Heart surgery symptoms and conditions

After taking remicade for appx. a year, I started having heart problems, A fib, ending up having heart surgery, a kidney has collapsed, and had a lesion appear which was squamous cell carcinoma. All these problems developed have taking remicade; I do blame it for my problems. My Dr. treated me for ankylosing spondylitis, a form of RA. After so many problems, another Dr. told me that I did NOT have AS. And it did not help my pain at all. This is a troubling experience for me, and has been the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Hello everyone. I too am experiencing the same problems described here from Lisinopril. On January 1st of this year, ( 2009 ) I was taken to the hospital emergency room and admitted into the hospital under the assumption that I was having congestive heart failure. After a barrage of tests it was determined that I have diabetes and I was already taking hydrochlorothiazide ( 50 mgs ) for water retention. I was prescribed Lisinopril ( 10 mgs ) and told to cut my hydrochlorothiazide in half. Everything was fine for about a month and then it started...
I had noticed on the bottle of Lisinopril that the one side effect in some patients was a dry cough but disregarded it since it didn't seem to be affecting me. After being on Lisinopril for a month, I began having this awful dusty feeling in my throat. It actually feels like someone has a bellows filled with dust which they've placed in my mouth and released a spray of dust which caused me to have this feeling of needing to cough almost to the point of choking. I don't have this cough all day long. It only happens intermittently throughout the day. Sometimes when I am standing or sitting but mostly when I am laying down in bed. I've also noticed that it seems to have somewhat of a consistent schedule. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I would take the pill every morning around the same time. However, I've stopped taking it about a week and a half ago and still seem to have somewhat of a pattern of when the coughs occur. Strange.
Another thing I noticed is that I've seemed to have an excessive amount of saliva which would also cause me to choke at times. Have any of you experienced excessive saliva with this medication?
I've been trying to lose weight without success and I'm wondering if Lisinopril has something to do with that as well. After reading all of these comments on this forum, I am wondering if doctors as well as The American Medical Association should take a closer look as to whether the side effects of this medication out weigh the benefits and/or what this medicine is supposed to be helping the patient with. So far I see no positive effects from this medication.

I am a 44 year old female with diabetes. I have high blood pressure and as a precaution was prescribed simvastian(zocor). I have only been on it for about 3 weeks...I have been feeling tired and very moody lately...but yesterday I woke up with my right leg swollen from the calf down my foot with severe burning pain and numbness. Now I have experienced Neuropathy in my left foot for years and somehow thought maybe this pain and numbness and swelling had to do with that...until this morning when I woke up to a severe pain in my right calf ( I immediately thought blood clot).. well I have a doctor's appt tomorrow to see what this is....right now Im sitting at work in so much pain and discomfort I want to cry...my feet are burning, my right leg and right shoulder are in burning pain...and my hands are numb and burning and in pain. I have to sit for hours at a time and cant just take a break when I need too...Ive only been taking this medication for 3 weeks and can not believe that all this pain and burning is from one little pill. Has anyone else had severe swelling from this medicine. Any other diabetics taking this medicine and having the same side effects? Im certain they are going to want me to stay on this medication and at this point after reading all these wonderful post, Im going to stop...Im even having difficulty in typing this post my hands hurt so bad. Im so angry that when I asked my Doctor about side effects he never mentioned these. he told me about being nauseated, constipated and so one...Ohh and I have also gained about 10 pounds in 3 weeks without changing my eating habits...anyone else have that? Thank you for letting me vent here. I was scared to death until I found this site. I was seriously considering leaving work and going to the ER room...Now Im just going to stop taking it and waiting this out till tomorrow....

Hello! After a 3 1/2 day stay in the hospital for atrial Fibb. which has since gone away and was likely cuased by extreme low blood potassium and sodium which has since been brought to all but normal levels.. I was taken off of Plavix a blood thinner which I had been taking since a heart attack in 2003, and put on the Warfarin, that was on June 22nd that I began taking Warfarin/Coumadin!. About 2 weeks ago I began having neck and shoulder pain, then slowly side and back pains deep down in the muscles. It is much worse in laying down position, have a hard time to sleep well, and if I trun or move while lying down the pain is very intense. I am going to assk the Dr. to take me off of the Warfarin and put me back on Plavix so I can see it it is the reason for the pains. I am quite sure it is! Please reply if you have the same symptoms as I do! Thanks, B.E.

I have been on Warfarin since the end of Aug. 2007 when I had my mitral valve replaced with a mechanical valve. I will be on it for the rest of my life. My doctor.'s all assured me there were no side effects other than the bleeding risks. I now know this is not true. The side effects I am dealing with make me sometimes wish I had chosen a tissue (pig) valve, even though I would be guaranteed another heart surgery within ten years. I am 39 years old and a mother of two young kids. Since being on Warfarin I have experienced various body aches that come on suddenly but don't stay long; extreme hot and cold; itchy hands and feet; dry hair and hair loss; seeing "spots" usually followed by a headache; very thirsty; ongoing bowel troubles, possibly developed colitis; but the worst side effect for me is the fatigue and depression. I feel like I traded in my old self for my mechanical valve. Like I said, I'd have to have a tissue valve replaced eventually, and as bad as heart surgery is, I'd rather have 10 happy years w/out Warfarin than this struggle I deal with almost everyday. My brother is a surgeon and even he buys into the "no side effects" b.s. I work out as much as I can, which used to make me feel great, now I feel like it helps me get by but not the positive effect it used to have on me mentally.

Hello,

My name is Danielle, I am a 27 year old with 2 boys 6yrs and 8 months, I am happily married and have always been quite happy and relaxed until I had the Mirena IUD put in. I had the IUD placed at the end of October with advice from a friend and my ob of 7 years. Big mistake, here is my story, I hope it help someone.

4 Saturdays ago at work I felt pain in my ovaries, I chalked it up to ovulating, Sunday morning I felt a bit better, I got out of the bath on Sunday night and I felt weak, dizzy, like I was going to pass out, my heart was beating so fast, I placed an emergency call into my ob, she basically told me the IUD was not the cause for these symptoms and to relax and try to get rest...(she basically told me it was in my head) Monday morning I was terrible, nausea, anxiety, nervousness, depression, rapid heart rate... I called my ob and demanded an appointment to get the IUD taken out, as I had never felt that way in my life! I was able to get in that afternoon, however when I got there I was seen by a nurse that I have not seen in the office ever, and I have been with them for 7 years, this I thought was odd but I went with it, she brought me into the room and told me there is no chance that the IUD was causing my symptoms, I was very emotional over the situation, she told me to give it a bit longer and she gave me packets of Lexapro a depression/anxiety med. Me like a fool went along with it, I took a Lexapro when I got home at noon or so and at 7:30pm I thought I was having a heart attack, I came down stairs and my husband immediately knew something was wrong, I was crying, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, my arms and fingers on my left side were numb and I was freezing and could not stop moving! I went to th ER and was treated for an anxiety attack and I had the ER DR take the IUD out, from here I was hit with the infamous "Mirena crash" the next two days I was sick but nothing I could not handle, on Thursday I was so sick I could not move off of the couch, I mean sick, nausea to the point it was hard for me to sip water, I had to have a relative come to watch the kids while my husband brought me to the ER once again, I was treated for dehydration and nausea, during all of this I was still depressed and anxious which made it all the worse, my 3rd and final trip to the ER was this past Sunday the 8th, I was so depressed and sick, I made an emergency call into my family physician this time and he told me it sounded like the anxiety was getting the best of me to take a half of Lexapro to calm myself down and to schedule an appointment with him in the morning, I did and 6 hours or so later I was in the ER again, heart palpitations, anxiety, depressed so bad I hated my self and thought I was going crazy, I felt like I could not take care of my own kids, like a terrible wife, and the list goes on, this attack was so bad my hands formed into fist and would not release, at the ER all of my blood work came back fine, EKG fine, chest x-rays fine??? they gave me Loranzapam which has helped quite a bit. it has been about a week since then and I am beginning to feel better, each day seems to get better, I still have some nervousness(kind of feels the I was just told I had to go in for a major surgery) and some nausea through out the day, but overall I feel better. I do not wish what I and many women have been through on my worst enemy. Please all of you that think you are going crazy you are NOT, and believe me I was bad, I was on the internet every 10 minutes looking different things up about depression, anxiety, everything, it makes you go nuts, please remember that even after you get the IUD out that you may still feel yucky, I did and still do somewhat, you have to give your body time to produce it's own hormones and not synthetic ones from the IUD, keep in mind that some times you will feel like everything is ok and other times you will feel crazy again, it is the nasty remnants of the IUD. Good luck to all of you who are going through this now. God Bless you all. Danielle

I have been experiencing very brief blackouts (fainting). I don't know if the Lisinopril is the cause but that would be my first guess. In the middle of the night I wake up with bad stomach cramps and diarrhea. When I am in the bathroom on the toilet my stomach hurts really bad and the next thing I know I wake up on the bathroom floor with my face cut open. The first time I slit my eyebrow (which had to be glued) and this time it was my chin. I am 24 years old and don't know what could be causing this? I am presribed 80 mg. which I take at night along with a sleep aid called Trazadone. The first time the doctor told me I was dehydrated and this time I have no clue. Could Lisionpril be causing these episodes and if so why didn't the doctor tell me? After the episodes I am very hot and sweaty, face bleeding, dizzy, and lots of diarrhea. I have never done anything like this before and I am very worried about this. I am also very tired of cutting my face and the scars! Please help and give me some insight. Thank you, Anna

The flushing is tolreable. The itching is intolerable. I'd rather have heart surgery than suffer with that infernal itching. My cardiologist believes the severe itching is unrelated to the Niaspan because the reaction has only occured twice since I started taking the medication 6 months ago. I disagree. It seems to me the itching is caused by the Niaspan, together with some other unknown factor. There may be something to the "spicy food" suggestion posted by others. Last night, I ate a bunch of hot peppers an hour or so before taking the Niaspan. I woke at 3 am, with a mild hot flash, followed by the dreaded itching. Pure torment! My chest, back and legs were bright red. A cold shower helped a little. On the first occasion, two months ago, Benedril help some, but relief did not begin for over an hour after taking it. (Take at least two tablets!) But last night, I didn't mess around with Benedril. Instead, I took two codine tablets I had left over from surgery. Relief! If you are suffering from this terrible side-effect, may God be with you!

I was born without a thyroid gland so I can't compare the way I feel now to the way I would've felt with a thyroid. I've been on Synthroid my entire life (22 years), and I'm up to 112 mcg now. I am very skinny (5'5", 104 lbs) and feel constantly fatigued no matter how many hours I sleep, what I eat, and how much exercise I get. I periodically get pain in my hip joints, heart palpitations, and intense mood swings. My thoughts race but I have very little physical energy. I feel restless and gloomy almost all the time for absolutely no good reason. My doctor tells me I'm depressed but I honestly have no reason to be depressed and I wish she would see it as a symptom instead of a diagnosis. I graduated from a good college, I've got a job I like, I have friends, I enjoy life and my hobbies, yet I feel overwhelmingly sad. This does not seem like depression to me.

I find that after I do aerobics I get a tightness in my chest, which makes me worry about my heart, but again my doctor doesn't seem to think this is cause for concern. I have been irritable/fatigued for YEARS and I suspect I'll feel this way for the rest of my life. The worst of it started when I hit 16 years old and started the 112 mcg. My tests are always normal and it frustrates me that my doctor disregards my symptoms. I've tried other doctors, but they always send me away with my 'normal' test results. Can anybody help?

Daily episodes of pulmonary arrest, congestive heart failure leading to heart surgery, loss of motor control, curling of the right foot into a club foot that could not be uncurled, nerve damage, numbness in toes, loss of memory, depression, anxiety, dry eyes, elbow pain, intense neck pain and stiffness, backaches, leg spasms, loss of balance, hair loss, permanent "hissing" in the ears, inability to concentrate, inability to walk, nausea, elbow pain, jaw pain, debilitating exhaustion, impotence, flaking skin.

I have been taking topral xl for about two months and feel worse than before I started it. I had mitral and aortic valve replacements 4 years ago and recently started having preventricular contractions. The doctor has not been able to determine the reason this has started, but Dr put me on topral xl to stop them. It has stopped the contractions, but I have gained a lot of weight, have increased depression, fatigue, tingling toes, sore breasts, extreme bloating and constipation and overall feeling terrible. I feel that I would be better off just learning to cope with the contractions than having to deal with not wanting to do anything at all. I have always been an active person, even after the heart surgery, but now all I can do is sit. I can't get the doctor to understand that the cure is making me feel worse than the problem. Granted, preventricular contractions is no picnic, and causes a lot of anxiety, but now I don't have the energy or inclination do do anything. What good does it do to have me gain weight and be so depressed and fatigued? I really feel that I would rather have a pace maker than all of the side effects of this drug.

I've been on Lipitor for two weeks and have developed pain in my joints, aching muscles, barely able to walk from the pain in my feet and ankles. I have been awakened the last two nights with pain in my chest, pain in my left shoulder and aching in my left arm. These symptoms were not present prior to taking Lipitor. My fingers have begun to ache and I have developed swollen joints in my hands. Since I began taking Lipitor I have been chilled and feel very cold -- something highly unusual for me since I have always felt very warm, even in cold weather.

My husband recently began taking this drug after heart surgery and complains of severe pain in his legs. Initially, I thought these symptoms were due to surgery -- not so sure. Is there a proven effective alternative, that is safe?

I've been on Lipitor for two weeks and have developed pain in my joints, aching muscles, barely able to walk from the pain in my feet and ankles. I have been awakened the last two nights with pain in my chest, pain in my left shoulder and aching in my left arm. These symptoms were not present prior to taking Lipitor. My fingers have begun to ache and I have developed swollen joints in my hands. Since I began taking Lipitor I have been chilled and feel very cold -- something highly unusual for me since I haved always felt very warm, even in cold weather.

My husband recently began taking this drug after heart surgery and complains of severe pain in his legs. Initially, I thought these symptoms were due to surgery -- not so sure. Is there a proven effective alternative, that is safe?

Like other readers, I'm so glad I stumbled onto this site!!! I have been on Yasmin for 3 weeks and have started having severe chest pains, as well as tingling in my arms & muscle aches. I have been contemplating going to the doctor because I thought I could be having symptoms of heart disease. I have now put a call into the doctor to find out what to do next.....of course, not taking it from this day forward is where I'm going to start!!! I just turned 33 and I would hate to think that a bc pill in conjunction with my family history could cause my son to lose his mommy!! It's been so scary for me. I didn't want to overreact...but I also don't want to wait until they have to "crack me open" to do a major heart surgery all because of a pill!!!!!!! I think having another kid would be less painful!!!

I had back surgery sevral years ago & now need another. Then I had a major heart attack & had heart surgery. I live on pain medication for my beck & take a handful of pills daily for my heart. I am only 47 years old.
I have had problems sleeping for sometime lately have been very stressed. My Doctor put me on Xanax about 2 months ago. At first I slept & felt well but lately I feel overly emotional. I will cry over anything or nothing & just have this feeling like I'm going to die.
I'm wondering if this is a side effect of the Xanax.

After reading all the posts, it is becoming clearer to me Lipitor is a poison. I started Lipitor a year ago after heart surgery. Now, a year later, instead of feeling better, I feel worse than before surgery. My whole body aches. I take 40mg. a day of Lipitor. Not any more. I am stopping the drug and replacing it with alternative herbs and suppliments. What is the point of having a very low cholesterol and not feeling better because of side effects. The pharmaceuticals and the doctors are all in bed together. We, are the results of this on this board. A lot of trusting, good people who are being gradually killed. I am over it. No more drugs for me. I am taking charge of my life now. Right, or wrong.

Well, let's hope it is the Zocor, left leg, left arm weakness, no pain, neck aches and stiffness and tingling in neck, funny twitching in calves, burning and just different neurological symptoms. First, they thought stroke, previous heart surgery 8 months ago. Been on Zocor for 8 months. Now, MS or tumor or differential diagonosis, no answers. Have stopped Zocor for 2 weeks, strength has came back neck is still stiff. We will see, pray for us. 42 years old.

I have many side effects but am on 12 other drugs besides Lipitor. BUt since I have started 40 mg. of Lipitor, I have been so tired, I might as well not wake up each a.m. And I have many aches and pains, especially in my knees and legs. I have been on 10 cholesterol-lowering drugs and NONE of t hem have worked. I can't take Niacin as I get gout from taking that. Can someone tell me what else would be good taking after heart surgery and diabetes????????????????? Help.

My dad is taking Lipinopril and has been having problems in less than 1 week. This drug is not one that is beneficial to the body. I have seen him with severe cough and shortness of breath, enough to wake him up terrified. I have done extensive research online and found this is not good. I do not believe in drugs since doctors precribe drug without really exposing the sideeffects. this doctors see all the old folks and they have dollar signs in their eyes. It is really a polical game to see who can go around the round table and win or money!!!. Please do research on these drugs before you take them online or library. I have seen these drugs given for one illness to cause another and then your given another medication. My mom was being scheduled to have heart surgery and I convinced her to start natural herbs that clean the organs and even the heart, they call them cleanses. She was told she would die and they were livid and foamy at the mouth but she is still her and healthy. Do yourselves the favor and really ask questions. These drug are suppose to be cheap so they go to a lesser brand that cause all these side effects leaving your lives also less!

Don't know if it's the Zorcor or not but I have severe right hip pain & right leg pain plus numbness of the lower right leg. I've been on 40mgs. a day for a month after heart surgery by pass. I'm stopping the zorcor today, and will moniter my own results. there's got to be a better way