Multitude symptoms and conditions

I started using Yasmin one month ago after using Yaz for a year. I had no problems on Yaz, but have had a multitude of problems that I believe are related to Yasmin. One of the side effects I'm having that I don't see listed by anyone else is insomnia. I am 45 years old and have never had any problems going to sleep initially or when I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Before Yasmin, I would get up once in the middle of night to urinate, and now, I'm getting up 4 or 5 times a night and then sometimes, it takes me an hour to go back to sleep. I have also been feeling depressed and more anxious than usual. During the second week of Yasmin, I had gastritis that lasted for about a week. Gastritis is something I typically get 3 or 4 times a year, but I'm thinking it's another side effect caused by Yasmin. I've also had more nausea and bowel problems this month than normal. I have breast tenderness and I had unexplained rib pain for a few days. Finally, my belly seems to be more bloated than normal. I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow and I WILL be switching to another pill.

My healthy, active 55 yr old husband of 30 yrs was prescribed SIMVASTATIN in Aug. of last year. He started having pains in his legs & back and had an appointment in Oct. with the dr. to check on how he was doing with the new drug. When he went in to the office, he was having terrible pains in his chest, legs & back. The dr. immediately called 911 thinking he was having a heart attack. He was in the hospital for a week while they ran a multitude of tests. All came back clear for his heart. He kept telling the dr. that the back & leg pains were still there. They didn't seem to be concerned about anything except his heart. He was dismissed continuing to have pain. The pain steadly increased over his whole body, then in Feb. of this year, he suffered a major seizure and spent another week in the hospital. This time they wrote it off as epilepsy and put him on anti-seziure pills. After he was released, the symptoms increased, his memory, vision & balance are all effected, he has chest pains, depression, and is in constant pain. He's been sent for numerous MRI's, bone scans, blood tests,etc. He has been to neurologists, neurosurgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, etc. The entire time, his health has declined because he was being poisoned by Simvastatin. Finally, after doing our own research, we found a neurologist that recognized the problem. He told us that this drug distroys muscle tissue and that the damage may be irreversible. My husband can no longer work, drive, or enjoy life. He walks without a cane or walker, and depends on pain pills because the pain is so severe. He stays in bed most of the time due to the pain and lack of energy. He has been off Simvastatin for a week now with no change. We are hoping & praying for improvement over time. PLEASE, if you are your loved one are taking this drug-STOP IMMEDIATELY. The results can be devastating. I can't imagine why the FDA would approve a drug like this that destroys quality of life.

I have taken an oral form of Doxycycline daily for at least a year.
Before, I thought such symptoms were relevant to a fluctuation of bodily chemicals during pubescent growth.
I am now sure otherwise.
During the time between when I was prescribed and today, I would never have known that these things were side effects of an antibiotic.
I'd wake up every morning, take a shower, and feel like I'd vomit if I kept standing. I laid down on my bed and realized I felt way too hot. I'd take off my shirt and lay down in front of my floor fan.......Now, every morning after I take a shower, I stand out in my back patio, 45 degrees, in only my boxers--completely comfortable for as long as whenever.
I have terrible sleep.
I stay up at night thinking too much about almost nothing.
Overwhelming self-conscious thoughts.
Overwhelming.
Sometimes I feel like I have to do simple things manually, instead such movements occurring normally, like auto-pilot.
Walking. A majority of the time I walk, its like my first steps:
bring left knee forward, put left heel down, bring right knee forward.....
Blinking.
Concentration.
Anxiety, paranoia, you name it--
I developed a smoking habit that numbed out all the stress.
I am not quite sure if I was addicted other the occasional crave of a cigarette, but...
Look,
every now and then, because my doxycycline came in the mail, I would have a week or two without it.
I think, antibiotic, right? Doesn't matter right? just like a Vitamin? just take it and whooosh its all good, it does what it does, helps my acne whatever--
during those periods without it, I felt distinguishibly happy and calm and I didn't even crave cigarettes.

As of now, I realize that those were not loony mood swings, and, a multitude of people suffer and have suffered from doxycycline.

Wow! I must be the latest in a long line of Lipitor users and apparently pain sufferers. I have been on Lipitor for over a year. I am 56 years old, active and healthy (thank God). Around November 2008, I noticed a "twinge" in my left hip while sleeping. This has gotten progressively worse over the months and I thought it was due to arthritis (which runs in my family). But after reading these blogs, I am not so sure. If anyone has anything definitive regarding this, ie: tests, studies, etc., I would really appreciate a point in the right direction for more information. I was thinking (until today) that I was headed for hip surgery or something equally drastic. Now that I have a clue that it may be the Lipitor, I want to investigate further and then, if necessary, change to another medication that won't break me down like this. My heart goes out to anyone that has suffered through hip pain. It is a miserable, painful condition that saps your energy and your desire to even move sometimes. I appreciate any help you can offer. God bless all of you. - L. B. ******

I have been weaning off Prednisone for sometime, from 50mg down to 5mg in two week steps, 5mg at a time. I've had quite a few of the physical side effects of Prednisone, though none so severe that I would have considered not taking the drug, as it is helping the neuropathy that it was described for. When I hit the 5mg dose, I really seemed to be having trouble with my mental state. I seemed to switch back and forth from knowing what was going on to wondering if I was starting to go insane or losing touch with reality. Hard one to explain. It seems to occur later in the day when I am fairly tired. Back on 10 mg for the last three days and seem to be tired but not so mentally confused. Don't know if this is all from the Prednisone, though. Has anyone out there had any seemingly similar mental things happen on this drug. Thanks in advance for answering if you have had these experiences, they are scary and am hoping that it is the drug and not something else.

My son who is just 17 has been on the drug for just a week and the very first day he was on it he experienced severe back pain. He was not able to stand up. It got worse, he felt as though he had to eat continuously or he would vomit, the more he ate the more nauseous he became. This is not somatic, because he had no idea that I had added a new medication to his regimen. He has ADD and a mild mood disorder. I have stopped the medication and will notify the doctor tomorrow. He was only on the medication for 4 days. I am a nurse practitioner and this medication is not worth the multitude of severe side effects for the diagnosis of mood stabilization.

At first, Yaz was fine. I had been on Yasmin for 3 years, and switched to Yaz. I had no side effects from Yasmin. This is my 4th month on Yaz, and I've had a multitude of side effects. The first month, no period at all, second month, lighter period, but it started late and I was BLOATED and CONSTIPATED for the whole period. Third month, my vision is getting worse, I have ridiculous headaches, insomnia and anxiety. I started my 4th month of pills (hoping that my body just needed a few months to adapt to the new BC) and this has been by far the worst month ever!!! I've been on my period for 2 weeks now, even though I've finished a whole week of hormone pills, and I'm BLOATED LIKE CRAZY. It will not go down! And my mood swings are out of control. Any little thing will make me loose my temper, or I'll start crying and ask my husband a million times if I'm fat. My headaches are worse, insomnia is worse and now I'm sensitive to light. And I'm carrying around an extra 5 pounds on my butt that I didn't want. Plus, it's a load of crap that Yaz helps with cramps. Now it just feels like one person is kicking me in the stomach instead of two (which really is no different). This is just my experience with it, and I'm sure some people do great, but would recommend doing research on other pills before committing to Yaz.

Is anyone else interested in how many other medications that children or adults who took Singulair started taking after they were prescribed Singulair? If so, would you mind posting what the medication was and what kind of doctor prescribed them?

See comment by cheflette:
about 18 hours ago on Apr 05, 2008 by cheflette, #6727
Concernedcitizen, I REALLY appreciate the hard work you've done looking for how montelukast affects the brain. I think you're making an important point here. Everything we put in our bodies affects other parts of our bodies and I think these research companies forget that sometimes. You can't fundamentally alter a bodily function and expect the rest of the body to ignore it.

The scariest thing to me is that rather than removing the antagonist (in this case, Singulair), doctors will prescribe yet another drug. So many of these children are on a multitude of medications. What a mess.
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"We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events (OH REALLY, YOU MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT FIND ANYTHING AT ALL THAT IS POSSIBLY CONSISTENT???)," said George Philip, director of research and product development, according to AP. "But because suicide is a life-threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label."

In a statement released by Merck, they state that in their own analysis of trials of more than 11000 patients, there was no associated risk between them taking the drug and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

If any one is following what research is being done, here is the description of the new study in children.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00540839?intr=%22Montelukast%22&rank=19

My 5yo son is one week removed from Singulair, and we are starting to see a gradual improvement. When I first started reading these posts, I just sat and cried. My son started the meds last fall for allergy induced asthma and his behavoir has gotten progressively worse this January and February, so much so that I contacted the pediatrician to start the process of having him see a counselor. He was fine before last August. I blamed his problems in the fall to his adjustment to kindergarten, then my grandmother got sick and passed away February, so I thought this time his obsession with death and bad behavior at school was related to her. I never once even thought it was the Singulair. Looking back I realized the behavoir coincided with his Singulair use (I took him off it in December because there was nothing in the air to cause him to cough and he was fine). In January we started back up full steam ahead and the doctor increased dose...Hello!! He was so angry sometimes and had a multitude of the symptoms listed on this site. He would constantly say he hated school. He chewed his shirts repeatedly, actually chewing holes in the neck and sleeves, he would blink his eyes weirdly which I have equate to the "tick" other people described. He would say he was stupid, that no one loved him, that no kids wanted to play with him and that he was an idiot. He said he wished he was in heaven and wanted to leave this world. My mom found him wrapped in blankets over spring break and when she asked what he was doing he said he was trying to suffocate himself. His crying wasn't even a normal cry, it was in a word: soulful. It would make me cry just hearing it because it was such a mournful sound. At his aftercare program he would try and leave and say he wanted to get hit by a car, they actually had to restrain him. He had instances of aggression with other kids in school, which resulted in phone calls from the teacher and principal. Again I thought it was related to the death in the family and him having no other way of expressing his anger. I even blamed the other parent thinking they were overreacting - embarrassed about that now to say the least. I started getting names of dr's to get grief counseling to determine if it was the loss or if he was in the throes of depression. Then I see the news about Singulair and looked it up on the web since he was on it. Talk about taking your breath away. Then his stomach cramps made sense too. I would have to massage his stomach to make it feel better, thinking it was the milk causing it. People can say we are all making this up, or the posts are fake...even his allergist said they feel the benefits outweight the risks, but until you live it you really just don't get it. I took him off it that night. Each day is getting better. Today was a great day and I am cautiously optimistic for tomorrow. He was happy. Even his sister remarked about what a good mood he was in and that he wasn't whining or crying. Putting him to bed tonight he told me he loved me more than tomato pie...and in his world that's at the top of everything The sad thing is that the medicine works for the asthma and controlled his coughing. The cough is now back in force so it is a double edged sword. It's amazing how similiar the symptoms are with other kids. I guess hindsight truly is 20/20 huh?

I got my Mirena in a few months ago, on a second attempt. I've never had a child, so there was some difficulty in opening my cervix enough to push it in, so I had to go back with my period for another insertion, which was painful, but not terrible. The first two weeks were great. I had no cramping at all, and some spotting, but even that was mostly just when I used the bathroom, and not when I was up and walking around.
The first complaint I had was that my boyfriend could feel the string. It wasn't even just an awareness that it was there, but severe pain that hit him every time he bumped it. We stopped having sex.
Then, I started being a complete bitch. I have a history of clinical depression, and have been treated and it hasn't been an issue for a few years, but I know depression, and this is not it. I've also been stressed out. This is not it. This is like my worst PMS ever, multiplied by ten, constant, and increasing every day. I'm a teacher, and I've been finding myself yelling at my kids when the do the littlest thing wrong. I've screamed at my mother when she's trying to be helpful, and I've hung up on my boyfriend when I was pissed at him for no reason. I have NEVER experienced such irritability, and I have NEVER treated the people I love with such disrespect. I'm worried that if this keeps happening, it will ruin my life.
I've also gained significant weight. I have always been a slim woman, and now my clothes don't fit. If anything, I have been more active and eating less calories since I've had my Mirena inserted. And wrestling my pants on in the morning doesn't exactly help the irritability.
Then, one morning, I woke up with INTENSE throbbing pain in my lower abdomen. I was about to get myself to the hospital when it stopped. The next day, I felt for my string. Gone. The next day, it was back. The next day, gone. I went to see my doctor, and after much poking and prodding, she was unable to find the string, gave me a pregnancy test (like I'd been having sex...) and scheduled me for an ultrasound. Since then, I've experienced awful cramps. My doctor thinks the intense pain was an ovarian cyst bursting (which makes sense with my medical history), and the cramping caused by that made the Mirena shift up, which then caused more cramps as it resettled into a new place. She insists that the ultrasound will likely show everything is fine, and that it won't be a big deal until five years from now, when they have to figure out some way to remove the Mirena without it's string, ie dilating my cervix and using clamps to pull it out.
I have asked to have my Mirena removed on several occasions, and my doctor insists that it will get better, and I just have to tough it out. I know that I cannot continue to experience this irritability or pain, and I do not want to see if the weight continues to pack on. On Tuesday I have my ultrasound, and then an appointment with a different doctor to tell me the results and have it removed.
I was on these boards before my insertion, and shortly after, and thought all these side effects were crap, and that the posters were just the 1 out of 10 women who don't recommend the Mirena to their friends. I was sure that it wouldn't happen to me, but boy was I wrong. I believe the statistics the Mirena website gives are completely flawed, and I would NEVER recommend this to a friend, or even an enemy.

I went on NuvaRing in June or July 2005. and in may 2006 I started having eye pain behind my eyes, which i thought was my sinuses but it turns out it is posterior Scleritis, which is a form of localized autoimmune disease, which of course, the doctors know nothing about and cant treat unless I agree to take steroids all the time or Methotrexate (the same medicine used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and which causes hepatitis as a side effect). no one has told me that the NuvaRing and Scleritis could be related but after reading the multitude of symptoms women have had on this site, i am starting to wonder if there is a relationship between the two. i have no history of anything like this, I'm 26 and otherwise very healthy.

Get over yourselves. Those 'other' problems could be caused by a variety of things and not necessarily have anything to do with kenalog. I LOVE the stuff! I've received it several times for trochanter bursitis in both hips, for inflammation/pain relief in my right shoulder due to shoulder/rotator cuff reconstruction, my foot for affects of severe gout, carpal tunnel in both wrists, and several other times for inflammation/pain that cannot be treated with oral anti-inflammatories due to diabetic gastroparesis. Mind you, I do suffer from bad stomach cramps for a few hours post injection, but other than that mild side effect, the medication is FANTASTIC and successful in treating my numerous problems. I think you're all just looking for excuses to whine about your problems rather than being glad that you at least have someone trying to help you.
I will recommend kenalog to anyone looking for relief of symptoms I've mentioned. My success rate is 95% +. Sometimes it takes more than one shot or being the individuals we are, we suffer some effects that aren't usual, ut this is no reason to crap on an excellent product that has helped so many, so often.
So get over yourselves and quit your pouting.

I have a hair thinning problem on just the top of my head. Also my hair has gotten very dry and brittle breaking off when I comb or brush my hair or even run my hands through my hair. It has become "frizz city".