Excess weight symptoms and conditions

I was on ortho-tricyclene lo for years and had no problems. I had a baby a year ago and was on a progesterone only pill due to breast feeding. I recently weaned him, and wanted to go back to the ortho. My doctor prescribed me the Ortho, and when I picked it up at the pharmacy it was the tri-sprintec. I gained weight with in the first week of taking this medication. I weighed less when my breasts where engorged with BFing!! Now my breasts are not full and I eat less and work out more and still gained weight!!! This is really discouraging because I work really hard to stay in shape and I am a petite girl, so a few pounds goes a long way on my frame. Anyway, because this is the brand name and not the generic that I want, it is a pain to request the brand name now to get it covered by insurance. I am hoping to go back to the ortho and get rid of this excess weight!!!

I had Mirena inserted about 3 months ago and have been consistently gaining weight since then. I initially wrote it off as anything else besides this drug because the pamphlet is very clear that weight gain is not a side effect and I talked to 2 gyns and they insisted the same thing. So I had my thyroid checked and started eating better and increased my exercising, I am a personal trainer so I already do these things pretty intensely, but I have stepped it up to slow the weight gain. I am up 8 pounds in three months which makes me crazy. Yet I am hesitant to get it out since it was so insanely expensive and not knowing for sure that it is the mirena. So any of you who have had it removed could you comment on if your excess weight that you did put on has come off or not. Besides this frustration, I have loved it, but it makes it difficult to build my business as a personal trainer if I am gaining weight.

Hello... I started taking Levothyroxine last July for slight hypothyroidism. I felt great for the first 6-7 months, but then in January the problems started for me. I was getting severe anxiety which the doctor said was stress and he also thought I was depressed. I knew I wasn't, but he put me on Ativan and Prozac. The week I took prozac was the worst week of my life. I thought the effects I had were from the prozac, but now I know now it was my thyroid spiking, which the doctor never checked my levels during this period. My heart rate doubled, I had insomnia, was gagging, sick, felt like my body was on speed and wanted to die. I was prescribed a beta blocker for my anxiety previously which I had never taken, but decided to take when my heart was racing, which helped me feel a bit better for the week, but I knew something was wrong. I had this happen again recently for about a week (and I was on nothing but levothyroxine). I know what anxiety is and I have never had anxiety or depression my whole life until these episodes that happen when taking this medication. By the time I went to the doctor to get labs done, I had been feeling a bit better and he said my levels were fine. I am now wondering if it's side effects from the meds or if it is spikes in my levels making me hyperthyroid instead. All I know is that I cannot live like this!! I have a 3 yr old and I need to be happy and healthy like I used to be before this medication... no more heart racing, racing thoughts, anxiety, and insomnia. Please help!!

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading post after post on the side effects of the NuvaRing, and I am so glad that I found this site. Thank you all for sharing! I feel relieved to know I wasn't abnormal or plain crazy. Let me share my own experience.

I've been on the NuvaRing for 14 months, and before that for 5 months. At first, I absolutely loved it and didn't really feel any side effects. I had previously used the patch, and hated it because it made me extremely nauseous and dizzy. With the NuvaRing, I didn't have to worry about taking a daily pill which was great. However, over the past 6-8 months, I've experienced the following symptoms:
- weight gain (up to 8 pounds that I can't seem to shed off no matter what I do)
- slight hair loss and thinning (luckily, I have lots of hair but it's not as healthy and shiny as it used to be)
- extreme vaginal itchiness and also constant itch on newly shaved legs
- ZERO libido. This one started from the very beginning of nuvaring use. I make myself have sex with my partner to maintain a healthy sex life. I used to get easily aroused and would love to have sex with him. I miss that....
- excess weight around abdomen and breasts. Need I say more??
- constant fatigue and lack of motivation
- dryness (vagina)
- bloating and severe IBS symptoms (I can no longer drink coffee which I used to love, can't eat pasta, pizza or heavy breads)

Today in particular, after having the ring in for 24 hrs, I've been extremely nauseated, sleepy, and mildly dizzy. I slept a total of 16 hours! And no matter how much exercise I do, and how healthy and little I eat, the scale won't budge one pound.

I will definitely get off the ring for a couple of months and monitor any changes (hopefully lots of improvement). I'll keep you posted.

I am noticing hair loss. I was on 150mg of XL for a year and then I was on 300mg for 6 months to deal with situational depression that my 150mg dose was not enough for. I lost more weight (because I had no appetite at all) but then slowly got used to the new dose. I have been confused sometimes and fuzzy brained. Often someone can say something to me and I don't even hear them. I have significant memory loss and trouble focusing on 2 things at once. If a radio or TV is on, I can't carry a conversation... even if i am looking directly at the person I am talking to. I have reduced back to 150mg but I am still having these side effects. I just thought I was getting loopy from having been on so many different drugs continually for 6 years. I do love having energy with Welbutrin and losing all excess weight I had but I can't stand losing my hair.

I have had Mirena in for a year now. I am 31 years old, have two kids. At first there were no complaints from me, but now that my period has gone away I have side effects that I am now coming to believe are from the Mirena. I have terrible pain in my joints, It feels like arthritis but more severe. my joints ache when it's cold, I have severe cramping but no period follows. Dryness vaginally, frequent urine trips, I have back aches all the time, severe decrease of libido. I can barely have an orgasm, but it feels like they come to soon and with no pleasure at all...as if it is numb in my uterus. I cannot get rid of my excess weight. I have seen my first grey hair lately and it freaked me out. I am sure it has to do with the Mirena and/or the loss of my period. I cannot wait to get this out of me. I would rather risk getting pregnant or use condoms than have to deal with these side effects!!!

I have had Mirena in for a year now. I am 31 years old, have two kids. At first there were no complaints from me, but now that my period has gone away I have side effects that I am now coming to believe are from the Mirena. I have terrible pain in my joints, It feels like arthritis but more severe. my joints ache when it's cold, I have severe cramping but no period follows. I have back aches all the time, severe decrease of libido. I can have an orgasm, but it feels like they come to soon and with no pleasure at all...as if it is numb in my uterus. I cannot get rid of my excess weight. I have seen my first grey hair lately and it freaked me out. I am sure it has to do with the Mirena and/or the loss of my period. I cannot wait to get this out of me. I would rather risk getting pregnant or use condoms than have to deal with these side effects!!!

I have been on Toprol 25mg XL for over three years now and I personally think it's a great drug. My doctor prescribed it to reduce my heart work load after I had a quadruple heart bypass at 47yrs old - not over weight. Initially, I felt tired, lacked motivation to do anything, dizziness when I abruptly stand up - still do, weird dreams, lack of sex drive including less rigid erection and less intense ejaculation, depression and also gained over fifteen pounds. Anyway, things have improved since, I started working out every day and quickly lost the excess weight. All the side effects have gone except for the occasional dizziness and the sex part. I can feel my heart go out of wack if I don't take the med. Stay away from the generic that you have to take twice a day - not as effective.

I've been on Zoloft for about 4 years now (100mg) a day and I really want to stop taking it. At the time I was put on it I was just getting myself out of a really bad situation and I needed to be put on it for severe anxiety and panic attacks. I'm in a totally different situation now and am doing fine, I don't want to rely on medication anymore to make me feel "ok". I actually kind of feel like it's counteracting in my system. The only thing really holding me back is the fear of crazy side effects after you stop taking it. I heard you can even have a heart attack =/ Has anyone gone through this or going through it right now?

I have been taking 20mg of Lisinopril and 5mg of Felodipine for about a year now, and I am experiencing excruciating joint pain. The back of my knees ache even while sitting and the bottom of my right foot keeps me from walking freely because it hurts so much. My wrists and fingers hurt too. I am overweight, so I just figured it was due to excess weight, but reading these posts made me realize that this is not normal. I am in pain all day long. I feel like I'm going crazy because I can't just get up and go- I struggle to do anything. I did not want to see my doctor because I've switched medicines before- used to take 50mg of atenolol but fatigue was horrible, so doc gave me hydrochlorothiazide and it gave me a terrible rash on my face. I thought I was done switching meds- does anyone know what is a good bp medicine? I'm tired of being tired and in pain.

Wow I'm glad I stumbled across this page.
I only started taking Yasmin 1 month ago after switching from LevlenEd which I was on for 4 months.On LevlenEd I found I was developing a redness in the face (not acne but almost like rosacea) which is something very uncommon for me as I have always had very clear and even toned skin. After visiting the doctor he switched me to Yasmin - something about the different combination of hormones in the tablet and that this should clear things up. Well it hasn't. In fact I've experienced so many horrible side effects of the pill that I decided tonight that I'm just going to stop taking it all together. Side effects include:
Extreme emotions
Massive increase in appetite resulting in excessive weight gain
Lack of motivation
Tiredness
Skin redness and swelling of the pores
Hot flushes at night resulting in sweat break outs (usually I'm actually cold at night and never sweat)
Decrease in libido and dryness during sex
Puffiness in the skin and a hot feeling
Sensitive muscles all over - around the ribs, tummy, arms - just touching and they feel lightly bruised
I'm usually a very active and fit person but have just felt so lethargic on the pill. Combine this with an increase in appetite and I now have a task ahead of my to loose this excess weight that I have put back on after working it off for so many years.
Before taking the pill I generally did not take any medications at all.
I am particularly interested to hear from anyone who may have experienced the same skin conditions that I found when on the pill.
The funny thing is that my sister is on Yasmin and has had no problems at all.
The only plus was that my breasts went up a whole size! A great thing for me!!
My boyfriend is just going to have to deal with the change in how we manage birth control because the side effects I've experienced over the last 5 months are just ridiculous!

I'm feeling really scared now because I've had the Mirena, well 2 of them, in for around 8 years. In all that time I've experienced really debilitating back problems and I thought at one point i would end up in a wheelchair. I just didn't connect it to the mirena even though my back problems worsened after having it fitted. I've also developed swollen ankles and fluid retention generally. Over the last three years I've had migraines and throughout I've been irrational and impossible for two weeks around my period.
My skin is awful now and seems to have lost most of it's elasticity.

I am finally booked to have this thing removed but I fear it could be too late to reverse much of the damage. I'm sure that skeletally my back is just too messed up. My skin hangs now like a 60 year olds because of the excess weight I'm carrying but if I could just get some energy back I'd be so happy.

I am a 65 year old man in reasonably good health. I had never experienced BP issues until recently, and when I found it was elevated, went to my internist about 2 months ago for that, and a general wellness assessment. After many tests, he determined that excess weight, and the BP should be addressed, so I was prescribed a fluid pill Chlorothalidone 25 mg and lisinopril 10 mg. After a week or so, I noticed a marked effect regarding the taste of food. Things I always ate ceased to appeal to me. Otherwise, I was feeling decent. About 3 weeks ago, I went back in for a checkup, and my BP was not responding to suit him, so he increased the lisinopril dosage to 20mg per day. Within 2 days or so, I began having trouble sleeping, tossing and turning, and having spazzed out dreams to the point of halucinations, and was up and down all hours of the night. More significantly, it felt like my guts were being blasted by a flame thrower, or for a better description, a leprechaun slinging a chain mace around in my insides 24/7. During this process, I have experienced momentary vertigo, and have lost what I feel is 75 percent of my energy. I am not a couch potato, and work 5 days a week. I am sluggish in the morning, and by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, could lay down on my office floor and go sound to sleep. I now have chills and flu-like symptoms off and on throughout the day. I have taken every conceivable antacid, pepto, milk of magnesia(which oddly seems to help) where nothing else does. The bottom line for me is that I feel this drug has transposed a fairly healthy person into a virtual zombie within about 6 weeks. My wife found this site on the internet, and after reading these responses of so many of you, having absorbed your comments, with the exception of the cough and shortness of breath, I am suffering identical effects. I will not be taking this medication again, and also will not take a brush-off from my physician. I have determined, because of these increasingly debilitating side effects, it would be far better to live with high BP or switch to another medication, and and at least drop dead in peace and comfort in a relatively high degree of normalcy, rather that what I have been going through. It has been rather easy for me to be able to tie my symptoms to this medication, given the information I now have on it, because in all my life, I have never experienced what has been happening to me in the last 5 or 6 weeks, described best in my mind as having constant influenza. I have taken my last lisinopril, and will see the internist next week in this regard.

I am just finishing my 2nd month of this pill. I have been on numerous BC’s since the age 17. I have had some good ones and some bad ones but usually the side effects that caused me to go off the pills was cramping and/or spotting. Recently I had been on Yasmin (not Yaz) for about 4 years. In the past year I had gotten over 10 yeast infections due to the Yasmin. Prior to this past year though, Yasmin was great. Anyway, my GYN switched me to this and I am on my second month. The first month it was like I had my period everyday for the month. I truly don’t know when I actually had my period. My poor husband, I kept telling him “I think I have my period again.” Then when I thought it was gone b/c nothing for a few days, it would come back. But I decided to stick it out. I called my GYN and the nurse said “try to stick it out for three months, it usually gets better.” So I am. And this month, its starting again. I am suppose to get my period in a week but 3 days ago I started bleeding again. But I also have been feeling very lethargic, depressed and I have gained weight. I actually did not even think it was because of the change in the pill until I came across this website today. But I truly have many of the same symptoms you all are talking about. Mostly, the tiredness, weight gain and depressed feeling. But I have others. I have NEVER been over 135lbs in my life now I am at 140 and I haven’t changed a thing. I certainly could exercise more, but that hasn’t changed. In fact, I have been trying to eat LESS to lose this weight but I keep going up. Now I am thinking it may be due to this pill. I am glad I came across this website. I am going to go to my GYN before the next month and say I want off. The one good thing is… I haven’t had a yeast infection since being on this pill! I was getting two a month at times! I am truly glad I came across this website or else I would have never known. Thank you all for sharing your comments about your experiences (both positive and negative).

I have been on Topol XL for two years now for hypertension. I started with a dosage of 25mg. but that was bumped up to 50mg. two months ago. I have tried to take off excess weight to cure the hypertension ( Toprol of course merely treats the symptom but does not cure). Not only was I unable to take the weight off, I even gained pounds on this medication. I was also fatigued, which did not help with my workout plan. I also experienced insomnia and panic attacks at night. (It gave me something to do since I could not sleep).
I told my Dr. and she agreed I needed to get off the med. She told me conventional wisdom now is to start with a diurtic for hypertension ( She was not the Dr who originally prescribed the Toprol). For the next couple of weeks I will be weaning myself off the Toprol. I have read some horror stories of what that is going to like.

Within days of starting estrostep my face, upper arms and upper part of my back broke out. Thought it would start to clear up, but no sign. It's getting worse and itches/hurts on my face. My ob/gyn prescribed it to HELP my acne, oilyness and large pores. My breasts seem to be getting bigger, but really need more time to tell. Very concerned about my face breaking out...will it clear up?

Ive been taking it a while now and so has my neighbor and Ive notiiced both of us are having trouble with relationships we didnt have before.
I thought this was supposed to help loose the excess weight from what Dr said . Im gaining!!!! Im ready to just throw in the towel on this and just buy over the counter diet pills
I lost 65 lbs with 2slim fast, 6fat burnners, and 6water pills.
a day and i meal at night and I didnt exercise!
Synthoid seems to do more harm then good to in my opininion.
Sherry

I've read some of the other postings here, and thought I might beable to help with some of those symptoms described. Lithium is probably the most widely used drug for bipolar disorder, mostly because of it's effectiveness in many cases. You must drink as much water as you can and avoid dehydration. Lithium can be hard on your liver, but the more you know about this drug the better, ask your pharmacist for in-depth info, that's what they are there for. People on Lithium should have their thyroid checked at least once a year for hypothyroidism. This condition will cause the hair loss, adult acne, fatigue, and weight gain. Again, something the docs don't tell you. Lithium will make it more challenging to keep excess weight off, but this is one side effect that is so common in so many drugs, one should not be so surprised. Eat more fruits and veggies and try to keep active, or learn to love your new body. Lithium was the first mood stabiliser I was put on, and it works great as long as you take your doses EXACTLY as prescribed and get your blood work done at least every 3 months. And as for the new 30 pounds I have, well that's life! I'd rather be happy and stable then skinny any day of the week! Good Luck to all of you.