Fence symptoms and conditions

I'm a 37 year old mother of two who is fortunate to work in an OB/GYN office and have different BC's at her disposal. In the last year or so, I've tried Yaz (only stayed on for a month or so and quit due to weight gain and fatigue), the NuvaRing (had yeast infections) and now have just finished my 1st pack of Loestrin 24 FE. I have had spotting all month (enough to use a light tampon), severe mood swings (like a want to tell people off in a bad way!), severe fatigue (want to sleep right as I get home and be a couch potato) and WEIGHT gain (which I HATE!). I am in great shape and wear a size 6-8 but now feel more comfortable in a size 8-10. I know that you should give any BC at least 3 months to work but I don't know if the pros outweigh the cons. Also I did noticed a decrease in sex drive and the drive to want to exercise. I feel horrible after I eat and and feel constantly bloated even when I wake up in the morning and haven't eaten yet. I'm on the fence about staying on this BC.

My Doctor put me on prednisone 10mg for inflammation in my neck. I did 5 first day 5 second day 4 fourth day and when it was time for day 3 he took me off my upper body from waist to neck hurt so bad if anyone would touch me, blotchy to touch no visible rash stomach cramping nausea and I described sitting down as if I had a very bad sunburn, hunched over. I called his office and they said doesn't sound like a sided effect to stop taking well that night Thurs. I was in the ER for a what they are calling an "allergic reaction" gave me benadryl and sent me home next day very groggy, body still hurt not stomach and slept all day. Saturday night back at the ER bad headache and neck and face felt tingly very weird after a million test sent home. Sunday felt the same. Monday went to doctor's office with abdominal cramping nausea and tingling face/headache had an scan of head and more test gave me anxiety pills (I think they think I'm nuts now). Tuesday back at his office feeling worse more test everything so far is normal gave me something for headache (it worked!) and sent me to see a specialist to make sure it was not my appendix which it's not. I'm Still having stomach cramps upper stomach above belly button no more headache occasional tingly of face and no appetite having a stomach ultra sound today. I'm just wondering now if anyone has had the same symptoms? Starting to think maybe I am crazy. I wasn't on it very long so I'm sooo confused. I was also told at my 2nd ER trip that they didn't believe I could have an allergic reaction very impossible.

I have been off Lipitor for 2 weeks now. I still have slurred speech. My tongue is moving to beat the band. I have been to 2 neurologists and both have told me that I have "motor neuron disease". This drug is POISON and anyone on it should get off of it. I never had a problem before I started taking this drug. Now I am looking at ALS as a diagnosis. That is awful to think that I might have that. I will find out on April 14th when I go visit my Dr. at Mass General. I will let everyone know what comes out of it.
P.

I was put on Lipitor 10 mg. last Spring about 8 mos. ago. I have never taken medications/drugs other than aspirin or Motrin or antihistamines. Since that time I have had a strange combination of unexplained symptoms arise throughout the months. These sx's included: Headaches, stiff neck and severe neck pain, acute shoulder pain, hip pains, joint pains, severe knee pain (tendon or Ligament problems?) and loss of movement, hair loss, jaw pain and some memory confusion. Initially, I had severe HA's for several months, but attributed them to stress, however, I had never experienced HA's as a common occurrence. Then we went away to our Maui house to get away from stress, HA's continued, along with leg and shoulder pains. At the same time, I started noticing several strands of hair falling out if lightly touched my hair to move it out of my face. The pains seemed to move around my body at different times, for no apparent reason. I am used to daily exercise, living in CO in the mountains @ high altitude, not usually having muscle soreness. Now, given my leg and knee pains have gotten so bad, I cannot hike and have difficulty climbing my stairs. Skiing is out. Snorkeling caused leg cramps. No explained reason for having muscle tenderness or soreness without my usual exercise at present time. When the pain leaves one area it tends to arise in a different part of my body. At the present time, my hair loss has subsided, as also my jaw pain and headaches. However, my leg pains and knee pains are so acute (for no apparent reason) it is impossible to exercise and difficult to walk that I looked up adverse reactions to Lipitor, finding all my sx's most probably might be attributed to this drug. Partially my fault for not looking up RX information prior, especially being a medical professional for many years. My husband kept throwing away the info when purchasing the RX. Too many unexplained symptoms, I decided to obtain the drug info. myself. I tended to make excuses for months, such as: I am getting older, under stress, must be an old injury, not exercising properly, need PT therapy etc.... I am dc/ing the drug immediately and have an appt. with my MD on 1/5/09 to discuss.

I had Mirena placed in Sept 2007. I have 2 girls, wasn't ready for more at the time, was horrible with taking the pill (both in remembering to do so and with the side effects). Since Mirena is only a "local" hormone, I thought it would be a great choice for me. This past summer I got online to find out why my periods were so odd... brown, clumpy, really short but frequent... and came across this site as well as a few others. I couldn't believe the stories everyone was sharing! I could easily dismiss all of my symptoms away to something else... constant exhaustion (I have 2 kids under 5 and work full time, maybe my thyroid), anxiety and even a few panic attacks (started a new job), no libido (tired and stressed… How funny to spend so much money on birth control and have no desire for sex!!!), irritable (2 kids), hair loss (didn't even think of that one, but it is true), night sweats (maybe I am just dressed to warmly to go to bed?), unable to lose some weight (gained 5 pounds post insertion now that I think about it) even though I had joined a gym, was working out with a personal trainer and really watching my eating (maybe this is my new weight... I am 35 and my metabolism is supposed to slow down), weird pain/bloating in my lower abdomen (gas??? maybe something I am eating???), the described ‘Fog’… how true! I saw my doctor about 1 ½ months ago and we discussed taking it out. I had my thyroid checked first just to see if that may be the problem. It was, but after putting all of these pieces together I just needed to get this thing out!!! I had it removed one week ago. I felt better immediately. I am sure that was psychological, but who cares! Bled for a week and now it has stopped. Feeling some cramps still, but overall really good, especially emotionally. I asked my doctor about the ‘CRASH’ and she hadn’t heard of such a thing. I am kind of on the fence with this one… just waiting… hoping it won’t happen. If anyone is about 1 week out like me, I would love to hear more from you! I am sure Mirena is good for some, but I am sure it is not good for me. I am happy to be out of the fog.

Ladies, thank you for all of your posts. I now know that I am not crazy! I am 32 and was on the pill for the past 3 years since my last child was born. I went off the pill and had the mirena inserted in February 2008. I had a few friends that had it who raved about how much they loved it. I talked with my gyn and it sounded like a good fit for me. In the first month that it was inserted I had to call the on call gynecologist at night or on weekends because I was having such sharp pains in my pelvic area. It would stop me in my tracks, I would lose my breath, and couldn't move. I went in to the office twice in the first month because I was just not feeling right about the way things were going. My doc assured me it was all normal and that I had to give it a few more months. I did have random spotting/periods for the first 3 months, which was annoying, but bearable. In June I had an ovarian cyst rupture and the pain was so bad I could have sworn I was in labor. I went to the ER and they found that one had ruptured but there was another one that was almost 5 cm in diameter. Subsequent ultrasounds showed that I did have a steady cycle of ovarian cysts, but they were small. In the meantime I had trouble sleeping, was flying off the handle for silly things, and just felt completely out of control. I talked to my new family medicine doctor (a woman) and she told me that she felt that my body was going into a semi-menopausal state because of the lack of estrogen in my body. The solution was to put me on an estrogen patch for 3-6 months to see if it helped. I was on the fence about the patch, but knew I had to do something to help me get some sleep again and to calm down. The patch worked quickly and within a week I was feeling calmer, sleeping through the night again. In the meantime I have crazy acne that just seemed to appear from no where. I'm not sure if it's the estrogen patch, the iud, or a combination of them both. My face is broken out everywhere, all the time. My hair has also changed. It's been straight my whole life. Super straight, now waves or curls. Now all of the sudden I have frizzy, wavy hair that is thinning and just looks so damaged. By the summer, about 3 months after the IUD was inserted my periods were normal, short, but normal, every 4 weeks. Now I have not had a period in 5 weeks (pregnancy test negative) and my cycle before that was only 3 weeks. I have finally decided that I'm done with mirena!! I am going for an appointment on the 17th to have it taken out. I have also just stopped the estrogen patch this week, so I'm hoping to have my body "de-toxed" of all of these hormones soon!

Im still on the fence about Ativan...I am taking a 1mg tab once a day along with my 100mg og zoloft. The ativan is for my dystonia, which is a result of certain surgeries i had to rid myself of cancer. The dystonia would flare up and become horrible (meaning my neck,left shoulder and left side of my back would twitch like crazy)and this eventually lead to the ligaments in my shoulder becoming so loose from the twitching that I have had to have two more surgeries to correct that problem. Since taking the ativan on a daily basis, I have has almost NO ticks or twitches. however, while i don't have as much anxiety, i do feel more depressed and my doctor upped my zoloft...

I haven't taken BCP's in about 15 years. I recently started due to severe endomistriosis and extreme moodiness (which I believed was PMDD) I went to my gyno and she put me on YAZ. I am on my 2nd month of YAZ. My first month was fine and I actually enjoyed not having my period for the first time in a million years and my moodiness seemed to be gone. I am now into my 2nd week of my 2nd month and I have to say it sort of sucks. Im on the fence about this product. It has decreased the severity of my PMS symptoms as far as the pain goes, but I still got all of my usual symptoms (only less painful) except for the extreme moodiness. And, even though I have been consistent about taking the pill I have had a very very light but steady period for the past 6 or so days (which is actually longer than my normal periods). The other bad things about this pill is I have had a complete drop in libido and very extreme fatigue, to the point where I feel like a walking zombie. I would have to say the only thing good about it is the fact that my severe moodiness (during PMS) was completely gone, and it lightened my PMS symptoms and flow. So, I haven't decided if this is working for me or not.

I had been on other statin drugs and experienced severe muscle pain in my arms. After going off the RX's the pain went away. Now my MD prescribed Welchol 4 months ago. I didn't focus on any side effects until I read all of these logs. I've been having severe pain in my knees, but it seemed to have subsided since I started using moist heat on them. The gas pain that I also have been experiencing I just chulked it up to getting older and taking fish oil. I wish I would have read these logs before I filled a 3 month supply of the drug. Now I don't know what to do. The Welchol seems to be working, but now I'm on the fence about the drug.

I have had my mirena for almost 6 weeks now - I am still having some bloating, indigestion, and joint pain - all of which my doctor says should not be related to Mirena. Also, moodiness and anxiety -which she said could be due to my post partum state or the fact that I am nursing - so we left it in for now. She said to give it another month or two - UGH - I don't want to give up on it - but it seems that those that have had it removed are feeling much better - please continue to post comments after removal for those of us on the fence about what to do.

Hey all! I've been on Loestrin 24 for an entire month (just finished my pack today) and things have been smooth. No tender breasts, no weight gain, no depression, nothing! ***EXCEPT I still haven't got my period! I'm almost completely positive I'm not pregnant.. my boyfriend and I are extremely careful. What's weird is that I keep expecting to get my period because I'm getting the usual signs I get right before my period..

**Has anyone else experienced no period on this birth control???

I have been on Singulair for nine years and I thank Merck for discovering and manufacturing it. I also thank my doctor for prescribing it to me. I have my life back! I had asthma so bad I was on high dose inhaled steroids and Albuterol. I had a nebulizer on my kitchen table and a drawer full of Albuterol in my refrigerator. Like clock work I would wake up wheezing and gasping for air and have to administer myself a treatment at 4 am every morning. I would try to exercise and I would wheeze and cough. I then went on Singulair and my nebulizer has been in the basement for at least 9 years, I have the drawer back in my refrigerator too. I exercise now and even ran my first race last summer without needing an inhaler. Thank God for Singulair. I am not going to die from my asthma.

There are so few choices to treat asthma and allergies and all the medications have problems like an FDA black box warning for increased death on Salmeterol(I stopped taking that) which is in Advair and emotional disturbances with steroids and increased suicide risk with Zyrtec which is now over the counter.

I do feel sorry for Cody's parents. It must be tragic to lose a child. My heart does go out to them. However looking rationally at this story, there seems to be a whole side missing. The news story did not mention anything about Cody's past history on the news. Did he ever have signs of depression? Was there an interview with his doctor? Was he having problems with friends at school? Was he into any drugs or adolescent games? Teenage boys also have the highest rate of suicide, medicines aside.

With all due respect, I never saw any of Cody’s friends or teachers be interviewed. Maybe this did happen and I missed this but I watched the news cast videos. Could there be more to this story that is purposefully being edited out or just not asked?

I never believe the media fully. They are very irresponsible and inaccurate at times.
If you read the product information of any drug including aspirin you would never want to take it. The truth is that many times the benefits of drugs out weigh the risks. I know I will keep taking my Singulair because I do not want to die of asthma sucking on inhalers like my mother did.

My Mirena Removal....
So i posted here a few weeks ago after I found this site. I had EVERY side effect listed and was so freaked out that i immediately made an appointment for removal.
For those of you reading and wondering what the removal is like..
Well, NOTHING like the insertion. I was so so nervous and it was over before we actually started. The DR was surprised that i was back in his office to have this removed. He then proceeded to do an ultrasound to be sure it was placed properly before removal. And yes, all was OK on the position of it. I explained to him my reasons and he looked at me like he had never heard this before. I honestly can not imagine with all the women he sees that NONE of them have complained. But...as I was getting dressed afterwards, I took a good look in his office. There was Mirena literature ALL over the place. In fact, that was the ONLY thing he was advertising. Not to mention...they made me pay up front with the insertion back in Nivember...billed my insurance and I still have yet to receive my reimbursement. Oh yeah, and that...they charge more than the actual Mirena costs, then they bill your insurance for the price they know they will pay and the DR then makes about $150 profit. Nice.
Ok, back to my side effects post Mirena. The removal was not painful at all. I did spot for about a week- nothing too heavy but it was clotty and def there.
A couple of days after the removal it felt like I was coming out of my skin something terrible. I figured this was my body adjusting to the lack of hormones. I also had some headaches.
It has now been 2 weeks and the spotting has disappeared. I also can see the bloating of my stomach is starting to go away. It looked like I was about 4 mos preggo while I was on it. I also have an increased sex drive. And sleep-- well let me tell you, I have not slept this good in a very long time. I am actually sleeping more than 6 hours now and the night sweats have also discontinued.
I can't believe EVERY time I come to this site and look up Mirena ALL the people that have posted their experience as being negative. Yet, the DR looks at me like I am crazy! I have been seeing him for years and I have never complained about something like this. I really am so happy that I have it out and wish I would have done my research on this prior to insertion (which was one of the most painful things ever!)
So..for those of you out there that are either contemplating having it inserted...I say NO WAY. And for those of you out there that are nervous about the removal or not sure..I SAY YES, DO IT! For our bodies to be reacting this way, it is clear to me that it should not be inside of us. Listen to your bodies...they really do speak to you and let you know when something is not right. Forget about the DR saying it is safe or he has not heard of any of these side effects...YOU be the judge.
Good luck! And I promise it gets better once you get that lil' demon out!
Mona

Where do I begin??? I have been taking Yaz for six months. Migraines! The worst migraines ever, I cannot function for one full day and sometimes more, the pain was so intolerable.

Hives! For the past two months, I keep thinking that I had a food allergy; even my doctor diagnosed it as that. After going to the allergist, I was told that I have developed an allergy to the Yasmin pill. No part of my body has been discriminated with this medication. Hives from the top of my head, in my eyes, right down to the bottom of my feet! This has been the worst experience of my life with this pill.

Fatigue to the extreme! I fall asleep sitting up and never feel rested. Yaz has caused me to go up two cup sizes so far, I went from being a 38C to a 40DD and I can't fit into anything. My boobs are sore a lot.

Weight gain, at least 20 pounds heavier. Nausea; Indigestion; Diarrhea & Constipation; Decreased Sex Drive; and Mood swings; Uncontrollable Rages; Severe body aches; Hot Flashes/Chills; Crying Spells; Blurred Vision; Lack of Concentration; Trouble sleeping; Dizziness; Shaking; Restlessness mainly after 9pm when I should be winding down to go to bed; Terrible night sweats; Never ending cravings for junk food; Inability to cope with stressful situations; Feeling of being inadequate; Can’t concentrate; Gassy; Hate family & partners; Irrational.