Gymnastics symptoms and conditions

I was put into the hospital in March '06 after using a carpet protectant that I purchased at the pet store. The chemicals in the product burned my lungs and I spent about 3 weeks in the hospital and was given prednisone for 10 -12 days. I remained in the hospital after my lung function increased because of the sever pain in my knees. My husband was going nuts trying to tell the doctors that he read on the internet that prednisone causes problems with knees and joints but they didn't believe him and kept running tests. They eventually switched the steroid to solumedrol and the pain decreased. I was sent home with less pain which eventually went away....but not for long. 7 months later, I began to have knee pain, which continued to get worse each day. The 1st Ortho told me that I tore a ligament and that the dead bone on the MRI will grow back. I didn't like that answer and eventually went back to an orthopedic surgeon I saw a few years prior for an injury I had while doing gymnastics. He took one look at my MRI and diagnosed me with AVN in my right knee. I got my 1st total knee replacement in August '07, a manipulation in October '07. While recovering, I noticed that my left knee was hurting and thought it was from using it so much and compensating for the right one......but I was wrong. I got an MRI on my left knee and once again, I have AVN. I got my 2nd knee replacement in January '08, a manipulation in February '08 and a 2nd manipulation in March '08. I'm now 29 years old, with asthma (from the carpet spray) 2 fake knees and have had the worst 3 years ever while going through all of this. I now have pain in my 1st replaced knee......under my knee and toward the inside. I go back to my surgeon tomorrow and am dreading another surgery.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try to help you as much as I can.

J.

Just wanted to add another little bit of fun side effects for everyone.

Last month, I woke up with a pain in my right groin. Since no gymnastics were involved, I treated with ice and ignored it. After a few days, pain was worse, so went to the ER (My home away from home) where a bone density scan was ordered. 4 weeks later I find out that I have a stress fracture of the lesser trochanter (part of the femour just below the femoral head - English translation hip fracture).

Turns out that long term therapy on warfarin (ie. over 1 year) also increases your risk of fractures.

And what does one do for this? Nothing. Orthopedic guy said just go as usual and no physio required. Easy for him to say since he does not have groin pain, and associated thigh/Knee/calf pain associated with accommodating my gait. Needless to say, seeing a new orthopedic guy.

I have started iron infusions monthly as my iron and ferritin levels are low (but hemoglobin is fine).

Still wondering which came first - the insanity or the warfarin!

Fiona

I noticed a lot of postings about weight gain on Singulair, which is nowhere listed by Merck as a possible side effect. My 15 y.o. daughter experienced sudden weight gain at the age of 9 when she was actually underweight (BMI went from 17 to 21). To make a long story short, after being off Singulair for over a year, she is now over-weight, and diet/exercise have never made a big difference (gymnastics, swim team, figure skating, trampoline, etc.) Extensive labwork is always normal & there is no family history of obesity. It's a shame the quality of life of a child is RUINED by a drug that is deemed to have "no side effects", and the many drs. & specialists out there take it very lightly. We continually worry about our daughter's self-esteem, risk of diabetes, and other complications from weight gain which is not hereditary and goes on unexplained by the drug co. Reversing this weight gain has been nearly impossible. Everytime I hear a news report about our children being overweight and obese, it makes me angry because I think about the many kids that are taking this highly prescribed drug (for even the mildest allergy or asthma) and who knows how many parents don't make the connection!

Here is some perspective for you all. I take Singulair and do well on it and in ACTUAL studies it has one of the safest safety records. Understand that post marketing reporting does not mean there is a correlation between the event and the product. Throughout the life of a drug the companies must disclose any report of side effects reported to them REGARDLESS of causality. A popular antihistamine that is OVER THE COUNTER also has suicidal thinking/behavior listed in its post marketing section. However, just because patients who had reported having these thoughts while taking the product doesn't mean it was a result of the product! Maybe they had a depressive personality and were also on multiple other medicines to treat that. You must look at the "Adverse Reactions, Warnings and Precautions" sections of package inserts to see the side effects that were actually seen in studies. You can die from ulcers derived from over use of aspirin or ibuprofen. Decongestants can throw off your blood pressure and these events are documented in actual studies! Listen to your bodies when taking any med. If you feel differently report it to your doctor.

These are all drugs people, there are potential side effects. There are also side effects to those "natural" over the counter remedies that are not nearly as regulated by the FDA or studies by the drug companies.

To anyone out there who has experienced side effects to singulair timed to when you started it, talk to your doctor, stop taking it and see if it goes away. Same advice for any product prescription or over the counter medicine. Side effects can be a combination of many factors (what other meds are you taking?) But understand for many people this product is the safest and most effective treatment for them. The FDA and Merck are reviewing all information to see if there is any correlation to the reporting. But singulair been around for about 10 years and prescibed to billions of people and is known to be one of the safer medicines out there overall.

In between the legitimate posts on this site I get the sense there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. People looking to cash in on this big drug companies. We want drugs, we want them cheap and with no side effects which is not a reality. Keep stepping up the regulation and make the companies hire more lawers to protect themselves and jump through even more hoops and see what happens to the price and access to new meds. Even better, see how regulation has impacted the development of new medicines around the world (here's a tip, it will dramatically decrease). Drug companies certainly aren't perfect but which industry is?

Please, when taking any medicine over the counter, prescription or herbal supplement listen to your bodies to see if the potential benefits of the product outway the risks or side effects. Report any changes to your doctor.

I have been on Warfarin since Sept 2004 when I had multiple blood clots in both lungs. Since then I have had two more PE's (one with a therapeutic INR) and a blood clot in my left arm (INR was also therapeutic). Genetic tests show nothing.

Since starting Warfarin I have had
- dizziness issues,
- eternal extreme fatigue
- hair loss
- short term memory and cognitive issues,
- joint pain and
- head aches all the time. I think the headaches are the worse since I can't take any NSAID's for them.

I have lost weight and push myself to exercise because it is supposed to make you feel better, right? Well not yet. I keep waiting.

I have not been able to return to work and worry about the long term implications of this.

Many times I have wondered about my sanity and if I was imagining all of this, so finding this forum at least lets me know that there is a possibility that it is not all in my mind.

I have been seeing a psychiatrist to help me work through the almost dying 3 times thing, but it is hard to accept since no one knows why I throw the clots. My INR is not stable in spite of close monitoring of Vit K and other drugs, and my INR must be taken twice a week.

My 7 year old daughter has been on singular for 1 month. I have noticed weigth gain, crabby crabby and mean aggressive behavior....she used to be able to memorize her spelling words in school easily and now cant focus....she has seasonal allergies which 1 time brought me to urgent care because she was wheezing...so she ended up on this singular....i dont know what to do....she has anxiety and just cant focus...but i just dont know if it is the medicine???? or not???? i would have to say yes, her behavior is just mean and she is alittle sweet girl......i am sure there are 100,000 of 7 year old kids with successful treatments....where are those people???? i am going to take her off this medication

Knee pain. I was on Prednisone for a headache, as I have New Daily Persistent Headache, a rare, chronic headache condition, to try and break it. I have never had knee pain constantly before. I was a 10 day course of it. 80 mg for 2 days, 60 for 2, 40 for 2, 20 for 2, then 10 for 10. It's been 3 weeks or so since i've been done, and I still have knee pain. I'm very scared that I have avascular necrosis, even though I know it's rare, but I've been off the drug know for awhile but the pain is still around. Does anyone know if it is possible to get AVN after only being on the drug for 10 days??

I have had asthma my whole life and have dealt with it by sitting still and calming down, until about 6 or 7 years ago. I started having problems after I moved into a new house and was prescribed Vancerill, Serevent and Albuterol. I had never had to go to the hospital for a serious asthma attack until I started using these medications, one time by calling 911(mostly albuterol for emergencies just like the rest of you). Recently my doctor switched me to Advair telling me that everyone is being switched over and they won't make the other meds any more. Every time I use it I get a sharp pain in my upper back just under the left shoulder blade that does not go away for 2 or 3 weeks. At it's worst I feel numbness all up and down my left arm and in my fingers. I thought it may be carpel tunnel but it is not, I was tested for it. When this happens I end up taking 25 advil a day or 6 DOANS just to deal and that does not even work. I AM DONE WITH THIS CRAP - NEVER AGAIN, NEVER EVER AGAIN WILL I USE ADVAIR. My doctor keeps telling me it's a pulled muscle that has not had a chance to heal! I am fit, I have worked out my whole life, I drum, I do gymnastics and I have never ever had this kind of pain until I used Advair for the first time. This is ***. I will never use that crap again, I don't care if I die from an asthma attack, it would be better that this crippling pain.