Final straw symptoms and conditions

I got my Mirena o June 18th, 2009. It is now November 17th and I have an appointment to have it removed this Friday. It started with unexplained hives and rashes constantly. The bottom of my feet, my palms, my knees, upper arms, throat and stomach. I was on constant high doses of Prednisone and anytime I started lowering my doses, the hives returned. I went to the ER three times for swelling and hives so bad I could barely see and could barely breathe. seemingly caused by NSAIDS, which I had never had a problem with before.Next was severe lower abdominal pain accompanied by groin pain so bad I could barely walk. Friends said it sounded like cysts, but, when I had an internal ultrasound done, nothing was found. After that I had severe breast pain and swelling. The final straw was the constant all over muscle aches and joint pain in my knees. I feel like I am 100 years old! I am tired all the time no matter how much sleep I get. I went to a dermatologist and I mentioned the Mirena, as I had to my OB, his response was "middle age". I thought I at first has Lupus, but, the rash did not fit that description. I changed detergents, blamed it on a foster dog, anything I could think of. Finally after reading so many posts and finally finding a connection with the rashes and hives, it can be nothing other than the Mirena. I even noticed that this device had the second most posts on this site. I can not wait to have the Mirena removed.

I have posted a couple of times previously about negative side effects, i.e. migraines, weight gain, acne, chin hair, eczema, lower back pain, no sex drive...and the list could go on. As a mature 36 year old woman I have educated myself over the past couple of years and can really only attribute all these issues to having the Mirena inserted 4 months after the birth of my daughter 3 years ago. Although at this time my doctors will not openly acknowledge these side effects, I am confident that one day they will. I encourage women to report adverse side effects to the FDA. It onlt takes a minute or two. Who knows, it may be the hormones or it may be the silicone plastic? It has to be something. It should also be acknowledged that some women, my very best friend for one, have had wonderful experiences with the Mirena. I really think it may just depend on the woman and her own body. I am having mine removed tomorrow after researching all of this for about 8 months. All I can say is, thank goodness. I am also scheduled for the Essure(permanent birth control). Food for thought for the older women in the group. Whatever each of you decide, realize you are not alone and you do not have to continue to feel the way you do if you believe that the Mirena could be making you feel so bad. Take care.

Ran into friend at grocery store with mystery illness. Docs attribute it to Agent Orange exposure. Been at death's doorstep for a year. Hands were extremely cold and has little energy. Showed up one day at golf course with oxygen bottle! Asked him if he had taken Levaquin. Unfortunately had. Docs again fail to link antibiotic exposure to his ailments.
I wonder how many illnesses and deaths this poison has caused? Why does the FDA allow this crap? Do you people realize that the average person is clueless about the side effects of drugs like this. Put total confidence and their well being in the hands of ignorant docs and profit crazed drug companies.
Ignorant oncologist failed to link my dad's symptoms to Levaquin, instead attributed them to b-cell lymphoma which just happened to suddenly appear. Rituxan and numerous other drugs (Heparin, Lasix, Gamma globulin, Tylenol, antibiotics, Insulin, steroids, Flowmax, etc.) was too much. A fiasco, people think he died of lymphoma. Was walking three miles a day before taking Levaquin, for an undiagnosed lung infection.

I share the scare - I developed a bacterial infection after surgery and had an allergic reaction to first two antibiotics so was given Avelox. About an hour after the 1st dose my eyes became bloodshot, my joints ached like I had the flu or severe arthritis and I started having jolts of pain in different places, legs, groin, neck. I became disoriented and developed tiny blisters on bottom of feet, behind knees, on neck they faded, and at base of my fingers. The second dose caused severe joint and neck pain, disoriented feeling and again blisters. My doctor had me break the pills in half to take twice a day with benadryl. I also took large dose of Ibuprofen an hour after taking Avelox. That helped lessen severity of side effects. Final straw was the fifth dose - took before sleeping, woke at 4am and could not move from neck pain. My husband pulled me up so I could use the bathroom with me crying from pain. Sitting on the commode, I threw up and started to pass out. I managed to get downstairs and take an 800 mg. Ibuprofen and passed out for about 30 seconds. We went to ER. The attending physician decided I was having a muscle spasm and dismissed my fear it was the drug. They gave me a muscle relaxer and sent me home. I slept like the dead. My doctor called me that afternoon and told me to stop the Avelox immediately. You can imagine after missing 5 weeks of work for surgery, then having to miss three days last week and who knows this week how bummed I am. I am 46, have a wonderful family (a husband and 4 kids), a job I love, and life is good. I hope my body can recover soon as I am not used to inactivity. I cannot seem to function normally anymore.

I had the mirena put in sept 06 six weeks after my 2nd child. And I have had it in 2 and a half years now and its been a slow progression of side effects until I am ready to just get this thing out!! I started getting acne on my face,back, and arms which bothered me but it has progressively gotten worse. Its like I have cysts under my skin and they take forever to go away. But the final straw is that my hair has thinned to the point that I can't afford to lose anymore or I am going to have spots of my scalp showing. I do hair for a living so this is not an option. And the last thing is I have started to notice A LOT more facial hair.EWWW so that is when I started to think ok this is not normal and started to research the mirena. Thank god I found this web site and a couple others where I realized that I am not going crazy or turning into a hypochondriac. I understand that this works differently for everyone and have a couple of friends who have no problems but I think that if your going to be putting something into your body you should definitely do the research and then decide if its right for you. I will be calling tomorrow to have it removed. Will let you guys know how it turns out.

have to agree with Mrsbarrett's post right below mine...I have been a lurker on this board for the past couple of months and thank God for it or who knows how crazy i'd be right now!! Here is a list of my side effects and pertinent information:
DOI: October 2008
Side effects were gradual and most evident around the Christmas Holidays:
Dizziness
Weird eye/vision disturbance where i'd lose focus for a moment and then be okay.
Constant spotting of "old blood" nothing much but did require pantiliners 24/7
Anxiety
Hypertension (more than ever, like when I was pregnant, 150-170s/100)
Panic Attacks
Face Dryness
ZERO SEX DRIVE
No "natural" lubrication, but who cares when you have no drive, are spotting all the time, and it hurts to have sex
Vaginal Odor
Mood Swings
Depression
FATIGUE to the point of wanting to stay in bed despite having to care for my 7.5 year old.
Chest pains (kept thinking maybe I had heart trouble, had cardiac workup that came up PERFECT and bloodwork was perfect, Thyroid test was perfect)
Nausea (morning sickness type, would get slightly better in evening but not so much)
IBS symptoms (diarrhea)

DOR: January 23, 2009
2 days later heavy bleeding for a couple of days.....had somewhat of a "crash" the first week where I was still not better. By the 2nd week post removal I was still nauseated in the morning but improved in the late afternoon and got energy boost in late afternoon.By the 3rd week I was totally back to normal!!!!! (well what's normal for crazy me! hahahahha)

My husband came with me to the doc, and she had no problem with removal. I went back for a follow up this past Friday and she saw how normal I am and that I have lost several pounds as well. She realizes I am extremely sensitive to hormone changes but says i'm the only one that she has seen like that. (how many have problems that don't think it is the Mirena...that's what I want to know???)

Anyway, that's my story and i'm sticking to it!!! If anyone would like to chat or share please let me know. I will also add that I have a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies (just not practicing since becoming a SAHM) and so I looked up tons of information to figure out what was wrong with me, I really am thankful to have found this site....medical mumbo jumbo is NOTHING when you have your body telling you something and all you fine ladies......Thanks again!
~G

My girlfriend and I just got off NuvaRing. The final straw symptoms were an intense burning pain in and around her vagina, extremely low mood, and for me, an itching blotchy rash on the head of my penis.
There were problems with the NuvaRing for her from day one. There was the acne and weight gain, as many people have mentioned, as well as a slight but steady rust-colored discharge. One of the main nuisances of the ring was its tendency to trap semen somewhere in the vagina, only to release it sometimes hours later at incredibly inopportune moments. (Sorry if that's disgusting... Anyone else have that happen though?)
During the second month, the symptoms became worse and more numerous: Pain during and after sex, partly caused by unusual dryness, became a frequent problem. Weight gain and acne increased. And then, in the day or two before we took the ring out, both my penis and her vagina took on a smell which I will describe (somewhat esoterically) as being very similar to that of a good brie after the rind turns orange. In a bad way.
There followed lots of burning and irritation, especially for her, and a general itch which she seemed to have all over her body. She said the pain in her vagina was on par with the worst she'd ever had, coupled with an intense low mood. We became 100% convinced at that point that the ring had to go, and immediately after its removal the symptoms began to slowly subside. It's been less than 24 hours so far, and we're both still calling each other to complain about our genitals, but the bright side is: We're off NuvaRing, the symptoms are subsiding, and we'll never have to go through that again.
As a final note, a message to the women on here who were dumped by their boyfriends because of what NuvaRing did to you: Those guys sound pretty much worthless. Good riddance.

It amazes me to read all of these posts. I have been on Birth Control for just over 10 years, and in early November, due to a change in health insurance (SURPRISE, SURPRISE), I had to switch to $7 Tri Sprintec, I have been tracking the incredibly obvious side effects and today is my final straw. In 10 years I have never had any of the issues I have been having. I occasionally have mild to moderate headaches, since November, I have had intense migraines every couple of weeks, I was actually in bed tonight at 6pm, because I was feeling so awful. About 2 weeks in, I also become a raging hormonal maniac, I cry, get angry, and I mean angry (in a scary way) and am unreasonable. My sex drive is gone, and I know this is taking a toll on my relationship of over 2 years. With all of that great crap is the 5 pound weight gain and the early periods. In the past I got my period on a Wednesday and it was gone by Saturday, now 2 weeks???
Anyway, I am going to contact my ob/gyn in the a.m., I hope there is something better out there. This drug is just awful.

Like a lot of the women who have written here, I have been irritable, moody, and withdrawn. My sex drive is virtually non-existent and I have been having calf pains almost since I had the Mirena inserted on January 28, 2008. My family life is being adversely affected and I feel as though we are falling apart.

The week before my period, I get so sad that all I want to do is curl up in a ball, rock myself and cry. I have never been like this before until the past few months. I have two young children and the sad thing now as it has been for the past 6-8 months is that I don't want to be around them. I wake up irritated; I go to bed irritated. Nothing my kids do makes me happy. They are only 6 and 3.

My six year old asked me two weeks ago "mommy, are there any extra chores I can do around the house to make you less tired". I just about melted into tears. NO six year old should feel the need to take on household responsibilities. Tonight she asked me "mommy, why are you so mean?" That was the final straw.

I took a bath tonight just to relax and the thought came to me that it's the Mirena that's causing all of these problems.

I got a letter from the doctor's office the other day telling me that I need to reschedule my appointment. Well, guess what? Not only will I be rescheduling my annual PAP and GYN exam, but I will be getting the Mirena OUT!!!! This time I will make the appointment with a different doctor because it seems that this one always has to reschedule her appointments.

I just want to be my normal self again.

I have been taking Tri-Sprintec for 3 months. I switched because my insurance does not cover birth control and I was paying $50 a month compared to $9. But it is not worth saving the money. Since taking Tri-Spritec I have had a 7 pound weight gain, I have terrible mood swings and have feelings of depression. There are days when I can't even stand myself. I get angry at everything and everyone. I also have no sex drive and have days where I just want to be alone. I am going to stop taking these pills they are not worth it.
K. T.

I've been on Wellbutrin for 3 years. My hair has been falling out more and more every month. My scalp itches horribly! It feels almost as though bugs are crawling all over it. I am irritable and have dramatic mood swings. The final straw, though, was recently when I had a blood test to find that my white and red blood cell counts had become dangerously low, and my red blood cells were swollen (macrocytic anemia).

I'm now training myself off of Wellbutrin. I tried dropping to a quarter dose and felt flu-like symptoms (chills, extreme tiredness, dizziness) and extraordinary appetite (gaining 10 lbs in week 1). I also became unable to handle simple tasks at work, and excessively negative in demeanor.

I'm now back up to 1 pill and the chills have stopped. I am hoping that I can go back down to 1/2 pill gradually.

Will my hair grow back? Is the liver/blood damage reversible? Has anyone kicked the Wellbutrin habit and recovered fully? Please help.

Thank you in advance.

I've been on Trileptal, 150 mg, for about a month now, and I am SO itchy! My back, face, scalp, and head is constantly itching! I experience a lot of bodily discomfort as well. Anything rubbing against or touching my hip is agonizing, and my back aches constantly. Also, my once perfect skin is all broken out in pimples :(

I am a person who had never experienced depression before going on NuvaRing. I'm 39 years old and had been on it for a year - gradually the crying jags, feelings of hopelessness, moodiness, ANGER and insecurity kicked in...I even lost control and yelled and hit my boyfriend on one occasion. The final straw was when I broke up with him in a fit of rage - completely unintentionally. The day after, when I got myself back together, I went into counseling and the counselor suggested hormonal causes. Fortunately there are many anecdotes, like these on this website, linking NuvaRing to depression and I did go off about a month ago. Gradually, as with the ramp-up onto NuvaRing, I feel myself getting back control of my emotions. If you've experienced something like this, don't wait for an emotional break: get off NuvaRing so you can evaluate what's happening to you with a clear head.

I used Nuvaring for a week and a half and just removed it yesterday because I hated the side effects. First of all it caused vaginal dryness and lack of sex drive. Also, I was extremely moody and emotional. The final straw that caused me to remove it was when I was hanging out with my boyfriend (we've been dating for 3 months) and he told me that he didn't think I liked him or was compatible with him because I was getting so annoyed with him and moody all the time! The nuvaring is definitely not worth my relationship. It made me feel horrible that he thought I didn't like him or was annoyed by him when it didn't have anything to do with him at all!!

Wow! I cant believe other women have had these same symptoms, I started the NuvaRing about three months ago after I lost a baby very early in gestation, I swore I would never have to go through that again, so my doctor put me on the NR and I couldn't tell If I was still hormonal from the pregnancy or if it was the ring, But Im a wreck! Im so mean and hateful to my husband pretty much mean to everyone, I feel like this big mean lady walking around, and thats not me not at all I have crazy dreams, horrible anxiety, panic attacks and PMS from HELL. I have never been on birth control before so I have nothing to compare it to. But after reading this.Im really considering taking it out so I can be myself again.

In June 07 I rushed into having the coil fitted, having had a double rollover with two beautiful babies successively, only 13 months apart. No 2 baby had his first birthday end-Mar 08 and as I was no longer breastfeeding I suppose I began to stop making "new baby" excuses for my moods, brain fog, lower back pain, extreme fatigue, irritability if not getting a nap in the day even though had good 8 hrs sleep on night and weight gain (dress size).

Over the last few months I have gone on to experience severe PMS symptoms (which I didn't have prior to coil), clearly a build up within the body for not being able to bleed regularly. These included crying spells (for no reason), feeling very flat/exhausted almost like "out of body" old woman (I'm 33) and feeling bloated/pregnant - they would last roughly two weeks and then I would get a day's bleed which explained the cause. I even took a pregnancy test although it was negative. For me the final straw has been the onset of migraines (a year on) lasting several days and just being constant.

Having two energetic toddlers and little family support, I simply didn't have the luxury of continuing with these symptoms and could no longer tolerate the thing inside me. Luckily, my hubbie agreed and so had coil removed on Friday (total of 14 months) . Already, 2 days on, the bloating and brain fog have eased off. The migraines are still present but am assuming it will take a while for body to sort itself out. I'm so looking forward to feeling like "me" again with and getting fruity with the hubbie.

Additionally, have had nose bleeds over last few months and a yeast infection - not sure if these are linked in!

Took first pill (5mg) on 7/8. Second on 7/9. After lunch on 7/9, food stayed in stomach and would not digest. Felt like a huge lump. Digestion continues to be a problem. No appetite. Food does not look good. On 7/11, developed two hives with large red areas surrounding them, however, they were not itchy. Became quite tired also. Allergy symptoms of itching eyes, watering eyes, itching throat, stuffiness developed. Headaches to the point of taking a pain reliever. Developed muscle cramping in calves on 7/15. Still great difficulty eating with no appetite. Existing hiatal hernia became a problem at night with nausea. Terrible flatulence also. Exhaustion is now the description, not just tired. Feeling depressed, but perhaps that is a result of the exhaustion. Blood in urine on 7/18, the final straw. Discontinued med on 7/18. Hives have still not cleared up totally (7/28) and the tiredness has still not gone away. I have been told that when you have hives on the outside, you have hives on the inside too. I would never take this med again. Going to look into biofeedback.

I went on yasmin about 2 years ago, right before I started my current relationship. Everything in my relationship was perfect, we never fought, it was just amazing. About 4 months into the relationship I started to pick fights with him, about everything possible. I was becoming depressed, insecure, and my anxiety level is at a constant high....still, I didn't realize any of this until this month. About 3 months ago I started getting my migrains back before and during my period...this month, my cramps came back. I kicked my boyfriend as hard as I could last week, and I couldn't tell you why, I immidiately started crying and saying sorry, and hugging him. This pill, I've come to realize, has almost completely ruined my life. It's almost ended my wonderful relationship with the love of my life several times. This month was the final straw, I thought maybe I had pmdd, I looked up the symptoms and realized that was not what I had, then I thought to look up side effects of my birth control, and I found this site...many of the girls mention twitching, headaches, crazy mood swings, treating their spouses awful, sleeping all the time and still feeling tired. I have been suffering from all these symptoms for a long time now. I am stopping this pill IMMIDIATELY! It has ruined far too much of my life. I'm so glad I found this website, I now know I'm not crazy. Now I can go back to being the happy, fun, and friendly girl I really am!

I HAVE BEEN ON ADVAIR FOR 5 YEARS STRAIGHT. I HAVE HAD ASTHMA SINCE I WAS 17, DURING THESE 5 YEARS OF USING ADVAIR I HAVE GAINED 65 LBS AND HAVE HAD CHRONIC BRONCHITIS AND CONSTANT PHLEGM THAT NEVER GOES AWAY. I HAVE WHAT THEY CALL A "MOON FACE" AND ALL THE WEIGHT I HAVE GAINED IS AROUND THE MID SECTION. I AM ALWAYS TIRED, SO TIRED I CAN'T EVEN PLAY WITH MY CHILDREN. THIS IS THE FINAL STRAW! I AM ADVAIR FREE STARTING TODAY. I TRULEY BELIEVE IT HAS MADE MY ASTHMA WORSE THAN EVER, I HAVE A CONSTANT COUGH AND THE PHLEGM IS ALWAYS THERE NO MATTER WHAT I TAKE FOR IT AND BELIEVE ME, I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING TRYING TO RULE OUT THE ADVAIR AS BEING THE CAUSE OF MY SIDE AFFECTS. I DON'T CARE WHAT ANY PULMONOLOGIST SAYS ABOUT IT BEING TOO LOW OF A STEROID TO CAUSE ALL OF THESE SYMPTOMS. I KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT IT IS THE ADVAIR. IF YOU USE ADVAIR NOW, MY ADVISE TO YOU IS TO GET OFF OF IT A.S.A.P. BEST OF LUCK.

I just got married a few weeks ago and I didn't want to have sex with my husband on our wedding night!! I did for him, but I had no interest whatsoever. I couldn't understand why until I came to this site. I came here because last night was the final straw. I thought that maybe my sex drive was gone because of something of him, so I decided to make myself ready for him. I couldn't even get me "ready". Dry as could be. For me, this med is a strain on my new marriage!

I began taking Advair 250/50 in 1999. I was convinced Advair was a miracle because it worked so well and eliminated the need for a fast acting inhaler within the first few days. However, now 7 years later, I am beginning to have side effects. When they first started, my doctors told me it couldn't be the Advair. According to the doctors, I should have had symptoms initially, not after years of taking it. So, I dealt with the side effects for a year until asking to be taken off of it.

I gained 20 pounds in 5 months (very rare for me to gain weight at all), mostly in the mid section. I feel dizzy all the time, throat hoarseness and voice feels strained when I talk. My eyes are constantly uncomfortable and sensitive to light, and I have frequent headaches. I feel more irritable and shakey when I get hungry than ever before. Often nauseous. I recently developed PVC's and a heart murmur and almost daily have a racing heart and PVC's. The final straw was when I found the correlation between taking my nightly dose and immediately feeling anxious with racing thoughts, tense muscles (especially in legs), and complete inability to sleep for hours until the medicine wears off.

I have now been off the Advair for 3 days, and have switched back to Flovent only. However, I am still experiencing the muscle tension, racing thoughts, and inability to sleep at night directly after taking the Flovent as well. The symptoms wear off a few hours later and only occur directly after taking the night time dose. I am wondering if the Advair has caused some permanent damage.

I have been off birth control since 2003. I had been taking Alesse and started to get terrible mood swings and horrific nightmares. I quit taking the pill all together and felt great. I recently decided to try the pill again. My doctor put me on Yasmin as a day 1 start. I started 3/11/06, I instantly gained weight, had terrible mood swings, headaches, breast tenderness and unstoppable "break thru bleeding." The final straw was when I woke myself and my boyfriend up with blood curling screams from a night terror. That was it, I quit cold turkey. The last day I took the pill was 3/26, since I wasn't on it very long I'm hoping I won't have any side effects while it gets out of my system however I have noticed that I have been extremely clumsy. I've been constantly dropping things, spilling things and I have even went so far as to cut my hand while washing dishes to the point of needing stitches. Has anyone ever had anything like this happen to them?

Wow! I just stumbled on this site and am very happy I did. I'm 42 years old and am almost finished my fourth pack of Yasmin, which I started basically for skin problems. My skin did clear immediately, but I gradually started having other things happen, but never really attributed it to the pill...actually thought it was more an age thing (I hate to say it) and was happy with my clear skin. I had the chest pain thing and went for an exercise test, which turned up okay. I turn into this "freak" every once in a while, crying and stuff, which I thought was basically because I'm so busy with work and family, etc. I used to run half-marathons, but was feeling so crappy and had gained a lot of weight, so I decided to join a gym and hire a personal trainer, as exercise had always made me feel better. Near the end of one of our sessions, I started to have trouble remembering her instructions. I then went into the change room when we were finished and I could not remember my lock combination. This scared me quite a bit. A woman then came into the change room and was asking me about my trainer and what her name was...and I couldn't remember her name! I managed to get my lock open, but I kinda walked out of there in a fog and it probably took me about an hour to feel "human" again. Later that night I had a pretty good headache. I talked to my trainer about it and we figured that I must have had an extremely hard workout and that maybe I was a little dehydrated. I have noticed that I have not been as thirsty as I usually am, so figured this was the problem. The final straw came a few days ago when I developed this killer headache with some breakthrough bleeding. I've made an appointment with my GP to talk about going on Alesse, but am now wondering if I should just forget about messing about with my hormones and put up with a few pimples in my 40s. Any thoughts? Any Alesse horror stories?

Julia

7/18/05
My daughter was given Yasmin for cramps. She had taken it for about a week and the nausea continued to get worse. She began to have hot flashes, extreme sweating, flushing, which I believe was her blood pressure. She would have episodes of her vision blacking out. She felt awful! She could not sleep at night, even taking sleeping pills. Her legs would jerk at night, which she never had happen before. She was extra sesitive about things. When I found these postings, I was actually excited to see that other women were experiencing the same thing. I could not wait to tell my daughter. She has not take Yasmin for a week now, and most of the symptoms have gone away. I also read that Yasmin is on the Black Triangle List in Germany and that it should not be taken. That was the final straw. Good luck to those of you trying to come off of it.