Medical student symptoms and conditions

I just recently posted about my experience with mirena and had then read some more posts, and I had a thought. With SO MANY of us experiencing these symptoms-can't we do something about it?? Couldn't we send copies of these thousands of posts to Bayer or whomever is the top of mirena, I think it's Bayer. Or someone who can help us! Obviously we're are not all crazy! There is obviously something going on here. I mean I want to make sure other women are aware that this product may not be the greatest thing in the world. Anyone else who has a thought on this msg or reply please.
Thanks for listening!
And blessing to all.

Just want to survey everyone and ask for responses for the following 3 questions:

1. how long did you keep your Mirena and if you no longer have it, why did you have it removed?

2. how many of you had your thyroid checked? who's came back abnormal? what were the levels?

(I'm a medical student doing research on this one since I believe the levonorgestrel affects our thyroid hormone. My TSH was elevated to 5.2 which is considered "subclinical HYPOthyroidism". This was mid cycle when my natural progesterone AND synthetic progestin were cumulatively high. When I had it rechecked 6 weeks later (around my period when any natural progesterone level is gone) it was normalized at 1.5. So I think that the P+P screws up our thyroid and can throw us into a high TSH and "hypothyroid state". The opposite effect may be true during menstruation and we can become HYPERthyroid for a few days... hence the really bad anxiety?!)

3. where is everyone from? perhaps we can have support group meetings?

IT'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!! What a mess I went through. For those who missed my prior posts, I got my Mirena in June 2008 after I got married. Even though I'm 29, I'm a medical student and not ready for a baby.. Within weeks I had oily skin, oily hair, hair loss, sore breasts, and no sex drive at all. But I never had a single period after the second month, so I was happy!

By August or September I was gaining a lot of weight (20lbs) and started feeling "brain fog" and fatigue. By December and January I was seeing neurologists for SEVERE migraines and dizziness. In April I developed symptoms like MS such as tingling/numbness in my head, face, and one foot... profound fatigue, and incapacitating dizziness.I've had every test done from thyroid workups to MRIs/MRAs and nerve conduction studies. I was on 3 different migraine prescriptions and was even getting nerve blocks in my neck for them.

In May I became withdrawn, irritable, depressed, and had anxiety attacks. I'm not ever a moody person, and never had PMS. But here I am, crying for no reason, yelling at my husband, snapping at my mother, and SO FREAKING EXHAUSTED that going to work is impossible, driving the car seems dangerous (severe brain fog.... like I'm drugged), and even just doing the dishes or feeding the pets takes all my effort (with tears) to complete. I don't feel like myself at all.

I found this website and thought perhaps all these symptoms were from the Mirena. So I found a new OBGYN who was awesome and said he'd take it out. I went to have it removed but the first a$$hole who put it in for me cut the strings too short so they could not be grabbed. The new doc tried to reach them but couldn't. I ended up having to have THE MOST PAINFUL PROCEDURE OF MY LIFE.... I had to take cervical dilation pills and then get a hysteroscopy which is where they shove a camera into your uterus to look around and find the little sucker. The cramps were unbelievable.... 10 times worse that getting it placed. (Mind you I've never had children so it was really bad). After he found the strings, he grabbed them and pulled. I thought I was going to die.... my poor cervix had a scope in it, an instrument holding it still, a dilator in place, a speculum in the hole, and then an instrument went in along side the scope and pulled the little bugger out. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I was in a hot sweat worse than menopause I bet!

So here I am, home, bleeding, only minor cramps. But now I wonder... how long will it be until the depression and brain fog go away? I want to be myself again. I want to be happy. I want to laugh instead of cry. I WANT TO HAVE ENERGY. My greatest fear is that I went through all the pain of putting it in, taking it out, and the cost, and the depression, fatigue, and brain fog won't go away, meaning it wasn't the Mirena to begin with. (If that was the case, I could have dealt with the weight gain, oily hair, and migraines as long as I had the nerve blocks). But I find it hard to believe that the Mirena is not the cause since so many of you women say the same thing. BUT.............. most of you had the Mirena placed after having a baby, so it's possible it was PPD?

THIS IS MY QUESTION TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE.... did any of you WHO HAVE NEVER HAD CHILDREN have these things after getting the Mirena? Also, isn't it weird that the severe fatigue, depression, and really bad brain fog started after 9-10 months of having it and not sooner? I was on OCPs before the Mirena and did fine.... but this time I am so depressed and irritable, dizzy, and FREAKING TIRED TIRED TIRED.

:( How long until I feel better if it was the Mirena?

I started Yaz November 2007 since my periods were heavy and I had really bad cramps. I am a medical student and I was starting my surgery rotation so I thought I couldn't deal with the cramps during surgery, so that is why I started. It seemed great at first I had no appetite, my weight has been stable. I read a lot of different books saying hormones shouldn't be taken since it isn't natural and it will cause weight gain etc. One thing for sure is that the distribution of my fat has changed, now I have more belly weight (like the other person who mentioned the yaz roll), more weight in my arms and a little more in my breasts and less in my legs. I have been contemplating for a long time if I should stop taking it also because I am someone with A LOT of scalp hair and I noticed that I lost A LOT of it while on Yaz (but could it also be from the stress of medical school?). My life has been crazy, my father died in September. I cant differentiate if I am crazy/sad/moody bc of my life circumstances or bc of the pill because sometimes I do feel like I am over reacting. I wonder too if I stop the pill if my fat will redistribute again. I am so unsure what to do. I have also noticed that I cannot wear contacts for a long time, sometimes I get debilitating headaches where I cant even lift my head.

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.

Visited new physician, blood test showed recent spike in LDL level (+60 points). Test was non fasting, and not repeated. At follow-up visit, doc directed me to take Lipitor, and when I expressed concern about taking drug before trying diet and other tactics for lowering LDL, doctor brooked no discussion. I specifically expressed concern regarding dizziness, as I had had very severe neurological problems after taking a high level of an OTC at a doc direction for an unrelated problem. My concern was dismissed out of hand (I've never seen it in 20 years.) No return visit was scheduled at this time to check on efficacy. (A medical student was in the exam room, I never spoke with the doc alone, and the doc left the room and I never saw her again.

Without other immediate options for medical care, I filled the prescription for 20 mg of Lipitor. At about the second week, I began to experience severe neurological problems (dizziness, sense of no orientation of my body in space, trouble keeping upright, etc.) I received a card for a cardiology appointment shortly after the visit, and decided to hang on until the visit. The cardio doc said to me, "why are you here?" I told her that the appt. had been scheduled by the other doc's office, but told her what I knew. She took bp - told me it was fine (actually, it was prehypertensive), and then told me my high LDL was genetic, and I'd have to be on drugs for the rest of my life (56). Did not ask for family history, and ignored recent severe leg infection as a possible cause for the spike in LDL.

Having been offered no alternative, I decided to stop Lipitor on my own after 19 days on it. (I decided I would rather drop dead than feel as I did.) Not much improvement immediately. It took 30 days off it to have a day on which I felt well. I am into my second week since then, and have an occasional bad spell, but I am hopeful I'll have a full recovery from the neurological problems. I've been on my own low fat diet for the LDL, but don't know what effect that is having, and have no intention to visit a doctor to find out.

Interestingly, the FDA's Medwatch only allows reporting of severe side effects, and I didn't stay on Lipitor long enough to meet the definition (become disabled).

Hi ,
I am 16 years old and I'm taking Yasmin for a month without my mom knowing it.
She just found out that I was taking it so she got really pissed off .
And I hate to see her like that because it makes me really sad.
The first week I hadn't have any side effects but after reading all this it makes me scared.
Does it depend on the person or does it takes time to develop these side effects ?
PLEASE I NEED A REPLY ASAP !! :)
Because I need to know if I should stop it...

I started taking Wellbutrin three weeks ago. I had been taking Zoloft for four years and it had been working fine except my insurance company tripled the cost and I was beginning to have to take more to get the same results. I thought Wellbutrin might be good alternative after doing some research and my doctor thought it would be good for me to try out. Well, since I have been taking Wellbutrin I have become emotional (wanting to cry at things I would never cry at before), more irritable, my husband says "I am not the same person", dizzy, two sips of a beer gave me a horriable headache which lasted until the next morning, I had to sit down on a bench at the mall because I felt like I was going to faint, and worse of all my brain became very "fuzzy" feeling. It was like my short term memory was damaged. I am taking a Spanish class and was doing well (A's). After I started taking Wellbutrin I could not concentrate enough in class to learn, even saying to my professor, "please skip me, I am not feeling well". It was humiliating. I have maintained a 4.0 in every class I have taken since 1999 and completed a masters degree last year. So, all in all-this was my experience. Maybe if I had taken it longer, it would have been different, but it was like torture for me. One positive note....I felt absolutely no internal depression after a week of taking it (other than being upset about the other symptoms). It worked really well in that area.....so, maybe if others do not have all the symptoms I experienced, it would be a very good drug to take for depression-just not for me!

Hi Everyone,
I am a fourth year medical student and recently I started having horrible panic attacks, I feel like crying all the time and I actually feel depressed. I am a "hypochondriac" generally (I guess it comes with the territory of knowing about different diseases out there), but I have been feeling like I am going crazy. I started Yasmin in November of 2006 and I was fine for a few months. Lately, with stress at school and exams, I started feeling like I've just crumbled. I get anxiety/panic attacks (the latest one was at the movies), horrible heart palpitations, nausea, I am sweating, I can't sleep, I feel this knot in my stomach. It's horrible. I thought it was me cracking under pressure, but I was never like this before I started Yasmin. Recently, I was placed on an antidepressant because everyone assumed it was depression, but after reading this post, I really think it might be the pill. I got off it a week ago, so I hope I will see a difference. Thanks guys!!!

I'm so glad I googled side effects of Yasmin and found this site. All of the sudden my mood swings for the past almost YEAR make sense. I started out fine. The pill was great, and I haven't had to worry about acne at all. Of course I gained a few pounds, but not too much. However, I'm a pre medical student trying to study for the MCAT this summer. I've been SO tired and drained and majorly depressed that I just can't seem to concentrate. I feel like I'm always crying over the stupidest stuff (AKA: no reason at ALL), and my grades are starting to suffer. Hopefully now that I've read this, I can stop taking this pill and see an improvement. It's just not worth the depression. I'm 22 right now, and until recently had never had a suicidal thought. I was starting to panic, because I couldn't identify the cause of my depression. I'm a good student, have lots of friends, and have the most amazing boyfriend and family. Life is good, I shouldn't feel this bad. Now that I have a clue as to what this may be, I can fix it.

I'm a medical student at Bryman Insittute and i need information on ethidol

Michellep~

I just read your post and I am soo sorry you have been treated this way! I am in medical school right now and I am very concerned for you! The symptoms you are describing are very consistent with a blood clot in your leg. One of the most dreadful side effects of birth control pills is what they call DVTs (blood clots in the deep veins in your leg). The part we worry about is that the clot can break off little pieces and send them to your lungs, heart and brain. The vision changes could unfortunately be a sign of that already happening. I know that going to the ER sucks and can many times be a financial burden, but as a tax-payer (more than willing to have my tax dollars go to your hospital bill) and a medical student...please go to the ER!! If you start having pain in your chest or blackouts of any kind, dial 911. The ER has to treat you and you don't have to sign their forms saying you will pay. You have to give consent, but they can always write what you don't pay off. Your life is worth it!
(ps, you might want to get a different regular MD)

As for the leg, take a couple aspirin. Not tylenol or ibuprofin (advil, motrin, etc.), not aleve either. Get some good old-fashioned aspirin (bayer, etc.) It will help take the swelling down, cut the pain a bit and it will help your blood clot less if you indeed do have a blood clot.

Please let me know how things turn out!

kelly