Family friend symptoms and conditions

I happen to stumble across this sit after googling DIZZINESS and forgetfulness oh did I mention slightly slurring at times!!! I am a school teacher the kids would giggle all the time so thought to myself okay there is definitely something wrong here. I have ZERO patience and you need buckets full of that in my job. I also have a MIRENA I had mine put in after being convinced by my OBGYN and a family friend. Back in July 2006 I haven't felt right ever since. I am so glad I have come across all these wonderful and open women. I am making my appointment today to get it removed maybe I will start feeling normal again.

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be less than 215) and I was barely mobile, huge amounts of weight loss, alopecia, Raynaud's, etc. That was 11 years ago and I am now almost 100% better. Prednisone saved my life, but the side-effects were TERRIBLE! Especially for a girl going through puberty. Kids at school don't understand you're sick, and they can be extremely cruel. Luckily for me a large number of my family members are in the medical profession all over the world and my parents were able to pool knowledge to find the best treatment for me without all the horrible side effects. An uncle in Germany suggested I take a Prednisone alternative widely available in Europe called Diflazacort. This medicine is not available in the states apparently because the FDA thought it was exactly like Prednisone so was unnecessary. I'm sure this is some pharmaceutical company lobbying to preserve Prednisone's monopoly on inflammatory diseases, but regardless it makes finding Diflazacort difficult for Americans. This is a HUGE shame since this medicine gave me ALL of the benefits of Prednisone with NONE of the side effects. My mood swings, water retention, increased appetite, hazy brain, thinning skin, etc etc etc ALL stopped with Diflazacort. This wasn't only true for me either. A family friend had been diagnosed with Crohn's at the time and he was put on Diflazacort from the beginning of his treatment after seeing how I reacted to it and NEVER had any of the negative side effects I had to deal with. Really this drug was like a miracle for me. Prednisone prevented my sure death, but Diflazacort gave me my life back in its entirety. I've now been off of any steroid for 7 years and my muscles are fully back to normal. Some of the fat deposits Predinose caused still linger, but to most people's eyes I'm totally back to normal. I wish I could find everyone having problems with Prednisone side-effects and tell them about Diflazacort. Even though it isn't available in the states (although I heard recently they are trying to get it approved again since a number of studies showed Diflazacort is much more effective treating Crohn's than Prednisone is) you can get it on the internet or if you have doctor friends abroad as I did. I'm always wary of buying drugs over the internet since there's no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be s no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

I am still experiencing hot flushes even though I am post menopausal. I reckon it could be down to the Lisinopril pills. My dose has been doubled to 20mg from 10mg. Could this be the case? Has anyone else had these symptoms?

Due to the large amount of people who suffer devastating side effects from Lipitor and other statins, I would like to encourage each and everyone of you to tell your story on home video and post that video on****** This will be one of the best ways to alert the world to the dangers of this drug.

I have been on lisinopril since august of 07. I have had no side affects except for a little dry cough every once in awhile. about a month and a half ago I started getting blurred vision, short term memory loss,(It took me about 5 minutes to remember what I had for dinner the night before) shortness of breath and the sharp pains along my left rib cage. I think I have figured out why I started getting these symptoms so late in my treatment of HBP. I believe it was due to the recent intake of a salt substitute. I saw on the warnings for lisinopril that you should avoid salt substitutes. I now stopped taking this medication and now my vision is back to normal and the chest pains and memory loss has gone away. I hoped this helps anybody that has had these symptoms because it is something I dont want me or anybody to go through again!!!!!!!!!!!!!( DON'T TAKE SALT SUBSTITUTES ON THIS DRUG)

Hello all- I just wanted to send an update. I removed the ring a little over a week ago- I am just now starting to feel better! My anxiety and depression are gone, no more extreme moods swings and the night sweats have gone away. For all those women out there experiencing this I would suggest getting off asap and trying something else! My doctor (family friend) recommended Yaz as it has different hormones than the ones contained in the Ring. Also- interesting article for those out there experiencing these horrible side effects: http://health.msn.com/womenshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100166587

I am 26, and I had my thyroid removed in November 2003 as a result of having thyroid cancer. I have been on Levoxyl ever since. The first few months, I had trouble sleeping and even taking a 5 minute nap during the day would cause me to be unable to sleep at night. In November 2004 (after a year of adjusting my dosage), they said my thyroid levels were at goal. At the time, I was feeling pretty good (sleeping well, feeling healthy and energetic). But the past month or so, I have been extremely tired and quite moody/depressed. I cry a lot - many times for no reason at all. I had my thyroid levels checked a couple weeks ago, and they said htey at at the goal level. I was talking with a family friend today who is a nurse and told her that I have been extremely tired and fatigue easily. She said that she thinks that the thyroid medications do have side effects that we are not always aware are really from that. Let me know if you have found any solutions to the moody/depressed feelings and emotions and the extreme tiredness. Please email me at ****** if you have any solutions! Thanks!

Initial entry:July 2. Was experiencing severe tightness in joints -- unable to make a fist... all muscles and joints ached. Now, it's July 10 and I'm much improved, but not yet 100%. Tightness is gone, joint pain is gone, but muscles still ache! It's hard to get up from a crouch position, or carry heavy things (like my 3 year old!). I wake up achy -- ibuprofen helps by my stomach is sick from it.

Spoke with a pharmacist family friend who said that joint pain/muscle aches are found in only .05% of 100 people (less than 1%). Also a cousin / ER Dr. of mine found a few similar cases but said they were rare. He initially recommended seeing a Rheumatologist if the pain persisted.

Hope everyone else is feeling better. Incidentally, the sinus infection I had is gone. It only took 5 doses and I had a prescription for 14 days! Oy!