Intensive care symptoms and conditions

I am an intensive care physician , one day we got a 75 year old male patient for acute allergic skin manifestation and general body swelling , the patient has been taking Lamictal tablets for seizures control after brain surgery few months before his presentation the patient was put on i.v steroid therapy along with antihistamine, on the second day we noticed that his skin is peeling off and his breathing got embarrassed , the case was diagnosed as( TOXIC EPIDERMAL NECROLYSIS) which is the most severe form of drug allergic reactions as a side effect of Lamictal administration , one week later the patient died due to acute respiratory failure (ARDS) however he was on mechanical ventilation support.

My mother, 70 years old, been on Coumadin for 3 years (doctor said best to take since she suspected heart palpitations). Mother developed gradual memory loss, over the 3 year period, we didn't think anything wrong!! just a part of aging process!! Then one night she fell on the floor, stroke, we took her to hospital - done MRI and CTscan - result: severe brain bleeding. From that time - 4 months ago - she is now diagnosed with Dementia. I cant even describe how I feel about god damn Coumadin. Wish they never given it to her in the first place.

I have taken lisinopril for more than 4 years and 2 days ago my tongue started swelling. It was about 9:00 p.m. and we were getting ready to go to bed when I realized it was getting worse. My tongue filled my mouth and protruded out and I couldn't swallow and could only speak with garbled words. My husband took me to the emergency room where they very quickly diagnosed it as an allergic reaction to lisinopril. I ended up in intensive care for the night. This was a very frightening experience, as well as terribly uncomfortable (and expensive). I spoke to my pharmacist today and he takes lisinopril. I told him to do some research and check out alternatives. I'd be interested to know the percentage of people who have similar, severe reactions to this drug.

I am relaying the story of the granddaughter of my boss. She was 15 when she got the first shot of Gardisil in May of 2007. Within hours of the shot, she collapsed and an ambulance was called because she had distressed breathing. She was taken to a hospital and was in intensive care for 2 weeks in and out of consciousness. In the meantime, her mother tried to get the shot records from the doctor's office that gave the shot. They did everything in their power to:
A.Dismiss the correlation between the shot and the girl's collapse, despite the girl being in good health before the shot.
and
B.Keep the parents from getting hold of the vaccination records.
It was like pulling teeth to even get the vaccination batch numbers, and finally the office told the parents that somehow, the girl's health records went "missing". Luckily, the parents still had copies of most of the doctor visits, plus the "aftercare" paper following the shot with vital information on it.

When the girl finally began to be able to sit up again and eat on her own, she experienced mental fuzziness, memory problems, and speech problems. She had perpetual tingling and jolts of pain on the arm that had gotten the shot, in her side and abdomen and down both legs. Three weeks after the shot, she tried to get up out of bed and found she could not walk. She was diagnosed tentatively with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, also with nerve damage. It took her three full months to walk again without help, and even now, a year and a half later when she comes into the office she still has a bit of a limp. She lost over 25 pounds, which is pretty sad as she was not overweight or anything. She now looks very skinny and sickly. She had to quit school and started being home schooled because of the physical and memory problems and depression. I feel so sorry for her and her parents, who thought they were doing the right thing.

The first time I heard the word prednisone was late Dec 07 when I was hospitalized for severe pneumonia. I started off with a bad sinus infection that quickly advanced into pneumonia in a matter of a couple weeks. I tried 3 courses of antibiotics but I continued to get worse and got to the point where I was unable to breath on my own. Within a day of being at the hospital I felt like I was living in a dream world and from there I continued to get more stoned by the minute. I had no idea I was being pumped full of prednisone intravenously, along with my antibiotics. I was given a dose of 250 mgs daily, and obviously it was way too much for me. As I progressed into my dream world, I had a couple of “episodes” where I acted completely out of character, and got really paranoid and highly emotional. I pulled my IV out of my arm the one night and sat and watched the blood dripping from my hand, not really understanding where I was or what was going on. Later on I got really paranoid that the nursing staff was conspiring against me and talking about me behind my back (lol) , which I normally would not care about, but for some reason it made me really upset and I sobbed uncontrollably at times. I also tried to leave my room in intensive care a few times, as I was convinced that I was not supposed to be there and wanted to go home. My doctors were really freaked out so they gradually lowed my dose over the last few days I was in the hospital, even sent me for a CT scan of my brain in case I was going crazy. Prednisone is an extremely strong and evil drug – that is why I had the adverse reaction!! Not because I’m crazy! And one should never be given a drug like prednisone without their knowledge!! A few weeks after leaving the hospital I started going down hill again and the doctors realized that what I had was an immune disorder and not just pneumonia per se. After a few months of on again off again prednisone (never longer than a week at a time), I was put on a daily regiment (50 mgs) of it starting in May. Since then I have experienced all of the same side effects noted by everyone on here, weight gain, sleeplessness, anxiety, hair growth (the worst is on my face and fingers!!) dizziness, confusion, trembling hands, tooth aches, and the worst of all , big time MOON FACE! I feel like a complete freak most days. I am now tapering and am down to 10 mgs. So far I have seen no improvement in the side effects, accept now I have withdrawal side effects on top of everything - nausea, headaches, flu like symptoms and trouble breathing. I HATE this drug, even though I know it ultimately saved my life in the hospital and my kidneys – as I had complications caused by the autoimmune disorder. I see my doctor next week and I want off this drug completely. I am not sure the benefits out weigh the side effects to be honest. I want to feel normal again and be able to recognize my own face in the mirror  People should use extreme caution when using this drug and it should only be used to save people’s lives, not used for minor things like poison ivy. That is unconscionable!!!! Good luck to all who are on this drug.

Have any of you posted your information on the FDA website? I was telling my son about some of the experiences I've heard and he told me that the FDA ignores anecdotal evidence UNLESS it is posted to their website and that as few as 90 such stories will prompt an investigation.

So, obviously it is very important to go to their website http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/problem.html and report these problems. I was concerned after hearing from someone who had been in intensive care for several weeks and treated for toxic shock syndrome and who told me she had met another girl in our area at the hospital who had nearly the same experience after receiving the Gardasil vaccine.

My daughter was born with a breathing condition(never pinpointed) that kept her in intensive care for almost 2 weeks. As she grew she seemed ok. Then pneumonia appeared at 1 1/2yrs. and she has been hospitalized 5 times since with various forms of pneumonia(walking, single, double) since. We moved from the city to the 'burbs and all seemed well. She would take the occasional Xopenex(Abuterol made her nuts). To make a long story short, after 2 years in the new house new symptoms appeared. All of a sudden there was coughing at night that would not stop. We went to a new Dr. and he prescribed Singulair. This was October of '06. Soon thereafter, the behavior began to get worse. Tantrums and extreme moodiness began to become more frequent and her school work began to suffer. We've just been informed that the school is recommending holding her back. When I talked to the teacher, she indicated that my daughter has gotten "worse" since Christmas. Teacher also does not believe that there are any learning disabilities. I know that it is the Singulair. She has the constant stomach ache and no appetite to speak of. All of the professionals are assurring me that Singulair is safe. She is not on this nasty drug any longer... Waiting for changes...

For Allie; I'm a middle aged male who has had asthma all my life. During my mid thirties it suddenly got very suddenly worse to the point of being life threatening. I had been treated all my life by many doctors as being allegic to rye grasses & chicken feathers. They also said that cold weather was a trigger. I wasn't getting exposed to these triggers & it was getting worse day by day. More visits to the doctor, who told me that it was because I was living in an area high in pollens. This dr introduced me to prednisolone & had me on it every day for 4 years. There was no improvement in my condition (i was actually getting worse & preparing myself for a short life) & the solone created a whole new range of health issues for me. Finally, I found a specialist who discovered the problem. I'm allergic to silicilates (i think that's how you spell it?) & sulphates. I removed them from my diet & my condition improved rapidly. It took me a further 2 years to wean off the solone without rebound! My point is; keep looking for the trigger/s until you find them all. If a doctor tells you it's one thing & removing that trigger dosen't fix it, keep looking! I'm sure that I am allergic to rye grasses & chook feathers, but not near as allergic as I am to tomato paste & wine. I mow lawns for a living these days & live a perfectly healthy life. My asthma is completely under control. So much for pollens & rye grasses putting me in intensive care!

My 9yr old son was prescribed singulair after hospitalization last October. This was 3rd such hospital visit,(intensive care etc) which is frightening for our child and ourselves. We have been willing to try anything after these episodes. Having read comments already posted I felt I had to relate our experience.
Our son has become terribly moody, anxious and lethargic. He has gained weight and we feel we have a complete stranger in our house. He is to be reviewed at hospital later this month (March) but do we as responsible parents demand that our son stops taking the meds and risk further deterioration in health and more hospital stays? I know that doctors always say "don't stop taking meds" but they do not live with us and see the adverse effects these meds are having on us as a family and also to our previously carefree lively 9yr old.

After taking Pravachol for almost a year I started having pain in my legs and arms mostly but really all over. My family Dr. took me off the Pravacho; and gemfibrsol. Instead of getting better it just kept getting worse. Finally when I could not function any longer because of the severe neck pain I went to the hospital, The Drs. there diagnosed "Rhabdomyolsis". I was put in Intensive care and the next day I had kidney dialysis.Following that my calcium, magniesium and potasium levels dropped. They are improving and I haven't had to have any more dialysis at this time. Still in a lot of pain from the muscle damage.

The first time Renografin-60 was used on me, I sneezed about 20-25 times. The next time my blood pressure dropped dramatically, my heart beat extremely hard, and I was in intensive care for 3 days. I've been told never to allow this drug to be used on me again.

I have been prescribed Verapamil and am very reluctant to take it. I take digoxin for atrial fibrillation, (makes no difference) They both control the calcium on a cellular level and yet are counter in effect. The requirement is that both be taken together! Seems a madness to me given the potential toxicity of both and neither cure my condition anyway, at best moderate it. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has gone down this path and is free of their heart condition. I take Hawthorne & Ginko tinctures daily to keep me going and do not know of or feel any side effects from these. I am still alive but this is in in spite of the various pharmaceuticals administered. Betablockers, Sotalol made me zombie-like. Diltiazem, another calcium channel blocker made me feel awful. Flecainide, put me into intensive care in hospital. Well from my empirical experience I would say avoid these poisons like the plaque and if you can find an alternative. You may of course have found benefit, I and others might say there is nothing like the placebo effect.

As I read these side-effect, I believe that Levaquin was partially, if not wholely, responsible for my mother's death. She was eight years old and had been in the hospital for a bronchial infection. She was given Levaquin IV and sent home with Levaquin tablets. She then had the side effects of bad taste, diarrhea, low blood pressure, weight loss, and pseudomembranous colitis, pancreatitus, and loss of liver and kidney function. This all occured over a three week period and after being in intensive care for five days and then released to an oncology floor for "terminal" care, she died on April 16. Unfortunately, she and her husband had not been adequately warned of possible side-effects. She had celebrated her 80th in January and was still living in her own home prior to her hospital stays. Has anyone else had a similar experience. I dont want this to happen to other folks. Thanks.

A month ago I posted my wife's problems with Levaquin, namely, hot and cold flashes, sore joints and muscles and tingling sensations in body. Since then we have seen a doctor that knew about Levaquin reactions. He said that the problems generally last 2 to 3 weeks and suggested she take A.B. American Biologics "Ultra Infla-zyme Forte" tabs 1x3 times a day and Metagenics "Inflavonoid Intensive Care" tabs 2x3time a day. These are available over the counter in supplement stores. According to my wife they offer some, but not total, relief from the symptoms. After a month she is feeling somewhat better but has, I sorry to say, a long way before she's totally over the negative effects of this drug. Good luck to everyone posting on this site.