Muscle tone symptoms and conditions

I am a healthy 38 year old woman. I started using the Nuvaring about 2 years ago. Ever since I have had a drastic decrease in my libido...and by drastic I mean virtually no desire to have sex at all. I've also had frequent headaches that last for days at times, leg cramps, depression, and I've gained almost 15 lbs that will not budge no matter what I do. I work out five or six days a week with absolutely no decrease in weight or increase in muscle tone. I am so glad I found this site!! I've been thinking that something is wrong with me and I've been really down on myself. The lack of sex drive has been very difficult for my fiance'. He can't help but take it personally that I NEVER want to have sex. This has been a tremendous eye opener for me. I'm going home tonight to take this thing out and I'm never going back on hormonal birth control again! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their experiences!

Ok well I got the mirena almost three months ago.. i am so bloated that i I look 6 months pregnant.i. the weird thing is ,,i cant even suck it in.. i feel like i just ate like it was thanksgiving.. im eating healthy.. and it dosent matter.. and also.. i get so mad I want to rip out random peoples neck with my mouth.. i have this uncontrollable anger that is insane. Ill be getting this thing out soon.. oh yeah.. and the spotting they talk about? I have been bleeding for the whole time going on 3 months now.. non stop!!! Its like a never ending period.. and i was going to try and wait it out to see if the symptoms would go away.. but they are not.. I don't need the mirena.. I am 40 pounds overweight, and i have turned into satans spawn.. I couldn't pay anyone to sleep with me..

I am 20 year old female and have a bad family history of high cholesterol, iv been taking 40mg/day of lipitor for nearly 2 months.

I was prescribed Avelox along with Prednisone by my allergy doctor for pneumonia. Even with a prescription insurance program, the Avelox costs $14 a pill. After 13 days on Avelox, my joints hurt so bad I can barely walk. My muscle tone is almost non-existent, and the muscles ache like I've been in training for a marathon. I daily became more depressed, and really thought I was dying. I went to see my internist this a.m. A chest x-ray revealed I still have a raging case of pneumonia, now in both lobes of my lungs. She wanted to put me in the hospital but agreed to put me on a Augmenting and another round of Prednisone to try at home a couple of days. Avelox should be taken off the market. I can not believe this medication which costs over $240 for one round of treatment was ever approved by the FDA. My doctor could not tell me when the side effects of the Avelox will diminish or disappear. DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG IF ANOTHER WILL DO THE JOB.

I am generally classed as an active, happy and positive person, loving life.... but the last 4 months have been a blinking nightmare....
It seems we all pretty much have the same symptoms, horrid shoulder pain, muscle soreness, spasms, feet and generally feeling like "what the??" is where we are all at..horrid thoughts of MS? Motor Neurons, Parkinsons, etc. all sorts of possible sinister problems.
I too have stopped taking Lipitor only a week ago (and I only started back in October 2008 after "arguing with my doctor for many years not wanting to take it...and i didn't even know about the horror side effects, i just thought it was totally unnatural to strip the body of something almost totally,).. within 2 months I started showing signs of chronic neck C5/6/7 and left shoulder. Maybe I had injured myself once before and suffered pinched nerves, but the pain eventually went, but this is not normal or should I say usual...... I have constant buzzing of left thumb/forefinger and hand and my right leg. NEVER NEVER have I suffered from this type of symptom before in my entire 50 years... Even some days when the spasms are at their worst I get an itchy nose and tingling lips. The scariest symptom of a white flash in my left eye convinced me...So fed up with it and after stumbling on all the negative comments and side effects with this drug I made to decision to take control of my own life. It is too uncanny....As I said, it's only a week now free of Lipitor, I have increased my Vitamin C intake and making sure I take a Mega Multivitamin daily too. There is some interesting reading in various websites of Vitamin C vs Statins...

BUT it would really be nice to read any comments of people who have recovered from these rotten symptoms and what sort of time frame it took to get over them. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for us all. Some indication of Recovery period is probably our greatest "want to know"... and also...when will i be able to enjoy cycling again. Thank you to everyone for the input and may our strength be returned, not only physically but spiritually as well. :-)

My husband was hospitalized with pneumonia on July 14, 2008. He was given Avelox via IV in the hospital and a 7 day pill prescription when he came home. Even in the hospital, he complained of muscle aches, but no one keyed on the antibiotic as an issue. When his breathing was better, he assumed he should try to do physical activity...but when he tried to play some golf one day, and do a little deck staining another, he payed for it with severe joint pains...even then, no doctor said anything about the antibiotic. He has lost over 25 lbs since this began, and has lost absolutely all muscle tone in his body..

He's stopped trying to do anything, but the last month has been terrible for him...every joint in his body hurts--he can hardly walk, there were days he couldn't lift a fork to his mouth with one hand... I brought him back into urgent care on Aug. 9th...that doctor was the first to mention that it could be a side effect of the Avelox he had taken 3 weeks before...

Since then, we have been to his primary care doctor, who doesn't think "the Avelox has anything to do with it. Now that I've googled it and seen the new FDA warning, I can't understand any way it wouldn't be at least part of the problem!

He's been give Vicodin for the pain, and they're running more tests, but I intend to go into the doctor with every thing I've seen on this..I don't have a problem with them using this medication for his pneumonia, but am so frustrated that they didn't tell warn us of this side effect--especially when he's tried to tell them what he's feeling.... I just think he would have been so much better by now if they would have switched him off of the drug as soon as he noticed the pain..

I am a male of 67 years old. I took Lipitor for a year, and after a few months of taking it, I felt muscle pains in my arms and shoulders, as well as my back. I felt weak and could hardly put my socks on by myself. I told my family doctor that I thought the problem was caused by LIpitor. He said it couldn't be possible, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he sent me to a rheumatologist, who gave me an initial diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica. I went back for a checkup, and although the sed rate was normal, the C-reactive protein was elevated. He felt his diagnosis was an accurate one. He prescribed prednisone for me. I had some doubts about it, since I am diabetic, and was concerned about the elevated blood sugar it might cause. Well, it did elevate my blood sugar, and I weaned myself off it within three months. My blood sugar went back to normal, and while the prednisone helped the symptoms of muscle pain and aches, after I stopped it, the pain returned with a vengeance.

About a year passed after discontinuing the prednisone, and I felt worse and worse. Any time I engaged in physical activity, such as yard work, I was almost incapacitated for two or three days. I felt weaker and weaker, and by now, my activity is about ten per cent of what it was three or four years ago. I am unable to do anything physical without paying a heavy price.

I would tell the doctor that I felt the problem was caused by the Lipitor. He would dismiss my comments, saying that the pain should have gone away after discontinuing Lipitor. He sent me back to the rheumatologist with results of recent blood tests. Both the sed rate and C-reactive protein were normal. The rheumatologist touched my back and other areas, which caused me to jump. He said it might be fibromyalgia. I told him again that I thought it was caused by the Lipitor. He said the same thing my GP had said: if it had been the Lipitor, the pain would have gone away when I stopped taking it. I know the Lipitor caused the pain, because I tried red yeast rice for a couple months. The pain increased to almost unbearable, so I discontinued the red yeast rice. If I were not susceptible to the pain from the Lipitor, would the red yeast rice have increased the pain?

So here I am with a fuzzy diagnosis from the rheumatologist, and no clue from my family doctor (that he will verbalize, at any rate). My life has gone steadily downhill. I used to be a strong, active person, but now I can do very little, and my strength is a shadow of what it formerly was. What can I do?

Hello-

I took Yasmin for a 1.5 years. I am now 2 years post Yasmin. In hind-sight, had I known what I would live through both while taking Yasmin as well as the 2 years following, I would never have taken it in the first place.

I am going to summarize some of those side effects below:

For the first 1.25 years, it seemed like I was living in an dream. I was that spaced out all the time. No affect, if you will. I felt like a zombie.

Exhaustion/Fatigue:
I became lethargic all the time. Previously, being very athletic, I had no energy at all. A walk made me yearn for a nap. 2 years post Yasmin, I am still trying to recover and bring back all the muscle tone I lost. Reading through alot of possible side effects, ataxia (muscle atrophy/loss) was one of them I suspect could be linked to becoming dehydrated.

Painful plugged eardrums:
Every morning after i would take Yasmin, my ears would have this "popping sensation" much like what it feels like when you are on an airplane and the pressure changes. Over time, my ears became quite painful like I had alot of pressure built up in them. I later learned from a Hearing Doctor that it could well have been the potassium sparing diuretic as the inner ears are composed of potassium/sodium and the diuretic could offset its balance. This doctor also told me that in their field they have known forever that artificial/synthetic hormones are toxic to the inner ears. No other doctor I saw coming off of Yasmin knew this...

Melasma:
I developed brown spots on my forehead, beneath my eyebrows and on both cheeks within starting Yasmin in the first month.

Constant Urination:
I urinated every 15 minutes for 1.5 years straight that I was on Yasmin. Learned later about the potassium sparing diuretic in it a little too late. My blood tests showed I was dehydrated and was deficient in Folic Acid and Vitamin B12. Both 2 common deficiencies seen with artificial/synthetic hormone use.

Chest Pain:
1.25 years into taking Yasmin, at the onset of menses, I developed this pressure in my chest and sharp stabbing pains. The next month, again at the onset of menses, the pressure occurred again, this time spreading across my chest. I went to see a Doctor at that point who discounted that Yasmin could be involved at all. (Not sure why a member of the medical community would say that given I have since read a number of articles that suggest that Yasmin and Yaz both run a higher risk for clots/pulmonary embolisms then other birth control pills). Regardless, I had a chest x-ray to ensure my heart was not enlarged and had an EKG which just showed an abnormally slow heartbeat-Sinus Bradycardia. It was recommended at that time that I have a ECG (echo-cardiogram). Tests start at $5000 each and I did not have coverage for this kind of test.

I went off of Yasmin now, almost 2 years ago. Going off I spent the last 2 years getting sick every month at the onset of menses with severe bronchitis, chest pain that still occurs at menses (I have since learned can also be brought on by low levels of oestrogen and progersterone at menses) and gained 30 lbs.

Blood tests showed I was depleted of Vitamin D, B and Folic Acid, dehydrated and also had elevated potassium (a possible risk with Yasmin's potassium sparing diuretic.

I would encourage everyone to google anti-mineralocortoid (diasperonone) and anti-androgenic effects (Spironolactone)

These are both acting ingredients in Yasmin.

This has been the toughest couple of years in my lifetime. Initially it seemed like a great pill. My skin cleared up, I lost weight and my periods were only 3 days long. On that note, it took a whole year and half for my periods to go back to 5 days from 3 days long so again, doctors telling me that Yasmin would not and could not be affecting my body after stopping, just went to show it took that long for my own body to start re-producing its own natural hormones.

Through all of this, I have met amazing women and other survivors who have offered enormous support. I would suggest to any of you that find your way here to trust yourself and your body first and foremost to what anyone else may discount or try and remedy with anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications. There are a host of amazing authors out there as well who enlightened me enormously on the role of hormones in our bodies, and ultimately, their balance to our overall health and immune function:

Dr. Lee and Dr. Hotze. They both have websites and books which are wonderful. I would also suggest googling Yasmin Survivors online, which will take you to another resource/forum of women who are sharing side effects and healing and survival techniques coming off of Yasmin. The site is: ******

In 2003 at the age of 31. I had been taking singulair for over 2yrs. I started experiencing muscle weakness and I got to the point I could not sit or lay down. I was extremely in a lot of pain and taking large amounts of pain medicine. It went on for several weeks. I went to the doctor because I was having muscle spams or what I thought was a ruptured disk. I had a MRI done and it didn't show anything. I was sent to a back surgeon and he checked me out and wanted me to list all my medications. I began to tell him about zyrtec and singulair. He asked me how long I had been on singulair? I told him almost 2 years. He told me to get off of it right now because it would kill me. He said the singulair was deteorating my muscles
and causing me to have muscle spasm. I had no muscle tone. He sent me to a massage therapist 3days a week for 6 weeks and I came off of the meds. The doctor told me he had at least 10 patients that had happen to them.That was a wake up call. The doctor also told me his wife was on it 6 months and started throwing up blood and took her to the ER. All because of singulair and my kids have been on it for 3 years and have not had one problem. They are 10 and 7.
My husband is a pharmacist and he had not heard anything bad about it. He filled out a card about the side effect. It only happens in 2% of people taking it.

I just contacted CNN to give them a tip/heads up to our message board so that they can consider doing a news story about this situation to raise awareness. Please send them your concerns and personal story to:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11b.html?2
If enough of us email them, they will start to listen.

Lourdes
Mother of Julian
(severely affected by Singulair use)
Suffered severe head drops seizures, obsessive compulsive and agressive behavior and night terror and hallucinations.

Repeating Our Story:

Repeating my post from way down below - IN CASE someone's child with these head drops is looking for someone with similar symptoms. WELL - Thank God! It is so about time! My son, age 6 now was given a very grim outcome/future by two top pediatric neurologists 2 years ago when he started having not the typical seizures we associate with epilepsy (no epilepsy in our family) - his head would drop forward - like his muscle tone in his neck would collapse for a few seconds and he would literally bang his head on tables (this was when he was 3.5 yrs old) - my husband and I always knew in our heart of hearts it WAS THE SINGULAIR he had been taking for 1 year after he had a bad coughing spell the year before - not formally diagnosed with asthma - but the pediatricians insisted it would only benefit him to continue to take it. When we noticed these head drops and his eyes would at times roll back in a matter of just a second or two and he was the most loving, caring and affectionate child and turned into an aggressive and obsessive compulsive child, who also began to have HALLUCINATIONS at night - he would sit up in bed and be seeing things and scream and cry, WE JUST KNEW IT WAS THE SINGULAIR and we stopped it COLD TURKEY on Oct. 31st 2005 - against the advice of the pediatrician. We took him to a neurologist and we told him about our suspicions about the Singulair he, just like the pediatrician brushed it off, but he had an MRI and an EEG - the MRI came back normal, but the EEG was devastating!!! We were told to get ready and pray alot - that our little boy would become a vegetable and would require assisted living for the rest of his life. That he had a rare form of seizure disorder for which there was no cure. We took him then to Duke University Hospital and had him checked by the top pediatric neurologist for a second opinion - he gave him another EEG and the diagnosis from this dr. was even worst - he would probably die an early age due to the severity of his condition and that he would lose all his motor skills and regress to a vegetable. Those were the worst days of our lives. We went back home and put him on anti-seizure medication and prayed ALOT - even strangers added him to their prayer list. Well, the seizures stopped in late January 2006 and just last March of 2007 he had another EEG and it was NORMAL - he was weaned off the anti-seizure medication and is thriving and his a great kindergarten student. Doctors cannot explain how he was cured - there is just no explanation. Aside from the faith we have in God's hand in this cure, we just KNOW THAT STOPPING THE SINGULAIR saved him from further damage and probably loss of life. He is the most affectionate and caring little boy you can imagine and I do want to point out that his speech was affected in our hearts, we know it was the Singulair but in the last year his speech has improved dramatically and he is doing just fine. My husband and I have been struggling to get awareness about the dangers of Singulair and children but the doctors do not believe us. At our last appointment with the pediatric neurologist, I told him, "one day, you will see that we were right about our suspicion regarding Singulair". I do want to add that it was just too much coincidence that when he went for his first EEG in Dec. of 2005, there was another little boy in the room next door that his parents suspected Singulair as the culprit too. If anyone wants to email me and if there is anything I can do to help with my own personal testimony - please email me starwedd2@aol.com - I will be glad to share any other information. LET'S RAISE AWARENESS TOGETHER and stop more damage from occuring. Remember, my son (post is far down) almost became a vegetable and was given a grim prognosis by 2 pediatric neurologists including the top one at Duke. No cure we were told. But we always knew it was Singulair. He was cured and there is no medical explanation. Had he continued to take it he would be the vegetable they had predicted he'd become. Okay, I just emailed DATELINE NBC - please be sure to submit your children's adverse reactions story to them - here is the email address: Dateline@NBCUNI.com I also tried emailing ABC for PrimeTime and 20/20 but they use regular snail mail for story suggestions - please do your part and mail out your story to them at: To submit a story idea to one of the ABC News shows listed below, write a single page letter including your name, phone number, and address. Include photocopies of backup information. On the outside of the envelope, write "Story Idea." If a producer is interested in your story, he/she will contact you. Here are the show addresses: 20/20 147 Columbus Avenue New York, NY 10023 Primetime 147 Columbus Avenue New York, NY 10023 Together we will do something to help avoid more tragedies I went ahead and reported our experience online to the FDA: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch_online.cfm

Repeating my post from way down below - IN CASE someone's child with these head drops is looking for someone with similar symptoms.

WELL - Thank God! It is so about time! My son, age 6 now was given a very grim outcome/future by two top pediatric neurologists 2 years ago when he started having not the typical seizures we associate with epilepsy (no epilepsy in our family) - his head would drop forward - like his muscle tone in his neck would collapse for a few seconds and he would literally bang his head on tables (this was when he was 3.5 yrs old) - my husband and I always knew in our heart of hearts it WAS THE SINGULAIR he had been taking for 1 year after he had a bad coughing spell the year before - not formally diagnosed with asthma - but the pediatricians insisted it would only benefit him to continue to take it. When we noticed these head drops and his eyes would at times roll back in a matter of just a second or two and he was the most loving, caring and affectionate child and turned into an aggressive and obsessive compulsive child, who also began to have HALLUCINATIONS at night - he would sit up in bed and be seeing things and scream and cry, WE JUST KNEW IT WAS THE SINGULAIR and we stopped it COLD TURKEY on Oct. 31st 2005 - against the advice of the pediatrician. We took him to a neurologist and we told him about our suspicions about the Singulair he, just like the pediatrician brushed it off, but he had an MRI and an EEG - the MRI came back normal, but the EEG was devastating!!! We were told to get ready and pray a lot - that our little boy would become a vegetable and would require assisted living for the rest of his life. That he had a rare form of seizure disorder for which there was no cure.
We took him then to Duke University Hospital and had him checked by the top pediatric neurologist for a second opinion - he gave him another EEG and the diagnosis from this dr. was even worst - he would probably die an early age due to the severity of his condition and that he would lose all his motor skills and regress to a vegetable. Those were the worst days of our lives. We went back home and put him on anti-seizure medication and prayed A LOT - even strangers added him to their prayer list. Well, the seizures stopped in late January 2006 and just last March of 2007 he had another EEG and it was NORMAL - he was weaned off the anti-seizure medication and is thriving and his a great kindergarten student.
Doctors cannot explain how he was cured - there is just no explanation.
Aside from the faith we have in God's hand in this cure, we just KNOW THAT STOPPING THE SINGULAIR saved him from further damage and probably loss of life.

He is the most affectionate and caring little boy you can imagine and I do want to point out that his speech was affected in our hearts, we know it was the Singulair but in the last year his speech has improved dramatically and he is doing just fine.

My husband and I have been struggling to get awareness about the dangers of Singulair and children but the doctors do not believe us. At our last appointment with the pediatric neurologist, I told him, "one day, you will see that we were right about our suspicion regarding Singulair".

I do want to add that it was just too much coincidence that when he went for his first EEG in Dec. of 2005, there was another little boy in the room next door that his parents suspected Singulair as the culprit too.

If anyone wants to email me and if there is anything I can do to help with my own personal testimony - please email me ****** - I will be glad to share any other information.

LET'S RAISE AWARENESS TOGETHER and stop more damage from occurring. Remember, my son (post is far down) almost became a vegetable and was given a grim prognosis by 2 pediatric neurologists including the top one at Duke. No cure we were told. But we always knew it was Singulair. He was cured and there is no medical explanation. Had he continued to take it he would be the vegetable they had predicted he'd become.

Okay, I just emailed DATELINE NBC - please be sure to submit your children's adverse reactions story to them - here is the email address:
*******

I also tried emailing ABC for PrimeTime and 20/20 but they use regular snail mail for story suggestions - please do your part and mail out your story to them at:

To submit a story idea to one of the ABC News shows listed below, write a single page letter including your name, phone number, and address. Include photocopies of backup information. On the outside of the envelope, write "Story Idea." If a producer is interested in your story, he/she will contact you. Here are the show addresses:

20/20
147 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023

Primetime
147 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023

Together we will do something to help avoid more tragedies

I went ahead and reported our experience online to the FDA:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch_online.cfm

FILE YOUR REPORT - TOO.

WELL - Thank God! It is so about time! My son, age 6 now was given a very grim outcome/future by two top pediatric neurologists 2 years ago when he started having not the typical seizures we associate with epilepsy (no epilepsy in our family) - his head would drop forward - like his muscle tone in his neck would collapse for a few seconds and he would literally bang his head on tables (this was when he was 3.5 yrs old) - my husband and I always knew in our heart of hearts it WAS THE SINGULAIR he had been taking for 1 year after he had a bad coughing spell the year before - not formally diagnosed with asthma - but the pediatricians insisted it would only benefit him to continue to take it. When we noticed these head drops and his eyes would at times roll back in a matter of just a second or two and he was the most loving, caring and affectionate child and turned into an aggressive and obsessive compulsive child, who also began to have HALLUCINATIONS at night - he would sit up in bed and be seeing things and scream and cry, WE JUST KNEW IT WAS THE SINGULAIR and we stopped it COLD TURKEY on Oct. 31st 2005 - against the advice of the pediatrician. We took him to a neurologist and we told him about our suspicions about the Singulair he, just like the pediatrician brushed it off, but he had an MRI and an EEG - the MRI came back normal, but the EEG was devastating!!! We were told to get ready and pray a lot - that our little boy would become a vegetable and would require assisted living for the rest of his life. That he had a rare form of seizure disorder for which there was no cure.
We took him then to Duke University Hospital and had him checked by the top pediatric neurologist for a second opinion - he gave him another EEG and the diagnosis from this dr. was even worst - he would probably die an early age due to the severity of his condition and that he would lose all his motor skills and regress to a vegetable. Those were the worst days of our lives. We went back home and put him on anti-seizure medication and prayed A LOT - even strangers added him to their prayer list. Well, the seizures stopped in late January 2006 and just last March of 2007 he had another EEG and it was NORMAL - he was weaned off the anti-seizure medication and is thriving and his a great kindergarten student.
Doctors cannot explain how he was cured - there is just no explanation.
Aside from the faith we have in God's hand in this cure, we just KNOW THAT STOPPING THE SINGULAIR saved him from further damage and probably loss of life.

He is the most affectionate and caring little boy you can imagine and I do want to point out that his speech was affected in our hearts, we know it was the Singulair but in the last year his speech has improved dramatically and he is doing just fine.

My husband and I have been struggling to get awareness about the dangers of Singulair and children but the doctors do not believe us. At our last appointment with the pediatric neurologist, I told him, "one day, you will see that we were right about our suspicion regarding Singulair".

I do want to add that it was just too much coincidence that when he went for his first EEG in Dec. of 2005, there was another little boy in the room next door that his parents suspected Singulair as the culprit too.

If anyone wants to email me and if there is anything I can do to help with my own personal testimony - please email me ****** - I will be glad to share any other information.

I was on Lipitor for either two or three years, maybe more, can't remember, it was around 2003. About a year after starting the meds I started losing my balance, like my feet were heavy and wanting to not lift themselves up when stepping off a curb. I was in fear of falling. After being a professional dancer for many years and still having excellent muscle tone I was shocked by this muscle problem. Then I developed shooting pains in my thighs, and eventually I had an incident where my one leg just gave out and I couldn't walk. It was something in the hip/leg joint. Went to an orthopedic doctor, got x rays and m.r.i., he found nothing. I stopped taking Lipitor because I had spoken with other friends who were having leg pains. My regular doctor would not admit to anything wrong, just kept telling me I needed to stay on the drug, which infuriated me. He also kept blaming the muscle weakness and pain on my weight; which I have never had a problem with before.
The shooting pains in my thighs was all the time, including at night and woke me up at night. This was unreal. Even after walking miles I had these shooting pains, so it wasn't an exercise issue at all, but it certainly did deter me from exercising more often.
Now the pain and swelling is mainly in my knees. I can hardly walk, feel like I am crippled, and have lost my job over not being able to walk around and show apartments! I can't walk steps anymore at all, I am only 55 years old! No matter what I do, the pain and muscle weakness is progressing, I've seen a Chiropractor, a nutritionist, and now I'm going to see a Rheumatologist. I believe I have permanent muscle damage from this drug, no one can tell me otherwise.
Also, I have experienced the gradual increase of brain fog over the last two years. I am scared to death this damage is irreversible.

Prednisone is a miracle drug that is saving my life. I realize that the side effects can happen and do. I've experienced them too: pockets of fat on my face even though I've lost 25 pounds; loss of hair; Thrush in the mouth and other yeast infections; hyperactivity; insomnia; blurry vision; the shakes; reduction in muscle tone; and secondary infections because of compromised immune system. I have pulmonary fibrosis and waiting for a lung transplant. There is no known cause, cure, or treatment of this terminal disease and most patients die in 1-5 years. Prednisone is the only drug that will at least slow the disease down until I receive that transplant call. I realize that most people on this post are not terminally ill and you can say, "no" to this drug; but just wanted you to know that for some of us it's a miracle drug.
Di

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

I was dianosed with an immune disorder of the inner eye. It was advanced enough that regular treatments were not effective. So the dr. started me at 60 mg of prednisone and started to taper it off at 20 mg. every 2 weeks. At 6 weeks, it was observed that my symptoms had reappeared and so he started back at 60 and the tapering was much, much slower (50 mg, 40 mg 30 mg 25 mg 20 mg 15 mg 10 mg 7.5 mg 5 mg 2.5mg) the first week I had panic attacks and wanted to physically attack people. I couldn't sleep. After that I had mood swings, fuzziness, forgetfulness and confusion, all I wanted to do was lay on the couch. I had heart palpitations, moon face (people thought that I'd had dental surgury) went from a size 6 to a size 12. I had terrible yeast infections, and wanted lots of fluid and had frequent urination. It was horrible. By the time I was done (and I had withdrawel symptoms long after I stopped taking it) I'd lost 2 years to the side effects. I do get to keep my eyesight. Fair trade, I suppose. In the next year and a half I lost weight down to a size 2, not as good as it sounds, all my muscle tone had gone and I'm having to rebuild from being nearly skeletal. The worst part of it is.. at any time I can be put back on prednisone and will probably choose to over losing my sight. At what point does one have to worry about osteoporosis? How much prednisone for how long effects the bones? There are things I'd like to do, but I'm not sure if I should.

15 years agoI was on cipro.....bad shoulder pain and back pain.. instantly one day.. after I was off of it.....over these years severe nerve and muscle pain in left chest and back. debilitating pain nothing helps...cant exercise at all so muscle tone completely left....

I had a kenalog shot about a year ago for allergies. A nurse gave it to me, not my doctor. A few days later I felt as if I had no muscle tone. Major loss of "meat" especially around my joints. Went for months looking for an answer. Always suspected the shot, but really do after finding this site. Yesterday, neuro found inflammation on my brain. Could this be associated? Having many cognitive problems, including typing this message even though I've been typing for 32 years! Does anyone know if the fat ever readjusts and comes back as it should? I'm worried this gave me scleroderma and this might be what's on my brain? Thank you for any help.

Seizure Disorder
Hello. We are desperate searching for answers. Our 3 yr. old boy was on Singulair for 11 months when we noticed he began having atonic seizures (his head would drop forward - loss of muscle tone). He was a perfectly healthy little boy. Our intuition as parents is that Singulair is responsible for this seizure disorder he has developed. He has been off the Singulair now for 1 month and a half. His seizures have not improved at all - we feel in our hearts that he has had some neurological damage done. He had an EEG done and it shows a generalized atonic seizure disorder. He was completely healthy before. What can you tell me about your child? Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks so much.

I was put on high doses of prednisone for three months. It was to controll envoluntary leg spasms (pain was
severe) As soon as prednisone was stoped, the spasms were back, and muscle tone in both legs seem to be gone- my legs feel like rubber. I have asked the Drs. if it is due to the prednisone, but I dont get any strait answers.
Have seen three nurosurgeons-believing the problem is due to "disc problems" CAT scan was done while still ON prednisone, so only "stenosis" showed up. Wish I had a Dr. that knew more about effects of prednisone on leg muscles.l

Please tell me where I can go for help. My mother is having terrible side effects from taking Lipitor a couple years ago. She will need a wheelchair soon. I can't believe so many of her problems are linked to this drug! Her doctors won't even consider the problem being Lipitor. Even though she is off it now, her problems seem to be progressing. Her feet are numb with the numbness moving up her legs. Muscle tone is gone and her left foot hangs. She was diagnosed with dropped foot last year. She also had a pace maker put in after she recovered from pneumonia. She has been told she has spinal stenosis and needs back surgery she probably is too weak to survive. Now she is being treated for neuropathy with no success. Her doctor has done a spinal tap and a nerve biopsy. She has seen a neurologist who sent her to a doctor in Houston. She has had gamma globulin IV's and an IV treatment in the hospital. I don't remember what it was called. Next step is a blood cleansing treatment done in Houston for 2 weeks to remove antibodies attacking the myelin sheath. Her eyes have occasionally hemorrhaged and she faints due to low blood pressure. My mother was very healthy except for slightly elevated cholesterol 3 years ago. What can we do? She is dying.

MY 8 1/2 year old took it in suppository form and had a neurologic reaction within 10 minutes. We called 911 and waited while she experienced shortness of breath, hypertonian (severe muscle tone) to her legs, arms and wrists. She also experienced speech difficulty and a lot of panic. The vomiting was far better than the cure.

After taking Zocor for 2 years, my Father has lost all muscle tone ... breaks ribs just by rolling over ... very little bone density and has now been found to have 3 lessions on His Liver ... all confirmed to be from this wonderful drug ... it seems to have destroyed him "retirement" years instead of adding or benefiting them. Beware!!!