Mental confusion symptoms and conditions

I am a 39 year old white female in the nursing profession (RN). I was placed on Topamax at the age of 31 for new onset atypical complex seizures that were later diagnosed as migraine induced drop attacks. I took Topamax for 3 years. I took 100mg a day. My family and I had moved to another state and I had to find another Neurologist. During this time I had many side effects from the medication that I blamed on my "condition." To make a very long story short, while taking Topamax, I developed a kidney stone, severe restless leg syndrome, weight loss, feet tingling, blurred vision, mood swings, slurred speech and mental confusion that went into amnesia. I had to relearn how to drive a car, spell, do 2nd grade math, use a computer, etc...
I now have permanent memory loss. I struggle every day with my memory issues. I have learned tricks of how to deal with it but have not been able to recoup any previously lost cognition. After nearly 6 years of being off the medication I doubt I ever will. I feel inadequate and embarrased with my inability to remember people and things or form normal sentences during a conversation! I know the information is in my head but I can't always pull it forward. Some days are worse than others.
I also have a harder time learning new things. The information just doesn't want to stay "stored" in my brain. (Not a problem patients or doctors want to see in a critical care nurse!)
I hope my experience will save others from suffering the same fate. Use extreme caution taking this medication. It can drastically alter your life.

I have been through hell with this drug, well i'm sure it was this drug, I have had minor anxiety in the past, but the anxiety i had the day after taking this was off the scale, I couldn't sleep, eat, or function in my life at all. I started to become very depressed and go into despair. I even had suicidal thoughts which freaked me out and is not like me at all. I was even taken to A and E at hospital it was that bad. I finished on Sunday and seen a bit of improvement, I was not as anxious and irritable. Today it has came back a little, I seem to have some mental confusion and memory problems also. It has been a long dark road, and I entered some scary dark places that felt horrible. Im usually so upbeat and busy. It was so not like me. I took this medication for 11 days at 100mg twice a day. Like I said i finished on Sunday, I still feel very unreal (dreamworld) depressed at times, no appetite yet and struggling to relax.

How long will this take to pass? please help I feel im going crazy

I have taken hydrochlorothiazide for years and was told it was safe and worked well with blood pressure meds. I noticed that my weight gain would be 4 pounds on and off for no apparent reason. I also noticed my breasts felt like it did when I was nursing my babies when the milk came in. While on this med my potassium was off so I was on 3 fat potassium pills a day. Then I became light headed and became depressed and my mind was really awful. I knew I didn't have Alzheimer but knew something was wrong. Doctors thought I was a hypochondriac I am sure. I saw in Best Pills Worst Pills that you can have mental confusion as a side effect. I found out that when I went off of the pill for even a day the mental problems were gone and when I went back on the problems came back. After ingesting too much salt at a meal I ended up in ER. Doctor on call told me to quit my waterpill and also the potassium supplement, Since that time my weight has not fluated one ounce, my breasts no longer hurt and the mental chaos is gone. Such a relief to not have to worry where my potassium level was and never thought I would feel good mentally again as I was talking suicide. Meds they prescribe can kill us and we have to research all side effects ourselves it seems.

I can't even get up to go to church. I feel so weak and so sick. I have been off this awful stuff for 2 days and still feel so ill, I can't function. i just want to throw up. I have no support and no help whatsoever. How can this be happening. Will I make it through this horrific feeling. I can't do anything, not even eat. My whole body feels like someone has punched it all over. I don't know if I can hang in there. Please post, post, post.

My mother just died from all of the secondary effects of prednisone. She was diagnosed with glaucoma 4 years ago but no one ever did a sed rate blood test to find out that she had giant cell arthritis. So once they found out, they treated her aggressively with 60 mg of prednisone. She swelled up immediately and had terrible pain in her legs. Then she became diabetic with big sugar swings that couldn't be controlled. Then s he got thrush in her mouth and couldn't eat or drink. Then she became dehydrated. For pain they gave her constipating pain meds and this caused a bowel impaction. She had tremors and then she had mental confusion. Then her skin started splitting everywhere but wouldn't heal. Then she started losing fluids from her skin. Then her bowels got impacted again. Then her colon ruptured and she got sepsis. Her sugar levels went haywire. Her heart wouldn't slow down, her skin tore up worse, she lost more fluids. And finally she got pneumonia and fever. She died in my hands after so much s suffering - it was just ungodly.

I hope she's ok now and happy and having no pain and is in God's loving arms.

I will never forgive this doctor.

Please be careful with this drug. It is so incredibly dangerous.

59 year old female. A history of hypertension started on Lisinopril in April of 2009..I am so GLAD I found this site! I have developed a severe chronic cough. This cough keeps me up at night ( and everyone else in the home)
Severe soreness in every joint in every part of my body. I can not sleep, serious fatigue, I have had mental confusion, short term memory loss I NEVER had the mental confusion or memory loss. I went to my Dr. 2xs he put me on antibiotics, told me I possibly had aspirated mucous in my lungs or had "silent reflux" no matter what I have taked or done none of the above symptoms lessened. Therefore, I started to do my own research and wound up here on this site. I am going to my doctor tomorrow informing him of the side effects ( which I would have thought he knew) and asked to be put on another medication for my hypertension. My question I have that there does not seem to be a easy answer is how long will it take to reverse all these symptoms? Truthfully I put all these symptoms in to the "just getting older" category. Thank You so much for sharing

I was prescribed Doxycycline for chronic prostatitis. I took 100mg. twice per day for 3 months. The doctor told me that he puts men on antibiotics (Bactrim and Ciprofloxacin) for 6 months and longer. I had been on both of those drugs in the past and had depression after taking ciprofloxacin for thirty days. I have not had depression from the doxycyline "yet" but did experience insomnia and minor dizziness off and on for a month before the serious effects hit me. During the course of treatment several times I felt unusual tiredness for a day or two but it would go away and I would feel strong again. One week before I stopped taking the doxycycline the bad effects started. Lower back ache, humming in the head, loud ringing in the ears, mild mental confusion, forgetful, headache, dizziness, lack of appetite, nausea, minor tingling in the upper lip feet and hands, sore anus, minor pain in the throat, unusual tiredness, scratchy eyes (like sand in them), redness of skin, pale hands and feet, joint and muscle pain, tight muscles in legs, bloating, abdominal pain, and blurred vision. I have been off the doxycycline for four days and still have many of the symptoms. I read at ****** that doxycycline depletes the body of B vitamins. The week I stopped taking a multivitamin / mineral pill the symptoms started. I was very cautious about taking the vit. pill four hours after taking the doxycycline throughout the course. I plan to get a blood test to confirm the B vitamin content. I took a vit. pill today and it has helped reduce the insomnia and color of the feet and hands. My question to you all is how long dose it take the body to repair the damage? Thank you for all your posts they give hope of recovery.

I had Mirena inserted in March of 2006. It was a painful insertion but only because the doctor pinched my cervix with the forcepts. I was quite happy with the Mirena for the first two years. I had only light spotting a mild cramping the first month. Then I never had a period again. I loved that part!

However, for some reason these past 6 or so months have really began to be more difficult. I began to have symptoms of menopause at only age 35! My symptoms included vaginal dryness to the point of irritation, loss of sex drive, occasional hot flashes, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, mental confusion, memory loss, weight gain--(gained 8 pounds and then had to exercise daily just to keep weight off--never had to do that before, and occasional headaches. I knew I was too young to experience menopause so I decided to do some research and see if Mirena could be causing these problems.

I was happy to find this sight last night. After reading everyone's comments I actually removed the Mirena myself around 8 p.m. last night. It didn't hurt at all, it was just hard to get a hold of that darn string. Took about five minutes but all went well.

Since removing it I have had a slight headache, I was already having cramping before removing it but the cramping did go away this afternoon. I did have a surge of energy last night so I had difficulty sleeping. I am quite tired now though so hopefully tonight will go better. My vaginal dryness is already returning to normal thank goodness as I couldn't stand that side effect.

Look forward to reading more about how people respond once it is removed and how long it takes to get back to normal.

Hi everyone, I just came upon all this yesterday and can't believe it! I have been thinking I am going crazy and have been going down a shame spiral! I have had the Mirena for about a year after the birth of my twins. When I first got the Mirena I really didn't seem to like it...I had weird bleeding, cramping, headaches but my doctor told me there were really no side effects except for the on and off again bleeding so I didn't think much of it. Soon, I started having heart palpitations and weird panicky feelings when I would be out places which I have never had before. I wrote it all off due to the rough twin pregnancy and moved on. Soon, I really started worrying something was wrong with me because of all these weird things, the headaches and heart palpitations and panicky feelings, also I started feeling foggy like I was walking around feeling out of it and sometimes a little dizzy or something just having weird head feelings. We always had in the back of our minds that it could be the Mirena but never really took action. Just for the past couple of months things have gotten much worse. Those panicky feelings really got worse and combined with anxiety and sad and crazy depression thoughts and feelings. I also have been feeling this weird nervousness.....even in my quietest moments of my day. This is so out of my normal character and I feel like I can't even remember what I used to feel like. I have been to my PCP who gave me medication for anxiety and have had a hard time adjusting because I just can't believe all of this craziness and I just keep thinking is the problem really my IUD? Then my mom came upon this because she just felt that me feeling this way is just to weird and I feel like I relate to all of your stories! I have truly been feeling like I am going crazy...and I have never felt this way before...ever. I called my doctor yesterday to talk with her and I am going to have this removed...although I am a little nervous about the after effects. I just keep thinking a year ago I was fine.. and now look at me...I am on anti-depressants...how did this happen?? I know that I have stress but there is no reason for me to be feeling this way. I would love to hear about anyone else who felt this way and got the IUD removed and how that went. I know that I probably won't feel better right away...but I am hoping with time I can forget all of this and move on.

As I read all of these postings, I see I'm not alone in my side effects while taking lamictal. I started out on a very low dose (12.5 mg) and doubled this amount each week. It took a while to get to my current dosage of 150 mg per night. I've been experiencing mental confusion, more panic attacks and it's very hard to wake up in the morning. I've been more frequently tired and dizzy during the daytime. Also, at night, my dreams have been extremely vivid. Many have been nightmares leaving me in a state of severe confusion as I try to awake in the morning. Recently, I started having upper back pain that I've never experienced before.
I thought this drug was supposed to be safe with very little side effects (except the potential RASH). I think my life was better before lamictal. Or, do I need to give it some time to work???? Help Please

I have been on Flomax less than a week. Already I am seeing signs of mental confusion, being drowsy to the point of almost falling asleep at inopportune times, muscle cramps, and a dull ache in the area of the prostate.

Flow was good prior to starting Flomax. It has improved slightly but so has a sense of urgency. It seems to be acting a bit like a diuretic in that I am going a lot more frequently and with high volume and good pressure.

Diuretics can cause a loss of potassium, which can result in severe muscle cramps or spasm. I have had a charley horse in the calf, a foot that cramped up when I stood on it, and a tightening of the abdomen such that I could see a lump in one area. One must wonder if these are related.

The precautions include watching for heard palpitations. The heart is a muscle, isn't it? I would not want that muscle cramping up.

Perhaps the doctor thinks it advisable to attain perfection in urinary performance. But perhaps it is better to go through life with a slight problem that will likely not change, and also without irritating a gland that is prone to cancer. In reading the postings here it would seem that this medical perfection comes at a great cost.

Sadly, I am just another case among many it seems. I am a 26 year old female who was prescribed ciprofloxacin for a UTI at my urgent care center. I have health problems to begin with and did not want any more. You know, I’ve had to take all kinds of meds over the years, including harsh ones, but it was never so bad as to prompt me to write comments on the internet about it. What does that say about Cipro? When I got home from the doctor I read the paper before swallowing the pill, which included the description of side effects. Unfortunately, it did not include the truth about what could happen to you while even taking this drug for a short time. If there had been some kind of warning about the strength and potential risk of taking this drug, I most likely would have steered clear from it since I am sensitive to medications and already suffering. The paper led me to believe false information, listing some common antibiotic side effects, and I ended up starting treatment. Some of the negative effects I experienced while on this medication for only 2 days were: severe muscle/overall body weakness, difficulty breathing, fatigue, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating, anxiety/nervousness, restlessness, mild carpal tunnel pain, slight vision change, stiffness, pain, an overall feeling of terrible heaviness, including of the chest, and possible heart palpitations. It felt like the medication was damaging my body; like it was eating away at my muscles or something. I've never had chemotherapy before, but some how that's how I would imagine it. It felt like it was doing damage to every cell in my body. The worst part is the weakness and altered thinking right now. I hope these symptoms go away completely. I felt better after quitting the drug, but not completely. I am just thankful for my hope in Jesus Christ. Even if things don't improve, I am comforted that He cares for me. I am going to be praying for this terrible situation where doctors are just handing this out for common problems without giving proper warning. May fewer and fewer people have to suffer because of Cipro and this class of drugs. I am also going to report this to the FDA and hopefully to my doctor’s office. I would like to see clear and extensive warnings on this drug, if not for it to be taken off the market. My personal advice to any one who is currently on this medicine and experiencing side effects would be to: drink milk or eat other dairy products to lessen the symptoms. It seemed to temporarily help me.

I was prescribed a 6 day pack of 4mg Methylprednisolone (Medrol) at the ER for an allergic reaction I was having to a gel that I used on my sking. The Medrol worked great at stopping the allergic reaction. My swelling, pain, and rash began to rapidly clear up. Unfortunately I began to have many side effects. On day 5 I was unable to get out of bed I was so tired and dizzy. I had a headache and mental confusion and unclear thinking. I called my primary care provider on a Sunday to ask if it is okay to stop taking the steroid. She said it was and that it was unlikely the medrol was causing my symptoms. She told me I had a virus. I told her the symptoms I was having were listed as side effects on the drug info sheet but she did not believe me. IA few days later I made an appointment to see a doctor, not the same one who took my phone call. This doctor said all of my symptoms were from the Medrol. She knew because of personal experience she saw in her mother who was also taking steroids. She told me medrol can cause a manic response or a depressive, the latter is what I was having. As part of my exam she wanted me to have blood work but said I should wait at least 2 weeks to allow the drug to get out of my system. It is now 19 days since my appointment and I am still having side effects: nausea, complete lack of appetite, dizzy, and tired all the time. I put a call in to my doctor today and am waiting to hear back. I am sorry that I took this medication, will never take again. How long will it take for this med to get completely out of my system so that I feel normal again?
A friend told me her mother had a manic episode on steroids. When I was younger I took steroids for a brief period and had much milder side effects.

I was prescribed doxycycline 2xday for seven days. On the third day I started to feel very sick. However, it was not until the 5th/6th day that I began to suspect I was having a reaction to the antibiotic. I have never had a negative reaction to any medication ever. My symptoms started with severe nausea that lasted all day, and extreme tiredness. The symptoms continued to get worse....muscle aches, joint pains, elevated blood pressure, back & neck pains, unfocused vision, confusion, dizziness, loss of appetite, muscle tremors that woke me from sleep, depression, and anxiety. When I discussed with my doctor that I suspected it might be the medication I was dismissed and told I was developing a virus. They had prescribed this medication often with no problems. I decided to try to stick with it for two more days. That was the biggest mistake ever. I can't really describe what it did to my head, but all I could think about was that I was dying. I guess severe anxiety and paranoia. So, I finally stopped taking it.

It took three full days with no medication for my nausea and mental confusion to begin to subside. It took a few more days for most of the muscle and back pain to go away. It also took about seven days for the depression and most of the anxiety to quiet down. It is now 11 days with no medication and I still have diarrhea, and minor joint pain. I have also stopped drinking coffee because I an still a bit anxious. I have not really gotten back to my routine yet, and will probably hold off going to the gym until next week.

The most frustrating thing of all is that this medication was given to me as a preventative before a small surgery. All the symptoms I was supposed to be watching for I was having. I am sure this contributed to the anxiety.

At least most of the symptoms have gotten better, and I am hopeful that they will continue to improve. I have researched serum sickness and it says it can take 1-2 weeks for symptoms to subside, and up to several months in some cases.

Good luck to everyone.

I am a 43 year old female who, until I found this site, thought I was dying of bone cancer - I am not even kidding. I just finished the last of my 10 day prescription for Avelox (for bronchitis and sinusitis). And I feel like I have been beaten about the head and body. Honestly, every part of my body aches and I can barely walk. I have absolutely no energy; throbbing and shooting pains up and down my arms and legs. Not to mention sharp pains in my chest area periodically. I have very clouded and unclear thinking abilities; and my neck and head hurt so bad not even an 800 mg ibuprofen helps. Oh and let's not forget the chills which are right down to the bone - I cannot get warm and I have yucky night sweats to boot. I would most certainly be interested in a class action lawsuit. I really hate that I took 10 days worth and wonder when I will start feeling better. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE AVELOX - it is not worth the painful side effects! The prescription flyer I received with the medication did not mention any of the side effects I encountered.

I am 62 years old. I was put on Lipitor in early December 2007. I took it just before bedtime. Around 3:00am and until about 5:00 or 6:00am I experienced severe anxiety, mental confusion and suicidal thoughts. It felt as if I were having a psychotic break that was so intense I decided to commit myself to the psychiatric clinic where I live, in the morning. However, when I arose at 8:am, it was all over. I had no idea what had brought the thoughts and extreme emotion on. There were no events nor specific incidences which might trigger so strong a reaction. After three successive nights of this, I suspected the Lipitor and stopped taking it. The episodes stopped immediately and have not re-occurred. I took Lipitor for a total of 5 or 6 days.
Having read the postings on this site and a few others, I now suspect that my recent memory loss (actually its an inability to access certain words and names) started at precisely the same time. I am still struggling with the recovery of memory. In addition, I have experienced elbow muscle pain, fatigue and muscle weakness (hands and arms specifically) which started at the same time and also continues to this day, in spite of rigorous exercise. Whether this is related to Lipitor directly is hard to say for sure, but the timing is extremely suspect.

After a simple operation I have these symptoms after taking Cephalexin: nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, stools that are watery, pale or yellowed skin, dark colored urine, fever, mental confusion, weakness
dizziness, tired feeling AND vaginal discharge.

I've had a problem of chronic stress for the past few years. During the past 10 months, I've made 7 visits to the ER because I felt symptoms of a heart atack. Each time I went in, it was EKG, ultrasound, cat scan or IMR, blood workup, oxygen, stress test, etc. I was in the ICU once, for 24 hours. Each time, the results were negative. This past visit (1 month ago), they detected an arrhythmia. This prompted the ER doc to prescribe the drug Metoprolol Succinate ER 25 mg tabs. I am to take it for 3 weeks, then see my GP. Since returning, the heart beat is irregular and somewhat harder than before. It's uncomfortable laying down in bed so I sleep in the living room, sitting up. In addition, I'm taking anticonvulsants (Keppra and Lamictal) and food supplements. I'm due to go in a week and this really has me concerned. I'm wondering if everything is working against each other. I signed medical releases with all four of my doctors but they don't communicate as I had asked them to. The side effects are: constant headaches, ringing in the ears, hallucinations, mental confusion, bipolar/depression, joint pain, weakness in muscles, spasms, panic attacks, increased stress, vision problems, plus thoughts about high medical bills. Any thoughts about this? I don't expect you to respond to this but my email address is:****** Thanks for considering what I've shared with all of you.
Well, I've been having

Thank you, Yasmin takers and victims! I began taking Yasmin in 2004. I had no problems. In fact, all was well, I loved my life, started and finished a master's degree, and got engaged over the past few years, while taking the pill. About a month ago, however, everything changed. I began snapping at my fiancé, crying uncontrollably, thinking about ways to not be around people, and even thought about hurting myself to relieve the emotional pain I was experiencing. I thought I was all alone.

A week ago a friend of mine asked me if we could talk. She had been experiencing some of the same symptoms. I hadn't spoken to her about my problems, because I was embarrassed and felt I could deal with it all by myself. After she opened up, I was able to admit my own overwhelming anxiety. We promised each other that we would get through this together. And so, we began looking for similarities in our lives (diet, work, stress, etc.). Yasmin. We both take it.

Although I know that medication affects different people in different ways, it appears that the drug is affecting a lot of people in a negative way. Maybe we can bind together, and get something done, so that others don't have to experience what we have.

I was initially prescribed 20 mg of Lipitor as my cholesterol was well over 300 (365). However, the same week I started the 20 mg, I was hit my a car as a pedestrian and had so many aches and pains from that, that I felt the 20 mg of Lipitor was aggravating my recovery from the car incident so requested of my Doctor to "start" at 10 mg instead. I am also "medication sensitive". I have only been on the med for 4 1/2 months and initially things were "OK"...I did notice some aching muscles and joints, but this actually seemed to subside. However, in the past 4-6 weeks, many symptoms seemed to get worse...I feared I had Lyme Disease again, but the symptoms felt "different" though similar...aching muscles and joints...especially both my hands and wrists, hips and knees, very bad headaches, constant nasal problems including horrendous post-nasal drip and "face pain" like sinusitus, a feeling like I was getting bronchitis all the time and needing to use my asthma inhaler, even though my asthma is very, very mild, and profound fatigue. I also noticed "some" mental confusion and forgetfulness. I decided to go off the medication just two days ago and already feel better. I plan to get my cholesterol checked within the next week, but doubt seriously that I will go back on this drug...UNLESS it would be something like 5 mg every other day. I also lost weight (on purpose), have tried to get more exercise, and eat better as part of the overall plan to better manage my cholesterol...so, unless this continued health plan does not keep my cholesterol down, I will not take more than that of this drug (5 mg QOD).

I' m a 49 year old female. I took this nasty drug for just two days to try to control chronic pain of fibromyalgia. The first day I was ok. The second day I was on my way to work when I felt a severe attack of diarrhea. I didn't make it to work. I pulled into a parking lot and before I could get to a bathroom I lost complete control of my sphincter muscle and messed all over myself. In the meantime I was projectile vomiting. My heart was racing and I felt like I was going to die. The only thing that kept me from calling 911 on my cell phone was the embarrassment of having soiled myself! It was one of the most frightening and horrible experiences of my life!

My second run in with a blood clot resulted in passing out on my way to pick up my 8 yr old daughter and being rushed to the ER because of a PE (near death), I'm thankful to be alive however (no reason for PE and being on coumadin for the rest of my life) I feel so tired now, I don't want to go to work, I can't concentrate, I suffer from dizzy spells, I'm always hungry (weight gain), nausea sometimes. before passing out I was working out, doing Taebo, the balance ball thing, walking. Now I feel like I'm and old woman. I'm 32 yrs old and taking #5 coumadin and I feel so bad the majority of the time and yes the doctors say "it's shouldn't be the coumadin" but I think it is my whole world has changed and I'm just trying to get back to being the fun, outgoing, active me. I miss myself so much, its like I'm depressed. I MISS MYSELF.

5 days ago i was prescrebed omnicef for the treatment of bronchitis. i have been experiencing increasing fatigue while on the drug. today i woke up practically incapasitated with muscular fatigue and mental confusion. i called to convey the side effects to my doctor and pharmacist and they both said that fatigue was not a side effect. i am so disturrbed by this side effect because i actually had more energy last week when my bronchitis was untreated by an antibiotic. after a self directed study of the drug, i discovered that omnicef actually dramatically decreases the amount of carnitine in the body. carnitine is necessary for the proper metabolic process of fats into energy. i am suspicious that the withdrawl of carnatine in an already ill individual is responsible for the lathargy and mood instability that so many on this web posting have attested to.

Hello- I was Dx with Sarcoidosis in February, 2007. My lung specialist put me on 20mg Prednisone, increasing to 40mg within two weeks. My Sarcoid symptoms were from enlarged lymph- extreme trouble breathing, middle and lower back pain, kidney pain. Within a week of being at the 40mg level my heart rate and BP became so erratic that he had to start weaning me down. Initially I had extreme energy which felt good after suffering from fatigue but was short lived due to the cardiac problems.

The Prednisone has resolved much of my inflammation for the Sarcoid but I will not go on this again. I have been weaning now for over three weeks. Down under 5mg of Prednisone and it is almost unbearable. Each time I took a drop my mental symptoms became intolerable. Anxiety, extreme fatigue with extreme weakness, irrational thoughts, blurred vision. Within the last couple of days I could hardly get myself out of bed. My weight has increased steadily, bloating stomach, stiff joints, skin rash.

My biggest complaint is that doctors are not giving us enough information as to how this will affect from a negative side. Yes, it takes care of the inflammation but no one prepared me for these awful side effects and withdrawal symptoms. I feel like a nut case most of the time with no coping skills.