Internal medicine doctor symptoms and conditions

Hey I see Im not the only one with problems that the doctors blam on other things!! I have always been so healthy UNTIL I had twins in Feb 06 and had Mirena put in Oct 06 and almost immediately started having side effects.I started to read up and realized the ones I had were all listed as side effects with it.The first side effects weren't that bad but OMG now I am horrible.I have so many side effects and am wondering if anyone is in the same boat??Mine are:weight gain,hair loss,facial hair,migraines,irritability,fatigue,NO sex drive,anxiety,depression,fluttering in my stomach,back and joint pain,pain during sex,stomach spasms,the list goes ON and ON, oh and lets not forget they say I have PCOS!! Now I wish they could tell me how I went from perfectly healthy to THIS!! I have been to 3 different docs and asked to have it removed but surprise surprise they all did not want to remove it and now I have NO insurance..I am to the point if I could take the thing out myself I would!! I am SOOO miserable and if I say I want it out who are they to tell me no?? Can anyone else relate?? I AM GOING CRAZY!!!

Thank God for each and every one of you'll who posted!! I am a 31 year old female who has consumed this poison since March 08. My PCP had started me on the Lisinopril 40mg and eventually increased it to 80mg per day.
OCTOBER 2008-
I begin having "flu like" symptoms which I started taking over the counter medicine for.

NOVEMBER 2008-
I was becoming worst so I went to my doctor (the one who prescribed this mess) and was told it sounds like bronchitis so she prescribed a "z-pack" (which is a 5 day course), "cough syrup", and stated to "quit smoking".

FIVE DAYS LATER-
I went back to my doctor with the same complaint chronic cough and now shortness of breath. I was told that since the "z-pac" didn't work it may be "asthma"!! SO of course I was prescribed more drugs one being one called "Augmentin" (which is a 10 day course), and an inhaler now for asthma!! I was ordered to have a "chest x-ray", and another script for more cough syrup with codeine!!!!

SEVEN DAYS LATER I WAS IN THE ER-
I felt as if I was dying! I was so scared and did not know what to do. I couldn't even go to work all I could do was cough, gag (sometimes vomit), and gasp for air!! I knew something was terribly wrong. The chest x-ray was clear other then a small amount of inflammation. I was prescribed yet more pills this time a 5 day course of "steroids" for the inflammation, more cough syrup, and was told I didn't need the inhaler!!!

1 WEEK LATER IM STILL COUGHING-
I was beginning to think that this condition was smoke related and begin to feel depressed as if my life was over. I decided to quit smoking as of 12/19/08, however the gagging cough and shortness of breath is still present.

I GOT A 3RD OPINION
I went to an internal medicine doctor (just 6 days ago) who stated that it appeared to be the Lisinopril the whole time and to stop taking it immediately. I was prescribed a medication called "Diltiazem" generic for " Tiazac" but the insert mentions cough as a possible side effect for this medicine as well. I am to weak, broke, and cautious to take another one so quickly. I'm still coughing as I type this!! I think I will just stick to my fluid pill and a better way of living before I continue to put this stuff in my body. To sum up this whole coughy blog, please, please think twice before taking this or any other medicine, trust me it will save you a lot of health problems and medical bills. And finally if your doctor wont listen, don't hesitate to get a 2ND OR EVEN 3RD OPINION IF NEEDED!!!!!

I have been taking depo for about a year and half now and 3 months ago i started having horrible GI problems. I have gotten to a point where i can't eat or be away form the bathroom for more than 30 mins. i was put in the hospital and ran EVERY test possible for GI problems and every test showed nothing. my internal medicine doctor suggested going off the depo and see if it makes me feel better. so i plan on it but for now i have to let the deo run its course. after reading this website I found out that less than 1% can have the problems i have been having so i plan on going off it. so if you are on the depo shot and are having GI problems then depo may be the problem

Your website helped me know that I was not dying or crazy when I was prescribed to Bactrim. I went to an Urgent care facility to treat a UTI. I have had them in the past and figured it would be a quick fix. The prescribed Bactrim twice per day for 7 days. After the first day I developed a sore throat. After the second day my body began to ache a bit. After the third day, I almost collapsed from faintness. I stopped taking the medication because of how it was making me feel and since I saw NUMEROUS online complaints (like this site) on how awful the medication was. I though I would feel better after stopping the medication but it only got worse. That is when I developed a fever with severe flu like symptoms and also vaginal sores. I was confined to my bed for two days and this was two days after I stopped the medication. After day three of no medication I began to feel better. Today (day 5 of no medication) I went to see my PCP( which is an internal medicine doctor who I should have just went to to begin with). He said I would be fine and I am allergic to Sulpha drugs. He also stated that mosts UTI's clear after three days of treatment. In addition he stated that most women have resistance and reactions to Bactrim and that Cipro would have been a better choice. Although Bactrim is a lot cheaper than Cipro. I would NEVER recommend Bactrim to anyone!!! I thought I was dying! I am getting tested for STD's incase that is why I have sores (highly doubtful) but I'll let you know.

I been on Synthroid now for 10 years. Almost right after I started the medication i started to have headaches. I had / have headaches every single day , all day long. Before the Syntthroid i NEVER had headaches, EVER. It has been 10 years and i still complain. I have spent so much money and wasted time on exams and doctors. All the doctors tell me is that i am stressed or its sinus or something else . Which i don't think i am . I have CT scans a few times. I am not crazy, i know what i am saying. Doctors don't listen. I looked on online and saw that headaches are a side effect. I went back to my doctor and explained. The doctor(s) insist that the Synthroid is not a cause of my headaches. With headaches every single day a person can not function normally.

I ran across this website and in a way i felt better knowing that this symptom is real and other people are experiencing the same thing. On the other hand it upset me that all these people are complaining and no one is listening.

Is there no solution?

I am a 30 year old female and have had asthma since I was 3 years old. For years I struggled with it, having to always have an inhaler on hand everywhere I went. About 4 years ago by the prescription of my pulmonary doctor I started taking singulair and advair once a day (before bed) The one thing that I have noticed that concerns me a bit, is that when I miss even one day of the medication (due to my forgetfulness in refilling) my asthma will be worse then before I even started the medication. So it's like I'm dependently addicted to it, which is really scary. Just one day off of it and I have to use my albuterol inhaler at least 5 times a day and I can't even get out of bed sometimes.

The other thing that I noticed was my complexion changed. I have been to several dermatologists who either think I have a mild rosacea, mild acne rosacea or a mild adult acne. I have never had a problem with my skin, it was always clear. However now it is just so tempermental. I recently asked an internal medicine doctor who doesn't seem to feel that there is any link between singulair and skin problems but thought that perhaps it was the advair.

I also have experienced strange mood shifts that sort of go back to the time I started the medication. I fight a lot more with my husband and just feel very anxious, fearfull, reclusive, depressed. I feel like another poster, that everything is going to go wrong, or is always wrong. I'll have extreme anxiety about small everyday things. I am an actress living in LA. I have a commercial agent and was quite active in auditioning but this has dwindled as the years have passed.
Is all this due to the medication? I cannot say obviously, and like another poster said, you can't attribute side effects that some people have had to all the millions of people that must take this medication.And, it is true that during studies conducted of medications anything that someone experiences has to be listed as a side effect. I was taking a medication for my possible ADD symptoms, concerta, and one of the side effects is "Accidental Injury" what does that even mean! I asked my doctor about it and he told me, that if someone so much as accidentally bumped into a table or tripped during the study it would have to be listed as possibly being associated with the medication.It's a legal thing I'm sure.

But in any event who's to say that it isn't causing these symptoms. I certainly hope that it doesn't. I can only vouch for my physical symptoms for sure. I know whether or not I can breath or not and that it's due to not taking the medication since being on it is like I don't even have asthma. But as for the emotional stuff, they are just that emotional and there are many other things in peoples lives that could be contributing factors. The greatest test would be to stop taking the medication to see if the emotional symptoms improve.

Hi everyone, I have been on Loestrin fe for 8 months and I am 45 years old - taking the pill again after a four year absence. I have found that all of the posted side effects are true - but are greatly minimized by taking the pill EXACTLY at the same time every day.... if you are off by even a half hour you WILL have breakthrough bleeding - sometimes with clots and with drawl-like headaches... my gyn says no way - but I actually tested my own theory this month - much to my regret - I am right... I am ready to quit as I am at the end of my rope. Fortunately for me my blood count has come back into the normal range after the last two years of horrific bleeding every 11-26 days without a break.

I am going to go off next month - and I may have RESET MY SYSTEM so to speak - if no I will take a hysterectomy please... straight up with a tummy tuck to match!!!!!!!!!!!! Please email me if you ever want to discuss - I am a nurse anesthetist and have a great deal of sympathy for all of you out there. I am not sure if this drug is a bad one - but I think it is so low dose that timing must be precise for it to work properly. I have stayed on it only to reduce the bleeding (perimenopausal/estrogen dominant I am sure) twice a month periods that last 7-8 days. It has worked for me in that regard - but the first 7 months were plagued by horrific (and I mean really bad) right sided headaches that scared me. I had relief from NSaids (Motrin) so I almost overdosed on that stuff. Not good. My next strategy is to do saliva testing for cyclic hormones OFF the pill to see what kind of hormonal swings I really am having - and to adapt a more natural approach - possible progesterone cream to alleviate the misery of it all....
Much Love, Ellen M

I had the Mirena put in when my son was a year old....i have had it now for over 2 years...i experienced the cramping, bloating, bleeding, etc.....i did not know that i would probably gain weight.....i chose the mirena because i was already 30 years old, a smoker and was previously on birth control for ten+ years before stopping it to conceive my son. I slowly began to gain a few pounds, but always put it off to work, my routine changing, etc. We moved to Alabama 6 months later and I noticed that I kept packing on the weight. I contributed it to the lack of an exercise routine that i could be consistent with. I realized this , so i began getting back into the gym, eating right and drinking my water. Still no weight loss. I have since started school again and gained more weight. Again, i blamed it on the stress of school and trying to take care of a three year old. But, after a while, I started to question whether it is really those things, or is it the Mirena. No Doctor has ever suggested that it could be the Mirena. My internal medicine doctor even noticed the weight gain and she doesn't even mention the possibility of it being from the IUD. I know that I am not making this up.....something is not right. NO matter what i do, the weight will not come off......and now, because of the extra weight, i have blood pressure problems. I am 5'9 and weigh 185 pounds.....I have only weighed that one time in my life, and that is when i was pregnant with my son.....I am so discouraged , depressed and just totally give out......I hate the way I look and feel. I used to be tall and slender with a few curves, but GEEES.....now i just have curves and alot of them!!! I think that i have decided to get the Mirena removed , also......and i will just have to stay hopeful that the weight will come off, eventually. Any comments, words of encouragement , personal experiences would be appreciated.....thanks .....lmc31

I am a 34-year old women who started 50 mg of Toprol-XL 4 days ago for a rash of panic attacks I experienced earlier this week, after having high blood pressure and occasional panic attacks in the last 3 months. Since then, I've had migranes for the past 2 days, bad allergies, stomach pain, loose bowel movements, slight difficulty breathing, frequent urination, and tiredness/lethargy during the day with trouble sleeping at night. I was already feeling strange my 2nd day on it and called my internal medicine doctor, who, of course, told me to stick with it. At this point, I'm ready for safer, natural alternatives. I'm will call the doctor tomorrow to tell him that my mind is made up and ask for instructions on how to wean off of it safely.

I too have been on Lisinopril for about 9 months. Over that time I have had the dreaded dry cough which usually kicks in out of nowhere lasting a few minutes. This usually happens when in business meetings. I will usually cough a while and then I sneeze. This seems to end the cough. At night the cough is usually triggered by the dry forced hot air my house produces. I stopped taking it on the advise of an Internal Medicine Doctor not the Endocronologist that origionally prescribed it. I am waiting for the cough to go away. After a few weeks he plans to switch me over to Avapro.
I have been a serious cigar smoker for the past 30 years, but over the past few months I have not been able to partake in my favorite passtime. Too painful. Maybe this is a good thing?

The chronicles of my nightmare:

First of all.... I have been on Yasmin about 3 years... I have been batttles for "3 YEARS" with being dizzy, fatigue, vaginal dryness, chronic yeast infections, chronic discharge, mood swings, panic attacks, anger issues, anxiety and stress, trouble sleeping at night, loss in sexual desire, depression, constint fluctuations in my weight (I swing 13 pounds), and gastrointestinal problems.... I have been to every doctor and tried every medication known to man.... (Well almost).... I started testing for thyroid disease cuz my mother has grave's disease... At first I test for hyper (Got put on meds), then went to hypo, then they thought it was hashimoto's thyroid disease, until I tested back to normal and have been normal for about 2 years now even though I have been feel all wacked out. But, during this wholefiasco I had been making regular visits to my OBGYN to see why I am in so much pain from sex and why I have cronic yeast infections.. (Visited two to three times a month to be exact)... I've takin dyflucan (yeast infection pill)... no less than 24 times... Never helping me, so I became immune to that, then we trying creams, which gave me an even worse yeast infection, then we tried a homopathic approach ("biotic acid sappasitories")... Which made me so inflamed and in pain tha I have had the same irritaion/ yeast infection for the past 6 months.... Where no one could help me and the most the Gyno could tell me to do was don't have sex or use tampons for a whole month, which I did... and it didn't help one bit... I tried everything from eating large amounts of yogurt (Which is quite painful cuz Im lactosintolerant).... I tried not shaving my gential area, shaving my genital area, changing body wash, changing detergent, not having sex, and changing lube.. Literally have tried everything... Then, they start sending me to different doctors.. They want to send me to an internal medicine doctor which told me the route of my problems was sleep and that would make everything better... SO, he gave me Xanax.. Which turned out to make me very angry, verbally abusive, and still could not get a good nights rest... Then, he told me I have to go to a physiatrist... Which I am still waiting on to see next month.... I thought all was lost and I would permanently be in pain forever until I thought I would give the practice of gynocology one more chance. Before my visit I decide to do some research on the one medicaton I take..."YASMIN".... I came to this very site and the testimonials blew me away. The side effects that many women were complaining about, were the same exact things that I was going through. I read every single page and went off to a new gyno doctor to explain my situation. She was the best doctor I have ever had.... She immediately said stop taking birth control! She also recommended taking a large about of vitiamins ( like calcium, vit. B complete, and vit. c)... She also said to take warm salt and olive oil baths to overall bring back the nature anatomy of my vagina. She also could'nt stress enough.... DON'T SHAVE! She said that the hair is there for a reason and shaving brings all sort of bacterialinto the fragile vagina... On other thing she said was to use a condom made out of something else, not rubber, latex, or goat skin... I forget what it's called... So, now that I have the knowledge from the doctor and this web site, hopefully my nightmare wll be over soon... I finish my birth control pack in a matter of days and I can't wait to start feeling better after 3 years!!!!!! I never knew that something as simple as a little pill can turn your life upside down and have your dragging for years.... Thank you so much ladies for all your help.... I really could have never found this out without you guys.... I hope I helped someone out there with my story... Has anyone else experienced this kind of horrific nightmare?

Nakie,
That was one of my first symptoms. It sounds like we experienced the same thing. This feeling would hit me at any time, not at one particular time of day.

They progressively got worse until a full panic attack hit me in December 2005. I thought I was having a heart attack or something. My blood pressure skyrocketed.

I am off Yasmin ONE MONTH today. Unfortunately, I am now on Paxil CR 12.5 every morning. I also had to take Xanax as needed for panic/anxiety. It was much worse during my pd.

I still have a racy heart every so often and small bouts w/situational anxiety. My BP is still elevated and I see my internal medicine doctor every few weeks to monitor my medicine.

I am in my mid-30's and I NEVER thought this would happen to me. I was always so in control of everything.

Hajnalka and Nakie---I commend you for getting off of the Yasmin. Do not restart without asking your gyn (see my previous posts). Good luck to you. Keep posting to let us know how you are doing.

I have been on Advair since 2001 and it has been the miracle drug. I used to have to do nebs twice a day and was using my rescue inhaler constantly. When I would get a cold for flu I would end up in the hospital and would have to take steriods for a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks ago, I began having heart palpatations. I went to my internal medicine doctor and she ran many tests to exclude any underlying heart problem. All tests came back normal except for the fact that I was running PVCs. At first, the doctor didn't want me to go off the Advair. I mentioned getting off of it and taking Singulair and she was fine with it, but wanted me to consult with my pulmonoloigst. After speaking with him, he decided that we could try taking me off the Advair.

It has been a week and I feel pretty good. I have used my rescue inhaler, but not excessively and I have not had to do any breathing treatments.

There are a couple things that I have noticed the most since I have stopped Advair - my knees are not hurting going up and down stairs and I am starting to feel as if I am not so swollen. I have also gained about 20 pounds since I started taking Advair.

Hopefully everything will work out.

I would be interested to know if anyone that has gone off Advair has actually lost weight?

I have been on Yasmin now for nearly 1month. I haven't started the white pills yet, still on the yellow. At first I was completely impressed as I had been having problems with OrthoTriCyclen (after taking it for three years). I still have breakouts on my chin, (majorly annoying) and lately within this week I have had two major anxiety-like attacks. My heart will start racing as if I have been running, I feel like I want to climb out of my skin, my body shakes and trembles as if I am cold, (but I am not) and my skin hurts to the touch. After my most recent attack, I have decided to see my internal medicine doctor to run some tests. Goodness..I had no idea hormones could cause such horror.

I went to the doctor fighting fatigue, weight loss/gain and increased sweating. All the blood work has come back OK for hormones, thyroid, etc. I was sent to an internal medicine doctor who is now checking for mono, etc. but is at a loss as to what the problem is. Becuase my breast bone is tender and I had a small cold prior to noticing the increased fatigue, I was prescribed Levaquin to take care of any viral activity that may be causing my symptoms. I took the first pill Friday night at 6:00 with dinner. By bedtime (11:00) I was noticing an pain in my chest. Not real sharp just noticeable and distinct, almost more like a tightening of my chest. I slept well and have noticed them again this morning (Sat.) After talking with my pharmacist and the on-call doctor, I will cease to take any more pills (I only had a five day course 500mg - 1 pill per day to take to begin with) and will be calling the internal medicine doctor on Monday.