a valsalva maneuver.

NEED ADVICE PLEASE! Has anyone had sore tendons, muscles, joints, etc. in hands caused or exacerbated by prednisone? If so, please email me at bgoodric@comcast.net. I'm a professional harpist, and my hands are my living. I was diagnosed with RA last spring, and I've been on pred for something like 6-7 months now, waiting for the Plaquenil to take effect. I was only at 10 mgs (now tapering, went down to 1 mg this morning), but I got bad moonface and fat belly, acne, feeling sweltering all the time, hair falling out, and sore gums. Eeew.

Recently my hands, wrists, and forearms are really hurting again, in muscles and tendons this time, as well as joints. (It's really impacting my playing; anyone who thinks that harp music can't sound ugly hasn't heard me playing in bad pain.) My hands aren't swollen much though, when before, with the untreated RA, they looked and felt like they'd each been stung by a whole beehive. Now, I was writing off all this new pain as caused by my getting off the prednisone TOO soon, before the Plaquenil works fully, and/or from serious overwork. (Amazing to have too many gigs, a lovely fluke that can't be turned down even if the timing is lousy.) But I've just found this website and seen a few people noting muscle cramps and such.

Could the hand problems be CAUSED or exacerbated by the prednisone, either by just having taken it at all or by tapering off it too quickly? Getting my hands working again immediately was the whole reason I was willing to get on the darn pred to begin with!

Let's see; I've also got muscle pains in shoulders, neck, lower legs, and feet, but all these could be due to music overwork too, or walking in bad shoes. I'm 43 and not terribly athletic, so the non-hand muscle stuff isn't all that shocking.

Another question, one that other people have mentioned earlier: How long after we stop the pred does it take for the dreaded moonface and belly (and acne) to go away? Is there any way to speed it up, along with exercise and sensible diet? (My sister's getting married in a month, so I've got the prospect of photos looming. I haven't gained weight, just had it redistributed, but I'm getting real chipmunk cheeks. Incidentally, approaching veganism seems to help me with the appetite. I've been trying to avoid dairy products to lessen the RA and when I manage that, after a few days I find that I'm no longer daydreaming about Haagen Dazs and Fettucini Alfredo. Don't know if that'd work for other people? I daydream about non-dairy dark chocolate instead, I'm afraid.)

I'd be grateful for any info and any advice! Good luck to you all out there. I knew prednisone could be problematic, but not as bad as what most of you have had to endure.

I have read with interest (?) the 'downers' here about Lipitor (Atorvastatin). Most of the posts here are anti Lipitor.
One I read seemed to be ok with it. I have been taking Lipitor 20 mg for 18 months. Sure I have memory loss (I am 62 years of age) ... who doesn't have lapses of memory. Sure I have aching joints ... had that checked out by X-RAY's and it turns out I have arthritis, which I suspected. That's not funny. And sure I have occasional muscle fatigue - that could be due to many things particularly not getting enough exercise which I admit - and that's MY responsibility. And sure there are people who have allergic reactions to many drugs, and to many vitamin and mineral supplements as well - I feel for those people. I am allergic to Penecillin myself.

Many people here might be simply allergic to Lipitor ingredients. Others might have some underlying problem which has been exacerbated by Lipitor - still others may have had those underlying problems for a lot longer than they've been taking Lipitor but it has become easier to blame the Lipitor.

I was particularly concerned at the number of people who have taken themselves off the drug virtually overnight. I have been told and have read many times it can be dangerous to suddenly stop a medication - should be weaned off it. Sudden stopping of a medication can result in liver enzymes going out of kilter and other unwanted, sometimes quite nasty, effects.

As for the drug companies not giving warning - here in Australia anyone can go to their chemist (pharmacist) and have printed out for them, the side effects to any drug.
I think that comes under the Freedom of Information Act.

All I can say in conclusion is - Lipitor has worked wonders for me, and in working those wonders - reducing the bad AND increasing the good Cholesterol, they have taken one worry away from me - that of premature death or severe illness due to high cholesterol. My Doctor advised me (after I had dieted, exercised etc) that she was not surprised those regimens had not worked, and these were her words " a largish person can eat fat drenched food and have low cholesterol all their lives and a slender person who eats well - abstains from fats etc. can have very high cholesterol - No one factor determines it"

Hope you all obtain some form of relief - some way from life threatening high cholesterol. Anne.

My side effects that I think are attributable to Levofloxacin: Exacerbated rib cage pain (I have been coughing some, but not enough for this much pain); general weak feeling, and weird feeling (not terrible, but not good); pounding head whenever I mover faster than a sloth; and bizarre dreams or thoughts at night (again, not terrible, but new to me).... I have taken this drug for four days, on a perscription for a bad sinus infection. I have had other antibiotics before - this one is definitely causing some problems.