Kudos symptoms and conditions

Wow, who should I believe? Placebo controlled studies which suggest Avelox is a perfectly safe drug or a bunch of crazy people who like to TYPE every OTHER word IN all CAPS who are probably all middle aged women with psychological problems and/or fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, or other made up diagnoses.

Here's a hint morons: The reason why every drug in existence now lists every possible side effect is because of crazies like you. This way, the drug company can protect themselves from litigious idiots like the poster below who wants to join a class action lawsuit. This only compounds the problem, though, because then more crazies look at the side effect profile and when they see that "Oh my gosh, it says right here it causes x, y, and z" it just validates in there mind that this is somehow a dangerous drug.

I swear, if all of the pampered babies in this country were put to work in a rice field in Cambodia, there would be a lot less nonsense in the world. You would see what true pain and suffering is about.

I have never before posted on a forum like this, but if my information helps or forewarns one other woman .... I am grateful.

I am 51 years old, been in perimenopause since Lincoln was President, it seems. I was prescribe a generic version of Yasmin, and, because I had been experiencing general symptoms of perimenopause before, did not attribute to Yasmin by increasing feelings of being in hell.

I will say one positive thing about it: I have had only one mid-life zit since I started on it. However, the experiences I am going to list now dismisses that aspect completely.

I have been on it for 4 1/2 months. The awfulness of it crept up on me, but there is no denying that now. I have gained weight. I have always been slender; however, I've gone up a pant size and even those pants are feeling tight. I'm constipated, no matter how much fiber and mild laxatives I take. My stomach pooches out and feels tight. My breasts are tender. They have NEVER been tender or sore, no matter the time of the month. My hot flashes and night sweats have reached an unprecedented level, and I have been having those off/on for a decade. I don't have hot "flashes" anymore. I heat up and I am uncomfortable all day, save for maybe a couple of hours.

Now, here is the WORST side effect: I am so f-ing angry almost all the time and my energy goes into hiding that from others. And there are the companions of anger: depression, feeling SO alone, feeling like a freak and that there is something fundamentally wrong with me... something wrong w/ my very soul. I recognize that some of these symptoms reflect aspects of my personality, but I work on that very hard in a spiritually/practical way and achieve successes along the way. This is different. This is very, very bad.

I will NEVER take another one of those horrid pills. I am going to see a doctor who works w/ women's issues and prescribes bio-identical hormones. And if THAT doesn't work, I will find another answer; rather, another answer will come to me, because I hit rock bottom and my intention is SO strong that the Answer cannot NOT come to me (okay, that's a metaphysical pronouncement, but there you go) .

For those of you who want to talk to me on this forum, or email me personally, I welcome and appreciate your thoughts. We are ALL together in this! Much Light and Love along the Way, K.

I am going to copy the address to this page and personally drive around to local family practice offices and discreetly drop piles of them everywhere. I pride myself on my medical knowledge and background having worked one way or another in the medical field all of my life. I take into account every aspect of a new medication after a life altering labor and deliver drove me to have a bright shiny new Norplant installed before it had time to be researched and tested properly, i'm still awaiting the final outcome of that young, uneducated, made out of fear of unimaginable horror and lack of RELIABLE READY INFORMATION ABOUT ALL OF IT'S SIDE AFFECTS. I believe every person is different and no one person will tolerate the same information the same way.
Except for the Mirena apparently. It seems almost UNIVERSALLY bad for a women's body and was MOST LIKELY conjured up by some ill treated ManBoy.
All that being said to the women who were in NO way warned of any of the negative side affects,(most likely older women who finally found mr right but under no circumstances want to go back to diapers sleepless nights and college tuition worries...) Thank Goodness for the WorldWideWeb and access to information. I am over 35 and have a family history of heart disease, there are very few options for birth control for me. This seemed like some sort of modern day miracle and while I suspected someone having as *significant* of a period as I, should probably...have one regularly...I too was *woo'd* by the prospect of a shorter, lighter, possibly infrequent period. However I was not warned that the other 3 weeks of the month I would rather be dead than alive. Turns out my body is smarter than I am and just days after finding this site and putting it all it finally passing the *MirenaBlock* ...I made an appt for a check and my body had spent the last 4 months attempting to push it out.
I'm never lucky enough for the *magicpills* to work, to those who are *KUDOS* but don't belittle those women smart enough to pursue a logical explanation to a sudden change in every aspect of your life. Information is knowledge and if you look most of those *BITCHY* women who called you babies have has the *device* installed less than 6 months...lol Kharma's a bitch and I think the Mirena has pissed off *Mother Nature* good luck lol and yes...I too within HOURS ...felt better and I EMBRACE the wonders of modern medicine daily...just not the horrors !

I don't have horrible side effects to report...but a slight discharge..nothing major...It sounds like the majority of you who have posted sound like you were possibly premental anyways...

I'm noticing most of the posters are women...Well, I am a man, i I have been living with the side effects of a wife having Mirena for about a year.. For the first few months it seemed ok..then gradually I started noticing little things change...slight weight gain that was never there before, horrible mood swings and anxiety attacks ...and the WORST PROBLEM!!...NO Sex Drive..She went from wanting it on a daily basis to NEVER...and thats enough to drive any normal man insane...So i decided before I committed suicide ...lol..or just completely leave the woman ive loved for the last 6 years..i would google "Mirena" ..and "Bitchiness" ... and this is where it took me.... We are getting the thing removed in two days....I CANT WAIT... you will have a full update when this occurs...hopefully i can go back to my normal life with my normal loving wife

Yes, kenalog has many side effects with SOME people. I'm both a patient that takes kenalog and a third year medical student. I've been receiving kenalog injections twice a year during allergy season for the past 5 years. All I can say is THANK GOD. I can deal with a itchy/running nose, the sneezing, and the itchy eyes. What I cannot deal with are the asthma symptoms that act up whenever my allergies do. I get little enough sleep as is, what I do get doesn't need to be interrupted by waking up not being able to breath.
What must be realized here is that however many posts are on this and like sites, the people who suffer from the side effects are in the minority. For most patients this drug provides great relief with little to no side effects.
For those who said that their doctors did not tell them what they were being given, or warned about the side effects, yes, those physicians should have warned their patients about the possible side effects. HOWEVER, it is also YOUR responsibility as a patient to ASK what you are being given, and what the possible side effects are. Never let anyone just stick a needle in your butt without asking what the heck they're doing first. I'm not defending those physicians that don't tell the patient what they're doing; they are in the wrong. But they see tons of patients very day, most of it route. And many patients lack the knowledge to ask what they are being given, and what might happen from it. Even if the physician took the time to explain, a lot of people wouldn't understand or simply don't care. Don't be one of those patients. Ask your PCP: what is this drug? what does it do? what are the possible side effects? what percentage of patients experience these side effects?. Take some responsibility for yourselves.

1st post 4/3: 8 year old boy with suicidal ideation...now 7 days off Singulair. His teacher reported to me today that my son is not the same child that he was 5 days ago. She stated that she hasn't seen him this happy or enthusiastic since the beginning of the school year. This was UNSOLICITED.
I told her that I took him off of Singulair last weekend. Unbelievable. My husband and I are still in shock.

Our story is so similar to many of the others posted. I am including it because it adds to the data. Our 12 year old son has been on Singulair since age 7. Prior to going on Singulair (although I did not make the connection between these two events until this week..) he was an easy-going, happy, delightful boy. During the late fall of first grade he started developing strange behaviors--obsessive hand-washing, kicking our pediatrician, saying the water was poisoned. He is continuously irritable, moody, easily annoyed, impulsive, self-critical and has difficulty modulating his attention. He has had a few incidents where he has said he wants to die, he is worthless and a loser. He continually apologizes for his behaviors and is extremely remorseful, but then goes and does it again. We have seen so many specialists, spent so much money on counseling, have tried neurofeedback, Adderall, alternative supplements (eg omega 3's)...the list goes on. His issues have been like a part-time job for me. I never made the connection to Singulair, because the pediatrician and allergist assured me that Singuair had virtually no side effects. Right after the New Year (2008) he had a few days where everything seemed to go right for him-- moodiness disappeared, did his homework agreeably, seemed truly happy for the first time in a long time. In retrospect, I am guessing it is because we forgot to bring his Singulair on our vacation, so it was out of his system for several days. Now that we've tossed the meds, I'm hoping that the side effects are short lived...and we see our old son again.

As for the individual who wrote that we may be ambulance chasers, I can promise you that any money I receive in a successful class-action law suit would go towards helping other families avoid the pain and suffering our son has gone through. I consider myself an educated & well-informed parent and yet I was blind-sided by the medical industry.

I have been on here for 6 months now. Please read the rest of my postings. My son is now 5 and doing great! I have my child back. He has been off Singulair since October 07. It took a few days to see little improvement. It took a month to make strides. And now we are almost home. Thank God. I too until I found this website was so distraught. My son had every test in world, comes from about as stable as you can get happy loving catholic home. We eat healthy organic foods and I am a medical professional to top it off. So for anyone to get on here and questions a parents "parenting" or to call them ignorant for not stating their complaints until now is simply a moron! I see the side effects first hand this has had on children. I too was unaware of the problem myself until my son became the victim at only the innocent age of 4. Merck knows what is going on. There needs to be a class action lawsuit. I am so proud of Kate whose son became the victim of Merck who took his innocent life. She went beyond blogging and took it to media. Imagine if all of us became motivated enough to realize the drug company used and abused our children or selves. Write oprah, bill o riley, merck the fda, everyone. Everyone I come in contact with I warn them. I email everyone I know and urge them to forward it and so on. The one god given duty that we were given was to protect our children. WE NEED TO DO THAT!! I am so proud of the parents who are speaking out and realizing their kid is not a pyscho. Kudos to you!! I am holding Merck responsible for this traumatic event it caused my entire family let alone my four year old son. They owe us big time, not just for the medical bills that endowed for all the tests, doctor visit, and psychiatric visits. But also for our mental anguish!! Be active and we will make progress!!!

What started out as a simple visit to dentist became a nightmare. My BP was high l73/90...so I went to a doc to get something for the BP. I knew it had been creeping up. I should have been more vigilent and done my own research first. He prescribed l00 milligrams of the generic brand--metropolol. I questioned the dose, but he said it was safe, and I needed something to bring my blood pressure down right away.

By the third day I felt like I had a hangover when I woke up. I started feeling not quite right. Tiredness, depression, and headache. My BP got higher. On the 5th day my heart started racing, with a pulse in the l30's. I spent 6 hours in the ER. My pulse was in the 60's, but BP 210/110. They injected me with 5 mg of the stuff, and also gave me clonopine. My EKG had been normal at the doc visit. In the ER it showed abnormal with sinus tachycardia and First Degree AV nodal block. It returned to normal, and by BP dropped to 150/80 with the clonopine. My glucose was also high at 300. I could feel an immediate relief with the clonopine. Heart enzymes normal. ER doc denied that the Topol caused the racing heart. He said that's not a side effect..perhaps there was an underlying cause. He did say the episode could have been triggered by low oxygen to the heart. I think they all stick together----he's not going to say the first doc was an idiot.

They wanted to transfer me to the "big" hospital for cardiac workup. I refused, since I had an appt.with a cardiologist in a couple days, and the doc that prescribed his awful med. I didn't think my insurance company should fork out $50,000 for an adverse effect from a drug.

I had been doing heavy exercise the morning of the racing heart...it was after I sat down I noticed the increase in pulse rate. NO ONE gave me any warnings..not the doc, or the pharmacist. Both said this was a safe drug.

I cut the dosage in l/2 for two days, until I saw the cardiologist. He said ok to stay on the clonopine for now, and a diuretic. I feel much better, and BP has dropped to the l40's over 80 something...pulse near 80. I am going to do a stress test. Based on a heart scan, 3 arteries have 0 plaque, and two mild.

I read that this drug is not recommended as first choice for BP. In the UK they're weaning people off of it because it causes diabetes, and there's other better drugs out there. I did not wait to "ask my doctor" to take me off of it. I told him I am not taking it....I don't know how much longer he will be my doc. I don't think he should have started at l00 milligrams to begin with...and should have started out slowly at the least.

Caveat emptor (buyer beware) when it comes to this med...and do your homework, and don't be afraid to fire your doctor!

My 4 yr old son has been on Singulair for 2 years now After having what was close to pneumonia, his pediatrician decided that we should try Singulair. He suffered from allergies all year round and both sides of the family also have a history of allergies. We went over the indicators to decide whether or not there was a good chance that he would develop asthma. Yes, we found there was a very good chance. We were told that Singulair is the one drug that could actually prevent him from developing asthma - so OF COURSE we said okay. He started so young, that we never really realized that this wasn't just his "personality" - you know terrible two's, then independence, then along came his baby sister...on and on. Anyway, he has always been an overly-emotional child, hyper, etc., but then it was like every little thing bothered him and he would throw fits about "nothing". One day I told him to stop acting this way and while crying he said he couldn't stop and asked me to help him to stop. How heartbreaking! He goes to preschool and can't sit in a circle for more than a couple of minutes without being reminded by the teacher to sit down. He has been especially aggressive - saying how he just wants to kick something or push his sister down. He has always been a restless sleeper, but just recently he has been telling me about his terrible dreams - things you would never expect to hear from a 4 yr old. I thought he was a hypochondriac b/c he was always complaining about something hurting. I was reading about ADHD and decided that maybe this was what he had - everything fit quite closely to these same behaviors. I called the pediatrician's office to see if this may be his diagnosis and instead they told me about the possibility that Singulair might be to blame. They told me take him off of it and see how things go. It has only been 3 days. I have not seen any improvement and his is very itchy and scratching like crazy. I'll let you know what we find out.

To Guest #3337

You know...to the last message posted about how our health is our own responsibility and all that guff...THAT IS WHY WE ARE READING THESE MESSAGES!!!!! We do rely on our Dr.'s and the pharmacies to provide us with information on our drugs, as who has a better knowledge of them??? Yes, we are all entitled to our own opinions...but I believe you are outcasted MANY TO FEW! Kudos to you about your wonderful Levaquin experience...we all wish we had as much to complain about as you!