Extreme difficulty symptoms and conditions

I was given z-pak as a precaution due to repeated exposure to pertussis while working as an ER Tech at a local hospital (2005). I experienced chest pain and rapid heart rate. My blood pressure when I get to the ER was 240/186. I have always been healthy and fit.
All the cardiac tests were performed and were normal except for the chest xray. It showed a 30% pneumothorax. I was so shocked.
Since then I have not been able to keep the BP under control. Even more so I have extreme difficulty urinating. I am not male, but if I had a prostate it would be the answer. I have edema and constant trouble emptying my bladder. No one seems to care. I've been to many Dr.'s and no one will listen. They just put me on more BP meds with little response. 44yr female.

I don't know if this is caused by Budeprion or not but shortly after starting about a month ago I began having extreme difficulty swallowing, usually in the evening. I was taking 100mg and my Dr. bumped me up to 300XL last week. I was already having the swallowing problem, though. It seems to get better if I take a Alprazolam (generic for xanax). I hope this isn't a panic attack type problem. Has anyone had this type of problem for any reason? It is really scary. Thanks for any reply.

Folks, please stay away from this poison! I started taking Levaquin as prescribed for the thunderbolt-like strike of a prostate infection. The infection hit at around 8 PM on Friday, took the first 500 mg Levaquin Saturday at 10 AM. Later that day, after having taken only one dose, I started having difficult to breathe and my speech became faulty, as I could not naturally coordinate breathing with speaking (later I learned that I was having, and still have, diaphragm spasms.) In addition to that, I suffered for the next couple of days from intense dizziness, extreme difficulty in walking, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and 100% loss of appetite (could not ingest any solid food for two days, period). Still not connecting the dots, I took the second pill from hell on Sunday at 10 AM. By Monday morning I had read enough info on this site to know better and not take the third dose. I realized that, at the rate my breathing was deteriorating, things would get pretty grim very soon. I showed up in my doctor's office unannounced and was told right away to switch to Cipro. One of the problems I see with detecting a medication's side effects is one's ability to distinguish them from the actual symptoms of the disease: a good example are the intense chills and shivering associated with fever, but apparently much more intense and lasting long after the fever is gone when provoked by Levaquin. Please question your doctor if he/she prescribes this poison from hell to you and recommend that friends do the same.

I am a 41 year-old male and my doctor started me on 20mg of Simvastatin in January 2008 and subsequently increased it to 40mg (wanted me to go to 60 mg). While it has controlled my cholesterol well, I have had two major side effects. I've had extreme difficulty getting and maintaining erections. Similar to another poster, my doctor claims these are not side effects and also prescribed Viagra. The Viagra worked but, of course, was very temporary. Also, since boosting my dose I have experience non-stop flem in my throat...very, very annoying.

In November, I said enough is enough. Within a week, my libido recovered and I feel like I'm 20 again. Also, while the flem problem remains to some extent, I have noticed a significant but not as rapid disappearance of this side effect.

Regarding the libido, another poster said "My wife says it is psychological." Please tell her I disagree. I too am convinced that Simvastatin ruined my libido.

I was prescribed the 4mg methylprednisolone pack along with 50 mg tramadol for acute tendinitis in my wrist. I took the first 3 days of the prednisone and only 2 doses of the tramadol over the three days. For a total of 60 mg of prednisone.

The first day I had hot flashes and insomnia but attributed it to the tramadol because I had never taken it before and had taken the prednisone several years ago for poison ivy with no adverse reactions. I didn't take the tramadol the second night and then took it again last night along with my daily dose of prednisone. I had extreme difficulty falling asleep, heart burn, hot flashes; and tossed and turned all night trying to fall asleep. At around 2am, I began to have difficulty breathing, tightening in my chest, confusion, and racing thoughts. It felt as though my throat was closing up on me. My anxiety progressed to the point that I was pacing back and forth. I woke my husband up and told him to prepare to take me to the ER. After calling my insurance's 24 hour help line, it was recommended that I go to the ER. I had an x-ray, blood work, urine drug screen, and echocardiogram. Luckily, everything was negative. The ER doctor told me that I likely had a reaction to the prednisone and commented that some people will experience these symptoms when taking it. He stated that he had a similar reaction when he took it and it felt like he was climbing the walls, which is an accurate description of my experience that night. He recommended that I either stop taking it altogether or call my primary care provider and cut it down. He prescribed me xanax and administered some to me at the ER which greatly helped. The next day I stopped taking the pred but am still having dizziness, chest tightness, hot flashes, and mental dullness. I have decided to never take this medication again. Fortunately, I don't have any of the physical sx that some have experienced, and my heart goes out to you. I think the mental symptoms were traumatic enough for me and can't imagine having both as I would be a basket case. I have mood swings, some melancholia, and am very fatigued.

I think it is imperative to research any medication that is prescribed to you before you take it. Many providers will say that side effects are rare, but my experience is that side effects are more common than rare. My prayers go out to those of you who are going through what I am going through. I hope that it clears our systems quickly because this is no way to live. I'd rather put up with the pain of tendinitis or carpel tunnel than to have these symptoms.

I am a 55 year male and my doctor started me on 20mg of Simvastatin in Sept 2006 and has subsequently increased it to 40mg. I try to keep very fit through lots of exercise. Fortunately I have not experienced any major side effects mentioned here and my cholesterol has decreased from 6.8 to 4.5. However, I am constantly tired to the extent that I often doze off at my desk at work. In addition, I am having extreme difficulty in getting erections. My doctor claims these are not side effects and has prescribed Viagra but even that is not working now. At Easter, whilst on holiday, I stopped the medication for a week, my libido recovered after a few days, and I was able to have normal sex again for about a month. During the summer, I stopped it again and within 72 hours my libido started to pick up. My wife says it is psychological but I am convinced that it is the Simvastatin. I am going to see if I can get a second opinion.

I was put on Prednisone for my COPD. Right after starting a 30 day script (I don't remember the dosage) I started experiencing SEVERE muscle cramps. Legs, feet, hands, abdomen, ribs, back. It was the most terrible experience I have ever had and I refuse to take it again. I also gained 30 lbs in 30 days. Which I have had extreme difficulty taking back off. I am now, two years later, experiencing great difficulty with my knees. I believe that I will always suffer the side effects of this, yet another, wonder drug. The wonder is how many people's lives is it ruining...

My 5 year old son was put on for very mild asthma before xmas. After he returned to school, the teacher noticed he was not listening, difficulty attending, talking nonstop ( normally quiet), and repeating the same questions. At home, we noticed complaints of tummy aches, after 2 weeks very loose stools, irritability, extreme difficulty attending to any task, disorientation, rolling around on the floor, tic disorder; he started flipping his head side to side as if he's checking for something, and poor sleep (3-4 times awakening) esp. w. vivid nightmares, eg. crying because his snowman was melting and dying and dry nasal passages w/ bleeding sometimes. I notified the asthma/allergy doc. that we were going to discontinue. It has been a week now and his stools have formed better, not complaining of tummy aches, but attention/concentration still an issue as are tic movements; also came down w/ sinus infection so perhaps being sick is attenuating these symptoms. I hope he can get back into his zone. We are worried.

I am bipolar II and began taking Lamictal on top of my usual cocktail of Wellbutrin and Zyprexa following a suicide attempt. As everyone else has reported, it took a while to get up to a theraputic dosage; once I got there though, I felt the best I had in years (no exaggeration) - I literally felt completely freed from my illness. This freedom came at a cost, however. During my college days (I am a recent graduate) I was the top student in my department and routinely completed tremendous projects in unusually short amounts of time. Since reaching my current dosage of Lamictal, however, I have begun FAILING a Spanish course I am taking as I am both unable to retain anything I learn from studying (especially flash cards, which as everyone knows are the key to learning new vocabulary words) and, more importantly, feel no motivation to correct the situation. I am currently preparing to take two GREs as well as apply to eight graduate schools and have gone from obsessing over the issue to not caring whatsoever. I have also begun a new job recently and have extreme difficulty waking up each morning due to how exhausted I feel (it's notable that I didn't have this feeling upon switching to a large dose of Zyprexa.) My doctor has instructed me to lower the dose and monitor my mood accordingly to see if I can have positive psychological results with minimal side effects. I am upset about potentially having to give up the radical change in how I feel every day, but the side effects are just too severe (at the current dose, that is.) It still remains to be seen whether a lower dose will have sufficiently positive psychological effects with minimal side effects; I will make a followup post after this one once I can assess that.

I began a new dose of Prednisone yesterday. I was diagnosed w/ RA about 3 years ago. I have been on Embrel (didn't work) and am now on Humira and Methotrexate. I have been having extreme difficulty the last month and finally returned to my doctor for relief. (I have been on Prednisone before and had only the headaches) I was prescribed a higher dose this time (60 mgs 2 x daily) and have been battling with a racing heart that beats so hard it hurts. I have now taken my second dose and cannot walk more than 10 feet without feeling like I am having a heart attack! While it is helping the RA pain in my joints, I am so scared to move and so uncomfortable when I do, I am not sure what is better. The disease or the cure? Has anyone else battled with the racing heart? Oh and I also have high blood pressure and the Prednisone is making it higher even with my meds!
My only other instance with this effect was from a steroid injection about a month ago. That episode placed me in the ER receiving medication to lower my heart rate.

I started taking Levaquin on November 28, 2006. Three days later, November 30th, my right leg in the calf muscle was tightening up. On the sixth day, both legs were having muscle pains. I stopped taking it on the seventh day. What I want to know is, will my legs return to normal after this drug goes out of my system, or will I have bad legs from now on? I have extreme difficulty going up stairs as well. Someone, let me know if it went away for you

I have been on Lipitor for 5 days, and in the past 3 days I have noticed extreme difficulty sleeping, restlessness, nagging achiness in neck, shoulder, and upper back, and headache. I am wondering if I should discontinue this medication.

I experienced a hike in b/p after taking benedryl. I was placed on Lisonpril. After two weeks, I experienced extreme difficulty walking, weakness and fatigue, vertigo, persistent cough, panic attacks and anxiety. My skin felt like I was bathed in menthol or vicks vapor rub. I am not sure if it is the same "tingling" or "burning" that has been reported by others. E/r visits, ekg, cat scans, blood tests came back normal. I received inconsistent medical advice from e/r docs, cardiologist and internist (i.e. stay on the med, but change it, take it only if your b/p is high, get off of it completely- you dont have high b/p and dont need it). I decided to get off of it. Its been three weeks off the Lisinopril. I have improved daily; however, I am not back to normal. Anxiety and "menthol-like" skin sensations still remain. This web site has helped tremendously with jsut knowing that I am not crazy or alone. Thanks.

I have been on Yasmin for about 9 months and for the last 7 or 8 months have been having extreme difficulty breathing. I have always been an avid runner and been in very good shape, but noticed while weight training one day that I was having a hard time catching my breath, like I just couldn't get enough air. I thought maybe I was getting a little cold and dismissed it. Day after day it got worse and worse and has been an ongoing problem now for 8 months. At first it started in my workouts and progressed to the point where daily activities have me short of breath. I thought it was allergies, went on allegra, then zyrtec, then inhalers. Have NEVER had breathing problems in my life, used to run 5-6 miles a day and now can barely make it to 3. Have also been weirdly irritable all the time, to the point where I don't even feel like talking to my family or friends. Also just unhappy in general, for absolutely no reason, it's like I'm not sad, but I'm not happy, I'm just there. I've never been like that before. It's been so frustrating and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend thinks I'm crazy, which I was starting to think myself. It was such a relief to find this website, I can't believe I went so long dealing w/ this. I just finished my last pack and will not be starting a new one. Has anyone else had a similar experience w/ the shortness of breath?

I was prescribed Guaifen Pse Er for a "stuffy" ear. I am on day 4 - experienced extreme difficulty in urinating the past two days. After reading this site, understand that this is a side effect. Going off med and calling my ENT to get correct medcine. This web site is great.