May 11th
2009
10:42 PM
I'm just in shock.
I can't believe that this sort of thing can go on.
My experience is all over this page. And the seven after it.
I graduated high school with a 99 GPA and was at the top of my class.
I was accepted to medical school along with my admission to college.
I started Yasmin at the same time.
All of a sudden I was getting classic migraines multiple times every month.
Soon, Yasmin became Yaz. Okay, fair enough, nurse says to switch, I'll switch. Yaz is said to be safer.
Time goes by... I'm irritable, I've lost my sex drive, I'm dragging myself out of bed in the morning if I get to classes at all, but I miss lots of them.
My GPA falls from a 4.0 to a 3.6.
I had to come home last semester because of how sick I was. Nurse says that the doctor wants me off Yaz because of the risk of classic migraines.
Liver enzymes were screwed up - fatty liver at 20?? - and cholesterol is backwards. My heart races a lot, too.
My anxiety is out of control and I'm depressed for the first time in my life.
I've been off Yaz since November of 2008 and still haven't had a period.
Additionally, I still haven't MET my gynecologist, despite asking repeatedly if I can see her.
Now she's ruled out PCOS and all other causes and wants me to "jump start" my period with more synthetic hormones.
This feels so wrong.
I have IBS, nausea, back pain, and abdomen pain. This is all just too much. I'm disillusioned with the medical field now and am having a hard time accepting that I wanted to put myself in a position in which I'd have to either perpetuate the problem or fight it. It doesn't make sense.
There needs to be a lawsuit, and now.
-- By kayten | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
August 30th
2008
7:18 PM
To the person above me who claims Dilantin is being used as a "crutch" for people, congratulations on graduating with honors and being a nurse, but please do not assume your non-reaction to this medication is how we all react. I was diagnosed with seizures at age 20 and have been on dilantin for 2 years. At 22 years old, I have no recollection of my junior or senior proms, my high school graduation, many huge events in my life. I can't recall even ATTENDING these functions. Dilantin has erased my life from my memory. I had a 3.8 GPA in high school, did not do drugs or drink. No actions that would have caused my memory loss. Now, I stutter, I am constantly tired, forgetting things very often, studying is nearly impossible and I have no sex drive at age TWENTY TWO. My doctor refuses to change my medication insisting side effects of other medications would be even worse. I've considered weaning myself off Dilantin to end these effects but am afraid to do so. I wish we could all be as symptom free as you have been, but please do not look down upon those who have legitimate side effects.
-- By notyourstar54 | Reply | Private Message me
June 27th
2008
8:16 PM
My son began taking singulair when he was 6. About that time we were hading into the school years. He was labeled as a "special" child from that time on. Impulsive, aggressive, angry, anti-social, etc. He had a hard time focusing at school and every day was a battle. About 5th grade, after 3 schools, he was diagnosed with ADHD. I never, ever thought that it could be this medication. He was on it for about 4 years off and on during allergy season. I transferred him to a private school for children with behavioral issues and as time went on through therapy and special schooling it seemed to get better. I look back now and see that our "good" times were when he finally went off it for good. The beginning of his Freshman year was great! He had a 3.58 GPA, making friends and finally happy. The unfortunate thing is now that puberty has really kicked in, we are back to the old behaviors but much worse. Impulsive, angry, anxious, afraid of the dark, afraid of death. Violent thoughts, impulsive and very unhappy. I can see now that my son never had ADHD. He was misdiagnosed because thier were no warnings at that time. I don't think it ever "goes away". Even after years of being off of it. Something with the puberty hormones is re-triggering this behavior. IT IS LONG TERM!!!!! Even after discontinued use. Please, please keep an eye on your children. I AM SO ANGRY FOR HIM!! Also, for me. Special school $400 month, psychologist appointments, $300 month, my poor Son in a dark place I can't get him out, PRICELESS. . .I want my Son just to be happy. Thank you all for sharing your stories, it gives me strength that I need for him.
-- By wewe | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
May 28th
2008
9:19 AM
I began reading all of the blogs about Topamax and was surprised. I have been taking Topamax as a mood stabilizer since February 2007 at 200 mg at bed time (I probably sleep off the fatigue). The only side effect I am concerned about is the weight loss. Short term memory is not an issue. As a matter of fact, I am attend college and am managing a 3.85 gpa. I wish all of you the best of luck and hope you find something that works for you.
-- By angiepangie44 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
May 19th
2008
2:43 PM
In September of 2007 my then 13 year old daughter was put on Singular for mild asthma. At the time she was a straight A student, vice president of our school and a popular girl who's guidance counselor described as "the glue of her grade" because she was so well liked. In November she told me that she was struggling with advanced Latin and Science. She asked to drop down to on grade Latin so we did. In December her science teacher notified us that she had a C average. She told me that she thought she had ADD/ADHD and she couldn't keep up. At the same time she was having a lot of problems with friends at school and we just attributed it to being 14. 3 weeks ago we discovered that she is significantly behind in English and it was then that she told me that she is been having horrific night mares. She said that they usually involve someone killing her or her killing herself. She said that they were so graphic that she couldn't repeat it out loud. She also said that she would feel waves of anxiety that would come over her at school and she would act "witchy" to the kids in her class for no real reason. She said that sometimes when she is trying to do her homework she will read the same passage for 2 hours and still have no idea what it's about. She also said that the suicidal thoughts from her sleep happened during they day and that she had thoughts of her harming herself. Fortunately her pulminologist told us that this may be caused by singular and we immediately took her off of it which was 2 weeks ago. She has only had 1 "bad dream" not even a nightmare since. She had one anxiety attack 3 days after she was off it and she describes her moods as the "cloud lifting....slowly". Now, we have to pick up the pieces. Her grades have suffered, her friendships have suffered and most of all her self esteem is very low. I'm grateful that we found out the cause but I feel as if my daughter lost a year of her life and I worry that because Merck won't admit there are side effects we can't find out how long it remains in their system. Is anyone else concerned about the long term affect and has anyone pursued a class action suit to try to get this drug tested properly?
-- By maryfromct | Reply | (10) replies | Private Message me
March 30th
2008
7:35 PM
I can't imagine the FDA getting involved because of only *one* suicide (though the loss of even one life is terrible). The FDA usually turns a blind eye to what pharmaceutical companies do unless there have been enough complaints or enough evidence to convince them that they must step in.
I came to this board in late February--a full two to three weeks prior to the big news story earlier this week--simply looking for a reason for my son's insomnia. There were already over 1000 posts here on the Singulair board, nearly all of which listed the same side effects: fits of rage, depression, insomnia, and suicidal thoughts. I had never dreamed that my son's fits of rage and depression were linked to Singulair--I had assumed it was all part of being 17 and having normal teenage stresses and hormonal surges. He stopped taking the Singulair right then (back in late February), and the difference in him is astounding. He is much more outgoing and talkative; he joins in with family outings and goes places with his friends (before, he wanted to stay home alone in his room). There have been no fits of rage, no more declarations that he hates himself, no more calling himself a loser (I couldn't believe he would call himself a loser--he carries a 3.9 GPA in an academically-challenging private school and was recently accepted to Case Western University), and he is sleeping better. He is just simply BETTER.
If you or your child can take this medication with no side effects, that's wonderful. Please continue to do so. But please remember: millions of people take Singulair. If only 10% develop the serious side effects, that's **hundreds of thousands** of people.
-- By sky42966 | Reply | Private Message me
March 30th
2008
2:50 PM
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?
-- By chris555 | Reply | (15) replies | Private Message me
March 16th
2008
11:26 AM
I started taking Lamictal about six weeks ago for epilepsy. Now keep in mind, I was on Dilantin which worked great for 17 years and then suddenly stopped working. I have been in medication hell since then. First Topamax made me dumb as a rock. I would space out all the time. Worst drug ever. Then Keppra which was better in that my memory/ability to speak came back but I had these intense ups and down. I had rages constantly. Now I'm on Lamictal. So far, it's better than the Topamax and the Keppra, however the dreams are very intense as are the night sweats. I'm also experiencing much hair loss. Fortunately I have a full head of hair but I'm afraid I will eventually lose it all.
-- By lintriago | Reply | (10) replies | Private Message me
November 22th
2007
3:31 AM
I am up at this moment, because my stomach is hurting from the lithium. I've been on it now for about a year, but my stomach just started hurting at night after about an hour after taking it for about three months now. Is anyone else experiencing this? I read one post above about it, but that's all. There is no vomiting, but just upset stomach. It keeps me awake. I'm on lithium and lamictal, and Topomax. If you experience this, is anyone taking anything for the nausea? Thank you! And everyone hang in there! You're in my prayers! Don't give up!
-- By med-private | Reply | (8) replies | Private Message me
October 23th
2005
10:17 AM
My son is on concerta and has done much better ifocusing in school. I do see mood swings when the concerta wears off and he has been running his fingers through his hair and just told me he is pulling at the hair. Has anyone else experienced the hair issue with this?
-- By jepeltier | Reply | (4) replies | Private Message me
Singulair (4) Dilantin (1) Yaz (1) Concerta (1) Adderall (1) Lamictal (1) Topamax (1) Lithium Carbonate (1)
June 14th
2009
6:47 PM
Adderall has worked wonders for me. I was prescribed about a year and a half ago to 10mgs twice a day. When I first started using it, I thought it was great, but like others I hated the side effects. Through trial and error, I have found ways to mostly cut out the side effects. To avoid stomach aches, I never take it on an empty stomach. I always eat a good meal before I take it. I do eat slightly less than before I was prescribed, but I take a good multivitamin to make up for that. I only lost a little bit of weight, just less than 10 pounds. Another way to get rid of the stomach aches is to take a few puffs of some you know what. I rarely get headaches from adderall, but when I do I just take a few ibuprofen and its gone right away. Before I was prescribed, I had tried 20, 30, and 40 mgs of adderall and that was hell. Coming down made me want to kill myself. I feel bad that have severe enough ADD or ADHD to require that much. Overall, I think you have to look at individuals instead of just saying adderall in general is a terrible and addictive drug. Before I was prescribed, I didn't think I had the motivation or will power to make it through school. A year and a half later, my gpa has raised dramatically (2.2 to a 3.0) and I'm in the process of finding what grad schools I want to apply to.
-- By teeblasz82 | Reply | Private Message me