Paramedic symptoms and conditions

Well, I had foot surgery. Several days later when I returned to doc my foot was obviously infected. He gave me Cipro AND Levaquin at the same time even though they are in the same family of drug. I went home and ate supper then took my first dose. I had a weird feeling like I was about to pass out and was home alone. I unlocked the front door and waited for EMS to arrive.

They checked me out and I was going to go to ER by car. When I stood up, I turned white and fell back on the sofa. I had a rash on neck/chest and felt like someone was squeezing my chest all the way around my body. They said my blood pressure dropped. They gave me epinephrine in ER. I looked at my daughter and said it is happening again. I thought the top of my head would blow off. I turned white and started vomiting everywhere. Turns out the nurse should have given it in the muscle not by IV.

A few months later, I took my first dose of Avelox (also in same family as Levaquin and Cipro) for a sinus infection. (I think it caused palpitations the one other time I took, but I do that occasionally anyway so I didn't connect it to the antibiotic.) Second time I was out at a restaurant with my sons. I felt like I was about to pass out again. I called an ambulance because they aren't old enough to drive. I told them about my reaction to Levaquin, but to my surprise my blood pressure was sky high. Again it felt like pressure in my chest but no difficulty really breathing. Since I had an "atypical" reaction, I had to stay overnight in the ER and be evaluated for a heart attack! I had an EKG, stress test, and cardiac enzymes drawn all night. What a pain! Then the dufus ER doc told me to continue the antibiotic. My daughter, who is a paramedic, said just nod and smile. Then go home and throw it away. Call your regular doc and ask him to change it. That is exactly what I did.

Now I am petrified every time I have to take antibiotics! I have to talk myself through it.

Second time I took it, I felt weird again.

I am a paramedic and run calls of people having these reactions a lot. It worries me that Docs do not discuss these possible reactions with their patients. Lisinopril is a decent drug to treat hypertension in itself. I have had patients who have been on Lisinopril anywhere from a month to several years. Yes, it is true that it can happen without any change in behavior, health or meds. We do treat it as an allergic reaction. We administer Benadryl per protocol but Benadryl really does nothing in these cases. It really is just a matter of managing the patients airway and waiting for the residual Lisinopril filter from the patient's system. Just be aware of this or talkj to your MD about switching to another HBP controller.

I am so glad I found this web site!

Let me start by saying I am a 42 year old female paramedic, so I am not big on taking ANY medications, period! My endocrinologist has been after me for 1 1/2 years to start taking 10mg Lisinopril to protect my kidneys since I am a type II diabetic, and now because of my elevated B/P and the fact that my last set of labs showed a increase of protein, something to do with the kidneys. I have resisted taking the medication, in hopes I would lose some weight and get my B/P down. But due to an injury, exercise has not been an option for me and now that I need a surgery, I had to break down and start the Lisinopril ( the doctor will not be able to operate if my B/P is elevated).
I started the drug 10 days ago, and at first was happy I did not seem to have any of the side effects that I read about. I had researched what I could find at the time, and even talked to my pharmacist about it, since he takes it as well.
After a few days, I saw an occasional drop in my systolic pressure, down in to the 120's from the 140's/ 150's, and not much of a diastolic drop, maybe, down to 90 from 94-100. I did notice my pressure would be high if I had been moving around before checking it, and I was disturbed to find that my pulse was now on occasion running around 104 after only walking through my house to my room where my B/P monitor is. My pulse never runs that high unless I have been very active. A few nights ago, I woke up and turned over in bed, and noticed my heart felt like it was fast ( tachycardia) and this happened more than one night. I decided I was going to discuss this with my doctor this week, until what happened today. I went for an MRI on my neck, and noticed I was anxious when they put me in the tube. I felt like I was breathing heavy and figured maybe I was just nervous. Then tonight I had an acute onset of anxiety, and just felt bad all over. I had some numbness on the left cheek and other symptoms that I knew had to be from the Lisinopril, so I got online and started looking for more info, and found this site.

I can absolutely believe everything I have read here. I have taken so many patients to the hospital in my career just because they were having side effects from a medication they were taking. And that is exactly why I did not want to take this or any other medication unless I was forced to.
I am not taking this stuff again, and calling my doctor first thing in the morning. In fact, I am going to tell her that I want my cardiologist to handle my hypertension medication from now on.

I must say to EVERYONE who reads this, please, do not just take ANY medication just because a doctor gives it to you. Research all you can, ask questions, and if the doctor does not want to answer you or tries to make you feel crazy or stupid, CHANGE DR.'S!!!!! I have seen way too many bad doctors out there, and I have seen some outright kill patients. I am not saying not to trust anyone, just be very careful, and follow your instincts. I am very happy to have found this site, and I hope it helps others that read all the posts here. If I get any good info from my doctors, I will let you know.

I too was given 20 days of 750 mg each of Levaquin and felt a pop in my shoulder while rolling over in bed and not have intense pain there which is probably my rotator cuff tear. But I also experience the most crippling intense pain to both my knees and lower back. My knees felt swollen and very painful to where I couldn't even get out of a chair, climb steps , sit on the toilet. I am a paramedic and am seriously considering leaving this job after over 25 years due to this pain. I have had some minor dizziness and some mood swings. I went to the doctor after being off Levaquin for 1 week and told her of my symptoms and she put me on a Prednisone pack which has helped me with my back and knee pain to the point where I can walk with little pain but it didn't help my shoulder pain with decrease strength in it. I don't know yet if this is a permanent cure for my knee pain or back pain. As far as my shoulder, I believe that I tore the rotator cuff and will need surg. I have also heard that prednisone is not good to take with levaquin. I was prescribed prednisone prior to taking levaquin and wonder if that started all the problems. AND OF COURSE MY DOCTOR DID NOT TELL ME OF THE SIDE EFFECTS WHEN EITHER OF THESES DRUGS WERE PRESCRIBED. But at this point, trying prednisone after completing the levaquin DEFINITELY helped my knee pain.

I have been taking Yaz for a month and a half. The only medication I have been on in several years.
At work yesterday, my head started getting foggy. And my perception, was all messed up. After about 15 minutes of this not getting better, I started to lose my speech communication. I couldn't finish sentences or words. Stuff was jumbling together. In my right hand, two fingers went numb, then the whole hand. A client ended up driving me to the ER. I tried to call my receptionist, but I couldn't get the words out, my client took the phone and told her I was going to the ER. By the time I got to the ER, feeling started coming back, and I could communicate, in full sentences, if I paused between. By the time I was checked in and saw the doctor, I was able to tell him all that happened. With no problem, then a huge headache came on.
He wanted to rule out stroke, so did the CT scan and MRI. The nurse had some trouble getting blood from me. She kept mentioning that the blood kept clotting. The doctor sent me home saying my brain was perfectly healthy, and to go see my regular doctor.
A friend told me it was the birth control, because she could not take it, as she has lupus, and could have a stroke. She said it causes clotting. All of this was making sense to me. I looked up the side effects I had and found the "stroke symptoms", listed as rare, on Yaz.
My opinion of what happened, I had a blood clot that ended up passing through, and it could have become a stroke.
Another thing I read, besides the clotting. Was that oral contraceptives increase the potassium in your blood. I had been eating a banana for breakfast, 3 mornings in a row (the third on the day of this episode). The added potassium, could have been related to this episode.
How is anyone to know they can't eat something like "bananas" with birth control? I certainly didn't.
I am afraid to try any form of birth control at this point.

These posts about contacting a bad viral infection while the immune system is suppressed by Singulair are particularly worrisome. This was from 2007 so it has nothing to do with the FDA investigation. Epstein Barr causes some really bad illnesses including lymphoma.

The scary part is that children are the most susceptible to viruses. They need to develop immunity at a young age that will build up over time to levels that will protect them for the rest of their lives. Why are we giving children a drug that will suppress the leukotrienes? Why do we think that it is okay to take away one of the bodies defense mechanisms? Wouldn't it be logical that a drug that suppresses the immune system is a last resort option not handed out like lollipops?

www.iddb.org/drugs/singulair/ - 243k
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Anonymous Immune System Dysfunction September 13th, 2007

Do users of Singulair and Advair understand how these products work? In order to understand how they work, you must first know what happens in the body during an allergic attack.

Allergic response is a function of the body's immune system. When an allergen enters the body through the nose or the lungs (e.g., a bit of pollen or cat dander), it is recognized by the body as a foreign substance, and the immune system then produces histamines to fight the intruder. Singulair and Advair work by disabling the body's immune system, so that there is no allergic response.

I too thought these drugs were wonderful. I was on both Singulair and Advair to combat asthma from my new husband's cat. I took high strengths of these drugs for approximately three years.

During the time I was on these drugs, some disease entity, most likely a virus (e.g., Epstein-Barr, Herpes Simplex I, HTLV I). I have been sick with a fever for the last four and a half years. My immune system seems to have been permanently impaired, and every organ in my body is now compromised. I have a fever, night sweats, liver and spleen enlargement, digestive problems, skin infections, hypertension, rapid-onset insulin-dependent diabetes and other endocrino;ogical problems, blood cell abnormalities, and neurological problems (e.g., tremors, myoclonic seizures, muscle cramps and weakness, vertigo, incoordination).

I am about to undergo a spinal tap and other tests, looking for the causative entity. Whatever it is entered my nervous system when I had an epidural anesthetic while on these immune system depressants. I have not been the same since. I have been too sick to work. This has ruined my life.

As we have all learned from recent reports of heart damage from Vioxx, the FDA no longer has the money to fully test new drugs entering the market. The "clinical trials" are a drug's entry into the population. If it kills or sickens too many people, they withdraw it. However, the drug companies define "too many people" as a number that could potentially ruin profits through lawsuits.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't rely on the government to protect you. Before putting any drug into your body, do the research into how it works. Read comments from other users. I wish I had done that.

I was given a 10 day dose of LEVAQUIN for a mild bronchitis/respiratory ailment on Jan. 29, 2008. I took 1 500mg pill for the full ten days. Three days after I stopped taking this medication, I experienced incredibly painful swelling in both knees. I could barely walk, and couldn't bend my knees. I was scared, upset, and in absolute misery. I spent a week literally throwing myself backwards onto chairs. It was unbelievable. When I could finally get to my normal health care provider 5 days later, she immediately identified the culprit as the Levaquin I had taken. She said she knew it to cause people's tendons to burst. It was obvious since it was both knees that it was not an injury and I never had any other problem with my legs. I am, or shall I say I was an avid walker. I was told to see an orthopedic doctor if I had not improved in one week. I had not improved in a week. The orthopedic doctor sent me for an MRI which showed irreversible, permanent cartilage damage in my left knee. The right knee he didn't MRI at the time, saying he could determine what he needed to know from the one knee and would only be able to do corrective surgery on my knees in 6 week intervals. This horrible drug has permanently altered my way of life. I was a 53 year old active, ambulatory adult who would walk miles a day. Two months later, I still have constant knee pain, cannot stand for long periods of time without leaning on something and can no longer kneel, etc. I can only walk around a bit and if I'm on my feet for long periods of time I experience knee, ankle pain and swelling. I sent a report to the FDA who obviously cares nothing about this situation, since I'm not the only unsuspecting person to have this happen. I've been studying this drug now and there was evidence in animal clinical trials of joint and tendon damage, To me it would have been no different an experience if someone had come up and hit me with a baseball bat across both knees. I am permanently damaged from Levaquin. I think it's criminal this drug is given to younger ambulatory adults at all.

I am a 32yo male and a Paramedic and it has been a living hell for the last two years. Here are my side effects and then my story. Anxiety, anxious, Irritable, high heart rate, leg calf pain, horrible sleep, bad nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts, thoughts of hurting people, hate being around people, fear of heights (I used to rock climb daily), dizzy- if I move my head too fast or spin around with my son, weight gain(could be unrelated) arm cramping, frequent urination, and mood swings from crying to anger in just a few minutes. Not like me at all! First few years looking back, I was just became irritable and short with people. The last year has been horrible depression and anxiety along with the other side effects. I like many of you who have written here have had many of the exact same side effects. I had a stressful job at times and worked 24 hour shifts. I have always loved people, and enjoyed meeting new people. Not any more!! Two years ago my mother who lives 3.5 hours away asked me why I was in such so anxious all the time. She said, you are not the laid back and carefree man I know. I thought it was just due to some stress about being recently married or the job. The changes took time and I did not realize them or see them. Looking back, others knew something had changed.
Knowing about medications for my job and how to research them, I looked into every possible side effect and how Singulair worked before I started taking it. Looked good in 2004 with no major side effects. A little over a year ago my father became sick. He was going to battle cancer, but before he could, he would find out he needed a heart valve replaced. He got the surgery, went into cardiac arrest at home a week later, and was given CPR by my mother. A local police officer shocked him and got the heart out of V-fib. I slept with him in the ICU almost every night. He died a week after that and my wife was 7 months pregnant. Talk about stress. The baby came and I stopped working to raise our new little boy. I became short with my wife and started to pull away from being around people. I started to have bad dreams with twisted and morbid outcomes. I had suicidal thoughts out of nowhere and would wonder, where did that come from. Just as soon as they would come, they would be gone or I would think about something else. I got dizzy all the time and started to get carsick if I wasn't driving. I used to be able to read while riding backwards or sideways in the ambulance without a problem of feeling sick. That was not like me at all. I would snap at anything and became almost OC about everything. Thinking all this time the last year that I was just depressed about loosing my father whom I was very close too. Our little boy ended up having some medical problems and the insurance company would not pay the bills. More stress! My wife an EMT-Intermediate blew out 2 disks in her back on an ambulance run, more stress again. More insurance problems. I became a basket case! More anxiety, more depression, never got a full night sleep, mind racing, calf pain soo bad I would ask my wife to rub them, arm pains and finger joint pains at night. I also had a high heart rate of 100 almost all the time. Heart palpitations and a few times it felt like my heart was empty off all the blood and would beat very hard in the middle of the night lasting only a few seconds to a minute. Weight gain, moody all the time. I thought just due to all the normal stress in life.
Two days ago I went for a hard hike and came back with a pounding headache. Excedrin always does the trick for me. Not this time! I had seen a second of a news where the anchorman was talking about Singulair. Googled "Singulair problem" and found this site. I freaked out!! Almost all of you are talking about all the problems I have had as well!! This medication is making us go completely mad!! Tried to go to bed two nights ago and my mind was just racing. It has been Singulair the whole time. The only medication I take. It has made me nuts. My head was pounding the worst I have ever felt and my heart was coming out of my chest. I was awake since 3:30am and read the story of Cody Miller. This poor boy had no chance with this drug. He brain was not fully developed like an adult at just 15 years old. He wouldn't be able to fight the suicidal thoughts like I can. I have been to a lot of hangings, suicide shootings, and drug overdoses. I have seen plenty of death.
I called his mother a few hours later and explained to her that by them going to the media and getting the story out, prompted me to look into Singulair side effects. And that they just saved my marriage and my life. I explained to her that she did nothing wrong by giving Cody the medication for his allergies. It works great for the asthma and allergy symptoms for me. But, it ruined the last year of my life! I felt like I was going to have a stroke shortly after talking to her. I had my wife check my blood pressure and it was 154/100 (normally 120/82). Got grandpa to watch the boy and went to the ER. After my lab results came back and talking with the doctor, we decided it was a panic attack and who knows what the side effects of coming off this drug will be? I had stopped taking it the night before. Thanks to all of you who posted here and thanks to Kate and David Miller for speaking up. You saved my life. This medication got worse over time for me. It got worse as the stress level went up. I have been off it for two nights and already feel much more calm and was sleeping fine, until the little boy woke up and wanted a hug, or bottle. I hated almost everyone, I was short tempered, anxious, OC, and wanted to hurt people for no reason. I want my life back. I want the old me, the care free happy go lucky guy! I already feel better and will write hear as the days and weeks go by. I will never take Singulair ever again!! Not one stupid pill!! Look to those close to you and see if they notice changes. Even those of you who have been on it for three years like me. The drug company knew what was up the whole time. Bad men and women who want money over telling the truth. Maybe not everyone taking Singulair will ever have the side effects soo many of use have been living with, but to those of you that notice changes! Throw this medication away now and never touch it again. Get your life back!!! Be the old you again. I will go back to Albuterol (the only medication I used to take). Read the stories about the two year olds and the five year olds that cry all the time and are angry all the time. Little kids tell it like it is. It's not until they get to work for large drug companies as adults due they lie about side effects and wait years to publish paperwork saying that post marketing research shows all these negative side effects. They knew all along.

I took this to try and help some rather chronic sinus congestion. I only took one or two doses (it was a few years ago), but became really ill. I have palpitations normally, so I didn't notice that. However, I was leeched of energy and ended up spending half the day vomiting or feeling like I had to. I was cold and clammy, which is extremely abnormal for me. According to my coworkers, I looked pretty darn bad. I somehow made the long drive home (I wouldn't recommend) and tried to sleep. Eventually I passed out for a good 8 hours, but still felt yucky the next day. Naturally, I haven't touched the stuff since. To be fair, these side effects are listed under the drug info (online), but who thinks they are going to be in the small percentage affected? Also, in response to an older post, it's NOT pseudoephedrine. It is the ingredient in mucinex and a decongestant similar to or found in the "new" crappy sudofed. I've been taking pseudoephedrine for years with no problems. Glad I found this! I thought I was the only one!

Folks, I have put several posts and replies on here. I am trying to be advocate as much as I can. My family went through hell with this drug and my 4 year old. He has been off it since October of 07 and I can report that he is about 90% recovered. I finally have my son back!! I am a paramedic and have seen these effects on other children first hand! Aspartame is in almost everything. Sure some kids may be having a reaction to that. Most likely not. It may be the inert ingredients. Most allergists do not test for that. However I would be willing to put money where my mouth is and say that neither one of these scenarios is the case. Merck knows what is going on and has failed to do anything. WHY you ask because Singulair is their number one money maker!!!!!!! Please read my other posts. Yes I am very passionate about this. My innocent 4 year old had his world stripped from him. He could not understand the thoughts or pains he was going through. It was overwhelming. No child should have to go through that at any age. Just ask the mother on this board who lost her son from this drug. Trust me folks it can happen to you!! No parent wants to ever face that. It is unbearable. I have seen it first hand, more than I would ever like to. The only thing that we can do as parents is protect our children. Be an advocate. Contact your Attorney General, The FDA. Heck I even wrote Bill O Reily. Maybe if enough of us do that, things will change. My hope is that other parents as ourselves have done stumble upon this website and realize the problem at hand!! Best of luck to you all. My heart is with you as I know this can be a very challenging struggle.

My 5 year old son was put on for very mild asthma before xmas. After he returned to school, the teacher noticed he was not listening, difficulty attending, talking nonstop ( normally quiet), and repeating the same questions. At home, we noticed complaints of tummy aches, after 2 weeks very loose stools, irritability, extreme difficulty attending to any task, disorientation, rolling around on the floor, tic disorder; he started flipping his head side to side as if he's checking for something, and poor sleep (3-4 times awakening) esp. w. vivid nightmares, eg. crying because his snowman was melting and dying and dry nasal passages w/ bleeding sometimes. I notified the asthma/allergy doc. that we were going to discontinue. It has been a week now and his stools have formed better, not complaining of tummy aches, but attention/concentration still an issue as are tic movements; also came down w/ sinus infection so perhaps being sick is attenuating these symptoms. I hope he can get back into his zone. We are worried.

Presently on 20mg of Lisinopril. Altitude intolerance @4500 ft at Yosemite yesterday caused me to call 911 on one of the hiking paths. My blood pressue dropped to 112/60 and the side effects were severe. My hiking partner was not sure if the paramedic was joking or not when he said he could not find a pulse on me, but after 2 saline iv's I came back to life after nearly going into shock from a LOW blood pressure episode . I never want to be that sick again. I was rushed to the local clinic and diagnosed with altitude intolerance and the doc said I may need to lower my lisinopril (20 Mg) dosage, because it may well be the source of my intorerance episode. I went X- country skiing earlier this spring and had a similar experience, but not nearly as life threatning as yesterdays ambulance ride.
If anyone is thinking of driving to a higher altitude, don't exert yourself immediately. If it is an extended stay, take it easy and let your blood and body acclimate to the thinner air. I will ask my doctor to lower my meds to 10 mg because I now regulary jog 3.5 miles a day to keeps the pounds in check and I FEEL so much better.

(23 year old female) I was prescribed Ciloxan for a bilateral stapf infection that was invading my corneas. In the drug insert they do mention the possibility of anaphylaxis shock after administering these eye drops however, they make it appear as if it is a very minmal and rare occurance. Within minutes of administering my first dosage I started having difficulty breathing. I am an asthmatic, so my automatic response was to take my inhaler. After a few more minutes I started experiencing, dizziness, headache, tingling in my head, and addominal pain. My mother rushed me over to the fire station ( I was getting worse during the drive to the hospital) Once there things started to calm down. The paramedic told me that the only thing that saved me from having a more severe reaction than what I had was my inhaler. They administer epinephrine to counteract an allergic reaction, and the effects of the inhaler act in the same manner as epinephrine. Anaphylaxis is a serious side effect, just because the insert says that it is a rare occurance, be prepared for anything. It can happen.