Osteoporosis symptoms and conditions

I have been on prednisone continuously now for 15 years. I was put on it in March of 1995 for a lung condition called chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. I was 122 pounds when I first started prednisone. Now 15 years later I am 197 pounds. I am 35 years old with osteoporosis. I have dealt with depression, terrible headaches, stomach ulcers, hormonal imbalance, hair loss, swollen feet and ankles, I now wear glasses when I didn't before, I have thin skin now that looks older than my 35 years, I deal with night sweats, and in the summer out in the heat my very round moon face turns red as a beet. But, no one can get me off the prednisone. I have seen many specialists, and within 1-2 days of starting to wean past 10mg I get so sick I have to be hospitalized, I literally can't breathe or live without it. I hate this stuff and what its done to me, but I have no choice but to take it or I will die. Doctors have tried alternate medications, nothing but prednisone works. If there is ANYONE who has had to be on it as long as I have or have had success in getting off it after being on it for so long, I would love to hear from you.

I am writing on behalf of my elderly parent, Carmela, who has been diagnosed with Lupus since 1991. She has been on a small dose of prednisone since her diagnosis in 1991. In the last several months she has developed very many odd hazey type grey spots all over her body. Dermatologists and doctors are not giving her any answers. They took her off predisone because they THINK this may be the cause. She is on an inhaler and does not like it. She wants to go back on the prednisone as she is feeling chest congestion and lethargy. I read an article on the internet that describes prednisone may cause unusual bruising. I'm not sure if this is what her spots are. They are only the color grey and appear to be beneath the skins surface. They are soft or hazy looking. They are small, about the size of a dime. Has anyone heard of this before in Lupus (prednisone) patience. Any info you have is sure appreciated. S. ******

I have been on Prednisolone about 4 times in recent years. the highest dose was last year when i was on 80mg reducing weekly by 5mg. I have had most of the side affects you all talk about above. I have severe colitis so the side-effects of this drug are something i have to put up with. at the moment i have all the classic side-effects i usually get, rapid hunger, swelling to my face (moon face), neck has layer of fat, swollen back (buffalo hump), bruising easily, horrible taste in my mouth, swollen stomach. the one good side effect is it gives me lovely smooth skin lol. anyway the point of my post isn't to rip this drug appart as i have to say for me its a wonder drug and this time has prevented me from having my bowel removed! from personal experience once you finish the steroid treatment after a few weeks you'll notice the swelling go, my hunger usually fizzles out quite quickly (altho i have a large appetite in the first place!!) none of the side effects are permanent, so please all rest assured you will go back to normal just try not to put on too much weight while on the drug.

Started with a Pred pak for a sinus infection. Made my heart race and had tach and early heartbeat, which kept me from sleeping. Went to Cardiologist. Several doctors denied that the Pred would cause the rapid heartbeat. Then the Cardiologist did an echo and found a pericardial effusion and some weird spots on my lungs. They suspected lung cancer which may cause the effusion, so I had surgery to do a pericardial window and a lung biopsy. Then a pulmonologist decided to put me on Pred again...steady dosage...because she didn't know what else to do. (Didn't have lung cancer) I didn't have any more funny heartbeats, so maybe the pred didn't cause it after all. But I've gained 40 pounds. My hair has grown faster, and I've gotten some facial hair (not supposed to have that, being a female)...which I call fur. Moon face with cheeks that are hard, muscle cramps, can't sleep, but once I do go to sleep, I can't wake up. Tired all the time, headaches, joint pain-sometimes severe, dry skin, generally bad attitude, with very little patience, low potassium levels which add to my muscle cramping problems, difficulty swallowing, indigestion which I've never had, with painful and burning reflux. And occasionally when I eat, I have the rapid heartbeat again. I go in search of food like I'm going to store it in my thighs for winter. Anything you eat will turn to fat, including protein. Can't wait to get off this stuff which will take until June of next year. Then my doctor says it will be 3 months before all these effects wear off. No one told me I would get fur.

Hello . . . why do we continue to take medications that cause us such physical and mental anguish . . . we hope for a life . . . I am one of those who takes a cocktail containing . . . Lithium, Lamictal, Cymbalta, Sequel, Topamax and other medications for high blood pressure, low thyroid and osteoporosis . . . down four medications . . . because I have a good doctor . . . it is impossible to distinguish which one or the synergism of the medications . . . which do what . . . what I want to say . . . there are more medications now . . . more doctors . . . change doctors . . . change medications . . . you might not feel great . . . but you will feel better about taking control . . . it has happened to me . . . M.

recently developed under skin "rash",from ankle and upward on legs, my dr. is now doing blood work for ecchymosis petechiae, I am curious if anyone has this experience while using Fosamax D 70 mg. I am in good health and it is possible that this symptom is not at all related to Fosamax, which by the way I have stopped now for a while and probably won't go back. Stopped due to severe ache/pain in shoulder area and lower, so bad it was difficult to walk properly. Since stopping it I am walking straighter and no ache/pain. Even though my latest bone scan showed my osteopenia was better, I am off the drug on my own.

i have been an asthmatic since the age of 2 years old i am now 24 years old. preds as i call it has been a part of my life since then. i have a number of reactions to it from gaining 30 lbs in les than 6 months to almost definitely hallucinating. i urinate frequently,my hubby says that i'm a leaking tap. i cry and grumble at times for no reason: yes mood swings like rain in spring time. i even threw away my wallet after a dose of preds three months ago. i laugh uncontrollably. i get depressed. sleep for long hours one time and then become insomniac for days. i am super hyper. i am creative and expressive and get even better for a few hours after taking preds. also i appear to have an attention disorder at times. i have acute hearing i.e i hear like a fox really well and then some day si behave like an 89 year old with a hearing aid. i get rashes on allergic reactions to things i've been using all my life like band-aid.i don't like it in fact when the doctor gives me 8 to be taken 3 times daily for a week, i take two and feel better without all the side effects. i am so fat its a shame. i was tall and lean and sexy now i am tall heavy and my hubby still says sexy. we all hate it don't we?!

My friend's mom who was in great health took this stuff and got osteoporosis and diabetes, became depressed, and then she died.

I've been taking Fosamax once a week for about 4 months. During that time what began-before taking Fosamax-as mild pain in my lower back-has gotten progressively worse. This is the only negative possible symptom I’ve experienced, but of late it has increased and spread to my hips. I decided to stop taking it today, and see if it makes any difference. If it does, I will post another reply here with details.

I think all reading these personal accounts should consider this: obviously many medical professionals see far more benefit than loss in the majority of users. My osteoporosis was only diagnosed via a bone scan 6 months ago. -2.5 The increased pain and worsening conditions in my back might in fact be much worse if I hadn’t started taking the Fosamax. One must beware of apophenia setting in with self diagnosis.

Most posting here already had serious medical needs to have Fosamax prescribed in the first place, given a small percentage of diagnostic errors. Most of the conditions I’ve seen described vary greatly, and without a serious study are purely antidotal. I suspect there are legitimate adverse reactions, but for now the percentage and severity remains a big unknown. There seem to be some activists here, so get a campaign going for publicly funded analysis of the now considerable amount of data on file.

If my back gets better, I’ll still be unsure as it might have been a delayed benefit from the drug. Likely I will take Fosamax again either way. If it doesn’t improve in several months I’ll assume F-max wasn’t the cause and begin taking it again. If it gets better, I will take F-max again to see if the problems return when I do. If they don’t I’ll keep taking it. If they do, that will red-line my ‘coincidence meter’ and I’ll never touch the stuff again.

I hope some will find my approach to our common dilemma helpful. We all have to be our own advocates within the modern health care cabal. I worry about the old adage that when we do so, we have a fool for a client. Feel free to criticize my reasoning, and thanks to all the others that took the time to share your experience. It helped me make my decision, and I’ll share the results in about 6 months.

Well now it all makes sense! I am just finishing my 2nd week on Femcon FE and I couldn't understand why my breasts hurt so much...now I get it! I was on the depo shot for 2 years and LOVED it, no migraines, no periods...nothing. But because of my age and family history of osteoporosis I had to go off of it. Another doctor in my doctor's practice put me on the femcon because after not having my period for 2 years I got it really bad twice for a week in 3 weeks time. I can't go back on Yasmin because of the migraines, however besides the tenderness issue (which sucks if you have to run/walk fast anywhere), and I'm convinced weight gain, all of the sudden nothing fits. I'm not having the bleeding everyone else seems to be. But when I go for my annual in a week, I am going to definitely ask for something else after being on BC for the last 12 years this has to be the worst.

This is an evil drug, far more dangerous than most illegal drugs. It ruined my life. I wish I had never been put on it. It was the first drug I, a teenager, was put on, having just been diagnosed with my disease.

I hadn't tried other drugs or other treatments; medical guidelines, I know now, say not to use this drug unless the disease is both severe and other treatments have failed. Well, I hadn't tried other treatments yet, so I shouldn't have been put on this drug. And yet the doctor I was assigned, Dr. Anne Sullivan at the University of Iowa's hospital, thought I needed to be on it, told me it was safe, that it didn't have any side effects, and that I would be completely healthy again in a few weeks.

If I had been told about the side effects, as doctors are supposed to do, according to both legal and medical standards, if my doctor had honestly answered my questions about side effects, I never would've taken it. And I'd advise others to never take this terrible drug. I would rather die than take this drug again.

It did nothing for my disease, but it did give me quite a few side effects, some which, according to the doctors I've subsequently went to, are permanent and long-lasting and there's nothing you can do about them; they're just permanent.

People don't talk about the psychological effects of steroids, but they should; they're serious. And, no, they don't just go away when you stop taking the drug. If the drug makes you bipolar, you're not just going to just go back to being you're regular self. Bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, these things don't just go away on their own.

I had no problem with mental illness before taking this drug, and yet I'm still severely depressed to this day, part of that, perhaps, is from what the drug did to me, that is, the physical side effects, but part of, I suspect, is just that it changed my personality, like it changed my brain chemistry.

Go here-******to learn about the psychiatric effects of prednisone.

Excerpts:

"Although a powerful therapeutic option, corticosteroids are associated with serious adverse effects, both physiologic and psychiatric. While the somatic adverse effects of corticosteroid therapy (Table 1) have been extensively researched and widely described, the neuropsychiatric adverse effects have received less attention."

"In our literature review, we found that the potential psychiatric adverse effects of corticosteroids span a symptom spectrum from subtle mood changes to full-blown affective syndromes and frank psychosis."

"The most commonly reported corticosteroid-induced psychiatric disturbances are affective, including mania, depression, or mixed states."

"Cognitive deficits, particularly declarative or verbal memory deficits, have been well documented during both long- and short-term corticosteroid therapy."

"More severe cognitive impairment consistent with delirium or dementia has also been described."

"In a case-control study of 20 patients receiving long-term low-dose corticosteroid therapy (prednisone, 7.5 mg/d for >6 months) and 14 volunteers with similar illnesses who were not receiving corticosteroid therapy, Bolanos et al9 found a 60% lifetime risk of corticosteroid-induced mood or anxiety disorder."

"The corticosteroid dosage is the most important risk factor for the development of psychiatric symptoms."

"Psychiatric disturbances can occur at any point during corticosteroid treatment, including almost immediately after initiation and even after cessation of treatment."

"Corticosteroid-induced psychiatric disturbances are common and include mania, depression, psychotic or mixed affective states, cognitive deficits, and minor psychiatric disturbances (irritability, insomnia, anxiety, labile mood)."

"It is important that clinicians in all specialties become aware of the potential psychiatric adverse effects associated with corticosteroids and explain these effects to their patients."

"Which patients will experience corticosteroid-induced psychiatric disturbances cannot be predicted. Dosage is the most important risk factor for the development of adverse effects, with patients receiving less than 40 mg/d at minimal risk, those taking 40 to 80 mg/d at moderate risk, and patients receiving more than 80 mg/d at high risk. Most patients will develop symptoms during the first week of treatment, and more than 90% will develop symptoms by 6 weeks."

Side effects: mixed bipolar disorder/manic-depression, suicidal ideation, cystic acne, scars on my face, panic attacks, severe anxiety, rage, euphoria, sadness, impulsiveness, confusion, memory loss, hard to concentrate and remember, thin skin, delayed healing ability, bruises, premature aging, rapid heart beat, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, higher cholesterol, thyroid disease, sweating all over, itching all over, joint pain, increased appetite, massive weight gain, stretch marks, hormones out of balance now, dry eyes, so dry my eyelids stick to my eyes, so dry I can't wear contacts any more, permanent red eyes, blurry vision, vision worsened, eye pain, eyes sensitive to light, migraines, and yellow skin.

I am a 72 year old white female who has been on Fosamax over 5 years for osteoporosis which runs in my family. In December, I had severe discomfort in the thigh area of my right leg. X-rays ordered by my GP showed nothing. Sent me to orthopedic surgeon whose x-rays also showed nothing. He ordered bone dye test which showed stress fractures of BOTH femurs. No one, NOT EVEN THE ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON, could figure out how it happened since I had not fallen or had other trauma. When I began to do my own research, I found answers to other problems I had been experiencing, for which no one had answers.....bone and muscle pain, hair loss, depression. I realize doctors are overwhelmed with info but I am especially disappointed in the orth. surgeon who should have known this was a possibility since the study came out in The Orthopedic Journal. As I continued my research, I find that women have been experiencing these side effects for years. I was previously very active and a dedicated walker, but this has robbed me of my confidence since I fear breaking other bones. The femur is the largest and strongest bone in the body and if I broke both of those with no trauma, what else could happen? I want to get the word out to women but am not sure the best vehicle for that. Any suggestions? There are Fosamax lawyers anxious to jump on this but I am more interested in spreading the word, not litigation, however I think there are possibly many unreported cases of the Fosamax side effects just because people don't know where to turn.

I think Fosamax KILLED MY MOTHER. My mon was previously healthy with no known medical problems. No hypertension, no high cholesterol, no diabetes...nothing. She was taking Fosamax for osteoporosis prevention. She developed an acute liver failure. There was no viral, bacterial, or cancer linked to this sudden onset of liver failure. She received a liver biopsy and within one week was dead from bleeding from the biopsy site. I have recently found some journal articles linking Fosamax to acute liver failure. MY HEART IS BROKEN. Do not take this drug without doing in depth research on its side effects and discontinue it immediately if any side effects occur. God Bless.

I have had endo for about 9 years now. 6 surgeries later, I decide to try the Lupron Shot. I took the 3 month dose twice. I did not experience any side effects until the 2nd month, which included hot flashes, mood swings, sleepiness, no interest in sex, weight gain, horrible headaches, loss of memory, pains in all my bones, breast tenderness, blured vision and so on. I am now off the shot after being on it for 6 months, and I am worse now then I was then. My pain is back from the Endo, my stomach feels like there is a huge ball in it, I have extremes of sever diarrhea to constipation. I feel like Im going to throw up every other hour..sometimes I do. My bones hurt worse than ever. I still have no memory and I cannot concentrate very well. My Dr. will not allow me to have a hyst because he feels I am to young. I am 27 married with a child..how much older do I have to be to get some relief? So, yes I liked Lupron, it did help. but I would rather get this crap taken out than go through all of this again.

On lipitor for 1 1/2 years.... starting taking yoga a month ago. Had ache in knee and leg which then went to toe on other leg. Thought it was overstretching from yoga. Pain moved to hips and lower back. All very painful but worst was yet to come. Pain moved to neck and shoulders. Could not move head. Excruciating SOBBING pain. I was in so much pain for weekend. Everyone wanted me to go to emergency room but I wanted to stick it out til Monday.

PS... went on web. Saw this is lipitor side effect. never would have expected that after 1 1/2 yrs on a 10 mg dose.

Went to pain management doctor ... got Soma (muscle relaxant), an oral steroid and Percoset. Relief was almost instant.

Called my cardiologist. He says it is the Lipitor.

No more statins for me.
And back to yoga.

PREDNISONE.... a word that is unknown to the naive and despised by the the knowledgeable. Before i begin i want to tell you that prednisone for lack of better word F***ed me up. So heres my story with the pill. About a year ago i was officially diagnosed with Minimal Change Disease, now remember i am eighteen at the time, and was prescribed prednisone to cure the disease. Now being unaware of the severity of the drug and disease i casually continued life while taking 80mg per day of prednisone. Well this was good and all because it did in fact put me in remission, but the side effects were starting go surface. My face ballooned up "moon face", started experiencing random series of depression, became insomniatic, and unfortunately gained several pounds. Well this was not the end of side effects as for me. I continued with the medication and after 6 weeks of 80 mg i began my 5 week course of 60mg. Then after that i started 4 weeks on 40 mg and began tapering 5 mg every 2-3 weeks afterwards. Toward the middle of 60 mg the drug started taking its toll on my body as my skin lost its elasticity so i started getting gruesome strecht marks all over my body. I also became constipated for whatever reason most probably prednisone was at fault. I became very frightened actually terrified so i started to research about the drug in hopes of finding ways to avoid some side effects. In doing my research i found out very disturbing information regarding prednisone. Along with all the side effects that i mentioned above, prednisone also causes cateracts, glacoma, diabetes via insulin resistance, and osteoporosis. Now these i consider as the more severe permanent side effects as the list unfortunately is much longer. Finding out about the side effects i became extremely paranoid and started a very strict diet to hopefully avoid some permenat side effects. I admit reading about the information on prednisone created my paranoia and/or possible phycosis which ultimately led to my stress which led to my severe depression. Now this wasn't any old type of depression, i was sersiouly in need of some help. Everyone around me could tell something was wrong and really i dont blame then for in fact i felt as if my soul had died, the very essence of my being. Now magin if you can someone taking away your youth from you, sucking the very life out of you... thats exactly how i felt. To add along with the depression my grades became a wreck in college as i dropped several classes, lost a friend, developed problems with my parents as they tired to help me, and disrespected family relatives with my uncontrollable mood swings. A few weeks in of dieting and exercising i lost a lot of weight (15-20 pounds). As far as side effects non had changed i still had to deal with all that was mentioned above especially with the fragile skin that was a real burden as i had even a few stretch marks on my face from sleeping on my side. At this point of my long and what seemed to be a never ending journey i become exteremly weak. My body had no energy to run on as i refused to eat and when i did eat it was either foods that are considered free foods or protein nothing else. Everything at this time had been taken away from me including smoking marijuana (marijuana drops blood sugar as this would cause me to start feeling faint and lightheaded), alcohol (same as marijuana drops blood sugar), and the fact that i was not comfortable in my own skin (literally). I was driving myself insane. Everyday i was behind the computer searching for more and more. I was obsessed and became my worst nightmare. Oh by the way half in the medication therapy i showed 1+ grams of protein in my urine which my doctor possibly thought it could have been a relapse. This news i did not take lightly i had lost it and was prepared of comiting suicide. I cant lie, i really did not want to live anymore i just wanted to end this and suicide seemed like a very real and convienent possibility. If it had not been for my parents talking to me giving me a 3 hour speech and lecture i do not know what i would have done. Suicide at that point became out of the question because i could not do this to my family. So i went and purchased urine dip sticks to monitor the protein. The doctor had given me a 2 week window or chance to get back into remission or else he was going to prescribe me cytotoxic agents aka chemo therapy drugs. This was horrible news to me. So as i monitored my protein i found out of a very interesting trend. I noticed that my protein levels in the afternoon were in fact positive for protein and were usually up and down as far as how much but in the mornings i noticed i was always negative. Now this give me a huge bit of hope because when in researching about MCD months earlier i found out that there is a coniditon called orthostatic proteinuria which affects mostly young adolecent males and is a condition described as for some unknown reason there is protein loss in the afternoon when the person is upright and active then when they are supine or laying down the kidneys do not allow any portein loss. This condition is in fact harmless. I was very happy from then news and i told my doctor, he was somewhat doubting, but i don't blame him he is looking out for my best interest, but sure enough after the 2 weeks had past i went in again for my appointment after testing and i was negative for protein as i had expected. We began tapering after that point and i continusouly monitored my own tests at home and eventually i got off the steroid, actually today is that day after a 9 month period of heartache and distress. You know people say that they went to hell and back in a hard moment in life, well i went to hell stayed there for 9 months then came back. I feel so everyone who as ever needed to take steroids for long periods of time, i know its tough but believe it as it is indeed a potent drug and in most cases a miracle drug. It gave me a second chance at life and no matter how hard it was or how much pain it put me through i cannot complain for it did in fact cure me and thats why i can never hold any grudges. So thats my story i kno its not pretty but what can i say it is indeed mine whether i like it or not.

My pain started within a few days of a switch from Fosamax to a generic form. I had been on the med for about ten months and hadn't had anything significant as far as side effects are concerned. First my shoulder blew up with very painful tendinitis and bursitis - doctors said it was likely a strain. Then I had jaw pain a few weeks later and that was supposed to be because of a crown I had done. The latest and worst has been my right hip and right leg to the knee - very sharp and burning pain - really made it impossible to walk. The doctors did not make the connection to fosamax and I think they probably still think I am crazy - but I KNOW that it where it is coming from. I am being treated for the pain with the usual stuff - it has been about two weeks. I think I have a long haul ahead before I feel really great again. The biggest problem with these drugs is that the side effects can present so long after you start the drug that most people don't make the connection. I figure people have been living with osteoporosis forever - so I will risk my osteopenie without any more of this toxic stuff. How many people are out there suffering without a notion that this is the cause - still taking that magic pill once a week?

Information For The Recently Diagnosed
Possible Side Effects of Coumadin®

I found the following on a website dedicated to Factor V Leiden patients who need the warfarin/coumadin due to the genetic issues:
******
Here are some of the side effects reported by members of our mailing list who are on Coumadin®:

Hair thinning-hair loss
fatigue or being tired more often
taking longer to recover from cuts or bruises
sun burn or sensitivity to light
depression.
You may experience some of these effects or none of them.

Also reported: Uneven INR's with generic coumadin®. I refuse to take generic coumadin® (warfarin). My INR will not stay stable on it. But some folks like it. It's a personal choice.

Possible side effects of LMWH:

Bleeding is the main adverse effect, either major (internal) or minor (injection site bruises, easy bruising, etc).
osteoporosis may be an issue with long-term use
very rarely an allergy develops, called HIT (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia)
liver tests (enzyme levels) may become temporarily elevated, but usually return to normal and rarely lead to the need to stop LMWH
last but not least: empty wallet syndrome (very expensive drugs)

link

******

I have taken 4 doses of Fosomax-1x a week - and have noticed weight gain, nausea and lethargy. After the first three doses noticed a mild headache, which I blamed on my sinuses. After this last dose ( taken 6 days ago), I have had an excruciating headache, and facial pain. I have a constant burning feeling in my stomach. I will not take another dose. I saw that someone had previously mentioned taking Bone Up, and had good results. Has anyone else tried this? As a breast cancer survivor with borderline osteoporosis I am looking for a good alternative.

I am a 56 y/o female who started on Fosamax last Sunday. I have a dx of osteopenia. I followed the directions of taking pill with full glass of water and remained upright for 30 minutes before having anything to eat. I was fine on Sunday but on Monday I woke with SEVERE bone pain! My whole rib cage, back, knees and heels were hurting so bad. It felt like I had pain in every bone in my body. I could not take in a full deap breath as my rib cage was hurting so bad. I could not bend or turn without terrible pain. My energy level was zero. I immediately called my doctor who told me to hold the Fosamax (ya think?) and ordered Vit D lab levels. Apparently when you Vit D levels are off (don't know if too high or too low) you can suffer this bone pain. I am awaiting the results. The pain is better today and I was told it takes 5 days to get out of your system. I only wish I had done my homework and found this site before taking this poison. I have to say I'm a registered nurse and know that ALL medications have side effects and everyone responds to meds differently. Some side effects subside as your body gets use to it and some can experience severe allergic reactions. But it's important to weigh the risk vs the benefit. I would rather deal with osteopenia in another way. So my search begins for alternatives to Fosamax for good bone health. Has anyone had good results with other supplements/meds?

I am a 54yr old male and recently I have had a low impact fall and

fractured my Tibia and Fibia (the bones below in my knee on my left

leg) and also dislocated my foot at the same time. The surgeons

were most interested to find out that I have had Kenalog injections

for hayfever for the last 35 years. Two years ago the doctors

refused to prescribe Kenalog anymore as they said it can cause a

thinning of the bones. I was not told of these side effects

previously.
The surgeons said that I have osteoporosis as I had only had a low

impact fall. So I would be interested if anyone else has been

diagnosed with osteoporosis due to this Corticosteroid injection.

Having been informed of the side effects of this medicine I would

have not had it. I would advise anybody to seriously consider the

side effects before taking this product.

Anyone know of a class action suit? I was on Advair for 4 years for mild asthma (very occasional problems with exercise), at the advice of my allergist. While I was still on it, I was diagnosed with osteopenia, and episcleritis (occasional flare up, now gone since I quit). However, after 1 yr off Advair, I have just been diagnosed with a cataract at 54. I questioned my doctor about the osteoporosis, she poo pooed it. My cataract is advancing very rapidly. I would like to know if I can get some compensation to help with cataract surgery!!!!

I am 43 and have been taking eltroxin for a couple of years now and apart from feeling the cold more than anyone else and the odd fatigue I have felt fine. I recently hurt my back and asked for a bone density scan. The results were that I had the beginning of osteoporosis After a little research I found that Eltroxin can effect bone density, so now am looking for a natural substance to treat my hashimotos disease.

I had been on a prednisone dose pack (not too strong??) about a month ago for a neck injury to take away some inflammation. No side effects to mention and my neck felt tons better. Yesterday I went back to my dentist after 5 days of pain from a root canal. He put me on a prednisone dose pack saying there was some inflammation in the bone, very common, and the prednisone should take care of it. I took my dose yesterday, didn't sleep well (common side effect it seems) but then today my heart is racing and feels like it skips a beat. I have read this happening to folks on much higher doses, anyone have this kind of side effect with 20 mg/day?

Wow - I had a great experience with kenalog in suppressing my allergies. They have been unbearable until getting the shot. I sat down with the doctor who went through the list of pros and cons with the drug. He said, and I agree wholeheartedly (I'm sure we all do) that no is more interested in or more responsible for my health than I am, so he said after going through the risks of meds that I should verify it for myself and if I felt comfortable with the shot he would give it. Can you imagine how much better off the world would be if we all took responsibility for ourselves - actually did our own homework? I've seen doctors before who don't really take the time to discuss side effects so I'm glad he did (but then, how many people ever read the drug information that the pharmacist gives out - can't really blame the doctor for that...). Anyways, given that I had severe symptoms that was affecting sleep and very low risk for osteoporosis I got the shot and man do I feel great!