Lots of hair symptoms and conditions

I was taking Lamictal for 2 years. I was diagnosed with a "light" case of bi-polar. Not the highs, only the lows. I am not too sure that I wasn't just going through some really rough times in my life and had had enough. Couldn't take the stress. Anyway at first I had dry mouth, bad constipation, belching in the evenings and lots of it, some female itching and similar issues (sorry but just want to help here), couldn't handle any alcohol, loss of hair, problems sleeping, outbursts of anger towards mate and irritability, aggressiveness at time, loss of memory and loss of concentration, scatteredness, lots of hair loss and sensitivity to sun. I wanted to be a trooper and make my psychiatrist happy so stayed on it. I got lots of good things from it, like can roll with the punches of life better, can really easily speak up for myself and defend myself when I need to. Don't beat myself up like I used to. So, lost some of the sensitivity that I needed to lose but can't do without my memory. It had been so bad that friends and family would comment and I was embarrassed. Also, my mate shouldn't have had to deal with some of the rage that would show up when things were taken wrong. Oh, I had one of the strongest panic attacks that I can imagine a person living through. I had never had one before, and haven't had one since. I stopped this drug cold turkey. It felt like a few weeks of jet lag. Take multi-vitamins and minerals, also fish oils. Only the highest quality. Eat really healthy, exercise, drink lots of water and rest a lot...whatever you do, don't stress out if you are coming off of this drug. This is actually a very useful medication, however, in my opinion it needs to have more research done about it.

I have been on toprol for sometime now, and what I have found is, I have no sex drive at all which is causing problems in my marriage. I am always tired, can't remember anything short term that is and my shoulders are always hurting as if I have been lifting weights. I am also noticing bruises if any kind of pressure is applied to my skin which is weird. I also get swollen ankles and lots of hair loss. My vision is giving me lots of problems. I now wear glasses that are so thick you would think I borrowed them from the bottom of a Pepsi bottle. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have expressed most of my symptoms to my doctor, but my cries have gone unheard. I am afraid to stop taking the medication in fear of having a heat attack.. I have taken my daughter through a specialized school until she was able to manage herself but today I cannot remember how to do math or just simply write and essay which I think is weird. I am also having a hard time with spelling and reading long passages due to my lack of energy and concentration. Does anyone have advice that is helpful?

I received my iud im October of 2008 it was a little painful when inserted but very quick and simple. I had a period for almost 2 months straight then it calmed way down and i had it every other month for 8-9 days but so light that i could wear a panty liner. i haven't had any children so my side effects may be different from some of yalls. I haven't noticed any hair loss but i have always lost lots of hair when in the shower. I have had major severe cramping the whole time, even now. I haven't noticed and mood swings or sleep issues or sex issues but i am also very young so. I have had at least 5 bacterial infections if not more, i believe its from the iud. That is my only real complaint it smells and is always pouring out of me. I haven't had a period for 3-4 months now except for a light spotting for a single day, which i love! i have felt it during sex maybe 3 times not bad though. i have noticed hot flashes but never thought of it as being the iud. idk though ive been pretty happy with it...

Does anyone have any thoughts on after stopping the nuvaring. I was only on it for 2 months but the extreme moods and depression made me stop and never look back. Its been 6 months since I stopped, I have not used any birth control since. My hair started falling out when I was on it, but it never stopped and is now getting worse. I am not feeling well and seem to have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, I just had a blood test today and am waiting on the results. I am 25 yrs old and otherwise healthy besides this. I feel like all my symptoms, physical and emotional started with the nuvaring, I am wondering if anyone else has developed hypothyroidism after being on and stopping the nuvaring???

I'm on Wellbutrin since August and I've been loosing lots of hair lately. At the beginning of the loss I didn't give it much importance until about a week ago when pulling my hair back in my usual ponytail I notice that my hairline moved back noticeably, and that my already thin hair was barely covering my scalp...I thought it was stress or something, but I've never seen my hair weak and little like that. Then I thought at the meds I'm taking and googled "wellbutrin and hair loss". A super long list of web pages (including this) were talking about this side effect of Wellbutrin. Now I'm worried not just for my hair loss, but to the process of adaptation of my body to a potential change of medicinal. What should I do? My doctor is in Italy and cannot check on me personally.
Thanks for sharing
M.

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading post after post on the side effects of the NuvaRing, and I am so glad that I found this site. Thank you all for sharing! I feel relieved to know I wasn't abnormal or plain crazy. Let me share my own experience.

I've been on the NuvaRing for 14 months, and before that for 5 months. At first, I absolutely loved it and didn't really feel any side effects. I had previously used the patch, and hated it because it made me extremely nauseous and dizzy. With the NuvaRing, I didn't have to worry about taking a daily pill which was great. However, over the past 6-8 months, I've experienced the following symptoms:
- weight gain (up to 8 pounds that I can't seem to shed off no matter what I do)
- slight hair loss and thinning (luckily, I have lots of hair but it's not as healthy and shiny as it used to be)
- extreme vaginal itchiness and also constant itch on newly shaved legs
- ZERO libido. This one started from the very beginning of nuvaring use. I make myself have sex with my partner to maintain a healthy sex life. I used to get easily aroused and would love to have sex with him. I miss that....
- excess weight around abdomen and breasts. Need I say more??
- constant fatigue and lack of motivation
- dryness (vagina)
- bloating and severe IBS symptoms (I can no longer drink coffee which I used to love, can't eat pasta, pizza or heavy breads)

Today in particular, after having the ring in for 24 hrs, I've been extremely nauseated, sleepy, and mildly dizzy. I slept a total of 16 hours! And no matter how much exercise I do, and how healthy and little I eat, the scale won't budge one pound.

I will definitely get off the ring for a couple of months and monitor any changes (hopefully lots of improvement). I'll keep you posted.

Hi All

I've been on Yasmin for a year. At first, it’s fine until there’s some side effect such as emotionally, leg cramp, headaches, breathless, chest pain, etc. since July ’08. Had stopped taking Yasmin on end Aug ’08. Since stopping it, I feel much better emotionally but was feeling so sick every day as had gained about 9 Lbs, stomach bloating, indigestion, abdominal pain, headaches, water retention (swelling on my finger & legs), having acne on my face, skin become very dry & skin allergy and the worst is that I’m losing lots of hair everyday (about 1/4 of my hair in the past few months and it’s still dropping & some portion already bald).
Could anyone give some advice how to get my hair back to normal through their experience?

Thanks

I experienced a DVT 6 months ago, out of the blue. Did the Lovenox injections for a month, twice daily. Have been taking warfarin sodium since August. My hair was always very thick and healthy. I noticed in November that there was lots of hair in the bathtub whenever I shampooed. My hairdresser has also noticed the change. My hair is getting very thin and it is also getting brittle. Is there something that can be done to correct the hair loss...other than stopping the WS which I apparently be on for the rest of my life.

I was diagnosed with asthma as a child. In late teens it seemed to not be problem, however after 50, I started developing symptoms of asthma again as evidenced from COPD tests. I am currently using Advair 250/50 since 55 yo.

One symptom, that I have not seen addressed here is that of "slow healing" after injuries. I injured my back awhile ago, and it seemed like 2 years before most of my symptoms were gone. To this day I still feel lingering effects. Then I scraped my shinbone. It seemed like it took forever to heal, and now there is an ugly red/purple scar where the minor scrape was.

I had never taken so long to heal before, and read that this was a problem with taking Advair. I never figured my asthma was that serious in the first place, so I simply cut back on the Advair to once/day or less as it seems still to keep my breathing OK. Sometimes, after a few days of not taking Advair, I feel some minor difficulty with breathing.

Now that I am 63, and so concerned about "slow healing", which I attribute to Advair, I have asked my Dr. to perhaps take me off Advair and simply take Albuterol when needed. Then I read that Asthma patients should only use Albuterol if that is sufficient to control symptoms and to advance to Advair to control more severe symptoms. Another article says that Albuterol does not heal Asthma, only assists with sudden onset of breathing difficulties and that I may still damage my lungs if I do not take Advair.

I remain at a loss as to what is best: Taking Albuterol when needed (perhaps a few to several times/week) or as I was doing before, contrary to recommended dosage, of 1-2 times/day. Fortunately my Dr. goes along with my changes, but tells me if symptoms get worse, she will put me on Advair 2X's/Day (which I probably will ignore dosage because of healing side effects, and use once/day or less).

I will report back later after trying Albuterol for time without the use of Advair at all.

Has anyone experienced hair loss on this medication? Since I started taking this medication, whenever i shower, instead of just a few hairs falling out like normal, there is at least 50 or more that get tangled in my fingers while shampooing...yes I have counted...not counting the ones that just wash away unseen...Im sure that this medication is the cause of it...Im just curious to see if anyone has had this happen???

HAIR LOSS
I've been investigating the causes of the acceleration of hair loss on the top of my head, near my forehead. I'm now narrowing it to Wellbutrin. I had taken Wellbutrin before for 3-4 years with a four year gap before I went back to it a year ago. The hair loss started about the same time I first started the treatment, stabilized during the years that I was off Wellbutrin (the hair did not regrow) and now it's getting worse. The first time I noticed the hair loss my doctor attributed it to hormone changes, but I'm getting suspicious as the women in my family tend to have lots of hair, and so did I. I'm 61 years old. Besides the thinning of the hair I also I'm constantly aware of a mild "burning" in the region affected.

Horrific muscle cramps, twitches or fluttering in my heart/chest. Aches, pains, depression, feeling old, having lots of hair come out each day, thinking it looks like more than it should be, swollen stomach/bladder/uterus, urge to pee even when my bladder is empty. Cramps in my bladder/abdomen. Some dizziness and weird vision episodes.

They had me add these in a separate area - these are just the majority of what I can think of. Part 2 to my post.

I had mirena placed in may08. Things went relatively well. However, I have had lots of cramping and low back pain. I have NO sex drive!! I have spotting for weeks at a time. I have lots of burning, here and there, when I pee, and lots of cramping after. I've been losing lots of hair. Recently, I've started having lots of clear, gooey discharge. And frequent bouts of nausea. And when I do have sex, OH MY GAWD!!! The pain after is unbearable. Often I get so much stomach and back pain, I vomit. This is not something for me.

I am sooo glad I found this site; I have been thinking I am going crazy. For the last six months (since starting NuvaRing for the first time). I have had a mild case of depression (I am not one to struggle with depression , NO sex drive which is unusual for me, my boobs have gone up two sizes, I ma always tired and I am a fairly energetic person. My stomach is always bloated and I can not loose a single pound and I have been doing weight watchers and working out. I have one week left with the ring and I will NEVER use it again!!

I have been on Lamictal for about five months for bipolar II. I has been increased slowly over these months and I am now up to 300 mg a day. I have a tendency to sometimes forget things but remembering numbers has never been a problem for me. In fact I can look at someone's tag number driving down the road and remember it for days. Phone numbers of people I have known for 20 years would stick and I wouldn't even have to call them on a regular basis to know the number. However, recently while trying to use my bank debit card at the store I was asked to enter my PIN number and totally could not remember. I tried it several times but it never came to me. I felt like a fool!. At this time, that was three days ago and I still cannot remember it!

This is very, very distressing to me. I feel like something has been wiped clean and that I will never get it back.

My Lamictal dose has been increased in the last couple of weeks and I thought maybe Lamictal or one of my other meds could be making this happen so I started researching and found this site where other people were complaining of memory loss while on Lamictal.

Headaches are another common side effect for me while on this med. It has really helped me emotionally and I need to know if the memory loss is just going to be a temporary thing and it will get back to normal or if I will be forgetting more and more over time. PLEASE HELP!!!

I have had Mirena since July. I went through a lot of life stress this past fall (moving to a new city after 10 years, being separated from my bf during this time for two months, etc) but I really think Mirena is not right for me.

I am bloated all the time, my periods are erratic, I am more moody than usual and I have NO sex drive. Worst of all, I think I'm pregnant ALL THE TIME. I just don't trust this thing and I literally drive my man nuts worrying about being pregnant. I also have developed some pimples (like on my back, upper arms, etc) that I never had a problem with before! I have gained a few pounds as well.

I feel like a putz spending all this money but I really want it out. I feel like I should "give it more time" but really, what is the point?

Severe hair breakage/loss. I've always had fairly thick hair - since starting Actonel 35 mg 1x/week, have noticed lots of hair breakage - The actonel is the only thing different in my life in the past 4 months, so I attribute the breakage to the drug - anyone else have severe breakage? This is in addition to severe left hip joint pain, jaw pain, and upset stomach. I'm not going to take any more Actonel.

I am participating in a research study for Wellbutrin helping smokers to quit. I am 25 years old. The study is a double blind study so there is a possibility that I am on placebo...but judging from my feelings - I am not. I have been on wellbutrin for 8 days now. I went from 150mg to 300mg in the course of 3 days. My symptoms/side effects include feeling "blah", not having interest in conversation, coordination problems (I have had issues with walking up and down stairs; almost to the point of falling), small episodes of memory loss, and I am thinking possible hair loss. The hair loss is the most devastating to me and I am going to stop taking wellbutrin because of it. I will find another way to quit smoking - there is no sense in taking something that is going to make me feel horrible about myself. Has anyone quit taking it and have their hair grow back?

My Mother was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis 30 years ago. She has been on prednisone at low doses since then. About 3 years ago she started imagining things, and hallusinations. About 2 years ago her prednisone dose went up to 60mg a day due to a stroke of the optic eye nerve. She has since been tapering down, now at 15mg a day. But tapering down makes her arthritis more painful. She has developed diabetes, loss of sleep, loss of apetite, loss of muscle tone. When she gets bumped, it's a big opened gash, rather than just a bruise. With the higher dose she was more moody & would get angry easier. The hallucinations & paranoia continue & are making me more & more concerned. I haven't read about this in any of the stories. Has anyone else experienced this side effect? I spoke with her Rheumatologist who suggest a psychiatrist to prescribe anti-psychotic drugs. She's already on 11 pills a day, does she need another?
Please let me know if anyone has experienced this as well.
Thank you.

Hi
I have been experiencing bad stomach problems for a while and they do not seem to get better. My skin is dry ALL THE TIME (which was not a problem before)and my hair is so thin ( i had lots of hair and with lots of volume) and sparse now. Are these side effects of Yasmin!!!?????
Please help

My hair has been falling out and is noticably thin on top. Only took the wellbutrin for 3 months , but have lost lots of hair. Have also had a severe rash/hives on my arms and legs, it tingles and burns. Have went to the ER once already because of the hives. Stopped the wellbutrin and the hives and itching went away. But what concerns me the most is the hair loss. Will it grow back? Wish I had know about these side effects before taking the it. I am hoping that there is another medication I can take to go along with my effexor as the wellbutrin did help my depression. Does anyone know any other medication might possibly work with effexor, that won't make me gain weight, grow bald or be miserable with itching? Help!

i have been taking toprol for three weeks and started itching like crazy hives every where , i was having bad head aches and started to loose lots of hair, and i am not balding? blury vision and lots of water retension weight gain this pill made me miserable i had to stop takeing it , my doctor gave me catapress patches , one patch every seven day and i take norvask, once a day so far its working good. ace inhibitors did the same thing to me but not as bad , thiazide water pills seem to work very well on ocasion when my blood pressure is still high ,they all have side effects it comes down to , witch side effects can you live with.

I take 12.5 mgs of toprol. Started this med 6 months ago for high b.p. I have since been losing lots of hair. I am to the point where people notice the negative effect it has had on my hair. It is breaking, splitting, dry and falling out. I have long hair that used to be all one length. now I have about 2 inches of hair all along the top of my head and the rest is long. I stopped this med 2 days ago. I hope my hair stops getting worse and gets better soon. I also have had other side effects. Too many to write. All bad. No good news for this medication.

lots of hair loss. rapid weight gain, swelling in hands and feet when standing and sitting for long periods ot time.

to guest 13219:

Yes, I had the same problem after getting off Yasmin.

I'm off the pill now since February 2004 and just a few days ago the hair loss has lessened. Everyday I had lots of hair in my brush and since a few days there are only 8 or 9 hairs (I got shoulder long hair) in my brush.

Perhaps it might stop earlier in your case, because you already have had two periods after Yasmin, which I didn't have at all (no period since easter this year!).

So the hair loss will get better, I promise! Have just a little patience with your body and give it more time to recover!!