Occasions symptoms and conditions

I am SO glad I found this site. I have had Mirena for 7.5 years and have had these side effects mentioned here by everyone. At first the Mirena was the wonder birth control method, no periods, no cramping- I thought it was the greatest, but then I had strange things happening. I asked my doctor about these on numerous occasions,and he kept saying "the hormone level in Mirena is so low it is not detectable by a blood test" and therefore could not be causing symptoms.

I've experienced a lack of libido, headaches, weight gain, hair thinning, sadness, fatigue, sleeplessness....an overall change I was attributing to getting older and going through my 30's.

OK- so why is my story like every woman's on here if there an no side effects as explained by my doctor?

After finding this site and countless others, I made an appt to have Mirena removed.

I cannot wait to feel like myself again.
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I'm 23 and began taking BC for the first time about 2 months ago. My gyn recommended Loestrin 24, and I'm just now starting my third pack.
So far I've noticed the following side effects:

1. Breast tenderness - they are constantly sore. (In the past they would only be sore during my period.) It's somewhat annoying, as I used to enjoy having the boy play with "the girls", but now he has to be completely gentle or I start cringing.

2. Moodiness - there have been 2, possibly 3 occasions so far where I've been quite depressed/ apathetic/ generally negative/ irritable for several hours without real cause, and was unable to "snap out of it".

Frightening, but infrequent, and therefore bearable once you recognize what's happening.

3. LOSS OF SEX DRIVE - by far the scariest side effect, especially since the whole point of me taking BC was to be able to have sex with my boyfriend (without getting preggers, of course.)

Fortunately I've only noticed this on 2, possibly 3 occasions - the boy was goin' to town, giving' me the WORKS - which usually does the job quite nicely, but this time my response was, "meh." No arousal at all.

Completely frustrating - for me, because I hate being unable to respond sexually to the guy I love, and for him, because what worked before isn't working now. randomly. for no reason.

4. Period, periods, ALL THE TIME - I've had my period 5 times in the past 8 weeks. RIDICULOUS. completely ridiculous. And I'm not talking occasional light "spotting" that comes and goes - no. It's like, I'm thinking about buying stock in Playtex because I am single-handedly bringing about full economic recovery with my bulk tampon purchases. Five days (often more) of bein' on the rag full-time.
Ridiculous.

(Although to be fair, there were a couple times where I forgot to take a pill one night, and had to take two the next day.... I'm forgetful. and distractible. This could be causing the excessive periods.)

5. Other side effects - I haven't gotten fat, or pimply, or nausea, or sleeplessness, or headaches; at least, not that I've noticed.

Good luck finding decent BC that doesn't make you fat and crazy, ladies!!

I too have memory loss. It is humiliating not to recall events with friends and family and people I have been introduced to. I cannot conversations, movies and names of bands. I am 43 and have been taking this drug for seizures. The seizure disorder is gone due to the drug. I have gained weight, awaken with a severe headache on several occasions behind my right eye, feel tired and dizzy after an hour of taking the drug and blurred vision. I thought it was early onset of Alzheimer ( i forget how to spell it though I am in the medical field). My generalized Doctor and my Neurologist say this is not from the medication but from age and normal. The quality of life is not as I would like. I feel like I am missing out on my own life. Thank God I came across this blog! I have been researching this drug on the net and NOWHERE does it state this as a side effect. This is the only med I take.

Everyone should note which brand they are using: Wellbutrin brand name, Budeprion, or Bupropion. I recently started taking Budeprion and about 3 weeks into it, my hair started falling out; every morning after my shower, about 10 strands are in my hand. However, I have taken BUPROPION on 2 occasions over the past 10 years, and I NEVER had any side effects and definitely no hair loss. Walgreens decided to fill my Wellbutrin prescription with Budeprion because that's what they carry. I had to ask them to order BUPROPION from their warehouse (Same dosage, Same price). I am convinced that the hair loss I'm experiencing is from this other generic branch, Budeprion. So you all may want to try a different generic and see what happens. With Budeprion, I have also been having horrible headaches all day; which I don't remember experiencing with the BUPROPION. At any rate, this message board has been a relief and a big help on this issue (I bought some Biotin yesterday to try to regrow some of the hair I've lost over the past 2 weeks).

I got Mirena March 3rd, 2009 - The first 3 weeks I had the bleeding and small clots along with HORRIBLE cramping that about took me into the ER on 3 different occasions. After that it seemed a little better, well, until recently that is. I have been experiencing dizziness, headaches, lightheadedness and fainting spell. These were the unexplained symptoms. Next I noticed horrible tingling in my arms and hands and sometimes even legs and feet. Not just a little tingling, I mean a lot, like the kind that wont let you lay down at night or sleep. I have been very nauseated and often feel like I'm about to get sick but nothing comes out. It's amassing that all of my symptoms started about 4 months ago, around the time Mirena was inserted and have just been escalating. I have not had a period since the initial bleeding occurred, but i have had the brownish discharge that others have mentioned as well about once a month. Also heard palpitations and chest pain has been occurring more often. I blame this on my asthma, which has got worse over the last 4 months also along with an increase use of my inhaler. Can this be related? My neck is always tense and I feel my joints are also becoming more inflamed. My vision is sometimes blurred and at my last eye exam last week my doctor had noted a "drastic" vision change and increased my lens strength within the last 6 months. The last symptom I can think about is how tired I have been. I have a very active 16 month old and it's exhausting trying to keep up with him and finishing nursing school full time. My mom did mention today how "moody" I have became over the last few months, maybe its stress related? Maybe it's all Mirena related? I would like to know more...wouldn't you?

Please stay away from this drug if you are not already addicted to it. I have tried unsuccessfully to get off of it many times by "Weaning" into another drug, but the side effects are unbearable. I have memory loss too, but what really gets me is how physically sick I feel if I haven't taken it for 2-3 days. I get nauseous and VERY dizzy, to the point where it makes me sick to even turn my head too quickly. I've had to miss work/school until I had a prescription refill.

I didn't realize the memory loss I have been experiencing may be due to Paxil, but it makes sense. I have forgotten the year on numerous occasions, and cannot recall names of people I used to have no problem recalling. It seems to be getting worse. I am only 27 years old, and my friends don't seem to have these issues...

Ladies,

I hope you don’t mind a male posting on this forum but I do have a reason for doing so. I am a Coroner’s Officer in England. I will not at this time disclose whereexactly I am based as I need to protect the identity of the family. I would however like to use you as a sounding board in the hope that you can help me, help the family and perhaps, just perhaps, I can help you.

Sadly I am dealing with a suicide. The lady in question, who has taken her own life is in her 40’s, married and has children (all over 11 years). The lady has no history what so ever of any form of depression during her life.

The lady has described her life as being perfect with a family that loves her and who she loves in return and as the Investigator I believe she is truthful in that comment. She states she has been extremely happy until last week. She makes comments of - I am just very ill, cannot sleep, feel dizzy, cannot concentrate, sometimes lose my vision, feel sick all the time and sweat at night. She cannot understand, but it makes her feel bad. I am not myself, something has made me ill which means I can’t be my normal positive, active busy self. I can’t bring myself to do anything that I normally love, like gardening, cooking etc. I am losing my memory badly going fuzzy in the head.

Her final comment, which is the one that has prompted me to post on this forum (with the permission of the family) is ‘I just don’t understand this – I’m so sorry . I can’t understand myself or what is wrong with me or what I’m doing so sorry. Just remember I’m not myself somebody else has taken over – I don’t know if it is all the anti-histamine pills that has mixed up my chemical balance along with the Mirena coil or is it just me’.

The mention of the Mirena coil has therefore prompted me to investigate it. I am not, by any means suggesting that this is responsible but it would be wrong of me to discount it after having read the posts on this forum and other places on the Internet.

The lady in question had the coil inserted in 2004/5 and it would appear that there were no problems or side effects reported.

I am therefore looking for some help from you. Some comments on what I have posted etc. Some advice on where to obtain expert advice (although I am trying some avenues of my own).

I may also ask, depending on what help you can give me if you would be willing to identify yourself to me.

Thank you

P.

ok, so I am 28yrs old just had my second lap for endo and my doctor has recommended lupron, after reading this I am soooooooooo scared to even get near this med. Its like you either take this with the hope of saving fertility and no pain..or not and have endo ravage your body and you will live with unbearable pain!!! I have no idea what to do, my post-op surgery appt is this week, and i am so scared after reading this. Is there anyone that did not have weight gain, headaches etc...anyone that can testify that lupron actually worked for them? Cause right now its my health on the line, my ability to have children, my ability to have a normal life free of endo pain or these crazy, horrible side effects...please help me!!!

I've been on lipitor and other generic forms of it for the last 8 years since the age of 26. I started on 10mg then 20mg and later 40mg. About 4 years ago I started with severe stomach cramps. The pain is so bad that I have to go home in the middle of the day, I can't walk or sit straight the pain is that bad and NOTHING helps. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would probably put this at a 7 or 8. I would also be nauseous and be really tired. I have had countless opinions and tests done and doctors keep telling me it is an "enigma" and there's nothing wrong with me. We've treated it through coeliac diet, exercise, lots of water, but it never helped. About a week ago I stopped drinking my meds by pure chance. I have not had one incidence of stomach ache. My doctor tells me that it's not possible for the lipitor to be the cause. I am sure he's wrong. Has anyone had a similar experience?

So I had my mirena for 4 years. Since then, I have a had some symptoms that I expected and a bunch of symptoms came up that I didn't realize may be related to the mirena. The bleeding was awful for the 1st 9 months....11-15 days of straight bleeding and then 2 weeks later it started all over again. After that it just stopped other than spotting like once a month or not at all. Recently it has just been inconsistent and spotting whenever. I have also been feeling tremendous exhaustion, moodiness that has been so extreme I couldn't deal with myself, consistently achy joints (I am only 29 now), increase in depression, headaches several days a week, constant lower backache and more. I had talked to a couple of friends who told me that they felt so much better once they had theirs removed. So before my annual this year, I decided to do some research and found this site. Some of the experiences women talked about here brought me so much relief because it sounded like they were taking words right out of my head. I couldn't believe how much of my symptoms were likely related to my mirena. I actually started drinking coffee daily just a couple of months after it was inserted because I was so tired I couldn't function. I had even seen my primary doctor who did bloodwork on 2 different occasions and could find no problems. I was just feeling overwhelmed and lost that I felt 60 instead of 29! So I went to my appointment 2 days ago with the decision made to have it removed and the next morning I woke up and my back pain was gone for the 1st time in years. I also felt an unusual sense of energy that afternoon and woke up pretty easily the last 2 mornings. I don't know if it is coincidental or if it really is the mirena, but I am confident in my decision to have had it removed and am looking forward to feeling like myself again! It did not hurt me to be removed. The actual papsmear was more uncomfortable. I will keep you all posted! Note to all of you who had this put in as an easy form of birth control, my doctor wanted me to stay off of hormones for the next 3 months to be sure that the mirena was in fact causing all of these symptoms, so it will be condoms for us......neither of us are very excited about this, and not that it would have changed my decision to remove it, but she told me that part afterward! Good luck and I hope my story helps!

OMG! I AM NOT CRAZY! Thank you all for sharing your stories. For past 3mnths, since having Mirena fitted MY LIFE HAS BEEN A LIVING HELL. But because my previous Mirena was fine, I never made the link, and after many hospital visits etc, where on 3 occasions was told I prob had advanced ovarian cancer, I was finally told today "we think its your Mirena, come back and have it removed" BUT then couldn't get an appointment for weeks! And as I can't sleep or work due to the pain, I went straight home and, about 2hrs ago, removed it myself. (THOUGH DO NOT DO THIS YOURSELVES! I am a nurse and my doctor husband was downstairs, unaware of my actions!). I'm told it can take up to 6wks for the pain to go though...I will let you know.

I'm taking Aldactone for PCOS and was exhausted with terrible headaches for the first few months. I have taken this medication on 2 different occasions so I had to forced myself to stick it out because it does work but getting used to it was the tough part. After the first few months my body adjusted and all was well minus breast distention and occasional tiredness.

I have been taking Doxycycline Hyclate 100 mg for about a year. Two pr day. I have had on occasions pain that is similar to heart pain. I now know that it is NOT heart. My Question: Do any of you take this tablet with food? With milk? On a Full stomach? On an empty stomach? The manufacturer gives NO directions on these questions! How do Pharmacists and Doctors arrive at their directions?? I take WITH food at breakfast and dinner. I stay away from dairy, calcium, iron etc for two hours before and after taking the Doxycycline Hyclate. The medicine is accomplishing what it is intended to do.

Our government is allowing these big drug companies to kill us. I only took Cipro for two days for UTI and quit it. I am so much sicker now and it has been 3 days since I quit. I am bloated severely, my neck hurts so bad, I am nauseated. It won't go away.
I feel so bad for the elderly and the people that can look these poisons up.
The companies that make these should be sued. It is terrible. My UTIs always got better immediately on the old sulfa medicines I was given before and never had these side effects.
I can't sleep either.
Don't let anybody take this poison.

My son used a nebulizer 2 to 4 times a day every day from the time he was one and a half years old. When he had just turned three his doctor prescribed Singulair. It was like a wonder drug for us! It took care of his asthma and we didn't have to use the nebulizer any more. He's been on it ever since -- he's 10 now -- he also takes zyrtec and has a rescue inhaler that he uses maybe once a week. About every other year he requires a course of steroids and a week of regular nebulizer use. Also, for the past year he has also required a daily inhaled steroid.
Now, about his mood issues. My son has always been sensitive and intense, moody. The first time I became alarmed was when he was 7, and he told me he wanted to burn his hands on the stove to punish himself for forgetting his homework. I consulted a psychologist who evaluated him and said he was not clinically depressed. Since then he has had periodic "dark" episodes -- especially in the winter. He has said he wants to die. He has had crying jags over things that are upsetting (loss of a pet was the worst) but it seems excessive for him to be saying he "just wants it all to end." He has told me that he is always unhappy and that he hates himself. He has also had problems with moody acting-out with friends. He will brood about hurt feelings until he loses his temper and screams at the friend. I have worked very hard with him on learning to manage his emotions. He hit a friend at school who was teasing him. He accepted his consequences willingly and willingly wrote letters of apology -- he told me he thinks he has anger problems and doesn't want to be this way. And his character is that he is a sweet, caring boy who can't stand to see anyone hurt, but also can't stand to be hurt.
A couple of years ago I asked his allergist if any of the meds he's on are linked with depression. He said no. We have a family history of depression, and I thought my son had gotten the worst combo of all the genes.
Recently, this all got to the point that I decided he needed to see a psychiatrist and quite possibly take medication for depression. Before I made the appointment he had a check-up with his allergist. Going down his list of meds the dr. said, recently Singulair has been linked with depression, have you noticed any moodiness or sadness? My first thought was that I have, but that he's always been like this. My 2nd thought was that he has been on Singulair for most of his life. I said yes and that I'd like to try him off of it.
My son resisted going off of it. He has had enough negative experiences with asthma that he didn't want to risk it, but I insisted. I didn't expect to see any change, but I thought it was important, as I was going to take him to a psychiatrist to consider depression meds, to see how he did off of it for a couple of months.
Less than a week later, he had been in a wonderful mood -- to the point of being silly and giddy all evening -- for 3 days in a row. The kind of mood that I don't see him in often, and when I do I think to myself, "he should be like this more often." One evening he even realized he had forgotten to bring home a homework assignment. I thought, "oh no, here we go, his evening is ruined." But he talked through his options with me, looked a little uncertain, and said, well, okay, I guess I'll have to tell my teacher I don't have it. I'll tell her I'll make it up at lunch if she wants me to. That was it! He didn't mention it again. I didn't say anything about his mood, because I really don't think I can know anything after just a few days -- it could be coincidental. The next day, he said to me that he thinks being off the Singulair is "working." He has now told me that a couple of more times.
I am tentative, but amazed. Even if my son does have a predisposition to be depressed, maybe the Singulair was making everything worse, and things really can improve for him. I am afraid to be to hopeful. At the same time, I feel guilty for giving this medicine to him for 7 years without a second thought.
As an aside, my son has periodically complained of leg pains, that I always told him were growing pains.
I would love any feedback that anyone can give me. So far (these two weeks), his asthma has been controlled with pulmacort, zyrtec and albuterol, so that aspect is okay.

I am new to Topamax. Just started for severe/horrific migraine pain - I have been getting migraines that lasted 8 days long without relief for the past few years, popping imitrex like m & m's. Mine seem to be related to a drop in barometric pressure as well as to being perimenopausal. They were ruining my life. I am currently on the 25 mg in the am dose and 50 mg pm dose schedule to titrate up to 50 mg twice daily. So far I have had only 2 migraines in the past 30 days instead of 8-16!!! I am a much happier person- I can't even describe it. People at work even tell me I LOOK different! I do however, have some intermittent tingling/numbness in my fingers mostly, passes quickly, little back pain, and some little headaches that come and go. I can so deal with these. I have only had to take Tylenol or Motrin on three occasions in the past month. I used to take two imitrex and still had take 400mg of Motrin and 1000 mg of Tylenol just to numb my migraines. Can I tell you I used to be somewhat non-functional and still go to work everyday- I am a nurse!
So far Topamax has given me my life back because I seriously considered driving into a tree one day on my way to work before starting it. Wish me luck.

I have had this evil thing in since Sept. 2007. I have experienced extreme mood swings and the cramps have kept me from being able to go to work on a couple of occasions. Enough is enough and I went to the doctor today to have it removed. It couldn't be done because they cut the strings too short. Now I get to go to the hospital where yet another doctor can try to remove it. Using Mirena has been a horrible experience and I hope that once it is removed I will be myself again.

Has anyone experienced multiple pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs)?

Hi, I am a 47 year old female and have been on Coumadin since Nov 1997 after developing several DVT's after surgery for a broken kneecap. Coumadin makes me feel like crap and the only time i have felt good in the last 11 years is when i have come off the medication for dental work or surgery. Some of my side effects are cold chills and cannot warm up, upset stomach, retaining fluid, heavy periods, added weight and my fat looks flabby even though i work out 4 times a week, lethargy, a very heavy neck on occasions and the list goes on and on. My coumadin has become very sensitive to what i put in my mouth. With "nutrients" added to so many foods i find i am now reading labels more than ever. The worst "nutrient" is Omega-3. This can cause bruising and bleeding without any help from Coumadin. Several deaths have been reported in the Australian media. I believe there is research being conducted in Norway using Kiwifruit as an alternative to Warfarin. I hope this is so and they are successful soon.

I've been an Ambien (short-acting) user for many years with no real problems unless I drank any alcohol with it and then stayed up for any time at all after taking. (Two major no-no's!!). Besides the oft-reported binge eating and frenzied cleaning, etc., the strangest thing I ever did was what I call "sleep-emailing." I did this twice--I composed bizarre emails on two separate occasions to two different individuals and sent them. The emails didn't just not make sense, but were as if I was typing a dream out loud--I suppose like sleep talking in print. The first time it happened, one of my friends emailed me the next day and said she had received my "cryptic" email. I told her I hadn't emailed her and didn't know what she was talking about. She copied and pasted the content and sent it to me--I told her I didn't know who wrote that, but it wasn't me! She then forwarded the entire email to me and I saw that it had indeed come from me. That was frightening. I had zero recollection of writing it. The second time it happened, once I was made aware of the email I did have a very vague memory of writing it, and incidentally the email itself was not quite as bizarre as the first one was. I've learned that as long as I don't consume alcohol with Ambien and go straight to bed after taking, I have no problems with it whatsoever, and have found it to be very helpful for my insomnia. I have recently begun trying the extended release version, Ambien CR, as I'm having more problems with periodic awakening throughout the night. Thus far the only side effect I seem to be having is the daily onset of a headache on awakening that I can will develop into a migraine without intervention (I've suffered from migraines for many yrs). If it continues it may be enough for me to have to discontinue the medication.

This thing fell out on many occasions. I am in my 40's and have had 3 children, so things aren't in place just like they used to be when I was younger. I also got terrible headaches during orgasms on the nuvaring and felt like I was going to have a stroke. My boyfriend ended up getting a vasectomy so I wouldn't have to deal with putting these dangerous hormones in my body anymore. No more problems.

I have taken Bactrim on a few different occasions, all with the same bad reaction.

I am very prone to getting UTIs, especially after sex. It has been like this for years. One of the first times I got a UTI, I was prescribed Bactrim. There were not really any other side effects except for a small area, about the size of 2 quarters, on the side of my stomach, right below my rib, that turned reddish and itched. I told my doctor about it and he dismissed it, saying it couldn't be bactrim as the cause, he's never heard of it, etc. When I was done with the antibiotic, the "rash" or red area faded slowly, but left a grey mark in it's place that has not gone away in 5 years now and counting. It is PERMANENT DAMAGE from this medication.

I was younger, so I never cared to write down the medication name... later on, I had another UTI and was given Bactrim again. Somewhere during treatment I felt myself itching the same area, I lifted my shirt, and there it was, inflamed again.... again I didn't list it as one of my allergy medications and was prescribed it at least a 3rd time... with the same occurring.

I know for a fact that it was bactrim causing it. It is obvious that the 3 times I took it, the same mark that was caused by bactrim to begin with.. turns red during ingestion of the medication. I do not know why it stays localized to one area and does not spread, I don't know what kind of organs it might have been affecting in that area.. I wish I had a clue because I am very curious...

But bactrim has left a permanent scar on my body, and not only outside, but god knows what it has done inside that has caused this to surface out.

I am 39, and was prescribed Asmanex 2BID in December of 2006 with the doctor telling me that once we got past the abnormally warm fall/winter that I could taper off. I have tried on multiple occasions, only to have a reactive airway and I resumed normal dosing. I researched this further after having severe side effects with lipitor, and I am a week into coming off the twisthaler. My plan is one dose for 2 weeks, a dose very other day for 2 weeks, then evaluate if I need to do 1 every third days. Weaning off this thing is ROUGH- feeling like crap. I did not realize the potential side effects on this one, and I did not realize that long term use of steriodal inhalers can thin tissue, etc. Right now I am experiencing a little discomfort at night, coughing and 'sticky airway' (it feels like someone is crumpling cellophane when I exhale) and strangely enough, tinnitus of all things. I have been EXHAUSTED and having lower GI issues. I am hoping that I will be able to persevere and get off this drug. Has anyone had similar experiences coming off Adviar, Singular, or any other type drug?

Very high tolerance for medications incl 60mg morphine, 20mg oxycontin 4x day, however, I just cannot seem to tolerate Fentanyl. Have tried it two times in past, both the 25mcg and 50mcg. The first week or so is great, after that the side effects are more than I can tolerate. All of these side effects were extreme and unbearable not just mild. They affected my ability to function and sent me to bed on more than one occasion. Extreme fatigue, nausea, sweating, anxiety and weakness. I felt as though I had a very bad case of the stomach flu. Both occasions I stuck it out for 2-4 weeks till I finally had to quit using it. Any suggestions as to why would appreciated. Some of my side effects aren't even listed in brochure.

I am 41 and have been taking Yaz for about 6 months. My skin is much clearer and that is nice, but on the other hand I have had a continuous headache for two weeks now. Just in case, I took meds for a sinus infection but the headache has stayed... so now I am being treated for migraines. The problem is: the meds for migraines don't work. I am wondering now if it is the Yaz. When I first started taking it I got headaches at the beginning of each new packet, but now it's non-stop. After reading some of these posts, I am worried that coming off it will also have side effects, but it can't be anything (I hope) like the pain and fatigue associated with a long, drawn out headache. I am deeply scared that this headache will turn into a stroke or a tumor or something.