Neurological damage symptoms and conditions

I've been on Yaz for about two years. I stopped at one point, because it makes me miserable, but wasn't menstruating after six months (and definitely not pregnant) so my doctor convinced me the Yaz would make me better. Who knows - maybe it just takes more than six months for the 'brain fog" side effect to go away, but I agreed to go back on it. I exercise daily, and I've always been a healthy eater and still am during the day, but after this pill I just want to shove junk food in my face all night or anytime something is stressing me. On Yaz, the wind blowing the wrong way can stress me. Still exercising, but gluttonous, I've gained 20 lbs. I don't remember what having a sex drive feels like, and I've lost all ability to be a patient and upbeat person. I have a B12 deficiency from the pill, and possibly vitamin D as well...the D is fun, because occasionally the joints in my feet and hands swell up, eliminating my ability to function normally, and I get hives. Thanks, Bayer!!

I am a 49 year old male. I had my aortic valve and a part of my aorta replaced 5-1/2 weeks ago. The valve had a congenital defect and it was replaced with an artificial valve. I was able to do aerobic exercise and jog right up until my surgery.

The main problem that I have been experiencing has been numbness and pain in my arms and upper back. This has been present for the last 4 weeks. My right arm has been the worst. Most of my right arm is numb. Muscle strength has dropped in my right arm. Also for the last two weeks, part of my tricep muscle in my right arm does not "fire". I cannot move my arm in some directions. I was referred to a neurologist and he indicated that there is nerve damage. I will be having an EMG this coming week.

I am not taking a lot of medications. I take 100 mg/day of Metoprolo which I have been taking for the last two years. I am taking 5 mg of Coumadin, and I take some fish oil. I also took Amiodarone for ten days after surgery and then discontinued it.

Most of my muscle pain symptoms started 1-1/2 to 2 weeks after surgery (after starting Warfarin), and they have progressively gotten worse. Some symptoms can come and go. Symptoms include:
-Sharp pains in my arms, back, and legs
-Left and right arm aches, sharp pains in forearms when reaching
-Numbness in my right upper arm, left and right forearms, inside of my left leg, fingertips of the right hand, left thumb
-Loss of strength in my right arm. Tricep muscle does not fire (3-1/2 weeks after surgery)
-Skin is sensitive and feels uncomfortable on my arms, back, chest, and stomach

I realize that unexplained aches and pains are probably the norm after a major surgery. The numbness and pain in my arms seems to be out of the ordinary and chronic. The surgical doctors have not been able to offer any explanation, they referred me to the neurologist. Since the surgery went well, I feel that they are pretty much done with me. I feel that I am on my own.

I did try switching from Warfarin to Coumadin to see if that would make any difference. That was about 3 weeks ago and it did not seem to make any difference.

The surgical doctors do not think that the Coumadin could be causing my issues. I have read about rare, but serious Coumadin side effects that include muscle and joint pain, numbness. At this point, I am very concerned that I could lose more use of my right arm. I will be contacting my family doctor this week for advice also.

I got the Mirena in July because I was bleeding so heavily during my periods and had low Ferritin - not anemia yet, but potentially close to it. SO I chose to have this inserted, and the past few months have just seemed to get achier and achier. I could also have a B12 deficiency which is being looked into, but is this a side effect that has been reported frequently? I've also had more headaches than usual, and numbness of hands/feet, a classic symptom of B12 deficiency. But still - the achiness is freaking me out.

I am re-posting this from June. I believe that we have many reasons to suspect that Singulair does indeed penetrate the blood brain barrier. I personally believe that under certain unusual conditions that Singulair can cause neurological damage. I tried before to put together a scenario of brain biochemistry that could explain how this can happen. Of course, I am just hypothesizing and all of my ideas will not prove to be totally correct. From the number of postings here regarding neurological symptoms, I believe that there is an answer out there somewhere. Why the FDA is not searching for this answer is a complete mystery to me.

I believe that it is possible that Singulair causes the same biochemical response in the brain that is cited in this study -- thus causing neurological damage.

"Thus, elevated NO production leading to mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate release, and excitotoxicity may contribute to neuronal death in neurological diseases."

IS SINGULAIR CAUSING THE DEATH OF NERVE CELLS IN SOME PATIENTS? DOES THIS HAPPEN - ALTHOUGH INFREQUENTLY- BECAUSE OF GENETIC OR BIOCHEMICAL FACTORS OR BOTH?

June 12th
2008
2:56 AM
I have stated many times that I am not an expert. I just post what I find. This has been a mind boggling journey for me. This is way over my head but I struggle to read and understand. Finding answers to why children are suffering from neuro-psychiatric side effects is worth the effort.

I have made the following observations.

1. Some quinolines are known to be able to cross the blood brain barrier.
2. Molecules that ionize are known to be more likely to be able to cross cell membranes. So if montelukast ionizes as a result of change in blood pH to sufficient acid conditions, then it could be possible that it does in fact cross the blood brain barrier.
3. We know that there are cysLT1 receptors in the brain.
4. We know that researchers believe that montelukast may bind at the arginine of the cysLT1 receptor.
5. We know that arginine contains four nitrogens. And montelukast contains one.
6. We don't know what happens to those nitrogens. Are those nitrogens converted to nitric oxide?
7. We do know what macrophages create nitric oxide as I posted.
8. We do know that if something cause excessive nitric oxide to build in the brain that there would be damage to the neurons.

Some people may remember when I got stuck at the astrocytes, the cysLT1 receptors and glutamate. I keep looking for research reports that may shed more light on this.

Titre du document / Document title
Nitric oxide causes glutamate release from brain synaptosomes
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
MCNAUGHT K. S. P. (1) ; BROWN G. C. (1) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, ROYAUME-UNI
Résumé / Abstract
We determined the ability of pathological levels of nitric oxide (NO) to cause glutamate release from isolated rat brain nerve terminals using a fluorometric assay. It was found that NO (0.7 and 2 μM) produced (4 and 10 nmol/mg of synaptosomal protein) Ca2+-independent glutamate release from synaptosomes (after 1 min of exposure). Spermine/NO complex (spermine NONOate; a slow NO donor) and potassium cyanide (an inhibitor of cytochrome oxidase) also caused Ca2+-independent glutamate release. Preincubation of synaptosomes with 5 μM 1H- oxadiazole quinoxalin-1-one (an inhibitor of soluble guanylyl cyclase) had no effect on NO-induced Ca2+-independent glutamate release. Ca2+-independent glutamate release produced by NO was greater in a low-oxygen medium. NO, spermine NONOate, and potassium cyanide inhibited synaptosomal respiration with a similar order of potency with respect to their ability to cause glutamate release. Because NO has been shown previously to inhibit reversibly cytochrome oxidase in competition with oxygen, our findings in this study suggest that NO (and cyanide) causes glutamate release following inhibition of mitochondrial respiration at the level of cytochrome oxidase. Thus, elevated NO production leading to mitochondrial dysfunction, glutamate release, and excitotoxicty may contribute to neuronal death in neurological diseases.
Revue / Journal Title
Journal of neurochemistry ISSN 0022-3042 CODEN JONRA9
Source / Source
1998, vol. 70, no4, pp. 1541-1546 (29 ref.)

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 4037, 35400007527188.0230

My 5 1/2 year old son began taking 4mg Singulair in the p.m. and an inhaler (asmanex) in the a.m. We were still having trouble controlling the asthma and his Sing dose was raised to 5mg. & within 1 week of the increase he began having terrible facial tics and aggravated behavior (defiant, poor listening, easily frustrated and angered) The tics were in the form of opening and closing his mouth, as if you were trying to clear your clogged ears after a plane flight. This caused him much pain in his jaws and facial muscles, so he would tic and then cry as he was in pain. This ramped up his anxiety and it made the ticking worse. He has been off of all asthma medication (cold turkey) for 5 full days. He has episodes where the tics happen for 10 min -1/2 hr, other times during the day it is one here and one there. He does not want to leave the house to do anything, even his favorite activities. Thank god I found this site (and others like it), as I got some answers and some hope. We went to see my cousin this week who is a neurologist and he never heard of the correlation of Singulair and neurologic side effects like these. He said that (hopefully) the medication side effects will cycle through and resolve the ticking and behavioral changes. If not we are probably looking at a Tic Disorder which is in the Tourettes Family.He put my son on a very low dose of Klonopin to mellow out his anxiety and help reduce the tics, but has only been on it for 1 1/2 days and it usually takes a wk or 2 for full absorption and results.I have since sent him and my pediatrician and allergist links to this site and others. I think that I see some improvement in my son, yesterday I thought he did better and my husband thought it was a worse day, I think we have totally lost our perspective and objectivity on this. If anyone out there has a time frame on when they saw significant recovery and positive changes I would love to hear from you. This is a total nightmare and if it is this drug, someone is going to pay. My prayers go out to all who are going thru this.

I am 45 and on BC to help control perimenopausal symptoms. I tried BCs (including NR) a couple of years ago but had to stop because I became severely fatigued and depressed (slept through the month of November!). I'm trying BCs again, and yes, NuvaRing again. I am exhausted, can't think or remember anything, all I want to do is sleep. I have gained 15 pounds and haven't changed my eating habits at all. I noticed that some of you posted increased cholesterol levels. I have not experience this, but I have recently (3 weeks ago) been told I am anemic (B12 deficiency). I wonder if BCs can contribute to this? Any thoughts?

Dont say that!!

That the dirutic can cause permanent neurological damage thats horrible I hope not!!

Iam still not better 10 days on Lexapro I have taken a 1/2a day so I have taken 6 pills I think.
Some of the anxiety is gone BUT
Iam still lightheaded just got me period again so it may be that but I start to feel like myself and than I feel bad

And sleep I cant sleep I use to be a perfect sleeper now I cant sleep....any thoughts tried melatonin it doesnt help tried kava tried valerian tried all the holistic

hi ladies foggy head here i just did a ton of research on diuretics which is whats in yasmin the stuff i read was unreal and confusing but if our electrolytes are imbalanced it causes all of our symtoms from vitamin deficiancy to heart palpatations to anxiety to muscle cramps and spasms please ladies read up on all of this because it made alot of sense but also confused me is anyone else familiar with the diuretic effect i did read certain diuretics can cause permanent neurological damage im hoping this is an elderly or extreme cases but the diuretic effect seems to be whats creating our nasty symptoms it also makes me wonder if it could be that becuz alot of women get their hormones tested and they come back pretty normal so has anyone had their electrolytes tested and be sure to remind your doctors this pill has diuretic in it i think they forget.

Hi everyone,
Noticed the other day a posting which asked if there was anything we could all do about yasmin. Cant remember which poster, but thought you might be interested in my recent experience. If you log on to steadyhealth.com and enter the phrase "yasmin" under search, you will be directed to a discussion forum about different queries on yasmin. As a regular reader of steadyhealth.com i decided to answer one of the questions. I am listed under "fiona72". Click on the query "anyone tried yasmin" t57882. Read the answer given by carifairy". Further on in the forum this poster actually writes that she cannot take any form of hormonal method. Am now almost completely recovered from the terrible affects of yasmin, apart from the B12 deficiency. This according to "carifairy" cannot be caused by yasmin. I never had it before taking this drug. Best of luck to all of you still trying to recover. And thanks for all the honest reports. They really help.

Yasmin nearly drove me crazy!!!! I have been on yasmin since it came out 4 years ago. It worked great at first. Started taking it for my skin which dramatically improved within 2 months of starting yasmin. But then i started to develop extreme anxiety. Irrational thoughts and fears were part of my day, every day. Then i was diagnosed with B12 deficiency. Next came the weight gain and headaches. I still had not linked all of this to the yasmin. I then developed a very painful cyst in my breast which went away during my pill free week. My eyesight got very bad which was alarming as i have always had perfect eyesight. My anxiety was so bad i was prescribed xanax. Then my skin started to get bad again. I stopped the yasmin to see if this was the cause of my problems and slowly my problems began to subside. Except for the anxiety. Within 2 months of stopping yasmin i have lost the weight i put on. All of the weight was around my waist and hips. The cyst in my breast has gone. I am now been treated with low dose naltrexone for a damaged immune system which i feel was cused by yasmin and feel like i have been given a new life. Anxiety gone, skin great, eyesight improved. I know that the yasmin caused my problems. It was great at first but the long term effects are horrendous. I feel strongly that much more research needs to be done on the long term effects of this bcp. If anybody else has had the same experience please comment here as it would be interesting to find out if my feelings about yasmin are true. To anybody considering yasmin i say BEWARE!!!!!!

I have been taking Levaquin for about 2 months now. I first started
it with high doses of the IV form through a pick line for
Osteomyelitis (Bone infection). I then went on pill form 500mg a
day. The whole reason I got Osteomyelitis in the first place is
because I have no feeling in my right foot and allot of Neurological
damage to my right side due to Spinal Bifida / and a Tethered Spinal
Cord which was released last year but I've only gotten worse since.
Anyway I just found out about all these bad side affects from
Levaquin and now I'm scared. About 2 weeks after starting the
medication I noticed pain my knees and especially in my fingers. The
pain is overwhelming at times. I'm not sleeping even with sleepaids.
Also the skin on the bottom of both my feet is peeling off in big
hunks. I think it Could be from the Levaquin? I'm also freaked out
because I've read that if you have been exposed, more than once, to
this drug or ones like it.... your chances of having permanent
damage is much greater. This is the 3rd time of taking high doses of
these meds. (2 months of Levaquin IV form 5 years ago, 2 months of
Cipro IV form, 3 years ago and now this time. I went to my Dr. 3
days ago and explained my symptoms to him. He kept leaving the room.
First time for 10 mins. 2nd time for over 30 mins. My husband was
with me and went to the bathroom while the Dr. Was out the 2nd time
and when my husband came back he said he past a conference room
where my Dr. And 3 other Dr.'s were there discussing my case. The
Dr. Finally came back in and said to stop taking the medication and
my symptoms would just go away. I haven't taken the drug in 3 days
and still have major pain and can't sleep. My feet look horrible! I
don't know what I should do now!! Please give and information you
have!!!

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 started welchol 1 yr ago.I got lower back aches, muscle crampping,constapation,backaches came back with alot of other pains muscle cramping,insomnia and the inablity to relax or stay in the sun too long. I am now being diagnosed with pernicious animia (B12 Deficiency). Has anyone out there been tested for B12 Deficiency in there blood work? This is not a factor in my family history. before I started with welchol I had normal levels in everthing but Cholesterol area. I found a new doctor that is going to take me off it and see if there are any changes in the B12 factor.If anyone has these symtoms and can get tested for B12 def. Please post!