Necessary evil symptoms and conditions

I see Lupron as a necessary evil. I am waiting for surgery in 2 weeks and Lupron has stopped me from menstruating which is a good thing. That is about the only good thing about Lupron. I haven't gained the weight people are talking about but am working out a lot. My symptoms are some night sweats but the dizziness, increased blood pressure and blood sugar and general achiness are the worst part of it. I also get headaches that come and go more after an injection; I have had three - one each month. Thankfully, I had my last one this week. This drug causes your body to try to speed up since it is depressing some of its functions which apparently is the cause of the high blood pressure. If there are any possible alternatives, I would go with that rather than lupron. I have run out of other medical options so only had Lupron until my hysterectomy.

Similar problems. A-fib @ 37. Unknown etiology with no conclusive cause. Possible due to taking prescription allergy meds with sudafed for 15+ years.
Anyway, tried to go off of Toprol XL 25mg once a day several times. The first time I felt horrible, weak and lethargic, chest discomfort. Lasted for a few weeks. Went back on and in one day symptoms disappeared.
I tried this week to wean off by taking a half a pill a day. Made it one day! I was feeling great so I decided what the heck and tried. What a mistake.
I have tried several different ways of coming off (weaning) with no success.
My cardiologist would like me to try to go off... We need to come up with a better solution.

Things that I have found that "work" for me taking this drug is:
1. I take it after lunch. It is the only time of day taking it that I don't feel bad.
2. The generics made me feel bad. Tried several different manufacturers.
3. If I miss the normal time I take it as soon as possible. Usually by dinner time.

Good luck trying to come off or maintain with Toprol XL. Please post if anyone has success.

Toprol XL seems like a necessary evil at this point for me.

Well.....ain't this drug wonderful!! Glad I came here first. I am currently on Diovan 80mg. basically doing very well on it, but I started to loose some hair, and do have some sinus issues, so talked w/Doctor he gave me a prescript. for Toprol XL yesterday, got it filled (my proper prescription for 3mos. supply mail in is written for the Brand Name) the prescrip. I filled yesterday locally (he gave me 2mos to fill locally before sending in my mail in prescrip.) My God! When I read the patient info, scared the living crap out of me! See if I TAKE that medication - NOT! I will stick with the devil I know, Diovan and hope that the hair loss thing will resolve itself. I suffer from anxiety, so can push my BP up at will, and it's been up since I started stressing on the hair loss - I have made up my mind to just try and chill about it, but Diovan appears to be one of the least "evil" of the BP meds I'v taken so far. Lisinopril was a nightmare, Diltiazem wasn't too bad, but thought my teeth were going to fall out! I swear, the anxiety about these meds. does nothing to help ones BP but I definitely am not taking this poison, probably would make me stress worrying, I'd give myself a stroke. I am making a copy of the patient info. and sending it to my Dr. (whom I love by the way) and ask him "what the hell were you thinking Doctor?" Good luck everyone

I was prescribed this drug for C-Diff.
This is my 2nd time taking this drug for the C-Diff.
It absolutely makes me so miserable,
physically and mentally.
I feel bad all over.
It's hard to describe, you feel like
you're going to die or something.
I have an extremely bad headache.
My shoulders and hands hurt.
I ache and feel weak.

My husband was given a sample of this for a month-long bout of bronchitis and we are now thinking it has done permanent damage to his vocal chords. He only used it 5 times, got thrush (yeast infection) in his throat and is still hoarse after a week of being off of it. Does anyone know the history of this drug and has the word "class action lawsuit" crossed anyone's mind besides mine? I am amazed at the way pharmaceutical companies run the healthcare business in this country!

I don't want to go off on a rant here, but are people aware that a large portion of the FDA's operating budget is provided by pharmaceutical manufacturers? This isn't our first experience with this type of thing and I'm about to launch a grassroots campaign to educate the public. Maybe they'll stop believing all the marketing hype.

I'm thinking that the pharmaceutical companies ought to heed the Hippocratic oath - FIRST, DO NO HARM. Wouldn't it be a remarkably different world if they would take all the money they're spending on marketing and use it to lower the price of orphan and AIDS drugs? They keep saying that research is expensive - and advertising on every possible television show, radio and magazines is cheap? Hello? Are we going to be sheep or are we going to be citizens and hold these companies responsible for what they're doing. Thanks for letting me vent. Please contact me if you want to do something about this. And no, I'm not an attorney, but I'm a writer and I think I just found out what my first book is going to be about...

I am 24 years old and have suffered from Irritable Bowel Disease for 22 years. I have taken prednisone 4 times in my life, but I always had to take high dosages for a very long period of time and then the weaning period lasted for months. In 2004 I had such a bad flare-up of Crohn's that I almost didn't make it. So I say Prednisone is my necessary EVIL.
I gained 40 pounds and was a MONSTER with my mood swings. The lasting side effects have been hard for me to handle.
The Prednisone cut off blood to some of my bones which now are dead and very painful as a result. I am having major knee surgery in a week and a half because of this (which is called Avascular Necrosis). I have AVN in both of my ankles, both knees, and most likely in both wrists. I will most likely need a Total Knee Replacement, but because I'm so young my doctors are trying every other type of treatment first (otherwise I would probably end up in a wheelchair by my 50s) I am in constant pain. I had never even heard of this as a side-effect until 2004 and after I was already on a high dose for a month.
I also have cataracts from taking steriods.
I feel MUCH older than I am. I have battled a disease for 22 years but the side effects of Prednisone are harder for me to deal with.
Although prednisone essentially saved my life, I wish I would have been more informed of ALL the possible side effects.