Good god symptoms and conditions

Hi all. I would just like to agree that PredniSone sucks but it is the best out there for these diseases especially the auto-immune diseases. Drug companies do not make any money on prednisone because it is generic and there is no patent. I know I picked up 98 10mg prednisones yesterday for $5.00. Believe me when there is a better steroid that works as well and has less side effects it will be available to us all. It will cost tons but it will be sold. Researchers have been working for so many years trying to find an alternative, some have been found but do not work well enough. As bad as the prednisone makes us feel it does work on the diseases. You always have the choice to say no - that is why we should all have a health care power of attorney - just remember that when you decide not to take the prednisone you are agreeing that the disease may worsen and may be life threatening. I hate to sound so morbid but patients must be informed. When you are at the physician ask about the side effects, ask if they can give you something to counteract any mood swings, ask what lotion is best for the itchy skin (AmLactin works well for me and is over the counter). Also, my physician advised me yesterday that the side effects are worse on women due to our precarious hormones. I have told my husband to just stay out of the way and don't piss me off because I am not sure how this next 7-8 weeks is going to fare for him. I am 4ft 10in 110lbs and he is 6ft 1in 200lbs and believe me he is scared for his life. I am using prednisone for my ulcerative colitis so now that I am feeling better physicially I can return to exercise and that has definitely helped. So has turning up the music really loud and dancing and singing poorly. Yelling at the tv helps me whether it be politicians, soap operas or idiots on game shows who get the wrong answers. I also have been keeping a journal of all the rage I have and what kinds of things I could do to people who keep getting in my way at the store, on the road, in line at the pharmacy - I guess I need to put that in a safe place so it can't be used for evidence :}

HEY!! WOW!!! THANK YOU LORD! I thank everyone for posting! I have been taking Lisinopril for 2 days and just after two days I noticed the following, YES TWO (2) DAYS!:

Extreme Dizziness
Lightheaded
Increased Heart Rate
Awful Headache

At first I thought these were PMS symptoms but I have become great at combating these with exercises and fruit - as soon as I get my heart rate up and build a sweat and eat some fruit, I am fine. BUT I tried this the other day and I felt so groggy and fatigued. And I am a stickler for not taking medications, even OTC Pain Relievers, I believe in "Au Natural"... anyway I went to the park and walking up a simple hill, I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Then the headache seem to have gotten worse as well as the nausea. For breakfast I had a Kale Smoothie (OJ, Kale, Pear, Ice Blended) and didn't go for the walk until about an hour later. I consumed some water and started at a slow pace, but that didn't help. I also felt very tense and anxious and I thought WAIT A MINUTE! So I started to retrace my 'steps' of what I had eaten (Sunday Night: Red Beans w/ Brown Rice, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Turnip Greens) I said, okay nothing out of the ordinary there. Monday and Tuesday light meals such as a Falafel and Salad ... so I said let me read the side effects of this medicine and sure enough, the Nausea and Dizziness was on the printout from the pharmacy! I said okay this is it. I am not taking this stuff anymore, it's only been TWO FREAKING DAYS!! I'd hate if I take it longer. I am going to call my doctor to schedule an appointment to go over these symptoms, and opt for another prescription. In the interim, I am increasing my water intake and drinking prune juice as well as raw leafy veggies to help with the detox. And moderate walking to get my pores opened up. Thanks again and I appreciate all of your comments. Be prayerful and take good GOD care! LS, 28 year old black female

Yes, I gained weight, but I'm in my mid thirties, so I figured I was just getting older, metabolism slowing & all that, but my doctor began reducing my dose from 200 - 150. Good God! Such a small reduction, but I had explosive anger issues and I couldn't well contain my emotions. An ad in a magazine got me crying and I couldn't stop! I finally ended up with tremors and had to leave work. I didn't consider myself psychotic before. I took Seroquel for sleep and as a mood stabilizer. I always took it at night. Now I have been exhibiting some kind of psychoses. I hope my body is adjusting. Sometimes I only took 100 mg, saving the other 50 mg for emergencies. Can't do that anymore. Besides asking the doctor to increase my dose back to 200 mg, what can I do?

I was on Prednisone for just over two weeks for a bad skin rash (allergic reaction). I went to the ER they gave me an injection on Prednisone. The next day my Doctor puts me on 40mg a day for 10 days then down to 20mg, and then 10mg. The side effects were (and are) crazy. Blood sugar and Blood pressure are through the roof. My heart pounds,races, skips beats. Hands shaking, nervous, and panic attacks. Yeah, sure, the rash is gone, but I feel like a train wreck. I took my last dose 2 days ago, and have been told it can take 2 to 4 weeks for this to get completely out of my system and end the side effects. Can anybody else verify this?? Good god, what a mess!!

I've been taking Omeprazole for the last 4-5 days for the "possible treatment of H. Pylori" while we are waiting on a nuclear gallbladder test. After I started taking this I noticed my stomach going into cramps. Just like when you have a tummy bug and you get spasms or knots in your tummy. Very uncool, painful, and the only thing that seems to make it stop is eating and making my tummy full. (At least 90% of the discomfort and pain leaves when I do that) so I have been off of it for a little over 24 hours, and this morning I woke with some tummy cramps again. I'm thinking it may take a couple of days for everything to return to normal. I'm not going to take it anymore. (drugs - geesh - if you hear a commercial say it treats arthritis but may cause lymphoma - good god, why do that? Sorry I just think it's horrible about some drugs not that I have arthritis but I'd rather take a pain pill for it than turn around and get cancer)

All you are Hypochondriacs. If one person says this medicine is causing this, then of course; you all have the same problem "some how." Isn't this weird? It is called the "placebo effect." Normally all the people involved in the testing are given "Lisinopril" (or some other drug), then the placebo group is given a vitamin supplement, the group receving the vitamin supplement is being told they are receving "Lisinopril." Mysteriously?, the "placebo group" is all feeling better and their symptoms are gone. This is due to the fact that all these people in the "placebo group" have interacted with eachother and have told eachother "I feel better" than of course everybody feels better. So WEIRD!! So, my point is this forum is all your peoples "placebo group." If you guys never heard of these side effects from this forum you would have never experinced them. Hypochondriacs all of you are. This is a very good medicine that is helping all of you make up for your peoples lack of self-disipline to control your diet or exercise enough to lower your blood pressure naturally. So be thankful. Lets not complain about false side effects because John has them. I wonder what the side-effects of that cheese burger are that caused high blood pressure. It is funny, I don't see a forum for that. So deal with your so called "side-effects" that are associsted with "Lisinopril" or go on a diet people. Get over it!!

oh I forgot to mention the extreme thirst! I also feel 'full' even though I haven't eaten and when I do eat it's even worse! It is very uncomfortable and makes me feel even more anxious. (It's lunch time and I'm terrified to eat.) I also have this feeling in the middle of my chest like there's air stuck in there so I try to burp for relief (That feeling makes me anxious too...) Good God this sucks! I broke down and got a packet of pills last night because I figured my symptoms were somehow related to being off of the Yasmin. (I was right!) I think I will ditch them and try to push through this - even though that's 50 bucks down the drain! I was off of bc pills for about four months or so but I have bad PMS and hoped that being on the pill would help. (They touted Yasmin as an answer to PMS!) The worst part is that I have Bipolar disorder, so I have to be very careful about what medications I take. I'm about to break down and call my doctor for some Klonopin because I feel like I'm going crazy and I need some relief!! (I'm at work right now, I have no clue how I'm even functioning..) I need to get some Slim fast shakes or something so I don't starve myself...

Sorry for two long posts, but I am so relieved to find this site. I wish there was something we could do: there are so many of us suffering and for what????

I stated on Paxil about 4 wks ago, the only side effect I have is constipation. I stated on 12.5mg daily then after a week I was increase to 25mg daily. I came off of it for a couple of days because of the constipation, but I seemed to crash when I did that. I must confess that it has helped me, it's just the constipation. After reading others problems this seems trivial, but it is real for me. I also truly pray you find something that will work for you because being depressed or anixous is no good. God Bless you all.
Carol

Good God! What does all of this mean?! Is ANYBODY paying any attention to this, or do we all need to get together and petition the FDA?

Just the fact that presumably all of these folk writing in were in enough pain and turmoil to seek answers through the internet speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Anyhow, let me add my two cents' worth: I'm living in Greece so taking a European version of synthetic T4 (called, creatively enough, "T4"!) (Novartis is the manufacturer) and I'm finally so screwed up and concerned that I'm looking here there and everywhere else for answers. I was a pretty damned healthy 40-ish woman and suddenly I feel, as so many others have said, 100 years old ...

FYI, I'm on the lowest dose available, i.e. 50 mg/day. In the beginning I felt better because my periodic feelings of extreme fatigue went away, but the heart problems are making me a nervous, frightened wreck! I begin to prefer just plain ol' Hashimoto's thyroiditis with a slow dip toward hypothyroidism rather than this nonsense. At least then I didn't feel like I was on death's door!

The mail from the woman who woke up with pounding, racing heart struck me the most, as it's the pulsating and skipped beats and the rest that are driving me to distraction. I've worn a holter monitor for 24 hours and discovered that I "only" now have tachycardia, but suddenly I'm on TWO meds for the rest of my life (when I was never on any previously, short of a tylenol for an occasional headache ... quite a change, and not a very welcome one!) one for HEART problems! AND I'm still relatively young AND I now officially feel like s**t?!

Amazing, all of this. Drug companies pleasing their stockholders while a huge number of us go slowly crazy?

Would appreciate it if people who've succesfully gone off synthetic T4 would write and tell me their stories, particularly their experience with the Armour alternative (not that I know if it's available over here, but at this point, I'd happily fly over to the States a couple times a year to get it if it would end this misery!!)

Thanks to all and COURAGE!