Own health symptoms and conditions

I have been on this medication for 3 months now. I am a 28 year old male, 6'2", weigh 211lbs, and in overall good health. My blood pressure average is 144/72 without the medication, but on the medication it seems to stay around 136/66. It took about one week for the blood pressure medicine to start working and when it did I felt very tired (which is normal). Now, in my third month I have started to notice new symptoms like severe headache in the right front lobe, severe tiredness, cold fingers and toes (in warm conditions), severe lower back pain, mood swings, blurred vision in the right eye (same location as headache), and a occasional twitch in my right thumb (probably not related to the medicine). When I first started this medication I did read all of these post and figured that everyone was crazy and/or nuts, but know I am thinking that I would rather stop the medication
and start seeking out for a better medication.. I know medicine has side effects but damn!!! Anyone else have cold fingers and toes while they have been on the medication..thanks

For Medications.com October 18th
Earlier this past summer I took this drug for ninety two days after I was prescribed this medication when I visited the doctor for a bladder infection and I was told I also had high blood pressure. No tests were done except for a urine test at that time and no follow up tests were done later. This drug not only gave me a slew of other side effects but pushed my simple bladder infection to where I no longer urinated in a normal manner regardless of the amount of fluid I added. Only after discontinuing this drug did normal urination return after a few days.
Allergic reactions were as follows. Severe debilitating stomach cramping resulting in swelling of the abdomen, and all digestive organs. Angioedema. (no pre history of this) Urine flow continued to lessen even with increased fluid intake, resulting in bladder pain and a sensation of bladder being pushed from the body. Lack of energy, flu like symptoms, insomnia, leg cramps, many bouts of rapid heart beat, some lasting for awhile, even after stopping the drug. Lack of appetite and a change in taste buds. I had several bouts of angioedema but thought it was 'something I ate, stress etc', as within a month of my diagnosis, my daughter had an extreme reaction to Ciprofloxin (see floxintoxin under that medication) and anything that was going on with me was put aside. She was debilitated by her drug reaction and was unable to walk etc, so I thought I wasn't handling stress too well as I was getting older. Each bout increased in severity leaving me lying debilitated on the couch for four days, eventually for a full week until luckily by that time my daughter was able to take care of herself and began thoroughly investigating this drug only to discover that Lisinopril was the true cause. The warnings with this drug are not very explanatory and leave so much out that should be for patients to read and digest to make their own health decisions and it takes a lot to dig deeper on the Internet to find the true adverse reactions.
We thought by stopping the drug I would get back to normal quickly and I did with the help of a herb called marshmallow which reduced the swelling after a couple of days. However after I thought I was cured I stopped marshmallow and within a couple of days had another angiodema reaction and I thought it was because there must be traces of this drug left in my system. I then took marshmallow for over two weeks and feeling fine I stopped again. Then another episode hit me with not only the stomach problems but a severe bout of coughing that lasted a couple of hours and trickled into a few days. It was then I began digging on the Internet to find the words I wanted to hear, that this drug caused long term problems. I found it by adding UK after other words and found this and much more.
ACE-INHIBITORS
A particular group of heart pills called ACE-inhibitors (the chemical names end in -pril, e.g. enalapril, lisinopril, ramipril) can occasionally cause urticaria, although they more commonly cause angioedema; about one person in 100 who takes an ACE inhibitor is likely to get this problem.  
The reaction is not caused by true allergy, allergy skin and blood tests do not show it, so why does it happen?  Reactions are thought to occur because an unwanted pharmacological effect of the drug causes the release of compounds similar to those released in an allergic reaction.  The only way of showing that a regular medication is the true cause is by stopping or changing the treatment.
To complicate matters, the angioedema attacks may not start until the individual has been taking the ACE inhibitor for months or even years making it difficult to spot the relationship. Also, attacks may continue for several weeks after the drug has been stopped.
I could not find anyone doing following to patients with adverse reactions and I think that is a very bad problem. We are on our own. I do hope this helps others and if you want copies of all my research let me know.
Now I am hoping there won't be any more bouts but I'm still taking marshmallow and when I think I have the courage I will wean myself off it slowly and watch for signs. Believe me angiodema isn't fun and you can't see it on the outside of the body which makes it difficult to understand.

As a Doctor myself I think drugs are NEVER the answer except in EMERGENT issues in Heroic life saving... YOU however and all individuals are and should be MORE accountable for your own health and STOP DEMANDING the Drugs and look to LIFESTYLE changes in DIET and EXERCISE to achieve the GOALS so necessary for quality and quantity of life.... The tools are at your fingertips ... The almighty internet ... And your OWN imaginative mentation is your TRUE limitation... So TAKE control of yourself and BE accountable .... Sorry so blunt but MORE tough love and Educating people is whats needed.... NOT more drugs....

MDG

I had some really odd-ball side effects from Lyrica. I was on 150mg twice a day for fibromyalgia, and it seemed to work initially. I was feeling pretty good, and thought I, too, had found an answer to my aches and pains. After about two months, I noticed that my hair was falling out and turning gray (I was 39 at the time). I hadn't had a menstral period that second month, either. I told every doctor I saw about these strange symptoms, but was prompty ignored.

The third month, I began to gain weight like crazy. I ended up gaining a little over 20lbs during the year-long treatment. My skin was dry and thickening around my thumbs and heels. My energy level began to really go down (it was never that high to begin with). My fingernails became brittle and broke with the slightest provocation. The grayer and falling out hair was coarser, too. I also was either sleeping all the time for days, or then couldn't sleep at all for days.

By the sixth month, I noticed that my wounds were also taking longer to heal. Being diabetic for the last 29 years, I thought that maybe neuropathy was starting to set in. Up to that point, I had never had any signs of neuropathy, and always was in good control of my blood sugar levels. Now, I was beginning to get worried.

The eighth month forward brought cracked heels, cracked toes, cracked fingers and thumbs. I began to have pitting edema, which I immediately informed my Rheumatologist about. I have chronic renal insufficiency, though not diabetic related. It was a gift from my OB/GYN during pregnancy when I became eclamptic. The edema was so bad that blisters appeared on my ankles and would not go away, no matter how high up I rested with my legs. My skin hurt all around my legs, and soon started to notice my face also swelling. Still, no comments from any of my numerous doctors.

After a year of all this strange stuff, I took myself off of the Lyrica. It was a hard choice, as the meds helped to silence the strangling pain in my muscles. Within a month after discontinuing the drug, my period came back. Three months later I noticed that both my hair and nails were stronger, and my hair wasn't falling out as much.

Six months later, and I notice now that my wounds heal like they used to. My hair isn't as coarse, and my nails are much stronger. My sleep schedule is still not right, and I still have the deep cracks and crevices to my thumbs and heels, but it is much better than it had been. I have also since tried Lamictal, but am having tachycardia and shortness of breath, along with a marked rise in my blood pressure. This, too, I discontinued and am feeling somewhat better. The muscle aches and pains and fatigue are back with a vengeance, but I will put up with them as long as I can. I am on so many meds anyway, that my body is probably kissing my toes in thanks!

Luck to all who are on this drug, and hope it works for you without all the weird side effects I put up with!

I am a 39 year old white male that had aortic valve replacement surgery five years ago. About three months after the surgery (which went off without a hitch) I had a tremendous spike in my BP that went on for a few days (200/100 - enough so I could see my heartbeat in my eyes!). My Dr started me on Toprol XL 75 and while it brought my BP down some, it didn't bring it down a lot. He moved me to 200 mg a day and now my BP is around 105/55 with a resting pulse around 50.

While I experienced many of the side effects listed here (feeling groggy, confused, etc) they only lasted a few months. I must admit that I did pack on about 20 lbs over six months. However, unlike so many who choose to blame drugs (or lack thereof) for their problems, I took it upon myself to start exercising and guess what?!? The weight comes off! I now weigh less than when I graduated high school, I am in better shape than any time in my life and I believe that exercise helps me sleep better at night. All of this even though I still take 200mg a day. Given that some of you say that you're practically dead at taking 25, I should be 6 feet under or weigh 400 lbs.

I guess what I want to say is that perhaps instead of jumping on the bandwagon here that Toprol causes all of your problems, perhaps you want to take your own health into your hands and begin to eat a little better and exercise (and don't give me "but my ankles are swollen!" excuse - there is something called water aerobics). I don't deny that it can cause some side effects, but it can work wonders with your BP. You just have to DO SOMETHING to help keep the weight off (which then help with the sleep problems, mental clarity, etc).

Levaquin is a wonderful drug and one of a very few that help men with prostatitis. If you have ever suffered with a prostatitis infection you know what i mean. No problems here with Leviquin.

Hi all.
I am really dis-heartened right now. I cannot seem to get this thing taken out yet. My husband and I are self-employedso we have to take out our own health insurance. Our ins. company said that side-effects are a "disorder of the reproductive system" and there is a six-month waiting period to have anything done and we have just gotten it. So I went to an after hours clinic that I called waited until today thinking I could get it removed. WRONG!!! :( Today they said they could not remove it. More over, naturally the doc there said that there was no way all these side effects were from the mirena. I was so upset.
To anyone who has had this taken out, how many of your symptoms have gone away? How long has it taken?
Please e-mail me at ****** or private message me and let me know your experiences with post-removal and side-effects that cleared up. I am ready to take action on this mirena as women need to be informed of the possible side-effects of this drug. I have been suffering for 1 year and 10 months.
Thanks for reading!

amber here again... It's only been one day since removal and my stomach feels like a balloon that's been popped. It's unbelievable. The doctor I saw is totally full of CRAP!

Wow. Thank god for this Bulletin! I was diagnosed with hypertension at age 28
and tried a variety of drugs with no control over the BP. So, about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago, I was prescribed 100MG of Toprol XL which seemed to control it well, but with debilitating long term illness. I had no idea until today that Toprol XL was causing similar grief to others. The horrible symptoms that I have been experiencing now for several years are Extreme Chronic Fatigue, Profuse Cold Clammy Sweating, Dizzy spells, weight gain, seeing specs of light and thousands of eye floaters, severe depression, muscle aches, headaches.

After reading about others with similar side effects, I am confident that it's from this medication. I have had all kinds of testing done including T3 & T4 Throid levels and a full array of blood work with NO LUCK! Regardless of the consequences, I am going to quit this damn medicine today because it appears to take 5 weeks or so to get it out of the body to notice a difference. I am so desperate for change. It is ruining my life because I can
't wake up, I'm always tired even though I get 10-14 hours of sleep. My wife and kids are bummed because I have no energy to do anything, EVER!

If you have any other suggestions or would like to comment about this.

Sincerely,

Sean

Wow, I'm so glad I found this site and now realize it's not "just me" as one doctor put it. I have had my Mirena in for 18 months. The first year was great, no side affects at all. 6 months ago I started getting bad allergies, the worst PMT symptoms ever starting three weeks before my cycle which I barley get anyhow. I continue to struggle for breath on a daily basis and I have never been this tired in my entire life. I have been in and out of doctors surgeries wondering what's wrong with me, even seeing a naturopathic. Nothing helped until I found this site, I have never had children and I don't plan to have any. I thought this would be a great 5 year at a time solution for contraception as doctors claim I am too young to be "fixed".
Now I truly believe I need to have this removed for my own health. When I do I will repost the outcome.

I am a haelthy 50 year old that used to walk three miles three times a week and elliptical trainer another two days a week. I started taking Zocor about three years ago after Lipitor caused my hands to cramp. After a year of Zocor my doctor switched me to Vytorin. I have been on it for about two years. About a year ago I started having pain in my neck to the point that it would wake me up at night and I had trouble picking my head up off the pillow. I thought it was from sitting in front of the computer too long or just getting older. Then I started having tingling in my feet and weakness in my legs and some balance issues. Some problems concentrating and with memory. I told my doctor and he told me to stop taking the Vytorin. I stopped about 2 weeks ago and have had a little improvement. After reading all of these posts I am very worried about my own health and for the thousands (millions?) of others that are taking this poison. My prayer is that we will all get our "pre-statin" lives back.

Could someone please tell me their experiences with just quitting lisinopril. I take toprol as well but it seems like lisiniprol is making me crazy. I have the worst fears that I am dying at times. I feel like a hypochondriac but my I feel every palpitation my heart makes.

Update on ring removal...I took my ring out July 13 after reading everyones side effects on here and realizing the horrible way I'd been feeling was because of the ring. The first week after it was out was not so pleasant my period started the next day with horrible cramping, it only lasted 2 days though and was totally worth it. The mood swings and irratability lasted for about a week after it was out and was pretty severe. After getting past that though Ive felt fantastic, my energy is back, Im sleeping through the night, no more discharge, not a single headache in 3 weeks. The biggest change though has been my mood, I feel like my old self again, no more crying and psycho irrational thoughts. I will NEVER use the NR again, looking back on the whole expeirence I felt like I was poisoned by it mentally and physically. I urge everyone to tell any women you know about this site if they are on NR, it really pisses me off this BC is being marketed as "safe", from my own experience and others Ive read about it's anything but. If you look at all the law suits being filed against NR, and past meds like vioxx, phen phen, and the countless others that are marketed as "safe" and approved by the FDA, it is apparent that "safe" is used loosely in an attempt to generate profits and dollars, even if it means putting peoples lives and in NR's case also mental health in jeapordy. You should decide for yourself of course if your going to quit using NR but from my own experience taking it out was the best thing Ive ever done for my own health and safety.

You know, it's very irritating when people post "STAY AWAY FROM THIS OR THAT" etc ... just because *they* or someone they know had a problem with it. I've been on Topamax for about 4 months now - up to 300mg/per day, only side effect is the metabolic acidosis if I overexert in the heat (which is damn annoying) - I haven't yet reached tharaputic levels because the weight-loss hasn't kicked in, so I'm liable to get close to the 800mg per day dosage. All this AND I'm prone to kidney stones to begin with! So please stop all the screaming about how freaking dangerous it is just because it didn't work for YOU, hell, pennicillin KILLS people too but you don't hear people screaming about how terrible it is, do you?

Someone I know was on lipitor for a year taking 10 mg. a day. He is 40 years old. Prior to taking lipior he was in excellent health with no medical problems. After 2 months on lipitor he started experiencing severe back, neck and leg pain and pain in the head which he described as head fog. He reported this to his doctor who couldn't find anything wrong with him and his doctor not making any association with it being caused by the lipitor referred him to a specialist. The specialist couldn't find anything wrong with him and he started going from specialist to specialist for 9 months for a total of 6 different doctors where none of them could find anything wrong with him and none of them ever made the association with lipitor even though they all knew he was taking it. From my own experience on lipitor and all the problems it caused me I immediately made the association and told him to stop the lipitor. He was very skeptical about my advice since I have no medical training whatsoever and 6 experts along with his own doctor whom he highly trusts never said a word about lipitor being the possible cause. Anyway he followed my advice and to his amazement the head fog immediately cleared up and his back, neck, and leg pain is nowhere near what it was after 2 months off lipitor even though he still has some problems. His doctor said it was impossible for lipitor to be the cause as it has a proven safety record and he never heard of such problems being caused by lipitor and told him he probably never had any problems to begin with is the reason why he got relief and that he should just learn to relax. This just goes to show you that only you are responsible for your own health and you better do your own research before blindly following professional advice as you will be the one to suffer the consequences while the doctors just look the other way denying everything as I found out for myself the hardway.

(Please do not e-mail me.)
The drug Singulair has had many negitive effects on people. For one thing the drug is not meant for childern under the age of fifthteen but is sometimes perscribed at a smaller dose. I myself am under the age limit, two years to be exact, but I have an adult enough mind to know from what I see in my grandmother who is taking Singulair that it is not a very positive drug. It causes her severe muscle cramps, mood swings, nightmares, weight gain and lack of sleep. I myself had taken it at risk to my own health to comfirm these symptoms. I would not recomend this drug for anyone and would suggest for those who are expirencing these side effects to discontinue the use of Singulair. I may not be a doctor, yet again I am only thirteen, but I have studied many things that the average teenagar has not.
Be Well,
Ms. Kalae ******, GA

Count me in on the group that stopped taking Lisinipril ... before I evan read anything negative about it... I started with 5 mg .. increased eventually to 20mg ... problems ... as mentioned by everyone... wandering BP .. nausea.. sore throat... stuffy nose .. draining into my throat ... coughing up .. big ... gluck... but... the very worse symptom of all ... was when I looked up at my husband of thirty years and could not remember his name ... I had none of these problems before taking this terrible "drug" ... a self induced ... problem ... that I must take the responsibility for .. since when did a medical degree ... replace commmon sense... !! Thank you Lord ... that I am still capable of being in charge of my own health and life ... !! Give me the wisdom to choose wisely the things that I eat and the medications that I choose to take... and please dear Lord ... forgive these poor physicians that enjoy playing God with other peoples lives... and health ..

I took Levaquin (500mg) for 10 days for a sinus infection with a nasty cough. (non smoker)
My heels began to hurt as did my right shoulder at day 4.
I had strange transient pains in my right index finger at day 6.

It took two weeks AFTER the last dose before my joint pains abated.

This antibiotic was very effective against my sinus infection.
I read about the possible side effects and I avoided exercise during the course of this drug.

All, in all. I am happy with the results. I am so glad to be rid of my sinus infection. It was worth the transient side effects (joint pain).

Any drug has side effects. This illustrates how important it is for people to be responsible for their own health and to
insist on complete information from both thier doctors and their pharmacists.

Be well.
TP Lathrop

after reading this website I almost didn't take the med for prostatitis.

I asked the doc and the pharmacist (who had taken it herself), and a pharmacy tech. at Osco. No one said anything uneventful happened!! In fact the pharmacist (who had no bais or motive to exxagerate) said she thought it was one of the BETTER antibiotics, and that ALL MEDS, and particularly antibiotics have side effects for a small segment of people or interact with other mdeicines and that patients need to tell their doctors about all medicines currently being taken, ie. be responsible for their own health. The dcotor from a major University teachning hospital, said he is confident and has used it successfully many times with patients!

I am on my fourth day with ZERO effects.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents since some of the posters here had me scared to death for NO reason!

I would also add I am taking lots of water.