Family friends symptoms and conditions

Like it has been said MULTIPLE times before my post....I AM SO HAPPY I FOUND THIS SITE!!!! I seriously was beginning to think I was crazy and that I was doing something wrong in my life to cause the horrible feelings I was having! My life is the best it has been in years (super job, fantastic,loving, caring boyfriend of 2+ years, super family & friends, financially stable, etc.) but one little thing could ruin my day or my week! The littlest things set me off (like my boyfriend playing with my phone! how dumb!) and I was a total bitch to everyone I came in contact with if I had been set off earlier. I have very low energy and the whole dryness thing too (eyes, mouth, and down below) as well as ZERO sex drive. I seriously was beginning to think that maybe I didn't love my boyfriend anymore and that I needed to go see a psych to get my self out of this mood! I cried for no reason at random times during the month, I perseverate on stupid stuff that means nothing. I have only taken Yasmin (Ocella is what I take, it is the generic) for about a year and I totally attribute all of my craziness with this pill!!!!!!! I don't know what made me think of my BC first to check side effects but I am so glad I did! I hope this helps those of you who feel the same way and don't know why. I know reading everyone else's did me! :) Good Luck and get off this pill!!!!! BTW...Yaz was just as bad!!!

I'm 24 years old...
YAY!! I got my Mirena removed yesterday!!! I feel so good! The procedure was super quick and completely painless for me. My doc was very supportive! I opted for the diaphragm/spermicide. I was fitted for it during the same visit and to my surprise, it was really easy to insert and remove and I couldn't even feel it when it was in. I am so excited to no longer have the hormones that the Mirena was intruding into my body!!! I was told that the combo diaphragm/spermicide is 90%, but that is better than feeling bad and potentially damaging my body, marriage and family/friends! I just wasn't myself with the Mirena. Anyway, children are a gift from God and if He wants me to have one then I will, no matter what kind of birth control I use. I have decided to just be responsible and just trust Him. God know if and when I will have another!!

God Bless you all and good luck!
I will keep you posted on how long it took which symptoms to disappear!

I'm 15 years old and i've been taking prednisone for a few months, and from what i've read i'm on a really high dose. i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and another autoimmune disorder concerning my muscles at the same time. my doctor told me prednisone was my only choice; it was either that or i would lose the ability to walk. he told me there'd be side effects, but i had no idea it'd turn out like this or i would have fought harder for another course of action. i started out on 30mg twice a day, and since then was weaned down to 20mg twice a day and now i'm down to 30mg once a day. i've been looking up a bunch of information trying to figure out if there's a way to lessen the side effects or any hope at all that they will get better. apparently there isn't much. after reading a bunch of these stories i gotta say i'm not feeling great about this. i totally understand everything everyone is going through. i'm sure you can imagine what it's like being smack in the middle of high school with a huge puffy face, acne so bad on my face, chest, back, neck, and shoulders that wearing a bra could put me in tears, and mood swings so bad i've lost friends over it. everyone knows how brutal high school can be, where appearance and attitude are everything. and i try to tell my doctor about it and he literally looks at me like i'm a whiny teenager and says "you're just going to have to deal with it." and people like my mom and my closest friends don't get it either. nobody understands how beyond frustrating it is. i'll get into the worst moods and not have a reason for it, but i'll stay angry for hours or burst into tears over someone looking at me the wrong way. it'll get to the point where i have to isolate myself from other people because the abrubt mood changes get so bad. as bad as i hate to admit it, the pain from the arthritis is gone now and supposedly my muscles are doing better too. developing arthritis caused me to have to quit cheerleading, something i've loved doing for 6 years, because the pain got to the point where i couldn't get my arms above my head or bend my knees. however, i'd almost rather deal with the horrible joint pain than deal with the side effects of prednisone. if your doctor gives you and alternative method, take it. i've always been confident in the way i look and really outgoing and happy and now i sometimes catch myself thinking about suicide. that's shocking to me because i've got so much going for me, but this medicine makes me miserable. and when i complain about it, anyone i'm talking to just looks at me like i'm being a cry baby. my mom does too, she'll say things like "you just have to do this. i know it's not what you want but to be honest i'm sick of hearing you bitch about it."
i feel a little better knowing other people feel the same way - like nobody gets whats going on with them. the prednisone does give me days of really great euphoria and days when i feel like i could run a marathon, but waking up in the morning to the acne and huge face puts me to tears every day. i have to pee all the time, usually getting up at 2 or 3 am. i don't sleep well anymore and i do sweat all the time. which also sucks being a teenage girl. i'm always hungry, and when i eat i never feel full so i don't know when to stop. my neck and face have put on so much weight that when people see me in the halls or out and about they ask me what happened. mind you these are people i don't talk to, just ones i know from classes or whatever. and it's pretty bad when teenage boys i've never really talked to ask what happened to your face. kind of a blow to the ego, or whatever is left of it at this point.
i'd like to know if, as my dosage gets lowered, the side effects will diminish and when i'm off the prednisone completely if they will disappear altogether. any help there?
or if there is any way to help the acne or puffy face

my doctor just put me on something called methotrexate or something like that to help wean me off the prednisone, and does anyone know what those side effects will do? or if they'll affect the prednisone side effects?
i'm constantly obsessing over gaining weight and what my skin looks like and what i eat and how heavy my face feels and the occasional pressure in my eyes to the point where i just want to be put out of my misery.
and after reading other people's stories i really don't understand why this drug is still given out as freely as it is. but maybe all doctors are like mine, they just don't get it.
best of luck to anyone who's on prednisone, my heart goes out to you; i'm right there with you
sorry this became like a book it wasn't meant to be this long

Hi everyone, I have just read all thirty pages of posts to try to find some answers to my crazy reaction to prednisone. My thoughts are with you all since I have had an usually severe reaction to prednisone. I was on prednisone for 1 week in October 2008 at 60 mg/day for a sinus surgery. I am still having the following side effects at full force:

Axiety to the point I can't socialize
mood swings
hot/sweating even in freezing weather
whole body shakes
severe migraines
tooth sensitivity
muscle pains
extreme thirst (I drink almost 2 gallons/day)
hungry all the time
moon face
water retention around waist
acne
hair loss
rapid heart rate
dizziness
nightmares
night sweats
high blood pressure
high hear rate

I'm not exaggerating, my parent's can contend to that. I do have a history of having sever reactions to medication and I've had all the gland and blood tests which all check out. I never had a single one of these before the prednisone - I was a healthy 22 year old.

I was wondering if any could tell me when this hell will end - my job and well-being depends on it!

Hello I'm a 41 year old female, and I took Lipitor 20 mgs for 6 months about two years ago. When I called my doctor's office to complain about side effects they told me it couldn't be the Lipitor because I had been taking it for a month already, and would have had problems before that. I eventually took myself off of the drug 5 months later. Here are some of the side effects I experienced:
Itchy fingertips, increased blood pressure, 30lb weight gain, shaky hand writing, acne, poor driving skills, poor memory, hair loss, "frozen joints", IBS, incontinence, low grade fever, itchy feet, numb toes, numb hands, foggy brain, joint pain, muscle pain, foot pain, plantar pain, dizzy, jaw pain, back and neck pain, week ankles and wrists, nasal allergies, skin rashes, migraines, heartburn, Increase in Astham, heart palpitations, knee pain, difficulty standing up from sitting position, difficulty climbing stairs, water retention alternating in feet, hands, arms and legs, almost constant taste of bile in my mouth.
These are only the ones I can remember. Two years down the road everything but the muscle and joint pain and weakness is gone. even those have improved a lot. I stopped taking the Lipitor and lost all 30lbs I had gained on it, without dieting, in a months time. I still have two toes on each foot that are partially numb. I have trouble climbing stairs, and getting up from a sitting position. I can do both, but I move slowly while doing them. The pain in my muscles and joints drives me crazy, but I'm grateful that the rest of the symptoms have cleared up. My doctor never believed me about my symptoms, and neither does my new doctor really. Went to the emergency room for asthma that was not responding to my inhaler, and they were about to let me go home when I mentioned to the doctor that I had been on Lipitor. Suddenly a huge battery of tests were ordered including a CT scan and a stress test. When I asked the doctor why he said that they just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something other than asthma. Why did they do that after hearing about the Lipitor? Do they know something? Are there doctors who believe that statins are killing and seriously injuring people? I'm so angry. Even as I sit here typing I know when I stand up I will have massive amounts of pain that I will have to "walk off". My quadriceps have not recovered, and remain ridiculously weak.
If I can stop one other person from going through this I will be happy. Thanks everyone for taking the time to list your symptoms. It makes me feel better to know that someone believes me, and knows what I am going through.

ok so here is my story, mostly i just need to get stuff off my chest... i'm 25 and have been on some form of birth control since i was 16 - i was having 12-15 day periods and horrific cramps and back pain. i tried to take the pill and was on it til i was about 20 but i never once took it correctly, i missed doses all the time. so i went on the patch for 2 years and that was much easier to take but i started having numbness in my limbs and heard horror stories so i stopped that. tried the pill again, bad idea still couldn't take it right so i was very excited when i heard about the ring. i've been on it for about 2 years and it's so convenient and i really love it for controlling my period. but now as i read other people's posts i think it may be adding to my depression/anxiety. the hard part for me is depression is very prevalent in my family, all of my immediate family members are medicated for it. i've tried some medications but did not like the side effects and taking it and then forgetting it is worse so i stopped. so now i'm wondering and really confused as to whether my depression is more due to my family or my ring. i figure the easy way to find out is to take the thing out but i have no idea what my periods would be like and i do NOT want kids at this point. but i realize that my depression has been worse since about the time i started the ring, and the hard part is that i drive people away when im' depressed and am sabotaging to my relationships with family, friends, and bfs. the way my life is going right now i should not be feeling like this - i finally started grad school so i am doing what i love, i bought my first home and i have a man who is head over heels in love with me. i don't want this ring to make me into this monster and ruin all the good stuff i have going on.

to those who stopped using the ring, about how long did it take before you felt less depressed? i'm a little worried it will take longer since i've been on it for so long but crossing my fingers it won't.

thanks for listening to me vent!

Hi everyone, i posted a comment on 12/8/08 about my experience on the NR.... i went home that same night and took it out. Immediately the day after within the next 24 hours or so i felt back to my normal self. Today i feel even better, my depression is gone, my hunger is under control, my headaches are gone and my nausea/flu like symptoms are gone as well. I am done with birth control, my experience with NR was way to traumatic for me. Condoms will have to do. I wish everyone using NR the best of luck and I hope everyone who has had the same experience and stopped using NR gets better soon.

I was admitted through the ER in sept. i had previously taken Bactrim for a bug bite on my foot three months prior. I had been severely bruising and had some lab work done. I got a call from my Dr. around midnight to go to ER immediately. My platelet count was at 11,000 a normal being 100,000-400,000. I went to ER and was admitted for 5 days. After running test after test there was no conclusion to what had caused this low platelet count but I was diagnosed with ITP. From here they put me on 50 mg/day of Prednisone for 1 month. I have now started to taper 40/ 2 weeks. 30/2 weeks. But then the side- effects started to come so fast. At first it was just sweating, minor anxiety, mood swings, and slight increase of appetite. Now that I had tapered my adrenal gland is suppressed much more and I am going through withdrawal. I am 21 years old I am 5'7" and I weighed 118 two weeks ago, since I have gained 12lbs of water weight. I am working out daily and eating healthy, although it is more than I used to eat. I have some family friends that work at Stanford University and they are ITP specialists. They told me their regimen for Prednisone is a 5mg/wk taper instead of 10/ 2 weeks. So the past two weeks I have been going down by 5. Today was my second day at 20 mg. I have gone through all of the mentioned side- effects except the back hump. I am hoping and praying that these symptoms will clear asap. And to everyone else out there your not alone.

i started on xanax .25mg for anxiety and stress for 1-week then i was given xanax xr 5mg and celexa 20mg 1/2 for 6 days, thereafter 20mg and let me tell you going to the 20mg i felt like a zombie, the next morning jittering, very sleepy and cranky, since this is the first time on this med maybe thats my body reacting, so i took again the next night, very nausea, jittery, and sweaty, between my husband and i i went back to 10mg. of celexa at nite, i continue to take xanax xr 5mg in the morning, along with god, the angels and family friends doctors and myself i know i'll get through this and became the person i once was. oh yeah forgot to mention along with this i have an impacted wisdom tooth (left). so everyone out there who is started or who has been through this have faith and take it one step at a time and life will get better. please post any comments!!!!

Sadly, I too have had a series of horrific experiences while "on" Ambien... though, at the time, I had no idea what I was doing and only found out after the fact that I had made a total fool of myself. I shut down a pool party at a neighbor's house one evening after apparently calling to complain about the noise they were making. Two hours prior, I was attending the same party. I went home, took an Ambien, crawled into bed, and was apparently up and around and making crazy phone calls with absolutely no recall of the events. Before I stopped taking it completely, my husband would just take the phones and the car keys away from me as soon as I took the medication and then had to put up with my insanity until I would just pass out. I have suffered major depression, confusion, poor impulse control, poor judgment, and have basically been an embarrassment and an impossible person to deal with when I have been on Ambien. I have tingling in my lips and tongue, tremendous lethargy, extreme mood swings and exhibit totally irrational and insane behavior... all without the faintest idea of what I am doing, and absolutely no memory of it after the fact; only the humiliating reports of family, friends and neighbors of my psychotic behavior. Ambien is an extremely dangerous drug and if I could mount an effort to get it taken off the market, I would. Where do we start?

It saddens me to read all the horrible effects this drug has caused. My husband took Levaquin back in August 2007and after 2 days starting have aching muscles, joints, drenching night sweats, high fever, rash. He took this poison drug for days(for a swollen lymph node in groin) and the side effects would not go away. He too was a very healthy 43 year old who worked out 4-5 times a week and very physically fit. This went on for months. He was tested for TB, AIDS, Lyme disease, I think every infectious disease and lymphoma, all came back negative. In Oct. 2007 he was hospitalized for 6 days and we were told that he had a very rare disease called Still's Disease. (google it and read about it please) I with all my heart and soul feel that LEVAQUIN brought this disease on. There is very little known about Still's but it's scary to think that doctors are giving this poison to patients. My husband has been on daily injections of Kineret, Methotrexate and Predisone since October and thank God these meds have given him relief. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE LEVAQUIN and tell all you family, friends and co-workers about it!

Wow, I just found this site. The child that had strep especially caught my attention. My daughter, 11, has been diagnosed with PANDAS, which is also a controversial diagnosis. I'm not sure when she went on Singular, but it was a couple of years ago due to allergies. She had bad reactions to anti-histamines. For the past two years we have been dealing with just about every issue posted here. Physical pains, stomach, headaches, joints. urination issues, high cholesterol, but the worst have been the irritability , mood issues, OCD, fears of cutting herself, bad thoughts, suicidal ideation. She was on Zoloft which made things worse, She was hospitalized at her own request. She was placed on Prozac. She's had years of therapy. She would say life is just so hard and she wants to be a normal kid. About a month ago her pediatrician mentioned that there were some reports about Singular and it would be something to watch for and discuss with the psychiatrist, He didn't seem to know much about it. Last week after another suicidal ideation I decided to research the singular issue. I had been attributing everything to the PANDAs. I was so surprised to see the similarities. I took her off of it Friday and have seen some changes already. I hope we see that continued improvement. Thanks to all who have shared stories, it's so helpful. To have hope that you'll get your kid back is great.

Well, I'll share my story with you, and feel free to comment or ask any questions. I had been taking Yasmin for about 3 years. For the majority that time, I was in college (UCLA) while my long term boyfriend and family were back in the Bay Area. I was extremely depressed, which I presumed to be because I missed my boyfriend, and school was very difficult, etc. However, I had terrible anxiety, to where whenever I went to class, walked the campus, etc, I would have trouble looking up, for fear of making eye contact with others. To ask a question in class made my heart race. I would get terrible lumps in my throat that I could not get rid of. I used to be really outgoing, friends with everyone. But at UCLA for two years, I barely made new friends (maybe 3-5), blaming it on being too busy with my studies. Pretty extreme anxiety. As a child, I was a gymnast and suffered from OCD at one point, probably due to the anxieties of a very strict, mature schedule at such a young age. I guess I've been anxious in some way or another during my whole life, however I feel it was WAY worse during the course of being on Yasmin. I have also suffered from depression in my life, but the worst times were during high school, and during the past few years while on Yasmin. I am not saying I blame Yasmin for these things, but I definitely think it made them worse. I also have been having terrible mood swings, crying spells (to where I felt like I was going crazy), and not feeling like “myself”. I did take a break from the pill after I broke up with my boyfriend, and felt WONDERUL, woke up in a great mood, ready to take on the day, instead of forcing myself to try to start the day happy (which rarely worked). It has been a CHORE to be happy and grateful for my wonderful life (family, friends, good job, own apt., dog) for the past few years.

I stopped taking Yasmin 3 days ago (Sunday the 13th was my first day off of it) and already feel more normal, balanced and myself. Happy, hopeful, more relaxed. Of course this could be “placebo effects”, but I now myself really well, am very in tune with my emotions, etc., and I definitely feel different. I am not rhuminating either, which was another effect.

Does anyone have a similar story? Thanks! -Cassie

I like to live my life with facts, not speculation and drama. My child is on Singulair and doing fantastic. I remember the trips to the ER when I did not know if my child would live or die. Of course when I saw this report, it caused me some concern so I did some research on my own. Did you know that suicide is the leading cause of violent death in New York State, the United States and the world? In 2002 in New York State there were 1,292 suicides which exceeded homicides by 32%. The statistics show that 1 in 10 teenagers plans to commit suicide. The National Center for Health reports a 10% suicide rate in kids 15-24 years of age and 4 male suicides for every female suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among those 15-24 years old.

So now we have 1 child in New York that has committed suicide that just happened to be on Singulair, and it is Singulairs fault? Show me the proof. All I see is one distraught mom who is trying to find blame for her son’s tragic death. Is there only half the story being told, a trend I have noticed in journalism these days. Let’s face it, life happens. I am NOT on Singulair and I have had melt downs, thrown things across the room, been depressed over things, cried, and even for the past week have been having some crazy dreams. I remember as a child putting notes on my room door telling my parents how much I hated them. I remember as a teenager thinking my life would be better if I were dead. I remember my child being cranky and fussy before she was on Singulair, gee maybe she was teething. The term “terrible twos” has been around a lot longer that Singulair. Let’s face it, we have turned into a society of people who always want something to blame. I think it is time people start taking responsibility for themselves and accept the fact that sometimes life just happens. Take accountability for your own lives, and stop trying to blame everything and anything.

I also live my life by reading internet blogs with a grain of salt. These blogs are public forums and places where anyone and everyone can post. How do you know that all these posts are real? Remember the day when kids made prank phone calls for fun? Now they have the internet and can post pranks on these blogs. How do you know that a competitor to Singulair is not posting in order to fuel the feeding frenzy? How about a registered sex offender or a felon in prison? There are a lot of “sick” people in the world and yes, they have access to the internet too. If you are hanging on every single one of these posts as being true and real then I feel sorry for you. The internet provides anonymity and it is easy to create a fictitious identity and a fictitious story. That is probably why if you do a search for “internet safety” you get 15,700,000 hits.

Until I see proof, I am not going to take my child off Singulair. The CDC reports that in 2002 there were 1.9 million visits to the ER for asthma and 4,261 asthma deaths. If I did stop my child’s Singulair, and she died in the ER from as asthma attack, whose head does that fall on? The media?

I cannot believe that there is so much of ignorance in such an educated society. Let me first start by saying I am on no medication absolutely I do have bronchitis I don't take cough medications or allergy medications or inhalers etc etc. I read at the bottom in a post that this 28 year old cries every time she sees te Save the children advertisement. I can tell you I listen to music, I watch tv and every touching or heart rendering story or lyric makes me cry!!! I wonder if i was on Singulair I would certainly be committed to some mental asylum.
I think all you educated people should consider that you do not need to be on a drug or any medication to suffer from depression symptoms or any such other emotional trauma. Why blame one thing alone, blame the governments for putting its citizens under stress , blame your economies for bringing down your county into a recession where your earnings don't meet the cost of living, What we should be fighting for is irrelevant, so some strategy comes into light where all these years, read all the posts, 2 , 5, 7 10 years of using Singulair and NOW you want to complain. Why didn't they complain all these years ago and get the drug recalled.. Don't blame one thing alone. Maybe if people lived cleaner, healthier lifestyles you wont be taking medications.

I had the Mirena inserted over a year ago.And up to this point had no problems. For the past month, family, friends, and co-workers have mentioned (very nicely) that my hair seems to be thining. I had noticed some hair loss, which seemed to be more than normal, and just shrugged it off. But then my kids were complaining and pulling off strands of long blond hair from their clother, and the furniture, and saying; Mom what's going on, your hair is everywhere?. Then I really knew I had a problem, and have noticed considerable amounts of hair all over my clothes, and I do seem to have less hair. I made an appt. to meet with my obgyn.

I have been taking adderall for over a year, but for about 10 months ago, I started taking wellbutrin also and since have had chronic problems with my ears, It's actually getting worse. Not so much ear infections, but the pressure is actually pushing inward. So i feel light headed just funky all day. Kind of like a head cold without the cold. I can't figure out which one is causing (i think wellbutrin) since that's when it began. But it could be the combination. Just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing this. I am 35 female.
thanks pam

my name is Pete i'm 47 I took 1 pill of Levaquin 750 mg I was not able to sleep , I started hallucinating & confused after one pill I then stop taking it , it is an evil pill , it seems as like the drs are trying new medicaton on us with out our consent as a patient . I was just greatful for having my family & friends to help me .my wife ask a nurse how long this would take to flush out answer was 21 days . I hope & pray that each person will get over the side affects .

Hi, my name is Pete I also was prescribed LEVAQUIN 750 mg on 2/5/07 I only took one pill . I stop taking it for it made me hallucinate & confused. I went back to my DR I told him about the side affects that I had encountered but he said that it should have not done this ; but of course the dr's do not have any clue of what this is doing to people this is why we need to post this information so that no one else will go thru what everyone that has taken this antibotic ( evil pill ). I have been off of it for 26 days & still get some anxiety attacks. I do say get your family & friends to support you during this painful time. My wife was told by a nurse that it would take 21 days for it to flush out of my system but I am still on other antibiotics. me and my family pray for each person who taken this ugly medicine.KEEP YOUR FAITH AND HOPE IN GOD!

I have been on BCP for 4 years & the last 10 months it was yasmin & gosh they were not good 10 months at all!!! sex drive went below zero, anxiety & panic attacks, mood swings. I've always had fine hair so i can say nothing about that. Most of my family & friends noticed a big change in me. I stopped taking yasmin in June. Anybody knows exactly how long these symptons will totally disappear. I so wish that I never took yasmin & I cannot understand how its still being recommended by doctors around the world.

To taylorry and everyone on this lovely drug called Prednisone. I have Ulcerative colitis. Recent flare up last year March. Talked to dx, not take me seriously. Had colonoscopy it was bad. Statred 1st time 40mg, felt better next day. Night sweats, no sleep for a month on sleeping pills. I too looked forward to my next meal. I weaned myself off, I think I did it to fast, I could not take it anymore. When does your body stop hurting. My family/friends don't understand why I am so withdrawn. We have to help each other. Love the site.