Nervous system symptoms and conditions

I was put on prednisone for asthma. I tapered down from 80 mg to 10 mg over 2 weeks. After coming off of the prednisone, I experienced nausea, extreme dizziness, felt disoriented, and had muscle weakness so bad that I could barely stand up. After several trips to the emergency room, my doctor, and an endocrinologist, they figured that I needed to be tapered off of the prednisone more slowly. The endocrinologist started me back on 10 mg of prednisone and tapered me down to 2.5 mg. Since I have stopped taking the prednisone, I have experienced dizziness,headaches, tremors, a rapid pulse rate, blurry vision and a sensitivity to light. I have been off the prednisone for two weeks now and every day is different. I have some good days and some bad days. Although I have my strength back and the nausea has subsided, the dizziness is debilitating and it seems that my balance and fine motor coordination is off. I feel very mentally foggy. The doctors do not seem to have any answers for me as to why all of this is happening. It has been a very scary and frustrating experience. I am concerned that the prednisone has done some serious damage to my nervous system. Has anyone ever had these side effects? Do they eventually subside and how long will it take? It has been the longest month of my life dealing with all of the effects of this medicine. Any advice would be appreciated.

My 11 year old daughter had been seen by a doctor to control coughing and wheezing brought on, I believe, by allergies. When she was 5 or 6 years old, she had an asthma attack and it happened again this year when we could not control the coughing and she was short of breath. That is when Singulair was introduced to her. about 4 weeks after taking medication, her heart started beating irregularly (called heart palpitations), and she was experiencing chest pains. (very frightening for mother and daughter). The Coughing subsided, and she was feeling good prior to the last week, when this started happening. After all the researching, the minor side effect is palpitations, however, how healthy is this and what else is going to pop up unexpectedly?

What exactly do we need for a class action suit, guys?

Side effects: Severe disorientation as if very drunk (vertigo, dizziness, feeling "out-of-body" or high), hallucinations (including feeling things crawling on me), overwhelming fatigue (as if I hadn't slept for days), muscle soreness (as if I'd exercised for hours), joint and tendon pain (especially in hands, wrists and ankles), insomnia, nausea (lost 8lbs in a few days), racing heartbeat, dehydration, ringing in ears, stomach cramps, yeast infection and spotting.

The drug immediately made me sick but I thought it was just the sinus infection, and unfortunately kept on taking it. The side effects were actually worse AFTER I stopped taking it (I got much worse before I got better).

If you're on this stuff, STOP IMMEDIATELY. If you're scared and experiencing side effects as I did, PLEASE KNOW that they are real (you're not imagining things) but they WILL go away. Listen to your body, rest as much as you can, and drink plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of fluids. Despite the nausea, eat SOMETHING (toast, bananas, applesauce).

This is a 24-hour drug, so (verified by my pharmacist) due to its half life, it takes a MINIMUM of four days to leave your system. I only started feeling non-drugged a full 7 days after I stopped taking it. The fatigue lingered (kind of like getting over the worst bout of flu EVER) but now it's slowly going away, too. This stuff was an overwhelming blow to my physical health (I've NEVER been this sick), but I'm getting better. YOU WILL, TOO!

I'm 36 and have been on this med for about 1.5 years. I've had some mild sporadic side effects on going but thought they were just my failing health! Chest pains, tingling in my hands, arms (my left arm bothers me more and scares me of course), my legs and even feet. I have insane muscle spasm/cramps. I have twitches and spasms in places I had no idea were even muscles. Backaches, head and jaw aching, blurred vision, feeling hung over and drugged, tired and require at least 9 consistent hours of uninterrupted sleep if I am to feel okay for half of the day. No energy otherwise, pain in my feet now when I walk, heart flutters and twitches and neck spasms and pain all over my body. I've been in the ER a number of times with them unable to find me ready for the heart attack I think I'm having. I've even been depressed and suicidal with feeling this bad. These symptoms increased in discomfort and My bladder/uterus are enlarged/swollen and morning urination especially is painful even if I have not much to evacuate. I noticed that these symptoms grew more frequent and stronger and the past few months I literally thought I was going to checkout any day. I was just waiting. I thought, oh well, you're on meds for bp, but you got on too late. Your time is up. I noticed also that right after I take my pill I feel worse. So I feel the best (which is not really at all) right before my next pill is due. After reading everybody elses problems with this med, and that it's actually made from snake venom, I am going to as safe and painless as I can, wean myself from this junk. Who in their right mind would give snake venom to people? If you get bit by a venomous snake, these are exactly the things that are effected. Your nervous system, your heart, breathing, blurred vision, etc. My only fear is that having these symptoms now for this long have done permanent damage. I pray not.

I felt extremely hyper after receiving a dosage of Reglan. I was in the hospital after suffering a terrible bout of food poisoning and I became extremely nauseated. The physician gave me this medication in order to control the nausea. After about 10 minutes, I felt worse than before going to the hospital. I felt extremely hyper and could not sit still. I felt extremely terrified and did not know why...I felt like I wanted to take off running and throw myself in front of the nearest car or jump from the roof of a building. I started crying uncontrollably. I told my doctor how I felt and she stated "some people experience this feeling...about 1 in 1000 people". I began to wonder why such a drug was on the market if this is what happens. I'm wondering how many people have felt similar and actually acted on their feelings.

The scary thing is this...I believe the estimate of 1 in 1000 people suffering side effects is wrong. While at the hospital a nurse told me there was another patient who experienced the very same experiences on the morning my dosage was injected.

I have never felt so awful in my life and I'm hoping there will be a class action lawsuit for this drug.

My son was born March 2007, when he was 8wks old, to much of my surprise I found out that I was pregnant again. Mirena sounded perfect!!!! I had it placed 7 weeks after my 2nd son was born in Jan 2008. I had what I still assume is normal with any type of birth control method, irregular bleeding,cramping,some slight mood swings. That all seems normal to me when you mess with you body like that. Aug 1, 2008 I woke up at4am with awful abdominal pain sooo bad that I turned to my husband and said that I think I have to go to the hospital. I decided that if I could fall back asleep then its probably nothing major. I fell back asleep (or passed out, I don't know) The next morning I was hurting so bad I couldn't lift anything, couldn't stand up straight, felt weak and felt as though I had rocks in my stomach but had an empty feeling at the same time. The pain was all over my abdomen, stabbing, shooting,pinching. I also had pain aroung my belly button and a noticeable discomfort about my pevic bone. Finally I called my husband to come home, went to the hospital, they took blood, cultures, did an exam and did a ctscan. All normal! WHAT!! Aug 11th still having pain and now having MAJOR HOT FLASHES. I find myself getting so hot and irritated that I cant be around the babies because I am afraid I will yell at them. If I get in a little disagreement with my husband it will most likely end with me saying I want a divorce (I noticed another lady with that same problem) Today I had a ultra sound done and it came back what my (new) doctor says is normal. The problem with that is that one of my ovaries is split and is NOW shaped like a horse-shoe. I was pregnant for almost 2yrs straight and had lots of ultrasounds NOT ONE TIME did anyone say anything about a odd ovary. I'm just going to make a educated guess that it wasn't deformed till after the Mirena. Now I am wanting to remove it but feel like I should get every test known to man first to rule out any other possibility. I really don't want to remove it. I am afraid of getting it removed and even more of getting pregnant when I already have two 10 months apart and still in diapers.
My biggest question is wanting to know if hot flashes are related or if I might be having something else going on. Am I the only one with he hot flashes? I have them all day long!!!!!!!!
Also I noticed after reading other post that some other things may be related like, piercing headaches, itchy flaky oily scalp, weight gain, ear drainage, lower back pain, oily skin, increased smoking, in-grown hairs in inner thigh area, joint pain, fatigue, decrease sex drive.

i was a healthy 35 year old male but had high cholesterol, so the doctor prescribed lovastatin (mevacor) and tried it for a month but developed muscle weakness. months later, i'm still experiencing severe muscle spasms and my neurologist is stumped -- mri's, spinal tap, emg -- all normal. I just want to feel normal again. can anyone help? please email me!

Singulair, montelukast, contains a chloroquine in it's molecular structure. I am praying that the FDA takes this investigation seriously. Other countries are concerned about the neuro-psychiatric side effects of these categories of drugs for some very good reasons.

"In summary, we have used a combination of electrophysiology, ligand binding, homology modelling and simulated docking to define the mechanisms by which quinine, chloroquine and mefloquine inhibit the 5-HT3 receptor response. Our observations further extend the number of receptors known to be affected by these compounds and the growing diversity of targets may account for the broad spectrum of side effects that have been reported by patients receiving them (Luzzi and Peto, 1993; Palmer et al., 1993; Taylor and White, 2004). Inhibition of the 5-HT3-mediated current could have wide-ranging effects in the nervous system, as 5-HT3 receptors can modulate a variety of neurotransmitter responses such as those to GABA, dopamine and cholecystokinin (Thompson et al., 2006b)."

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I have been on Yasmin for 3 years and everything seemed to be going okay,skin was great,moods were good and all was going to plan..until 6 weeks ago. I decided to go off the pill to give my body a break,during this time i was extremely moody and caused my boyfriend and i to have huge arguments all the time. So i decided to go back on it for the sake of our 6 year relationship.So i was off for a month then went back on it. Within 2 weeks of going back on it i started to feel anxious over the smallest things and had several uncontrollable panic attacks at very inconvenient times. At first i thought i was just run down but it started to happen everyday,on the tram,in social situations and finally even at home.Over nothing worth stressing about! As my heart would race i thought id go to the doctor and was put on a 24 holter ecg monitor to see if we could 'catch' the palpitations so it could be treated with medication. Nothing showed up,my levels were great and he couldn't give me an answer. I just happened to search Yasmin on the internet and found this website..and thank god i did!!I have been loosing my mind! I feel as tough i am loosing my spirit and becoming something that i am not.i can't do anything without being worried itl happen again,making me a nervous wreck. As soon as i read this website i went straight off it and have been off it for 3 weeks and i has not been fun! The first week i felt a little better,but the last two weeks have been hell! I feel weak,shakey,paranoid,over-stimulated,cold and clammy and wake up everyday feeling depressed and nauseous.I feel like screaming.I can't do anything i used to,i was a mad high level basketballer,went out to dance every weekend and loved life generally.I went to a natropath and got put on magnesium and a mixture of herbs to help the nervous system and they seem to be doing nothing.I seriously need some help and have no idea what to do,i can't keep putting up with this,its just not me...someone please tell me that i gets better???I feel like an addict coming off heroin!

My doctor (PA, actually) prescribed Lisinopril a few weeks ago because I'm diabetic and she said it would help protect my kidneys as well as lower my moderately-high blood pressure. Things went well for a couple of weeks, but the past few days have been unbearable. Not much of a cough, but I feel terribly weak, exhausted, and I can hardly think at all--am very confused, and can barely write this note (strange for a professional writer, eh?). I also have trouble walking, am quite dizzy and out of breath, and have severe muscle cramps; feels almost like my nervous system is shutting down. And truly, I feel like it could kill me. I was grateful to read all of your comments; makes me know that I'm not alone. I will have to discontinue this medication, as I simply cannot function while using it. (I'm a 62-year-old female, by the way.) Thanks again for your comments, and I wish you all luck and happiness.

Hello,

about a week ago I admitted myself to ER because of terrible breakout of hives (never had them before) but was covered from head to toe.

Doctor prescribed PREDNISONE 80mg for 4 days, and gave me an IV with the drug a week ago Saturday night (don't know how much was there), 12/29/07, I took my daily dose 80mg Sunday noon. I only slept about an hour or two. By new years eve 12/31, I have started getting cold chills, feeling unbearably cold, then the next day 1/1, I felt like I was 100 years old, all my joints were stiff, I couldn't get up from bed, couldn't sleep much but there is still more.

By Wednesday I have felt even more stiff and hives were not going away, I went to the doctor (my stiffness went away after couple hours in the morning) he prescribed more PREDNISONe for another week, luckily I have stopped taking the medication after 5 days of 80mg, plus whatever they gave in in an IV but I still have what I think are side effects from taking it.

Ankles are still sore, I cannot sleep because an extreme numbness sets in my left hand middle to index finger, it is no numb it hurts like an elephant is sitting on it, that is why I am still up at 4:30 in the morning. When I am up it just tingles. Not sure what to do but can't sleep at all for last 3 days and getting really tired.

If I knew what Prednisone does I would never take any of it, I'd rather deal with hives oh and they still didn't go away, I have had them for about 10 days now, they did stop itching. Honestly I felt very very sick a day after taking it, I didn't associate this with Prednisone, until I found this website. Please if you can stop taking it or see for yourself how much you should take 80mg is definitely too much, for me at least.

Did anyone have to deal with joint stiffness, and numbness how long does it take for it to go away. My wife says to to ER again because I can't sleep I am just very uncomfortable with the numbness and rattle in bed, but guess what they could shoot me up with more Prednisone.

I have just been reading the list of, what I am considering to be "possible", side effects from Dilantin . Doesn't everyone, whether on Dilantin or no drugs at all experience headaches, nausea, stomach pains or depression from time to time?
After being on this medication for over 30 years there are some things which I've experienced. Just about everyone complains of hyperplasia but it has been my experience that if I maintain a clean healthy mouth, there is no hyperplasia. If, for one day, I do not brush my teeth, hyperplasia sets in immediately & it then takes a week or so to get it under control. So, brush, brush & brush your teeth.
As far as memory loss or difficulty learning, I suppose it happens to everyone at one time or another. However I have graduared from high school with honours & became a registered nurse (top 5 in my class of 56) all while I was on Dilantin.
The only true adverse side effect from taking Dilantin for over 30 years which I experience is that whenever I am tired, my speech can easily slur. I am very aware of this & it's become habit to pay close attention to my pronounciation & correct it so I may articulate normally. Not a big deal & a very small price to pay.
I'm not one for pity trips or blaming my seizures or medications for my downfalls in life. I am so grateful to have my seizures under control & hate to think where I would be today if not for Dilatin. Remember, if you look for it , you will likely find it. So try not to look for all these adverse side effects (crutches)& see the benifits. We have enough to handle keeping this under control & educating the sometimes ignorant world.
I took control of the epilepsy that attacked my system. I would never allow it to control me. Good luck to all of you. Sincerely :)

My 3 year old took 3rd dose tonight before bed. Prescribed for sinus infection. Woke up repeatedly, crying and calling our names and having conversations in his sleep both nights on this med. Very strange behaviours. Seems to be affecting his nervous system and brain in ways I am not comfortable with. Will discontinue immediately. Would encourage others to discontinue use quickly when experiencing adverse symptoms.

I have read these sites and boy wait till you hear what i have to say. I had a very very severe reaction from levaquin one year ago. I had heart palpitations, nervous system was stimulated, joint pains. severe muscle twitching, firing in my neck and arms, my shoulder became locked. also I had anxiety sort of symptoms. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. I was not anxiety befor the levaquin. And balance problems I couldn't walk without tipping over. I still have this problem today but it come and goes. I have vasculitis (vascular spasms) all over my body. It effects my breathing, heart, and bowels. My blood pressure went up sky high and my blood pressure was not like this before. I am also sensitive to other medications. My body was destroyed from this drug! It belongs in HELL. Yes people need to know about this drug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TOPAMAX HAIR LOSS and BIOTIN:

Recommend that anyone losing hair to immediately start taking large doses of Biotin (a water soluble B vitamin) in doses of 5000 mcg (5mg) to 10000 mcg (10mg). Since TOPAMAX goes after your nervous system I also recommend that you take B12 (it must be methylcobalamin B12 only) 5000 mcg (5mg) to 10000 mcg (10mg) and B6 25-50mg. See a doctor and if possible see a Naturopathic Doctor.

I had a very bad toxic reaction to levaquin. I had a severe burning all over my muscles and nerves. It felt like my nervous system was fried! I became very dizzy for months afterwards and my balance was affected. In the beginning I could not sleep. I kept waking up every hour or so. I was a sound sleeper before I had taken levaquin. I also had tendonitis in all my joints. My joints would make a snapping sound when I moved them, then a few months later my joints became painful. I never had joint problems before the levaquin. I had gotten peripheral neuropthy from the levaquin. This means nerve damage. I have a major loss!

To Guest # 31978 that just posted on November 1st......I had 12 shots of Lupron and am pretty much a pro....I am so glad I went through this treatment and I truely feel that if you take care of your body with good diet that you can defeat Lupron and Lupron can actually do more good than harm. To help some of your side effects.....High Blood Pressure is definately associated with Lupron......your levels of stress are up when on this drug....because it is a type of drug that slows your system down and we want to go faster...so we fight it.....therefore raising our blood pressure....to reduce your blood pressure and bring it to good standing....try taking 2 tablets of OMEGA 3 FISH OIL daily....this is not only extremely good for your heart and functions, nervous system...(reduces blood pressure)...but it helps in the cognitive area (memory function), and lubricates joints and tendons which is a necessity when on Lupron. Even if you don't get side effects of Joint Pain....doesn't mean you don't have a silent damage....If you take OMEGA 3 FISH OIL...which you can find at a local drug store....or even Walmart has it....this will keep your joints, heart, and arteries very healthy. Also a Vitamin B Complex... will help reduce any stress even if you don't appear to be stressed ....Lupron treatments can be stressful in itself (hormonal changes) therefore causing a disruption in your sleep....dispite the side effects. Take Vitamin B Complex to help your nervous system and reduce Stress. Vitamins can only help you. Stay away from excess vitamins of A, D, E, and K as those are our overdosing vitamins.....you can take them just not in excess. Lastly......a vitamin called "Melatoni" will help you fall asleep but won't keep you asleep and it is all natural....you can find that at walmart to ...it is only 1mg...so completely nothing...but helps any restlessness. As far as the hot flashes go....well those are hot flashes and no way getting around that one. Hope I have helped.

Hi there...I came accross your posting and to answer your question....The toxic chemicals in Lupron stay in your body for up to 3 months after your last shot and you feel your most amount of side effects in those three months even though you are not getting shots. For example if you had 6 months of treatment then you will feel side effects for 9 months. Everyone thinks that because they don't get shots any more everything will go away...but the chemical is so strong it stays in your body for a few months after. Caffeine is your worst enemy when you are on Lupron. Lupron already depletes your body of so many essential vitamins.....Vitamin B deficiency is one of them......Lupron attacks your nervous system therefore making some people stress and have so many side effects.....a good Vitamin B complex will help and One cup of Coffee depletes your body of 8 glasses of water....well we need water (a mineral) in order for vitamins to absorb into our body....so our vitamins will not work if we have caffeine...plain and simple....do you have caffeine daily...if so minimize it just for a month or two and drink more water with a vitamin B complex.....also a calcium tablet would be good right about now to replace the bone loss associated with Lupron......because you were on anti depressents you did not feel most of the side effects these women go through....but that does not mean your body did not go through the changes ....you need to replenish your body with good things now that the toxic chemical of Lupron has been in your body...hope this helps.

Started Metylpred on 8/11/06 after having a reaction to Avelox combined with Allegra-D both of which I was on for sinus infection. The reaction to Avelox was almost a nervous system breakdown where I started shaking uncontroillably and my BP was sky high. Metylpred has not done much better for me. Have very high anxiety, lore weakness/soreness, headaches. Went back to DR and I am to stop taking immediately. The side effects to this are worse than the sinus infection that I started taking all this for.

I started taking toprol after my doctor reccommend it for my fast pulse rate and high blood pressure. Originally went to the doctor for problems caused by a nervous system exhaustion. and realised that my pressure was very high 155/98 anyways to make a long story short after taking the lowest dose 25mg for 2 days I started to feel like i was losing control of my mental state of mind, my mood changed to very dull state. like i was just a zombie inside a body - this medication has a bad effect on the brain , it did get my pressure down fast. but the effects on my mood and mental stability wasnt worth it stopped after 3 days. i am wondering how many people who have been taking this medication for years who are now suffering from depression and cant make the connection.

After my 4 1/2 year old using Singulair for 2 1/2 years we took him off after coming across this site and we are so thankful! He was having teeth clenching, unexplained aggression (he was so happy and easy going til 3), bed wetting, loss of focus , anxiety and the worse one was tics. He would open and close his mouth and some eye twitching. It was so painful to watch. We didn't know what we did wrong, why this was happening to him, where this was coming from? His pediatrician said there is no relation to medication, kids just get tics some times, it will pass. When it's your kid you can't bear to just let it pass. A pediatric neurologist said it was a simple motor tic , (usually age 5-10) which some children are prone to, said some asthma medications can make it worse as they can affect the nervous system. After 6 weeks off the medication his tics, bed wetting and most of the other symptoms were completely gone. It was gradual, initially i saw no change then suddenly it was less and less and then suddenly completely gone. Symptoms have been gone for almost a month now. It is so unfortunate that these horrible symptoms are not listed when your child is given this medication. I am so greatful to this website,

Hi Lisa!! Good to hear you again!! :)

Well, I'm doing pretty fine, thank you. I hope you also get better every week!??

I still got those ups and downs, but not as severe as they were about half a year ago. Everything gets lighter every month.

But I still didn't get my normal period again. The first and last after getting off Yasmin was in March 2005!! I've never had any problems with my period before Yasmin!!

But some good news: The weight is FINALLY decreasing!! Since February I loose about 1 kg (about 2 pounds) every month. That's not too much, I know. But I don't do anything different than before and nevertheless the weight is going down!! So I think that this is another sign for getting back to normal. My metabolism seems to normalize finally month by month!!

I still got weeks, where I don't feel very good, I feel tired then or a little weak and dizzy. But the symptoms get lighter every month and the "bad weeks" don't last as long as they did a few months ago!!

I decided many months ago to give my body the time it needs to recover from this "Yasmin-Shock". And every doctor I talk to about that stuff tells me, that I definitely WILL need more time to get back to normal again. It's not only a "cold" or the flu we're all going through here.

Today I sometimes feel my muscles fasciculating again. That always happens, when I didn't take my magnesium supplements for too long (the last one I took about 2 weeks ago... shame on me!!). So that's another sign, that my body still needs help to work normally.

Yasmin has definitely caused a total lack of minerals and vitamines in my body over those long years which is now very hard to compensate again...

So you're absolutely right, Lisa!! The first and most important thing everyone whith those "Yasmin problems" should do, is taking some supplements to help your body!! Especially magnesium and B-Vitamines seem to be very important things, especially for the nervous system and your metabolism.

Lisa and everone out there, keep us updated!! Looking forward to "read" you again!!

Best wishes and big hugs!!

Silke

Dear Sopie,

you just sound like me around the same time after getting off Yasmin... I exactly know what you're going through, believe me!!

And another thing you can believe me: IT WILL PASS!! I'm sitting here, about 1 year after Yasmin and can't believe myself, that I'm telling you this.... I never thought I'd be able to live a normal life again, because the symptoms I went through were that sever.... Sometimes I thought my life was about to end!! Today I'm able to work again, go out again (wasn't able to even leave my house for shopping or anything for about 4 months around December to April 2005!!). I'm nearly back to a healthy very happy person!! Not 100%, yet, but it's getting better every month!!

After all I went through and all I have read here in this forum it seems to be very normal, that for the first few months after Yasmin you'll feel worse around the time your period starts and sometimes around ovaluation. It's all because of the normal hormonal changes your body has to go through within a cycle. While you are taking a bcp these monthly hormonal changes aren't there in the same intensity as they are without a bcp, so your body has to learn to handle that sometimes very severe changes during a cycle again!!

Hormones are affecting your whole body and chemicals. So it seems, that the hormonal changing during a month is affecting your brain chemicals also (serotonin, and so on...) which can bring on that anxiety symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms while getting back your hormonal balance after stopping a bcp are pretty similar to symptoms some women have during menopause!!

Things that might help: Perhaps you should take some supplements. Magnesium and B-Vitamines seem to be the most helpful things, because they are affecting your nervous system and whole metabolism in a very important way, and bcp is causing a lack of both of them!! If your anxiety seems to be unbearable sometimes, another thing that might help is valerian. It's a mild herbal medicine, which helps you to calm down a bit without making you addicted to it!! Around a few months I always had those pills with me for "the worst case" of a heavy panic attack. And sometimes it already helped to prevent me from such an attack just knowing that I had those valerian medicine with me!

Hope this helps a bit, but please believe: You will not stay in this phase, everything will get lighter and better slightly every month, please stay strong and believe in better and happier times, that definitely are ahead for you!!!

Best wishes and god's bless to you!!

Silke

Read my message on this page of 4/30. Situation still the same with my wife. Called the Doctor's nurse and she was disinterested saying that most people who take Levaquin do not have any reaction. She was less than helpful. I will not take her back to that doctor again.
Has anyone got any suggestions as to how to take something that will react to this invasion of the nervous system by Levaquin.? Help please.

Peter ( my wife is 81 )

I've been taking Flexeril for almost 2 years for chronic neck and head pain, muscle spasms - which I've had for over 5 years. The flexeril has helped to decrease the amount of spasms I have in my neck. Recently, my upper body muscles have started to shrink and I have lost weight without dieting. I must find out what the long term affects are to taking this drug.