Minimal side effects symptoms and conditions

Well, I was doing some research because my pain from my endometriosis is returning and I'm actually considering asking my doctor for another round of Lupron. I was on lupron over 2 years ago and experienced minimal side effects. I had the hot flashes, no hair loos just hair growth in unwanted places like my face, and just a few bouts of tearfulness. i actually lost weight on lupron and consider it to be the most sane time of my life. The women in my family over produce estrogen so i'm not sure if maybe my experience was different in that my estorgen level was not depleted to nothingness but to a more normal level. I am saddened to hear so many women suffering with what I considered my wonder drug!

The experience is not with me, but my daughter, who is a sufferer of PCOS and experienced acne problems She's been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo since January 2007, and received positive results for acne and regulating menstrual cycle, with minimal side effects. Since being switched to generic tri-lo sprintec (July 29), she's experiencing lethargy, some headaches, moodiness, acne, and slight depression, which is very unlike her. What I recommend to everyone on this website is to submit adverse event to the pharmaceutical company, Teva. They should have a website and or a call line for presenting your concerns. I will be doing this because this drug definitely needs to be reported and possibly pulled from the market.

I have only been on this pill for two and half months! Thinking I'd give it the three month try.
Honestly it started great with decreased PMDD symptoms, less eating, moodiness, periods etc, with only the minimal side effects of nausea, headache.
Then in second month I became depressed, angry with hot flashes, migraine headaches, nausea everyday, no sex drive and a total bitch to my family.
Third month brought vision changes along with the hyperpigmentation, migraine, tingling in my uterus, symptoms of hypertention and numbing of my left arm.
I looked up more info on the web which was much more descriptive than the info pack with the pills, so I tossed them quickly!
After a week I feel a bit better except for the arm, which I will now need to go to the doctor to make sure I haven't suffered a mini stroke, since I am suffering memory loss and my left arm is still functioning oddly.
I hate being the "tester" for the drug companies, how something that is causing so much damage in such a shot time of taking it, in women so young is appalling.
THIS DRUG SHOULD BE BANNED!

Well, let's see now.................
I am a 48 year old female who has always been healthy.
4 months ago I went to the clinic for stomach pain that was gnawing at me. That's when my nightmare started. I was told to go straight to the local hospitals ER room because my Blood Pressure was 238/127
I was kept for 2 days in the cardiac unit. Tests were run and they all came out perfectly fine. I was then put on 50 mg toporol along with 20 mg Lisinopril. I was sent home and couldn't hardly function. Nauseous and dizzy, I was hanging onto walls just to go to the bathroom. Doctor switched me to Diovan instead of the lisinopril but insurance would not cover it. So once again I was switched to Avapro taken along with toporol.
By the second day on Avapro I was itching extremely and my skin was on fire. I called the Doctor once again and he said to Quit the Avapro and just take the Toporol alone. Well, within 4 days I ended back up in the emergency room with an elevated bp of 204/107. Once again, I was kept overnight and put on Labetelol (an alpha and Beta Blocker).
I did quite well on this med for a month and then the bp levels started to rise once again. I called the doctor this evening and was told to take 20 mg of the Lisinopril I had in the medicine cabinet along with the Labetelol.
It's been two hours and I'm starting to itch from the Lisinopril now....sigh.
Thank God I go to the clinic in the morning!!
I am really getting anxiety problems from dealing with these meds!!
Hopefully I can get everything straightened out. I am willing to hang in there until I can find something that works. It is obvious to me that I need HBP medication. I just wish They could find the right ones for me without having to go through all this . To all of you that have high BP, Hang in there. If one med doesn't work, keep trying!!
God Bless All Of You!!!!

I'm posting this message b/c I have had years of experience with Mirena and want to share it. My experience has NOT been horrible. I got my first one inserted 4 years ago, had minimal side-effects, then wanted to have another baby. I had it for 2 years before I removed it and a month later was pregnant again. IT DID NOT HURT TO HAVE IT REMOVED!
I had a second one inserted after the birth of my second child and have had minimal side-effects. There are only three things I would like to share that I have considered "annoying" about Mirena. Acne, yeast infections, and my period has not changed or stopped...still 7 days every 4 weeks. And, as I'm reading all of these postings I'm starting to realized that the overwhelming theme here is not just Mirena...its that we're all new mothers. Motherhood brings a whole new world of problems...hair loss, hormonal imbalances, weight gain, lack of sleep, (oh and to the person with the ganglion cyst...could it be from lifting that heavy car seat in and out of your SUV with the same wrist that's bothering you?), abdominal pain from c-sections...or natural birth, depression, anxiety...the list goes on and on. I would only warn some of you that taking out the IUD may not fix all of your problems and with the risk of possibly getting pregnant again, it may actually exacerbate some of the so-called "side effects" by adding another child to your family. Good luck with your decision, but I wouldn't necessarily blame it all on that little IUD.

I just completed a 10 day cycle of one tab at 400mg a day with minimal side effects. I experienced some dizziness in the evenings and some tightness in the chest. That was it, no weird dreams, no nausea or vomiting. I was prescribed avelox to lessen the possibility of pneumonia, (sp) as part of a bad cold. I have weaker immune system after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma 5 years ago. I guess I was just one of the lucky ones. I took my last pill yesterday so am waiting to see whether the side effects I experienced are gone.

I have taken Avelox before with only minimal side effects nausea and diarrhea were the only ones I got but they were enough. I have been suffering from chronic sinus and ear infections for going on two years now. My doctor gave me samples again of avelox on Monday. Last night I had to be rushed to the hospital. After throwing up all day I got a severe headache. I felt dizzy and out of sorts all day but when I couldn't take the headache anymore I tried laying down. With this medicine you can't take any pain relievers so I thought if I just went to lay down maybe it would ease up some. Well it didn't, and before I knew it I was shaking uncontrollably with tremors and could no longer put sentences together. My head hurt so bad I just wanted to stab myself to make the pain go away. At the er they gave me an IV with something to help with the headache.Anyway after taking a Ct scan and not seeing anything on there the er doc gave me the ok to go home and gave me a script for pain meds. I was having hallucinations, anxieties, and could not speak correctly. I am still having trouble making sentences, I am stuttering, which I have never done before. And I can't get words to go together to make a sentence. The Er doctor wants me to follow up with a neurologist. My tremors still haven't stopped and now I sound like the guy from rain man when I am trying to make a sentence. This is pure torture and I feel like I am in someone else's body.

I was previously on Depo Provera and I decided to find another form of BC because of the side effects. I had previously been on Depo Provera for 4 years with no side effects (that was when I was 17 - 21 yrs old). I then had my son at 22 yrs of age and decided to get back on Depo Provera because it had worked so good. But this time around I had numerours side effects, bloating, mood swings, no sex drive (hurt my marriage) and I bled (medium to heavy) for a month straight. I just got the IUD today (strong pain upon insertion and still having on-again/off-again cramps right now) and after reading these reviews I am very frightened. I'm afraid that this will be a repeat of the Depo Provera. Even though, I'm paying closer attention to the reviews given by ladies in my age range, I still have my doubts. We shall see.

I started taking prednisone along with Cytoxan, a chemotherapy drug 15 years ago when I was diagnosed with an undifferentiated connective tissue disorder that led to symptoms like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. After a couple of years, the inflammation cooled off and I no longer had increasing scar tissue in my lungs (IPF is almost always terminal) so I was glad of that. However, sometime in that first year or so I developed hardish lumps under my skin and severe pain that felt like it was "under my skin" but not my muscles, as in fibromyalgia. The lumps are even more painful, and the skin feels as if someone tried to "skin" me and then just llay the skin back down.
I have had to be on timed-release morphine for years in order to function with this pain, as it is especially painful if I brush up against something or sitting or lying down pressure is intense. Also the skin on my tongue gets so tender I have to use kids' toothpaste or it burns terribly.
After 15 years some of the lumps have gone away, but I've recently had to go back on the prednisone for my lung inflammation.
The last time I got a new prescription for prednisone I read the tissue-paper printout (not the short one you get with every Rx, the one written for professionals which includes all the new data, tests, side effects, etc.) What I want to point out, as I've not read one person saying this, is that to avoid a lot of the side effects and the harm to the glands which produce our own natural steroids, is that they are now recommending that it is taken only EVERY OTHER DAY. They say there may be some slight increase in symptoms on the "off" day, but that this keeps the natural cycle in place in bodies subjected to this drug and therefore reduces symptoms.
This is what my last pulmonologist prescribed for me and so far I have had minimal side effects--no ravenous appetite and weight gain, no "moon face" and it has still helped my symptoms.
Please ask your pharmacist for the flyer that comes with the new package and read this for yourself and then take it to your doctor. It may not work for those in dire need of the prednisone but could perhaps be tapered to this once the first lethal symptoms die down. ASK YOUR DOC--I cannot believe I have not heard more about this as it's right on the flyer--but docs are so busy, it's understandable. I'm grateful my doctor is up on the new research because I don't mind taking the prednisone this time, and I used to HATE it!
Good living to all and I wish you all the healthiest life possible.

I'm surprised at all the comments about Mirena...about how painful the insertion was and how horrible the side effects are. I can honestly say that I've had NONE of those issues.

I'm 28, and I've had Mirena for 2 years now. I have NO children, but the procedure was NOT painful. It was slightly uncomfortable for a few moments while she inserted it, but I did not receive any anesthetic. I had slight cramping for a few days, which is normal. Over the course of several months after having the Mirena put in, my periods began to subside and after about 4 or 5 months, I had no period at all.

I have noticed absolutely no difference in my sex drive, weight, mood, hair growth, etc. I recommend Mirena to anyone who is interested in it.

Of course, every woman is different! And, our bodies all react differently. So, if you're interested in Mirena, please don't make a judgment call based solely on this message board or any other message board, for that matter. Some of us have had horrible experiences. Some of us have had great experiences. But, your decision should come from the ONLY two people who know YOUR body best: you and your doctor. Good luck!

wow, guys, so...i have had mirena in since April 08, and experiences minimal side effects that i was told would happen. slowly but surely though other things kept coming around, including:
-10-15 day periods
-constant cramping, extremely painful at least 2-3x a day on either left or right side
-no sex drive
-high irritability at unpredictable times
-muscle cramps
-headaches about 2x a week
-nausea at least 3x a week
-fatigue about 2x a week

When i first got on i thought all these people complaining were whiney, whusses. but now i see that all these little annoying things add up, and aren't good.

so i am getting mine taking out tomorrow, and the only form of birth control i will use is the easy fertility awareness method. charting your cycles is natural and fairly easy, and can help you avoid pregnancy, or get prego. Taking Charge of Your fertility, by Toni Weschler is the book i use, It is totally the fertility bible! Man-made hormones are just going to screw you over eventually, why not try just educating yourself and knowing when not to have sex, or to be protected? It worked enough for me before i got prego, i got pregnant exactly when i wanted to. I just went on mirena cuz it was easy, paid for by insurance, and i didn't have to avoid sex with my hubby that one week a month, haha now i don't even want it. funny stuff, eh?

I will try to up date after i get it taken out to see if i get the same relief that many of you felt!

I had the Mirena for almost 7 years. I have to say I really liked the convenience of not having to worry about birth control or my period. I had very minimal side effects of course the cramping when the device was first put in and the first time I got it, the string was a little too long so I could feel it, but I went back in & the nurse cut it and I never really felt if after that. When I had the device taken out, it was painful, but it was because it had gone in too far. I really liked the Mirena I kind of regret taking it out. The reason I took it out was because I wanted something more permanent and I was having trouble with my skin breaking out and I was being told that hormones where causing my breakouts. So I am now on a non hormonal birth control which is permanent (Essure) but I have to deal with period and cramps again, and my face is breaking out a lot worse...I guess like with other birth controls everyone reacts differently. Before the Mirena I used the Depo shot for a couple of years until my period became irregular and then I stopped birth control for awhile and it took me about a year to become pregnant with my son. Before Depo I tried pills (Ortho-Evra or something like that) my skin cleared up but I gained about 15 pounds in just one month...so I guess it's a trial and error process which is unfortunate for those of you experience severe side effects...too bad there is not some kind of test a person could take to determine which birth control would be better suited for their body

I would like to add my experience which has only been 3 weeks so far and I can tell you I have had the following symptoms with Yaz:

1. DAILY - EXTREME MOOD / ANGER ISSUES
2. DAILY - STOMACH CRAMPS
3. DAILY - NAUSEATED
4. DAILY - INSOMNIA
5. FREQUENT - HEADACHES
6. FREQUENT - BODY / JOINT ACHES
7. CONSTANT - PERIOD SINCE I HAVE STARTED - SO FAR A 3 WEEK PERIOD WITH NO ENDING TO SHOW SO FAR.

I switched to Yaz from LoEstrin and will be switching back immediately - seeing my GYNO tomorrow to get my old prescription so I can have a light 3-4 day period with minimal side effects - I never realized how good I had it with my old bc pill (for heavy bleeding only) until I tried YAZ! I hope this help others know that you are not alone as I realized that too after reading the previous posts. Thank You Ladies for sharing - you helped me and my family see that I'm really not a BEAST of ANGER after all! I miss my ability to be patient. I just threw away the rest of my YAZ pack - to never take it again. Best of Luck to those who want to try it and can be successful with them.

V.McKelvy - Ketchikan, Alaska

I've been taking YAZ for about 3 months now and at first had stomach cramping but only for about 1 week. Otherwise I have had minimal side effects I am pretty much thrilled with this pill. The only thing that I am concerned about is, I've never really had any acne issues but since this pill I have had more acne than I even have before. Has anyone else had this issue? It's not necessarily on my face, more so my back and chest and that is whats really troubling to me! If anyone has found this as well let me know or if anyone has found out anything that works to help with this!!!

I have been on NuvaRing for 8 months and am now realizing that my severe mood problems are most likely due to this bc. I went from rarely ever crying to crying every day for no reason. I find myself getting really upset with my boyfriend and friends for no reason. I also have noticed that I am much more anxious than I used to be. I got on NuvaRing originally because most of the pills I had tried previously made me very ill and throw up. I know all medicine affects people differently but has anyone been on a form of birth control other than NuvaRing that they would actually recommend and has minimal side effects?

WOW...
I am about to start IVF and do one cycle of Lupron injections starting next Friday. You guys have officially scared the crap out of me. Thanks!

I have been taking this for about two weeks and have just ramped up to 50 mg. I had a closed head injury last November and have been suffering from balance, headache and memory issues since. Doctor put me on Topamax for headaches and I have had the eye checks after experiencing eye pain but I was fine. Have had slight tingling in my feet and my right eye has been red off and on since starting. My right eye has also been constantly hard to focus.

I have read over and over that the side effects usually go away after about 8 weeks, so I'll see how it does till then. I'm still waiting to see if it helps my headaches, it hasn't yet.

It seems to have made my balance issues worse, and I am constantly dizzy now, although in Topamax's defense, I have been having more dizziness since my injury.

The spinny thingies that used to be there when I close my eyes are gone now, at least they have been since I started at 50 mg.

I'd say the most disconcerting issue I'm having is a feeling of being doped up and becoming more afraid of doing things, like driving a car.

so far i like it, but me being on this med does this mean I'm bipolar?? doc said i was not but thinking he thought i would freak if i was... Also he gave me a sample pack, I have great insurance but what is the cost of this med??

I was on 1000mg per day 500 in the morning and 500 at night. I had one or two episodes of flushing and if it was not for this site I would have gone to the Emergency Room because the burning of my skin was so severe that I was in a panic. I found this site and it calmed me a bit. After the flushing comes the itching. For me it is on the inside of the legs starting on the ankles and then the toes and then it moves slowly up the legs and sometimes hits the thighs. Sometimes it hits the underside of my upper arm. This was mild and tolerable and went away in a couple of days.

Now I have been moved to 2000mg per day and the flushing is under control, but the itching has gone out of control. I cannot deal with the itching. I sit in business meetings and want to scream. I find myself at my desk with my shoes and socks off rubbing my feet and ankles because it is intolerable. I have broken the skin many times and bleed from the scratching. I am intelligent enough to know not to scratch, but sometimes it just gets the better of me.

I have no idea what triggers this because I can count on it lasting three to four days and then it goes away again.

Wow - so many of you with the same symptoms and side-effects I'm experiencing. I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen years ago with minimal side effects beyond slight weight gain during the first few months. With this pill, I feel like I've become a monster. I'm bloated and I've been bleeding for 9 days now (I started the pills the day my period ended, on the advice of my doctor. I began bleeding a week later and have not stopped.). I'm normally a very happy person, but in the 2.5 weeks I've been on this medication, my moods change faster than the weather - I go from happy to despondent over the smallest, most insignificant things and cannot be cheered up. I have constant anxiety. I've cried more in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last year. I get angry over nothing, and I feel lazy all the time. My normally above-average libido is in the toilet. Fortunately, my boyfriend is incredibly understanding and knows that the changes I'm experiencing are due to this new medication changing my body chemistry.

I don't want to be like this, though. I don't want to be angry, sad, anxious, lazy, or uninterested in sex. I don't want a month-long period for 3 months while my body adjusts. I'm not in the physical condition to be able to shrug off an extra 10 pound due to bloating, and I'm tired of popping Advil to deal with my cramps. Before I found this site, I thought maybe the symptoms would go away in the next week or so, but I've now decided I'm not waiting this one out - I'm calling my doctor and finding a different alternative. This is simply unacceptable.

Also, I know it has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the medication, but their website disgusts me. "Cammie's Story"? If they spent half that advertising budget on research to eliminate the horrible side effects of their product, perhaps the pill would sell itself.

Can someone tell me how long it took for the symptoms to go away.

I have been itchy, eye swelling, tingles, numbness in my hands and feet as well as a rash.

Everyone is saying how they have or will get off lisinopril. This is a dangerous approach unless your doctor approves. What other BP drugs are considered safe with minimal side effects? After 3 days of lisinopril usage, I woke up this morning feeling very hyper inside. No outward shakes or anything like that. I NEED to take BP medicine so what are the alternatives? I'm 64, not overweight. Diuretics kept my BP in the normal range but the side effects of HCTZ kept getting worse until I had to change medication. If lisinopril is so bad why do so many doctors prescribe it?

I am bipolar II and began taking Lamictal on top of my usual cocktail of Wellbutrin and Zyprexa following a suicide attempt. As everyone else has reported, it took a while to get up to a theraputic dosage; once I got there though, I felt the best I had in years (no exaggeration) - I literally felt completely freed from my illness. This freedom came at a cost, however. During my college days (I am a recent graduate) I was the top student in my department and routinely completed tremendous projects in unusually short amounts of time. Since reaching my current dosage of Lamictal, however, I have begun FAILING a Spanish course I am taking as I am both unable to retain anything I learn from studying (especially flash cards, which as everyone knows are the key to learning new vocabulary words) and, more importantly, feel no motivation to correct the situation. I am currently preparing to take two GREs as well as apply to eight graduate schools and have gone from obsessing over the issue to not caring whatsoever. I have also begun a new job recently and have extreme difficulty waking up each morning due to how exhausted I feel (it's notable that I didn't have this feeling upon switching to a large dose of Zyprexa.) My doctor has instructed me to lower the dose and monitor my mood accordingly to see if I can have positive psychological results with minimal side effects. I am upset about potentially having to give up the radical change in how I feel every day, but the side effects are just too severe (at the current dose, that is.) It still remains to be seen whether a lower dose will have sufficiently positive psychological effects with minimal side effects; I will make a followup post after this one once I can assess that.

Summary of what I've read so far...

On emotional level:
1. Anxiety/Depression
2. Fear of having throat/lung cancer
3. Fear of having a heart attack/failure/angina
4. Short temperedness
5. Vivid dreams/nightmares
6. Thoughts of suicide
7. Feel like we're going to die soon

On physical level:
1. Tingling/ pins and needles, on arms and fingers
2. Leg pains (cramp, etc...)
3. Chest pains ( various description...)
4. Shortness of breath
5. Back/neck pain
6. Trouble sleeping
7. Coughing, itchy/scratchy throat
8. Loss of sex drive
9. Dizziness
10. Lack of energy / feeling exhausted / fatigue
11. Muscle/joint aches
12. Night sweats / cold sweats
13. Hair loss
14. Nausea
15. Abdominal pain
16. Swollen feet/ankle
17. Palpitations

Alternative medicine without or minimal side effects...
so far, DIOVAN has been recommended.
I'm calling my doc tomorrow and will insist on DIOVAN...lol.

Feel free to add to this list.

Better health to you all.

God bless!!

Im a 20 year old male and about 6 months ago got injured and was forced to stop playing golf. This was very difficult and it gave me pretty bad anxiety, and i also had 2 panic attacks. All this occured all in about 2 weeks. I was put on 20mg paxil and about a day or two into it I started to see wonderful effects. I thought it was amazing. After about a month i was back to normal with minimal if any anxiety, had very minimal side-effects; drymouth,headaches. I just recently bumped it up to 40mg due to stress, worked good, but i did get a few new side-effects like trouble ejaculating, weakness, slight trembling, very vivid dreams(which is kinda neat just due to the fact that i would never remember my dreams and now i remember 2-4 a night) and a headache every once and a while. I think this drug is good and can be bad. Ive been reading a lot of troubling stories about other peoples experiences with getting off the drug, and quite frankly, its got me a little worried. But I plan to eventually got off this drug and get through the withdrawals and continue my life accordingly. I think if anyone is going through these problems and does get over it, it would be very helpful to all the people who are struggling, if you would write about your struggles and explain that this does happen and it does end. Show how everyone eventually gets over the hard times and gos on with the rest our their lives. Good luck to all, your not alone, and it will get better