Fungus symptoms and conditions

I'm so glad to find this forum. I've been on Yasmin for 7 months since March 2009. My gyne recommended me to take it because of my acne problem, heavy period and cramps. Ever since I started taking it, I was happy about it. My face is cleared of acne and my period only lasts for 3 days and very light without pain. I was a happy camper until the 4th month into taking Yasmin. I started to have patches of rash on my right temple, then a week later on the left temple and upper lip too. At first I thought it was due to my new face toner. So I stopped using it. I didn't think it would be the pill as any allergic reaction usually would should up 1-2 months after taking it. The rash got worst after 2 weeks, it started around my waist, more like hives this time. I can't stop itching my skin even in my sleep. It was unbearable. The hives comes and goes. And it spreads bigger and bigger to behind my neck and back. I drives my NUTS and my skin is very dry. I saw my family doc, and he thought it was eczema/fungus. He gave me some steroid cream to apply. It helped but didn't make the hives go away. I kept looking for the cause of the hives, but have no clues. After I read many people who posted in this forum also suffered the same problem, I can conclude that Yasmin is the reason. I'm stopping the pill today!!!! Hopefully, the hives will go away soon.

I AM A 71 YEAR OLD MALE I HAVE BEEN ON LISINOPRIL FOR ALMOST A YEAR, THREE WEEKS AGO MY DOCTOR INCREASED MY DOSE FROM 10MG TO 20MG THREE DAYS AGO I STARTED TO GET LEG TINGLING AND CRAMPS, THEN I BROKE OUT ON MY UPPER LEG WITH SOME BRIGHT RED SPOTS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A HALF DOLLAR, THERE ARE SMALL BLACK SPOTS IN THEM AND THEY HURT LIKE RAW NERVE ENDS, IT IS VERY HARD TO WALK WITH THE PAIN OF MY PANT LEG RUBBING AND KILLING ME.
ALSO MY WIFE IS YOUNGER THAN ME , SEX DRIVE WENT OUT THE WINDOW, I THINK THAT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF MY AGE. BEEN THERE DONE THAT. I AM GOING TO TRY TO GET OFF OF THAT STUFF TOO.

simvastatin causes nightmares that's why your sweating so bad. I have never had nightmares since I was a kid. I started taking simvastatin (zocor) and the first night I sweated and woke up with a racing heart. I didn't know why. The 2nd night I woke up and thought someone was in my room I saw someone in the dark run across the room. I jumped up jammed my hand into my draw pulling my hand gun out. Now that Im fully awake I don't see anything. I'm so wound up I can't sleep the rest of the night. The next day today I do a google search about nightmares and boom found a new study that Statin's cause nightmares because it penitrates into the brain. Its made out of a fungus. Anyway i'm done with statin's My ratio is 3.63 so not too bad but I think diet and exercise with fish oil will do it. If you have to be on this stuff there are 2 that don't get into the brain. Check it out Pravachol and Crestor.

I received my first shot on Kenalog three weeks ago, for a bulging disc in L5, and it took me from a 8 out of 10 pain scale, to a 2. After two weeks , I received my second shot, and now I feel about 98% better. As an added bonus, my Psoriasis of 15 years, that no Doctor could seem to control, has all but disappeared! Also a severe pain in my r/foot under 2nd tow area, has completely gone away, after 10 years of misery! I also am seeing my two toenails, and one fingernail restoring themselves to normal again(the nails had fallen off years ago, like a fungus, but it was not fungus). My dermatologist told me it had no cure and that I would have to deal with it! Kenalog benefits have FAR outweighed the negative effects so far... I have lost about 5lbs in 3 weeks, and anxiety is a mild issue, as is mild night sweats, but for me, this is a small price to pay for pain relief that was making my life miserable!

This post is directed to anyone who has contacted me regarding a possible class action lawsuit, which I was trying to initiate, as stated in my Oct 17th, 2008 post.
After contacting as many as 10 law firms, from NY to San Francisco, I have virtually "thrown in the towel". In essence, what they are saying is, this will be too expensive to litigate. The pharmaceutical companies have "teams" of lawyers, and I believe they are reluctant to go up against them.
I find it diabolical that this drug Kenalog is causing so much suffering, some emotional, some esthetic and some, like myself, sheer physical pain...but nothing can be done about it.
For all of you who have emailed me and I was unable to return your ems, I apologize....but I have been waiting to hear something positive feedback to relay. Unfortunately, that was not the case. If anything does develop I have stored your information and will get back to you. I would hope you would do the same.

My hair is falling out too!! Since January I have had 2 kenalog shots for allergies and 2 shots for poison ivy. My side effects are hair loss, depression, headaches, bruise easily, swollen joints, weight gain, and a dent on my rear. These effects did not start until I had 2 shots, now it is so severe. I was so scared when my hair started falling out but knew that I didn't have Lupus or Diabetes which could cause the same side effects...I have been tested for both and do not have either.

Please let us know if there are anymore out there who have hair loss because of the Kenalog Shot.

Why does Singulair cause these symptoms? I am going to give my explanation which is only a HYPOTHESIS. This should not be categorized as any thing but an educated guess. This is not backed by scientific research because nobody will do any research that would appear to anger
Merck even if people are suffering in the thousands.

1. The original research that preceded the development of Singulair (montelukast) seemed to focus on the theory that asthma was caused by an unusual immune response to certain pathological stimulus. There are many references to the observation that a high percentage of asthma sufferers are people whose asthma is caused by fungus. Many people suffer from asthma and are told that they are allergic to dust mites. Dust mites can live only because the fungus aspergillus pre-digests the
food source that dust mites can then absorb. Other sources of fungus occur in the home due to dampness or problems with wood rot.

2. The body's immune system fights certain categories of pathogens such as bacteria and fungus by creating nitric oxide which kills them at the site where they try to enter the body. The mast cell is the immune cell that is responsible for the production of nitric oxide. Mast cells are found in the skin, airways, intestines etc. The mast cell is capable of many different types of biochemical functions that are designed to signal other cells or other chemical responses. When the mast cell knows that pathogens
are present and nitric oxide is NOT produced, then it signals other immune cells to be sent to the site of the infection. Thus in the case of asthma, it is known that excessive numbers of eosinophils appear in the airways and these cells create inflammation.

3. Singulair was developed for asthma and later allowed to be prescribed for other reasons. I believe that montelukast probably creates a source of nitric oxide that prevents the mast cell from signalling for other immune cells to arrive at the source of infection. I arrived at that conclusion from studying the chemical structure of montelukast, the chemical structure of the gene cysLT1 receptor, and the chemical structure of the cell wall of fungus which would be what the mast cell uses to determine "what to do in order to kill the fungus."

The researchers who invented montelukast first had to clone the gene-cysLT1 receptor meaning that they had to be able to identify the gene and replicate it. Then by trial and error they had a find a "chemical"
that would bind (connect chemically) to the cysLT1 receptor. The theory would be that montelukast would take the place of the fungus or other pathogen and thus prevent the gene from reacting to produce the
responses that the sick patient with asthma produced. Merck says in the literature that montelukast binds with the cysLT1 receptor in order to prevent the mast cell from signalling the eosinophils to arrive in excessive
numbers that cause inflammation. I believe that montelukast is also causing the production of an amount of nitric oxide that is actually killing the pathogens that are present. For one thing, I would think that it
would be dangerous to incapacitate the immune system in that way without providing a way to kill the pathogens. I don't believe that the asthma response is just allergies to something like dust. Pollen from trees and flowers is loaded with fungus spores.

4. IF, IF, IF, montelukast does actually produce nitric oxide, then it does so by binding with the gene. Any place in the body where a molecule of montelukast encounters the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) then the corresponding molecules of nitric oxide are produced before the liver enzymes break the montelukast molecules up. Nitric oxide is TOXIC and
INFLAMMATORY. So let's look at the symptoms in regard to the location of the cysLT1 receptors. The location of these symptoms would not be places in the body where the mast cells normally encounter fungus or bacteria. The cysLT1 also has other functions in that it communicates with the cysLT2 receptors. Obviously, nitric oxide
should not be produced in these locations because of the signalling effect of nitric oxide on other physiological functions.

a. intestinal pain - the cysLT1 receptors are located in the small intestines
b. leg pain actually caused by vasculitis - cysLT1 receptors are found inside blood vessels- consistent with the fact that montelukast causes
Churg-Strauss
c. some people who didn't have asthma develop asthma - the cysLT1 receptors are in the airways
d. nightmares, depression, neurological damage - when montelukast penetrates the blood brain barrier probably due to unusual conditions of blood pH or electrolyte imbalance then nitric oxide in the brain causes neuron damage and excitoxicity

5. Why do some patients not experience side effects? Probably because genetically they are completely compatible with the model that researchers created when they cloned the cysLT1 receptor gene. I didn't not find any information about whether researchers knew that there are many different variations of this gene.

6. IF, my theory is even close to being correct, then why doesn't Merck do anything about researching these side effects. Maybe because nobody in the company knows how this drug works but the researchers who created it. All of the Merck literature is very vague about any biochemical information.

Again, this is just speculation and hypothesis. I have made an attempt to put this in simplistic language and therefore sacrifice scientific accuracy. But, I think that you will get the point.

SINGULAIR IS VERY DANGEROUS TO PATIENTS WHO EXPERIENCE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. DOCTORS SHOULD JUST REALIZE THAT
THOSE PATIENTS ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE MODEL FOR THE DRUG.

Oh my goodness.....my daughter, age 17, had her first injection in June 2008, started losing her hair w/in a month. We thought it was form straightening, some high lightening etc. She had blood work done which showed she was anemic...strange, as 2yrs prior her blood work was stellar, and she had not changed her diet, or physical activity. She increased her iron and protein intake (along w/ supplements).....three months later, and after her second injection, iron was still anemic....worse actually, and her hair loss significant.I found this website last night....and I am floored......I called MERCK today and spoke to a representative wh o was not aware of the hair loss issue, but said that in their case studies, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia was a side effect.....which leads to hair loss itself.....so I am researching now what to do next.....anyone else have this issue??????

Hi everyone
My little boy who is nearly two was put on Singulair as a preventative.
I did check on forums when we started using Singulair and I was concerned that there has been descriptions of negative affects. Always trying to be objective I rationalised that the people in this forum are a small part of the greater Singulair population and as a result there was a low risk of negative affects on my little boy.
I have to say I think I was wrong. As soon as he was using Singulair, he had restless nights of sleep. Every night he would cry off and on until 2am and I guess he was so tired he slept. During the day he was very short tempered and became upset very easily. We put this down to tiredness. After 10 days of the lack of sleep for parents and little one, we told our doctor.
He advised to take him off Singulair for 5 days and make observations and then put him back on. Last night, his first night off Singulair was bliss. Not a sound. He had a great sleep. As I type he is now having another great sleep.
Let us see what happens after 3 more days and after putting him back on Singulair.
It would seem that if we are correct and that Singulair is a cause of an issue for my child, am I a quasi beta testing laboratory for a drug?
We are from Australia.
Thank you for reading.

Below is the latest ADR report on Singulair from the United Kingdom. I deleted side effects reports by very small numbers of patients in order to keep the post briefer. This shows the total number of reports since Singulair was approved in the UK.

I don't know the total number of prescriptions for Singulair in the UK. It is considered expensive.

Drug Analysis Print
Drug name: MONTELUKAST
Drug name: MONTELUKAST Report type: Spontaneous
Report run date: 13-May-2008 Report origin: UNITED KINGDOM
Data lock date: 09-May-2008 08:00:02 PM Route of admin: ALL
Period covered: 01-Jul-1963 to 09-May-2008 Reporter type: ALL
Earliest reaction date: 01-Jan-1997 Reaction: ALL

Cardiac disorders-TOTAL 64
Palpitations 29
Myocardial infarction 6
Tachycardia 6
Diarrhoea 84
Dyspepsia 24
Abdominal pain 98
Abdominal pain upper 22
Nausea 84
Vomiting 52
Dry mouth 15
Asthenia 13
Fatigue 45
Malaise 32
Sudden death 1
Pyrexia 10
Chest discomfort 12
Feeling abnormal 16
Influenza like illness 17
Irritability 18
Drug interaction 13
Chest pain 13
Arthralgia 59
Myalgia 38
Muscle spasms 24
Pain in extremity 14
Balance disorder 10
Lethargy 16
Somnolence 23
Psychomotor hyperactivity 25
Headache 221
Dizziness 68
Neuropathy peripheral 7
Convulsion 6
Epilepsy 7
Dysgeusia 7
Hypoaesthesia 6
Tremor 18
Nervous system disorders TOTAL 526
Abnormal behaviour 13
Agitation 12
Anxiety 18
Aggression 30
Depression 23
Insomnia 58
Abnormal dreams 12
Nightmare 49
Hallucination 21
Sleep disorder 15
Psychiatric disorders TOTAL 364
Asthma 36
Allergic granulomatous angiitis 43
Angioedema 12
Swelling face 12
Erythema 13
Pruritus 32
Rash pruritic 17
Rash 55
Urticaria 33

TOTAL NUMBER OF REACTIONS 2841
TOTAL NUMBER OF FATAL ADR REPORTS* 19
TOTAL NUMBER OF ADR REPORTS* 1489

I have taken 100/50 Advair off and on for several years and hadn't noticed any problems. Three weeks ago I was switched to 250/50 strength Advair following a bad cold which I believe had become bronchitis but my NEW doctor believed was an asthma attack. I don't have asthma "attacks". I just have asthma which is always under control except for when I am exposed to smoke. Even then it isn't that bad. I just use a puff or two on my inhaler and I am good to go. So, I don't think I even needed to be put on the 250/50 strength! Right away, even with careful rinsing, I started to develop a sore throat. I had a constant cough, had to constantly clear my throat to try to speak and it hurt to talk. Within two weeks, besides the throat and congestion problems, I felt miserable as if I had a severe case of influenza: major headache, sinus and teeth pain, joint pains, severe fatigue, chills, burning eyes and blurry vision. I also developed an itchy red rash on my buttock and felt as though I was beginning to get a UTI. Because I felt so lousy, I told myself I didn't have to take the Advair which I knew would just make my throat feel worse. So, I went a whole weekend without the Advair and I started to feel better. Then on Monday morning, I took the Advair (which immediately made my throat hurt) and later went to see the new doctor in the afternoon. (We didn't discuss Advair because I hadn't made the connection and, obviously, he didn't either.) The doctor said I was negative for a UTI and thought my rash was cellulitis. He prescribed an oral antibiotic. I haven't taken any Advair since Monday a.m. because I read about its side effects on the Internet on Monday evening. My throat feels better. It is so good not to be constantly coughing and clearing my throat! The rash didn't respond to the antibiotic, but it did respond to the anti-yeast infection skin cream I decided to use on it. Unfortunately, the antibiotics DID give me a vaginal yeast infection and now I am also treating that! I am wondering if there is a connection between my skin yeast infection and the 250/50 Advair or if Advair just causes thrush (a mouth yeast infection)? Also, my eyes still burn and I still get blurry vision. Could I have a yeast infection in my eyes? I'm wondering because I have read on the Internet that steroids--just like antibiotics--can cause yeast infections. If so, then maybe thrush is not the only type of yeast infection that 250/50 Advair could cause?

Quinolinic acid and neurotoxicity:

Montelukast contains a quinoline radical. Quinolinic acid, a well known damaging neurotoxin that kills neurons, can be produced from a quinoline and hydrogen peroxide. The body produces hydrogen peroxide for a numbers of reasons. White blood cells produce hydrogen peroxide when activated by antigens such as bacteria, virus, fungus etc. It is also produced under conditions when the body is stressed. It is also produced in the gastrointestinal track.

If we knew how montelukast could break up to free the quinoline radical, then we might be able to define a number of different scenarios under which hydrogen peroxide could cause montelukast to generate the neurotoxin quinolinic acid.

If we could prove that montelukast is capable of produce quinolinic acid under unusual circumstances (doesn't happen to everybody), then we would have a very good explanation for all of the psychiatric adverse drug reactions that are mentioned here which include hallucinations, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations, night mares, etc. etc.

Anyone looking for answers should try to pursue the possibility that quinolinic acid is causing bad side effects. I wish that I was much better at chemistry. I am stuck here at the moment. I keep hoping that somebody else with more expertise will come here to tell us how it happens.

Here are just some of the symptoms from a candida imbalance.

Vaginal Yeast Infection
Constant fatigue
Oral Thrush (white film in mouth or on tongue)
Abdominal pain
Bloating and indigestion
Joint pain with arthritis-like symptoms
Chronic sinus drainage -which antibiotics don't help!
Weight loss OR gain and the inability to change it.
Brain "fog" -easily feel overwhelmed by mental tasks
Fungus on the fingernails or toenails
Urinary infections (again, not helped by antibiotics)
red, itching eyes
Skin rashes on the body (eczema, atopic dermatitis)
Anal itching
Rashes on or around the sexual organs
Hair loss
Depression from feeling low and "bogged down" all the time.

Just finished a prednisone taper. I am developing 'oral thrush' - can someone please give me a suggestion for getting rid of it quickly without having to take more medication??? A mouthwash or something - please this is awful.

Thank you for your help.

Vanessa

Feeling as though I was having a HEART ATTACK! I am an active triathlete who gets a cold once a year. After a bout with the flu the doctor decided that my blood pressure had been too high for too long (160/104 on that visit, which I have to agree was high, and in the same range for about a year prior). I started the medication on a Monday and on Wednesday morning I thought I was having a Heart Attack.

Severe Chest Pain (feeling as though a rubberband was wrapped around my chest)
Muscle soreness in my chest
Irregular heart beatc
Dry Mouth
Sweats
Numbness in arms

After 3 EKG's they found the heart to be fine. Found a mass on my liver through the Ultrasound and MRI (which turned out to be a Hemagioma and is normal, whatever that means, in 30 to 40 year old women)

The doctor failed to tell me that Lisinopril could cause "muscular/skeletal pain" Oh my...

They wanted to change my medication to Corvasc and when I read the side affects of that I decided to stay on this evil drug.

Now I just have:

Constant tightness in the chest
dry cough
Severe exhaustion
Depression

Is this worth it? I already eat right, exercise and am the proper weight, so I am looking for homeopathic solution to this issue and getting off this crud. Any suggestions please post?????

I have been using advair for many years when I developed a fungus or whats called adult Thrush. also have had many bouts of hoarseness. I have a neice who also suffered from the same thing.

My lungs burn severely with exercise and my face has a red rash a few weeks after ending 2 weeks of treatment. It started near the end of my treatment and hasn't gone away. I read it might be from a fungus because of treatment. How do I find out???

I have been taking 40mg prednisone every other day for myasthenia gravis, Isaw My doctor yesterday due to a bright re rash that is barely raide..not real itchy is spreading from start point of inside my arms..like opposite elbows. It is also under my breasts, in my belly button. He seemed stumped and thought it might be a side effect of prednisone catching up with me . I have a steroid cream he has me applyin 2 x day and now it is on my neck this am and I AM SEEING TINY BLISTERS AND different shapes.

I wonder if I could have a systemic fungus or infection the prednisone hides and how do you tell if you have a prednisone rash or fungal infectio, '

Thank you, Joan G

Went to doctor because of burning in throat and chest and nausea. Friend had the flu and I was starting to feel the same.

Doc diagnosed fluid on ear and swollen lymph nodes. First two days os zpak diarhea set in; next day chest in severe pain; next day feeling weak and spacey; today nauseous all day - breathing bad and throat tight and headachey.

This has done nothing for the nauseousness which doc said was due to sinus drainage. Sinus got worse with white yeast material getting spit out. Yeast of course is fungus----so appears that the zpak has created yeast in the upper respiratory area rather than curing the fluid it is now congealed into white stuff.

One more pill to take. Do I take or not?

Also, told ht edoc I was allergic to erythymycin----so she prescribed zpak---------is this not the same as erythromycin?

If this is the same then I am not surprised that I am feeling bad on this medication.

Never again on z pak.

Am being treated for a fungus/bacteria(?) I may have picked up in the Caribbean. Been on it for 3 days. I was told to take acidopholus with it to avoid a yeast infection. So far I've just noticed a slight dull headach and minor nausea comes and goes.

Just started treatment for fungus (discovered via endoscopy), patches being found in esophogus and near stomach opening. Doctor is thinking Advair is the culprit and the strength of the antiobiotic gives me severe stomach pain! This is my first time dealing with a fungus because of taking an asthma therapy! Let me hear how some of you dealt with similar situation and if your fungus cleared up with prescribed antiobotic. Thanks.

I have been on pred for almost 2 years for bronchial pulmonary aspergillosis. Which is a fungus in the lungs. I started with 40 mgs. a day. At first no symptoms no even weight gain.But after first month weight gain started with the moon face and big belley. Then mood swings and I cry at the drop of a hat. Sex drive just sucks. I am 37 year old female with asthma and allergies. After 2 months was reduced to 30 mgs. a day, no change in side effects. My family pays the true price. They get all the nastiness. My daughter who is 5 now is always being yelled at.Seems she always pushes the wrong buttons. Now am down to 5 mgs. every other day. Have lost alot of the weight gain except in the moon face and the stomach. Gained about 20 pounds and am now just about 8 pounds more than my normal weight. But still bad mood swings decreased sex drive, headaches achieness, and poor sense of humor. Aggravated very easily. I recently changed doctors hoping to get off prednisone and be treated differently. Since dosage was lowered syptoms have increased with the coughing and wheezing.
If anyone out there has had this condition please email me with any information or encouragment.thanks
******

I started taking Advair about 1 1/2 years ago. Around September of last year I reported white dots on my throat to my doctor, he gave me a z-pack (over the phone). I suffered with these white dots/fungus on and off for over 6 months now and recently found out it's a yeast infection. I was prescribed a medicine you swish with. As soon as I was done with the med., I got the yeast infection back but even worse!! I have night sweats, break outs all over my body (I used to have a very clear complexion), I cough up thick chunky mucus and am tired all the time. My doctor ran a bunch of tests and found nothing else wrong and took me off Advair immediatly. Now what? I did great on Serevent and Flovent inhalers and now all they have is disks! I'm afraid to take more disks, I just want to start feeling better.

Hi, I've used Ketoconazole for bad dandruff, and on the paper work you recieve from the pharmacy it does say that Hair loss can be a side effect. But I would check w/your doctor.
because just maybe, the fungus may be causing the hair loss.
Thanks

I have some sort of fungus on my scalp and was prescribed Keteconazole to be applied twice a day. I have been using it now for a little over a week and I know am experiencing hair loss on the applied areas. Has anyone else experienced this?