New drugs symptoms and conditions

I have posted a few times. My daughter started taking singulair 11-17-2003 and I stopped it 3-28-2008. She is the one that dropped out of dance and cheerleading, withdrew from old friends and family, headaches, stomachaches, missing school with this, depressed, anxiety attacks and CUTTING her self under her clothes. 6 months with a psychiatrist did not help. She is now about 80% back from the darkness. She is so much better and is such a loving child, She is not cutting, has a part time job, and has passed all her classes with 3 A's, 1 B, and 2 C's. BUT there are learned behaviors while in the darkness that still show up. Not every day but they are there. She has been pushed off her life path. I am hanging on to her with all my might and I know that I will get her through college and she will have the tools to be self reliant and happy BUT what could she have been if I never gave her singulair???? I can not help but feel guilty to what I have done to this child

I've noticed that NBC and The Weather Channel appear to be two of the biggest advertisers of Singulair. NBC can always be sure to have one on during the evening news, at least here where we live, on our local NBC channel. There for awhile, I was logging what time, and what channel I saw the ad. The ad only lists the basic side effects that aren't even dangerous. Merck must be paying NBC the big bucks because they still haven't dropped it. I don't know, should we bombard NBC with letters of negativity or boycott or something to get their attention on this murderous drug?

My name is Bobby and I've been dating a girl who has been through some tough times. She took my advice and started taking an antidepressant, Celexa, 5 weeks ago. 3 Weeks after starting the Celexa, we began to have the relationship I always knew we could. I love her so much and for one week I was the Happiest man in the world.
Unfortunately, against my advice she started taking Yaz a week after beginning the Celexa. I told her that beginning two new drugs at once will eliminate the ability to identify which drug is causing which affects whether they be positive or negative.
After 3 weeks of Celexa and 2 weeks of Yaz, my girlfriend started acting alive and excited about life again!! She even started losing weight because of her beautiful new-found energy and zest for everything. She was playful, she was laughing, she was sexual, she was the girl of my dreams and we fell more in love than ever.
One week later (After 4 weeks of Celexa, and after 3 weeks of Yaz) a monster emerged who no longer can stand the sight of me. She doesn't want me to touch her, hug her, or even kiss her. She doesn't sleep at night. She screams and yells at me for being annoying when I'm doing things that once made her smile with love in her eyes.
I found an apartment today and decided to move out... I have never been treated so poorly by anyone in my life before. She's aggressive and verbally abusive. She's been complaining that people are talking about her and she seems paranoid. I made the mistakes of taking steroids a while back and I can tell you she is the monster now that I was then and both Yaz and steroids affect hormone levels and I'm telling you I just can't believe how many relationships this drug must be ruining.
Tonight I took the Yaz and threw all of it out. She got mad at me because she's afraid that she'll stop losing weight... I mean she's just completely lost perspective. I showed her pictures of us happy together and she still chose losing 3 more pounds over our relationship. I'm losing my mind... Just a few weeks ago she reminded me again that she wants to marry me and give me babies. Where has my future wife and future mother of my children gone??

I'M LIVING IN FEAR THAT SHE WILL FIND A WAY TO GET MORE YAZ B4 SHE'S BEEN OFF LONG ENOUGH TO SEE WHAT IT'S TURNED HER INTO.

SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!
******

I posted before regarding a study that suggested that montelukast should be studied for possible psychiatric adverse drug reactions in children. I could only find the abstract. I have now located the entire article. I originally thought the study was British but it was done in Sweden. I am going to make an e-mail file. If you would like the full text of this article to take to your doctor, I will send it to you.

Individual case safety reports in children in commonly used drug groups – signal detection

Gertrud Brunlöf , Carina Tukukino and Susanna M Wallerstedt
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Regional Pharmacovigilance Centre, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden

BMC Clinical Pharmacology 2008, 8:1doi:10.1186/1472-6904-8-

Here is the discussion and conclusion.

Discussion
ICSRs were present in 19 of the 30 most commonly used drug groups in children. The number of ICSRs varied between the groups of drugs, the two most reported drug groups being the leukotriene receptor antagonists and centrally acting sympathomimetics. The reporting of new drugs should be expected to be larger compared with old drugs, according to the Swedish instructions concerning ADR reporting. The leukotriene receptor antagonist montelukast was registered in 1998. Consequently, no extra attention to ADRs during montelukast treatment was demanded in 2005. Centrally acting sympathomimetics, on the other hand, were introduced later and the number of ICSRs may be influenced by the increased focus on this drug group. Another explanation for increased reporting rates for certain drug groups may be media attention.

ADRs during treatment with montelukast seem to occur predominantly in small children, the majority in the present study being <15 years old, whereas children according to European Medicines Agency include 0 to 17 years.
In the present study, five percent of the ICSRs in children included serious ADRs. The corresponding figure for adults was 32%. With vaccine reports included, the proportion of serious ADRs has been reported to be 13% in children .

The design of the present study does not to allow conclusions concerning the question whether the number of ICSRs per million DDD differs between children and adults. Lower doses are often used in children, making direct comparisons difficult. Moreover, dose adjustments for children compared with DDD may vary depending on age of the child as well as the drug in question, making comparisons using DDD as denominator inconclusive. The number of ICSRs in the present study is quite small, implying that minor fluctuations in the number of reports can significantly affect the result. Hence, the disposition of ADRs in children needs further investigation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study indicates that ADRs are reported for commonly used drugs in children. The number of ICSRs varies in different groups of drugs. A possible signal for montelukast and psychiatric adverse drug reactions was found, which should be further explored.

Be very wary of this drug! My son was on it for a year and a half ...the last six months were a veritable nightmare for him. Severe anxiety issues (had to be hospitalized at one point ) and depression. Doctors kept saying it was not the medication but when I googled the drug side effects and stumbled on a blog about singulair problems , I told my son and off the medication he went. Within a month he was back to his normal self .
Thank goodness he was old enough to tell me how he was feeling ( 17 years old at the time) but what about very young children on this drug...how can they voice their problems when they don't have the vocabulary or knowledge of what is "normal"?

I was on Ortho Low for about 2 years after my son was born then switched over to Yaz because of all the "wonderful" benefits that it claims to have. After 3 months of being on Yaz, I started to feel like my head was in a fog and I felt overwhelmed. At first I thought it was just stress from work and home life but then my vision started getting blurry and I had a hard time focusing on things. I have never felt like this before and it took me a while to realize that it was Yaz that was causing it. I called my OBGYN and she confirmed that all of my symptoms (blurry vision, mood swings, feeling overwhelmed, loss of appetite) were things that she had heard from other paitents who have tried Yaz. So no more Yaz for me. I think doctors should do a better job at warning patients of the side effects of new drugs.

I was looking on the Internet to try to figure out which of my former BP meds the Lisinopril was to replace. I recently had to change insurance and my doc and I were looking for generics to replace what I was taking. One of the new drugs says Lisinopril - HCTZ 20/12.5mg one per day. So my side effect, having read all your posts, is fear of starting it!!! I'm thinking I will just keep an eye on my BP and wait until he returns after the first of the year. Thanks everyone and Merry Christmas. Molly

I am not on femcon yet. I am coming off of the pill from hell loestrin 24. It made me a total pycho, not to mention the doctors told me I was suffering from postpartum depression, I was fine until they started screwing with my hormones. before I got pregnant I was on yasmin for 2 years with no complants all the sudden the doctors are pushing samples of new drugs on me like I am some lab rat. He refuses to give me yasmin why I do not know maybe they get kickbacks for certain meds. I will give femcon a try. I am just tired of felling depressed anxious and just not me. I have been on so many meds to effexor to zooloft and the lists goes on. It is just easier for doctors to push you off as a mental case instead of finding out what the real problem is,

Took mostly for seizures, but have been informally diagnosed with Bipolar II.

Had tremors at night, almost immediately, marked anxiety, weight loss, strange heat flashes, severe headaches (already have a migraine problem), complete w olfactory hallucinations (could have been breakthrough simple seizures, or headache auras).

Felt detached from myself and others. But the most disturbing symptom of all was auditory hallucinations. I have no history of psychosis and this only happened after starting Lamictal. Basically I could hear a constant chirping sound, subtle, but loud enough at night to keep me from sleeping unless my radio was playing to distract me from the sound. Could it have been a new form of seizure? Maybe, but regardless, the sounds started at the time I started this drug. Plus, according to a psychiatrist, I had no signs of psychosis, just the unexplained phantom sounds. One last possibility: Maybe an inner ear problem. Still would like to look into that.

People are right when they say this is still an experimental drug. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I never would have tried this drug to begin with. If any of you have had auditory hallucinations on this drug, without a history of any sort of hallucination or psychosis, PLEASE respond here and let me know about your experience. Thanks!

When i first went on yasmin i had my period for a month!!!!!! I'm not talking a little bit of spotting i'm talking constant heavy flow for a month....It was not fun......I didn't realise it was the pill at the time, but i spoke to my cousin and she said she had the same thing.....It's made me feel tired and depressed, and i have absolutely no sex drive.....My poor boyfriend....he's so supportive....but every relationship needs intimacy........

I have gained over 5kilos since takig this which has made me quite miserable......I was already on the side of chubby now i am just plain overweight......i'm sick of these pharmaceutical companies with these new drugs promising this and that.........

the problem is without the pill i have heavy periods to the point of severe blood loss anaemia, so i guess ill have to weigh up the pros and cons.....hope everyone else out there is managing ok

Who would think an antibiotic would have such effects? I have been experienceing pain in my shoulder for about 3 weeks. This began less than 2 weeks after taking Levaquin for 2 weeks. In addition to that, I experienced side effects during the treatment. This include chest pressure and rapid heartbeat.

Yesterday, I saw an orthpaedist who diagnosed me with a rotator cuff injury.
I have one month of physical therapy to endure 3x per week now. If the pain doesn't improve in 2 weeks, then an MRI will be done. If it is ruptured, there will likely be surgery.

I am a healthy 35 year old woman with no history of shoulder problems. The doctor and others have asked what did I do to hurt myself. My answer is that I made the mistake of taking a drug that shouldn't be on the market. I don't lift weights and I didn't pitch 9 innings before this. So the only connection is a drug whose website states "ruptures of the shoulder, hands, and Achilles tendons have been reported...".

I have woarned all of my friends and co-workers about this drug. I am now on a crusade to prevent others from falling victim to this drug. I understand that the risks to the few outwiegh the rewards to many. However, when you are one of the few who is affected, your viewpoint changes. I am an educated woman and did read the side affects prior to taking the drug. I knew this was a possibility but it was "rare". Who knew an antibiotic could be so helpful and harmful at the same time!

Hello, I started taking Singulair last summer and after three months of thinking I must be dying I decided to look for a website that wasn't connected to formal medicine and I found this website and one other and was so relieved to read the postings I found. I am a retired R.N. and while working I saw more than my fair share of negligence and outright malpractice. I watched as the "helping professions" of medicine become yet another lucrative venue for the big businessmen. Drug companies are the worst. Do not expect or trust the drug companies to perform long-term testing of new drugs before releasing them to be prescribed. It doesn't happen the way it had before when there were strident ethical standards in force. It truly is about money. Something that really frightens me more and more is how the doctors and nurses believe what the drug companies have documented about their drugs as gospel. If a possible side effect isn't listed in the pharmacology manual they truly think it can't exist. These are intelligent people for the most part, but thinking can become institutionalized and narrowed along with their medical vision. Then here we have patients coming to the doctor or nurse practitioner complaining of a host of symptoms caused by a drug like Singulair and since these side effects are not listed in the Physicians Desk Reference the patient might be sent for a myriad of anxiety provoking tests, the patient might be improperly diagosed and improperly treated possibly with more medications that will do more to harm the patient. And here is this poor patient ,dispirited, because she is probably still experiencing these side effects and the real cause is being bypassed altogether due to a misplaced trust in a drug company. Who needs this and who needs an added problem, the wasteful and expensive expense! I stopped taking Singulair due to the people who were willing to share while looking for answers themselves. Your sharing has helped so many. I thank you. Singulair has helped with congestion that I would otherwise have gone to my PMD for an antibiotic. It clears the congestion along with a regimen of nasal douching with colloidal silver and oil of oregano just fine. I have asthma but it is rare for me to have an attack. My sinusitis is the reason Singulair was prescribed for me. I was alternately relieved and angry last year when I realized the things I was experiencing were from the Singulair. I was about to throw my presription bottle out when I decided to keep it just for the times of extreme sinus congestion. Three weeks ago my father died and I cried a lot and that gave way to congestion and so I took Singulair for two weeks and it happened all over again. I'm fifty five and forgetful, anyway, and now I had the added thick brain fog making me feel like I had dementia, so, I was forgetting where the arthritic stiffness and pain was coming from, the weakness in my legs and feet, the fatigue, the anxiousness, anxiety, the gastrointestinal pains and rumblings (I thought I had an ulcer), palpitations, chest pains, fears of choking when eating, (I had largyngitis for six weeks last year while on this horrible drug), depression, dizzyness (I was at a shopping mall to buy Father's Day gifts and was sure I was going to pass out or have a heart attack) , headaches and weird pressures felt in my head and numbness and tingling in hands, arms and feet and legs. I stopped taking it yesterday and I can say I feel about 50% improved. I know when the diet is examined and changed to a vegetarian diet excluding dairy products including eggs and drinking pure water and no carbonated beverages or alcohol that asthma and sinusitis can be greatly reduced and many times eliminated. I would welcome the dosage and schedule of the quercitin/bromelain regimen and any other alternative approaches...please email me at ****** If your doctor gives you the fisheye when you tell him that Singulair is killing you, and if he patronizes you thinking you do not know what YOU are talking about...remind him of this...remind him/her of all the doctors who believed hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) to be the answer to preventing heart disease and breast cancer in women...and how it was found that HRT actually was causing both Heart Disease and Breast Cancer!! Then you can appeal to him to use his gift of discernment giving up his blind faith in drug companies and their hype. Thank you

Hi

I have been taking Yasmin for 10 days - after 7 days I started getting headaches which I very rarely get normally - and one day a severe headache. I also started getting allergy-like symptoms - constant sneezing and itchy eyes. Apparently one of the side-effects of yasmin is hypersensitivity - in any case nothing else has changed in my environment, diet, lifestyle.

Although these symptoms may disappear - given all the messages I have read I have decided to stop taking Yasmin - even if the symptoms arent so bad now I could be storing up trouble.

Yasmin was effective in stopping the bloating and constant hunger I had on my previous pill - but I think the potential risks outweigh this benefit. Like other people I have looked on the net for complaints about other pills and found almost none. It seems like this is a new product which is being aggressively marketed (like all new drugs - nothing different there), playing on women's insecurities about weight-gain and skin problems and which has not been properly tested. I was recommended this pill in South America...... so this is not just Europe or N America. Apparently the manufacturers have been doing very well.

My 17yr old son was given this antibiotic for a sinus infection, he had not been on any antibiotics for at least one year.
Our family doctor gave him a HUGE dose of Levaquin, 750mg for 5 days. He finished the dose 2 days ago but is still experiencing sevaral negative side effects of Levaquin.
He has pressure in his chest and feels exhausted, weak, nauseated, and feverish. He has no appetite and has an extreme headache in the back of his head. He is unable to go to school because he is dizzy and sleepy.
In my opinion, our doctor should never have prescribed this particular medication. There are several other antibiotics available without these side effects. Another factor was the expense, the cost was 125.00. This is ridiculous when other options are available. I am left to wonder if the physicians have a motive for prescribing new drugs, could it be more beneficial to themselves than to the patients receiving the medication?
I am disappointed and feel this drug needs further testing.

I started taking Singulair only three days ago. I normally am very "body sensitive" and am extremely in touch with how new drugs interact with me. The first day I noticed my heart racing and I had a hard time going to sleep. The second and third day I've felt strange pin prick itching sensations all over my body. I don't want to even imagine how I would feel taking this every day for over a week! Yes, my sinuses are better, but I most certainly feel more anxious and the skin sensations are downright irritating - as if there are small insects crawling in my scalp and all over my body! Yuck!

I started taking maxide toward the end of July 2005. In early September, I developed a rash that itched so bad I thought I would go out of my mind. It started on the backs of my upper legs and progressed to my ears, face, and neck. I took prednisone to take care of the rash with the doctor and me thinking it had to be poison ivy. Two days after stopping the small dosage of prednisone, the itching was back in full force. I have since stopped taking maxide.

I wish that I had found this site before taking Levaquin 750. My local hospital ER perscribed Levaquin for my bout of Pneumonia. The Levaquin did little for the bacteria but started a rash which has turned into Varicella, I'm told. While taking Levaquin for only five days, I could barely walk, had constant bowl movements, joint pain and now being left covered with a red rash. Doesn't the FDA screen these powerful new drugs?

I posted here a little over a year ago because I had been prescibed Lebaquin for nausea and just feeling icky.. but they couldn't determine why. I didn't want to take more meds.. I wanted them to find out what was wrong with me.

My muscles.. especially my legs and the bottoms of my feet were so sore the few days I was on it that I could barely walk when I got out of bed in the morning.

That was over a year ago... and I still have the same muscle problem when I first get up. After I take a few steps and start moving I'm ok for the rest of the day.. but if I didn't have such a high tolerance for pain and KNOW that it would pass in a few stps I wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning.

I regret taking this medicine and not riding out the storms with whatever was ailing me to begining with.. and will have to be on my DEATH bed before I take any new drugs.

A friend sent me to this site. I am a 52 y.o. female that has dealt with high choelestoral for 18 years. Levels exceeded 362. Triglycerides threes times normal. I started out 18 years ago with them knowing very little about what caused it or how to prevent it so I started with the diet routine. THis is at a time when no labels read content of fat. Consequently, I read the two books at the library published at that time and reported to my doctor who honeslty told me I probably knew more about it than he did. It did not work after nine months it had actually elevated, so we started a drug regime. The powder, the pills, he finally gave me a new drug that had just hit the markt, lopid. I was on that for many years with no success. I was on the treadmill, very active, no results. I went off. I told him, I am putting something in my body that we do not know for sure is doing anything for me but could be causing damage to my liver. He agreed. He retired. My new doctor to me many new drugs she would like me to try something again. I went on Zocor. After 1 1/2 year on that, very little change. In October of 2003 she put me on Lipitor. After 90 days it had dropped to 187 and triglycerides to 186. I was ecstatic. I too felt that due to my age, rheumetoid arthritis and weight gain that it had nothing to do with meds. I have seen my doctor on numerous occasions and complained about the problems. She said no way is it a side effect of a drug. I have been to this site on several occasions and read my symptoms over and over again from each of you. It scares me to death to go off and have my choelestorol shoot up again, but I can hardly get out of bed now. I also take zetia with it. I am on 40 mgs. of Lipitor. My sister is on the same dose after a massive heart attack at 53. She can hardly walk up the stairs or get out of bed. I told her to go back and read some more and go off the Lipitor. After reading todays posts I too am going off. Without the doctors permission. I feel very strongly that we have to sometimes take charge of ourselves. We know our body best. I have a wonderful doctor but they are only human and they have to decipher a lot of infomation and come to a conclusion. Their job is to keep us healthy and alive. I beleive they think they are doing that for the most part. If she had to get around in this body, she would drop the meds until she figured out what was causing the symptoms also. Fatigue, water retention, left shoulder feels like I have been hi with a baseball bat, right hip joint is so panful it hurts to lean down to put socks on. Achiness, dizziness and the list goes on. I have to say some of it must be contributed to Lipitor, I had none of these symptoms prior to starting it 10 months ago. Thank God, we have a place to feel like it is not just in our heads!
Sherri

THIS message board is UNBELIEVABLE!!! I have been telling my wife and my doctors for almost 4 months now (after my life-saving stent procedure) since my heart attack.....that I have been experiencing weakness in muscles, arthritic-like pain, dizziness, sleeplessness, agitation, depression, anxiety, blurred vision and general shakiness.......ALL because of the new drugs I've been given. Lipitor was the FIRST one I suspected.

After stumbling across this site......looks like I'm right.....again. I hate that! :( But, I may've saved myself an awful lot worse grief by doing so in a relatively short time. Four months is nothing compared to some of you poor souls.

I just want to say thank you and I'm sorry at the same time. That nothwithstanding.......I'm QUITTING this STINKING STATIN drug immediately!!

-geeDub

I was given a prescription of Biaxin 500mg to treat a severe respiratory infection. I became quite ill after the second pill. I had vomiting, diarrhea, high fever,a tremendous back pain, lack of sleep and appetite. The worst part is that it also came with a huge headache by the third day, and could not take anything for it or keep anything down, so dehydration became a factor. A call to my Dr. went with the explanation that this happens sometimes. New medication was called in. I don't understand as to why we are given all this new drugs that are so ineffective, are dangerous and more expensive. We are all little guinea pigs. I must note the three years ago I had pneumonia, which this turned out to be, and I felt better within days. Today we are not so lucky. What a shame!