Eye opener symptoms and conditions

I am a healthy 38 year old woman. I started using the Nuvaring about 2 years ago. Ever since I have had a drastic decrease in my libido...and by drastic I mean virtually no desire to have sex at all. I've also had frequent headaches that last for days at times, leg cramps, depression, and I've gained almost 15 lbs that will not budge no matter what I do. I work out five or six days a week with absolutely no decrease in weight or increase in muscle tone. I am so glad I found this site!! I've been thinking that something is wrong with me and I've been really down on myself. The lack of sex drive has been very difficult for my fiance'. He can't help but take it personally that I NEVER want to have sex. This has been a tremendous eye opener for me. I'm going home tonight to take this thing out and I'm never going back on hormonal birth control again! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their experiences!

I have been taking Lisinopril for 3 - 4 years. I am 43 with high blood pressure. I often have a light headed feeling/dizziness. My biggest problem/concern is I find it very hard to concentrate. I feel tired often and have a foggy feeling. I have always just written this off to the stressful job that I have. Reading these posts has made me think that this bpm may be the problem. Sometimes I will forget to take my med on the weekends and, now that I think about it, I've felt great on those days. This message board has been a real eye opener. I need to talk with my Dr. If anyone has actually changed to another/more effective BPM - let me know.

I have cramps in the legs and feet often too.

It's been such an eye opener for me to read all these posts about Yasmin. I'm 28 and have been on and off various birth control pills since I was 18.
My doctor switched me to Yasmin about 4 years ago because the pill I was on previously gave me bad headaches. Reading all the posts about mood swings and even depression I realize that Yasmin has been most likely to blame for my unexplained feelings or irritability, unexplainable anxiety and bursting into tears at times foe little reason. There have been other factors in my life which would make me prone to depression over the past 2 years, but I think whenever I go back on Yasmin (mainly for my skin and pms) I deal with things allot less rationally and my moods swing a lot more. I've just come off it so and am going to try Yaz, which I've read equally mixed reviews about but fingers x'd.

edrogers, sorry to hear about all your difficulties. Hair loss is a hallmark of Synthroid and any doc that tells you it isn't, is simply incompetent! I too am 110 and can't gain weight. After years of having tests, incl thyroid (I figured I had Graves), tests always came back normal. A year ago I had a large goiter that turned out to be non-cancerous but I had to have half my thyroid removed. I ended up on 50 mcg and now 75 mcg of Synthroid. Since the dosage increased 2 mos ago, I have had SEVERE leg and foot cramps that wake me up several times during the night. Plus when I wake up, I feel an aching in my legs and wonder if that is not "restless leg syndrome". I am not sure if that syndrome is related to thyroid disease or Synthroid. I have not read about that one anywhere so far. I hate the idea of being on this med from what I have read and am considering Armour.

Two things I have learned though are: 1. If you have thyroid disease, you MUST have your adrenal levels checked. Even the drug info states this must be done before any thyroid treatment and 2. if your doc doesn't listen to you, find a new one. The best article I have read for thyroid disease is Gail's Thyroid Tips. it is a real eye opener.

I am astonished by the posts I am reading here. I just learned about the manufacturing problems with Metoprolol Succinate ER last night, and the recall. I called my pharmacist this morning, and she said she knew nothing about a recall, only that it was no longer available.

When I see what you all have been going through, coupled with what's been happening to me, I can't understand why my doctor has not changed my medication.

I just got out of the hospital two weeks ago from blood clots in my legs. Thank goodness they have not moved to my heart, brain or lungs! Now, I'm on Coumadin for six months.

I have had blood clots, cramping in both my legs and feet, eye problems, loss of balance and vertigo (dizziness) so bad I fell to the ground. Fortunately, I was in my garden and the ground was soft.

I've been complaining to my doctor for quite some time now about the dizziness, and am now afraid to go out and work in the yard unless someone is with me.

Thank you for posting your information. It has been an eye-opener.

I have been a crazed woman the last few months and thought it was all in my head. I got Mirena inserted in November 2008 and have had almost all of the symptoms the other women have posted. Some I did not even think could be related to the Mirena. I definitely have had weight gain, cramping, sore breasts, headaches, depression, mood swings, and LOTS of acne. I have also had eye twitches, abdominal pain, and pain in my legs. I have also been tired and never wake up refreshed any more. I have been exercising less as a result. These are the things I had no idea could be due to the mirena. What an eye opener. I called my doctor today and he suggested I keep a journal to keep track of how I felt and that I research the side effects. He also said he would take it out immediately if I so choose. I chose to do the former. But after reading and researching, I think I will call him tomorrow and make an appointment to remove it immediately. My husband and children will be forever grateful!

My mother actually stumbled across this site and encouraged me to look into a possible connection between my severe joint pain and the Mirena IUD. I had the IUD inserted in July of 2007. For a few months following I experienced breakthrough bleeding but that did eventually end. I suffered from some mild bouts of depression and would completely fly off the handle at my two children. Always linked it to stress. My sex drive became nil. But no other real problems to complain of. But this past Nov (2008), I started having pain in my wrists and hands. I type all day so I assumed carpel tunnel. Then we began a kitchen remodel. After one particularly tough day of demolition, moving and climbing up and down stairs, I became really stiff and sore. Of course I didn't think much of it until a week later when the pain was getting worse, not better. After a few more weeks, the joint pain became so severe that I could not get up and down off the couch, off the toilet, out of the car, without wincing in pain. I felt 90 years old! My doctor had prescribed Naproxen (which wasn't helping at all) and gave me a course of Prednisone. The Prednisone made me feel like a million dollars. Problem is, you can't stay on it. That's when we found this site. I immediately called my OB/GYN and had the IUD removed 2 days later. Of course, doc didn't believe this could be the issue (Surprise, Surprise!). Once the course of Prednisone was over, the joint pain gradually came back, albeit not as bad as the first time. RA and Lupus panels were negative, no thyroid disorder, no diabetes. Going to see a Rheumatologist next month so we'll see. I can mention that I already see a difference in my moods. I feel more patient with my children lately and that alone was worth having the stupid IUD out.

I have had my mirena in for almost 2 years now and after reading all of these posts, its really been an eye opener! I bled for 3 months straight, my doc convinced me to keep it in and I did. From then it seemed great. Barely had a period and when I did I would just spot. But now I get headaches frequently and cramping from my abdomen all the way around to my back. I have also had to make 2 trip to general surgery because of severe breast pain and thinking that I had breast cancer. Now, I'm thinking all of this is from the mirena. I have an appointment to have it taken out this month and I cant wait. I have had a decrease in sex drive and have been really tired all the time. I have two children who are 2 and 4 and thought it was due to that, but now I'm thinking its not.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/mirena.html
I would recommend that everyone read about Mirena at the link above. I had mine removed today and I will post in a few weeks about my experience with it and how I felt after having it removed.

I was on Yasmin for about 4 years, then stopped due to no health insurance (couldn't afford it anymore). I was off Yasmin for 4 months, started it up again now that I have a new job, and man- I HATE being back on this pill. Now that my body had a break, I can tell what this pill does/did- I've taken about nine pills and have already called my doc to go right back in and get a Paraguard IUD, because now that I know what "normal" feels like there is no way I can go back to this pill! Extremely tired again/feel run down all the time (since day 2 back on), nauseous (continual), dry eyes/vagina (after 2-3 days back on), sex drive ebbing off again (after nine days back on)... also strange when I read people's posts, my knees/hip used to crack (pop) all the time and it's started up again within one week of this damn pill. A big clump of my hair fell out yesterday too!!! I can only tell you how I FEEL- there is something NOT right in my body with Yasmin back in the mix. I felt awesome for four months sans pill (sex drive came back with a vengeance, forgot how it felt to feel aroused, feel lubricated, feel energy, feel happy go lucky) then Yasmin- now this crap has got to go!!! I'm so turned off by this eye-opener (thankful though, at least now I know what I put myself through for four years). I'll go with an IUD to avoid hormones from now on. Trust yourselves ladies, if it doesn't feel right, it might be bad for you! Good luck ladies!!!!

This has been a real eye opener for me. I had my IUD inserted in March or April of 08. My husband is the one who approached me tonight to tell me to get the Mirena IUD taken out. He's been complaining that I've not been the same for awhile now. Mostly due to the fact that I have no libido at all. I honestly did notice that there was a problem. I guess it's because I'm not missing it at all! I just assumed it was due to the fact that I've got two kids and a highly stressful job. But now that I'm reading all these posts I'm beginning to wonder. I notice some things I'm having in common with other women: hair loss, irritability, moodiness, pelvic pains, spotting, etc. Again, most of these I thought would just improve with time or were caused by other things, but now I'm thinking maybe my husband might be right and that it's related to the IUD. Darn! I hate admitting when my husbands right! =)

I am a 57 year old man, who has been suffering from asthma several years. This spring my doctor put me on Singulair as an additional medicine to my cortisone-inhalator. after one month I feel symptoms of depression an mood-changing, severe ups and downs.
AND - as an additional symptom i have partially lost my feeling in some fingertips, and now parts of my left thumb and even a feeling of "cold2, mostly in my left hand.
anyone who share that symptom?
M.

Thank you so much for all the information! My son was prescribed Singulair pills this fall. He has been taking them for seasonal allergies and we had no problems. These were the sample chewable kind. Then came the pills... Unfortunately I did not see the news or read the article about the side affects of Singulair. Within 4 days my happy well adjusted 10 year old had serious sleeping problems along with stomach aches. He will wake up screaming and crying and cannot tell me what is wrong. He said he had a nightmare but doesn't remember what it was about.

My husband was away on a business trip when I started him on the medicine. He came back to a very unhappy and sleepy child. I asked my son what he was scared of and he asked me to tell daddy that he does not feel safe while he is out of town. He can't sleep unless he is by one of us. He's not safe. His bedroom is 15' from our bedroom! He loves his doctor and begged that I call Dr. Becky so he can talk to her.

I could not take this anymore and started thinking about what was wrong. I went through all his activities, friends he's played with, school problems, anything! Then it hit me, effects of Singulair!

Wow, what an eye opener. Fortunately my husband did not have him take it this morning. He will not be going back to this medication. Ever!

Thank you for the information once again. I hope everyone's child gets better. Everyone wants a happy well child. No child should have to go through this. They have enough pressure as it is without the meds making things worse.

Maeri

Finding this web site has been a big eye opener me, I knew that what was going on with my body couldn't be normal, but didn't want to admit it. I am a 27 yr old mother of 2 that can't use BC due to liver issues. I worked in an OB/Gyn office for 5 years and never heard any horror stories about either one of the IUDs. My doctor/coworker suggested the COPPER IUD which was placed in 2000 after the birth of my 2nd son. After doing so, I dealt with 2 years of extremely heavy bleeding, cramping, migraines..... So, my doctor then decided to replace the copper with the Mirena. I had the copper taken out and the Mirena put in last March (07). 2 months after that, I was taken to the hospital with excruciating pelvic pain. To find out I had a ruptured cyst. This had NEVER happened to me before and after the surgery my health has gone down hill. I now have breakouts all over my body, nausea, swollen hands and feet, 20 lbs extra, fatigued, increased perspiration, moody, I have moments of rage, tired ALL the time, emotional, and constant pelvic pain. Not bad enough to go the dr, but enough to notice it the entire day. I have moments when all I do is sleep and others when I can't sleep at all.
The GREAT upside to the Mirena has been that I no longer get migraine headaches and I don't get periods at all. It sounds great, but the negative side effects are taking their toll on me. I have to take it out in hopes to regain myself. I don't recognize myself anymore. Physically or emotionally. Good luck to all the women that are on it or considering it. I hope that this brings insight to anyone that has questions.
I have made an appt at the end of this month to have it removed.

59 year old female, overweight.

My nightmare with 40 mg. Lisinopril started 3 months ago with the dry, hacking cough which got bad enough for me to gag & left me short of breath. I stopped this med completely after reading the horror stories here. Had little effect in lowering blood pressure.

I felt achy all over - thought I had the flu or a nagging cold which wouldn't let go, yet no temperature or other symptoms. Been coughing for 3 months. Some numbness in left hand fingers. Very tired all the time with no desire to do anything.

Depression got much worse, I felt like I was dying or had cancer and just felt like I wanted to end it all to get relief.

Had moving chest pains and some pain in left arm. Bad stomach/intestinal pains with bloating, gas & cramps. Some dizziness & light-headed feelings.

Reading the posts on this forum has been a Godsend; I wish I had found it sooner. My mom just got a prescription for Lisinopril; I told her to not take it - it's poison. Referred her to this page. When I read the same symptoms over & over on these pages, this is a red flag. Only wish the doctors would take heed of this - in fact I plan to tell my doctor tomorrow to come here & read these postings - they are an eye opener and could well save others from the horror of Lisinopril.

I'm planning on weaning myself off all prescription meds and start an herbal/alternative lifestyle. I stopped this stuff cold turkey when I read all the posts here & am feeling somewhat better altho I still have the nagging cough. Truth to tell I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I had my Mirena inserted 8 weeks after having my 3rd child. Everything seemed fine for the first 3 months but then I began to develop severe pain in my finger joints, wrists, ankles, elbows, back and neck. I was shuffling around like a 90 year old woman. At first I thought I may have developed arthritis and then my mother suggested I give up the breastfeeding as it might be 'taking it out of me'. Then the other symptoms seemed to creep up on me - foggy brain, severe mood swings, feeling sad and depressed for no reason, SEVERE headaches, night sweats and extreme fatigue. I couldn't complete tasks like washing the clothes and general cleaning of my home and I never felt refreshed after a long sleep. I remember saying to my husband on 3 or 4 occasions 'I feel like I'm going crazy!!' I think he thought the same thing. It was only by chance I revisited a forum I had bookmarked earlier when I was trying to find out how long after initial insertion the bleeding lasted that a post containing some similar side-effects to the ones I was experiencing caught my eye - well what an eye-opener, I would never in my wildest dreams have connected my symptoms with my IUD. The cause of my debilitating symptoms became so clear and that night I squatted down in the shower, found the strings, gave a tug and took the damn thing out myself! That was 3 weeks ago and I've felt a little better every day. I'm hoping to be back to my old self as soon as possible. Thank you so much to everyone who has shared their experiences. If it wasn't for you these debilitating effects on my body would have continued for I dont know how long.

Wow, what an eye opener. I have taken Lisinopril for years and for months now I have been feeling blah, burned out, bored, apathetic along with muscle aches, poor concentration and a frog in my throat - and then I read that other had the same effects

High time to talk to the doctor.

My 2 year old son has been taking Singulair for about a month. He had a bad asthma attack in September and was on albuterol and prednisone. Then the dr. prescribed Pulmicort and after giving it to him for 3 days and reading the literature, I stopped giving it to him because it had terrible side effects. The dr. was not happy with me and I agreed to put him on Singulair since it wasn't a steroid.

He has always been clingy and never a good sleeper. Recently he's been sleeping terribly and having awful night terrors. He can't really talk much yet, so I can't ask him what is wrong, but he'll wake up looking terrified and shaking and pointing at the celing and nothing is there. I can barely get him calmed back down. He also has gotten worse about not being with me. He has to have his hand on me at all times when we around other people. As I said, he's always been clingy, but he's just been worse lately. Also, he's had a stuffy nose since he went on the Singulair. He can no longer breathe out of his nose at all. When he's sleeping he snores terribly and sometimes gasps, which scares me. It's like an apnea thing. He's also been sleeping until 10 - 10:30 am which he's never done.

My husband did not want him taking it from the start, but I was stupid and did what I wanted instead of listening to him. Now I realize his gut feeling was right on and it makes me almost cry. He is too little to be telling me if his head or body hurts or what he is feeling, so he may be feeling even worse than I suspect.

I am going to research diet changes and see if that is something we can do to control his asthma. We're also seeing a chiropractor and trying some things to boost his immune system so he won't get sick and have it lead to asthma attacks.

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. I appreciate it more than you know. I hate that any of our children (or you adults) have had to go through these things, but sharing your experiences makes it worth it so that others won't have to go through the same. Thank you!

after taking mobic for a month night leg cramps like nothing i've ever experienced consistenly started waking me from a deep sleep. my muscles were so sore, I had difficulty walking the next day. I'm not taking any for a few days, hoping this is the problem. I have degenerative/crippling arthritis in both thumbs. Dr. says, surgery is the answer. Perhaps so.

I am stunned at what I am reading. I have been on Yasmin for about 3 years and I have had a really rough 2.5 years. Mostly depression and my moods are up and down. That has been tough because I married 2.5 years ago and moved to a new state. I thought it was because of that even though I know myself and that I thought I would handle it better. I know that there would definatly be a greiving time of leaving my family, but 2.5 years....I did ask my doctor about this and they did the same, suggested anti-depressants, which I just didn't want to do yet, so I just said I would see later if I felt better. Anyway, I did not realize that this could be the pill. I have had horrible headaches for the past year and a half and I thought that it might be the pill but the doctor reassured me that this was one of the best pills to be on and maybe it was just stress related. This is crazy, good crazy, news to me. Now I don't feel as crazy as I have made myself feel. I stopped taking my Yasmin about 3 weeks ago. I am feeling very bloated and I did have bleeding for a couple of days this past week. Is that a side effect that any of you have had?? I was a little concerned when I started bleeding that I went to the doctors, she said that I would need to wait a couple of weeks to make sure that I wasn't pregnant and if I was still bleeding then to call her. I feel tired and foggy and like I said, very bloated. Do these things go away?? When?? One thing I do know is that I will never go back on this pill again. Thank you to all of you for speaking out. This is an eye-opener and I can only imagine how many women this will help. Thanks!!!

I have been on Levaquin for about 6 days. I have been having horrible pain in my knees especially but also my shoulders and elbows. It keeps getting worse. I am an active person but I haven't been able to walk at all. I finally decided if just by some off chance to check on the computer for some side effects for this medication. I can't believe that this has happened to some others too. What an eye opener. I am calling the DR. tomorrow and I won't take another one again.

I am a 55 yr old female that has battled with asthma my whole life. In the more recent years, it seems to be more related to allergies, than the earlier years when I was more affected by temp changes and activity. I have used a form of albuterol in inhalers for years to control it. About 5 years ago my doctor put me on Serevent and Flovent. Last year he changed me to Advair saying it was the combo of the two of them. I have gained a lot of upper body weight in the last 5 years. I have never had a weight problem until now and can't seem to lose it. I have also developed high blood pressure and have to take meds for that and for "water weight", and joint pain and have to take meds for that. I stumbled onto this forum and it has been a real eye opener. I realize that some of this is due to my age and body changes but I now wonder how much has to do with the medications, particularly Advair. I wonder if I can drop the weight - and therefore lower my blood pressure and cholesterol and maybe lessen my joint pain if I stop the Advair? Has anyone experienced anything like this. My asthma was pretty controllable prior to Advair - Thanks for any info you may have.

I am new to asthma drugs, diagnosed with asthma in November at 44 years old. I hope that this helps someone else. I was put on Advair a few weeks ago. Along with Zithromax antibiotic to clear up the URI. Also was given Albuterol was severe breathing problems. The Albuterol helped of course (no sleeping though) and the antiobioitc as well as Advair seemed to get the problem under control in about a week. A few days after the anitibiotic was done, symptoms returned, but not as bad. Dr. put me on prednisone (the sterioid), and Advair. That was a hard week, but as before the symptoms improved. however, a few days after the prednisone course symptoms returned. The Dr. then decided to continue with the Advair, another longer course of prednisone and added Singulair to the mix. Within 3 days of taking the Singulair with the Advair, I could not sleep, had severe heart palpitations, wheezing, and the heartburn was so bad I felt like I had a huge stone in my chest and throat and several moderate asthmas incidents where I had to use the Albuterol. I had a headache, dizziness, and could not sleep. The Singulair MADE MY BREATHING PROBLEMS WORSE. And if you read the side effects of Singulair they actually can make worse the very asthma symptoms they are supposed to improve. It was a real eye opener. READ YOUR PATIENT INSERT FROM THE PACKAGE. I felt like I was going to die and each day felt worse. I discontinued the Singular after 4 days and within 24 hours felt much better and in 48 hourss had none of these syjmptoms. My doctor was just incredulous that this MIRACLE drug THAT MOST PEOPLE NEVER, EVER HAVE problems with could bother me. Drs try but you know your body better than anyone else, dont' be shy and stand your ground, they are wrong sometimes!!So listen to your head and heart, and body and read the labels. I had to figure this out for myself. On to the next part of the story, I am on Advair now for about 8 weeks, and notice in the past week, I am light headed, dizzy sometimes, am not sleeping a sound sleep, waking every hour or so, am NERVOUS AND JUMPY, my legs and arms are so weak, I can barely walk, so so tired, I feel like I am just slipping away. It is hard to type this because my fingers are so shakey and weak. Thank goodness I found this web site. I am discontinuing the Advair, I know in my gut that after reading this and listening to that little voice in my head that I am sensitve to a lot of drugs anjd Advair is on of them. It might be 1-3% of the people tested that have these awful side effects, but it doewsn't seem such a small group if you are one of them. And if you look at the studies, they only test around 400 people!!! So my journey continues. I am not totally convinced I even have asthma..............Please email if you would like.

hello,
I am so lucky I found this site. I have been taking advair 250 twice a day for roughly 3 years now. Like so many here I was amazed at how rapdily my asthma seemed a problem of the past. However I have noticed for some time now that my hair is thinning (I am the only one in my family), I am gaining weight, i am depressed and now I have to see an osteopath because my upper chest/sturnum is constantly in pain, and the osteopath believes it is due to the intake of Advair. This site is a big eye opener. Got to find another way to cure Asthma.

OMG...I have been on Advair for 5 years and I am awed at your posts. I have been blaming most of my symptoms and weight gain on my weight. I knew that I was having the hoarseness and continuous sinus drip, but I did not realize it was from the Advair. I just thought my allergies were getting worse. I feel so stupid.

I have the thinning of the skin and bruising. A simple touch of my arms and the skin peels and bleeds. I have read and re-read these posts and the symptoms all of you have I have and have had doctors tell me, they have no idea what is causing the symptoms. What an eye-opener. Thank you.

I am so grateful that I have discovered this site. I have been off Advair for the past two weeks, just b/c I needed a refill RX, and couldn't get in to see my doctor, but I am a little concerned now, that I hear I should have weaned myself gently off. Guess it is too late now.

Best of luck to all of you and I will keep checking back for future help.