Keel symptoms and conditions

I am reading this thread and will, as a male, caution everyone about the possible effects of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. I am 41, have been married 19 years and have two children. I believe I occasionally suffer from bouts of mild depression which I have treated through therapy (about every 18 to 24 months). My wife had been on OT Lo for a long time until 6 months ago when she finally went off about 6 months after I had a vasectomy.

I cannot do justice to the transformation, at least from my perspective, that resulted after about 30 days of being off OT Lo. Sex drive went from very low to higher than anything I have ever seen. Call me a typical male if you want, but I can tell you the emotional impact of feeling like your wife really wants to be with you versus having almost no interest in sex.

Also, the way she approached problems changed dramatically. Therefore, the way I participated in those problems was able to change. No more highly emotional responses that were very difficult for me to understand while managing my own emotions and our level of conflict. The way way we were able to resolve problems became a partnership, not me bending to emotions I suspected neither she nor I could control.

Biggest problem: Irregeular periods. So, she goes back on the OT Lo and 1 week later we have a huge meltdown because she thinks I am ignoring her and the kids while away on a business trip. I am not for a minute going to tell you I am perfect, but this is precisely the type of issue that hurt our marriage for 18 years (in part because I am not great at handling emotional issues like this, particularly when I don't believe they are true) and went totally away during the 5 months she was OT Lo-free.

Kicker: She doesn't recognize how much differently she is processing her emotions and I have not found a way to address the issue without going through another major emotional battle that historically wouldn't have worked anyway.

Sidenote: I never wanted to get a vas. until I read an article that referenced depression as a possible side-effect of the Pill. I was willing to do anything to help change the emotional equation of our marriage because I didn't know how long I could last managing my bouts of depression in our environment.

So, probably not everyone had or will have the same effects. But please make sure you are paying attention to yourself, your level of happiness and how you handle things. FWIW.

really really bad arthritic-like symptoms in hands and digits... have had to take NSAIDS to reduce the pain which could be due to the swelling should this drug cause water retention...very odd though, had not experienced this with any other birth control. My depression seemed to worsen as well. or my emotionality was pretty off-keel,

December 20, 2007 11:30 PM
I have been on Niaspan ER 500 Mgs for 4 weeks, I have never had the redness or itching until tonight. I can't believe the intolerable itching. I woke my husband and was ready to go to the emergency room, I thought it was an allergic reaction to something. The itching started in my legs, mainly from my ankles to my knees, but I did have some itching higher up on my thighs. Also had the itching on my wrists and lower arms. I am going to try Benadryl as someone suggested on your website, hopefully it will help some, if not I will be forced to stop taking this medicine, the itching is to much to put up with..............Brenda

SURPRISE! It appears that when one speaks to her doctor in an authoritative, nonhysterical tone, and with knowledge and intelligence about the subject, that doctor actually listens. I insisted my endocrinologist take me off Lipitor because of extreme side effects developing after a couple of years on it (unbearable muscle pains, edema in ankles and hands, unexplained rashes, tinnitus, vision problems) and he did exactly that without so much as a howdy-do or a doubt that I might be exaggerating my symptoms. Said we would check my cholesterol again during next visit and look for another solution, if it rose again over 200. I am now a happy camper and will report to those of you suffering similar symptoms about the results of this rather peremptory cessation of this scary drug. If I keel over, at least I won't die in pain, huh? And if I don't, you guys can consult similarly with your doctors.

I am a 58 year old male and have been on Zocor for about 2 years. Over time I have noiced joint pain particularly in my big toes, both thumbs and my shoulders. I also, when getting out of bed in the morning, sounded like a broken machine -everything popped and cracked when I first started moving. In addition to the pain and noisey joints, I have more recently noticed fuzzy vision in the morning. I stopped taking the Zocor a week ago as an experiment to see if that might be the cause. Well the result is the toe, thumb and shoulder pain is pretty much gone as is the popping and cracking. I think the fuzzy vision is better but I'll give it a few more days to be certain before I make that claim for sure. I'm really not sure what to do now. My wife is afraid I'm going to keel over but I'm tired of the pain.